I did it again.....

[Sauzo]

Well as most of you know, Dottie passed away last night. Cant help thinking maybe i had something to do with it if i had took her to the vet during her 9 month fast. But she has always fasted in the winters but the past winter she ate through winter so i thought maybe she was fasting during summer. I kept her husbandry on point and she seemed fine and at her last weigh in was 1700ish grams. No signs or anything. Came home to find her curled up in the back in her normal sleep position but dead. No weird coloring, no damage or anything. She looked fine. But again, cant help but think maybe i could have done something.

But anyways, with all that said, I ended up putting a down payment on a USCBB Biak X Oshy/Biak red neo. It is 3 months 8 days old and hopefully in a couple weeks, it will be here. We need to make sure the FedEx hub that it will go through isnt affected by the hurricane. Here are some pics the breeder sent to me when we were talking.

[dakski]

Sauzo,

Beautiful new addition. I can't wait to hear about his/her growth and happiness for the many years you will have him/her.

Please don't beat yourself up over Dottie. It's very sad, but knowing you from the forum, I seriously doubt there was anything you did, or failed to do, that caused her death. It sounds like a freak thing.

Life is strange sometimes. My kidney's started failing when I was 23 and I almost died. Made it to the hospital literally 2 hours before I would have dropped dead. Who worries about stuff like that at 23, or at 5 for a BP?

All you can do is continue to do your best and keep moving forward. I know you will give this new addition a great home and many years of happiness. The best way you can remember Dottie is by giving all your creatures, new and old, the love and great life you gave her.

Keep chugging.

[Sauzo]

Sauzo,

Beautiful new addition. I can't wait to hear about his/her growth and happiness for the many years you will have him/her.

Please don't beat yourself up over Dottie. It's very sad, but knowing you from the forum, I seriously doubt there was anything you did, or failed to do, that caused her death. It sounds like a freak thing.

Life is strange sometimes. My kidney's started failing when I was 23 and I almost died. Made it to the hospital literally 2 hours before I would have dropped dead. Who worries about stuff like that at 23, or at 5 for a BP?

All you can do is continue to do your best and keep moving forward. I know you will give this new addition a great home and many years of happiness. The best way you can remember Dottie is by giving all your creatures, new and old, the love and great life you gave her.

Keep chugging.

Thanks. Yeah i know she got a good 5 years of life from me. She had a really start at life as she was a Petsmart animal and we know they get from farms and she was having it rough at the store too. So i do take some happiness in knowing she did have it good for awhile.

And yeah, i know it probably was just a freak thing but cant but think.

Anyways, looking forward to this new little guy.

[67temp]

Awesome looking little neo. Have you given him a name yet or will you do that once he arrives?

[Bogertophis]

As dakski said, I doubt there was much you could have done differently for Dottie...some issues just don't show up & it would really help if they'd tell us how they're
feeling. I know I've taken snakes to the vet that I suspected were sick & the vet found nothing...then some time later the snake passed away. It's just so hard to tell
and even if you think there's a problem, what can you do?

All the best with your new stunner...with a few weeks to go, hopefully she won't have to come by row boat?

[Sauzo]

Awesome looking little neo. Have you given him a name yet or will you do that once he arrives?

Nah havent thought of a name yet. Have to think up some unisex name as it is too young to sex lol.

[Cheesenugget]

Losing a beloved pet so suddenly and without signs of illness is shocking. You may blame yourself, wondering the what ifs...

Sometimes, life works like that. One day, the brain just push the 'off' button and there is nothing you could have done to stop it. I learned this the hard way when I fostered my first litter of kittens. I remember checking them in the morning and giving them breakfast before I left for work. They were eating, playful and doing well. After I came home, one immediately went downhill. I rushed it to the vet and nothing could save her. The vet said sometimes animals are born with malfunctioning parts that have a 'timer' so there is nothing that can be done. It could be 1 month after birth, or 5 years afterward, eating the best food and receiving the best care, it won't stop that timer.

Gratz on your new addition. Life goes on, so don't let your guilt second guess your experience as a caretaker.

[Dianne]

Congratulations on the new addition... beautiful! I’ve been tempted by the chondros, but have elected to stick with those species I know best....for now anyway.

Over the years I’ve also lost a couple of snakes for no apparent cause, the first to come to mind is a juvenile Solomon Island ground boa that I’d had for a year. They can be difficult snakes to start from neonates, but after a year I felt this one was doing well, consistently eating, etc. I came home from work to find she had died during the day...no symptoms, nothing out of the ordinary, kept exactly like my others. The other unexpected death was my female snow corn. She was an adult when I got her, so I had no history for her or age..a friend got the pair as rescues and gave them to me. In the years I had her, I successfully bred her once, but otherwise she was just a pet. In both cases, I know my husbandry was correct for each species - especially since I had others of the same species that were thriving. That didn’t stop me from second guessing and trying to figure out if it could have been prevented. As others have said, sometimes it just happens and we don’t know why.

[Sauzo]

Congratulations on the new addition... beautiful! I’ve been tempted by the chondros, but have elected to stick with those species I know best....for now anyway.

Over the years I’ve also lost a couple of snakes for no apparent cause, the first to come to mind is a juvenile Solomon Island ground boa that I’d had for a year. They can be difficult snakes to start from neonates, but after a year I felt this one was doing well, consistently eating, etc. I came home from work to find she had died during the day...no symptoms, nothing out of the ordinary, kept exactly like my others. The other unexpected death was my female snow corn. She was an adult when I got her, so I had no history for her or age..a friend got the pair as rescues and gave them to me. In the years I had her, I successfully bred her once, but otherwise she was just a pet. In both cases, I know my husbandry was correct for each species - especially since I had others of the same species that were thriving. That didn’t stop me from second guessing and trying to figure out if it could have been prevented. As others have said, sometimes it just happens and we don’t know why.

Thanks and yeah, Pat was my first GTP. He wasnt the most expensive but like Rosey, he has a spot in my heart as my first one. I decided that i was doing something right as Pat went from the little 9-10 inch worm to now about 2 feet or a little longer and definitely thicker plus having a really laid back attitude. So i threw down some real cash and picked up the little USCBB Biak X Oshy/Biak red neo. He's getting Pat's old cage since it seemed to work well for Pat and then when he gets bigger, I'll order him an AP A20 as well.

Going to be awhile before i get a Peruvian BCC now lol. I was actually just throwing out the feelers on the GTP FB page as i havent seen many reds for sale recently and was kind of surprised when a fairly well known breeder PM'd me he just had a litter that was ready to go. He hadnt even listed them yet but only had 1 red left and about 10 yellows which he was going to list. Think he had like 5 reds but was keeping 3 of them for holdbacks and was letting 2 go, one of which was spoken for.

And the little guy is laid back as you can see in the pic of the breeder holding it. Both parents are laid back too he said which was a plus for me.

[EL-Ziggy]

Absolutely gorgeous addition Sauzo! Congratulations!