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  1. #1
    Registered User Weremey59's Avatar
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    Had one of my best friends pass away tonight Poe

    I had a 5 year old Pastel boy Poe pass away on me tonight. Ive had babies pass away during breeding but never a snake this old. I never thought it would be as hard as it is, but he was such a little sweetheart. The man who previously owned him, I played many years of football with. Hes a teacher and had him in his classroom for years, being handled by kids. It alway feels like you could do more no matter how many times you go to the vet, but they hide there illness so well. Alot of what ifs, its a real bad feeling.
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 01-05-2020 at 11:51 AM. Reason: TOS Violation

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    The way you mention hiding illness etc. makes me assume you might have know something was wrong. Any ideas what happened or did he just die?

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    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Re: Had one of my best friends pass away tonight Poe

    Quote Originally Posted by Weremey59 View Post
    I had a 5 year old Pastel boy Poe pass away on me tonight. Ive had babies pass away during breeding but never a snake this old. I never thought it would be as hard as it is, but he was such a little sweetheart. The man who previously owned him, I played many years of football with. Hes a teacher and had him in his classroom for years, being handled by kids. It alway feels like you could do more no matter how many times you go to the vet, but they hide there illness so well. Alot of what ifs, its a real bad feeling.
    So sorry for your loss. Did you actually mean he was 5 years old, or that YOU'VE had him for 5 years? (You said he was previously in a classroom "for years"...?)

    Had he been to the vet at all? Just curious about what if any vague symptoms you may have seen. Rest in Peace, little Poe...
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

  4. #4
    Registered User Weremey59's Avatar
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    He was 5 years old. He was eating perfectly 2 months ago not showing any signs what so ever, however that was his last meal. Hes always been a inconsistent feeder so for him to stop for 2 months wasnt unusual. What was unusual was his urine smelling absolutely terrible last week. He then passed this mushy (what I thought at the time) urate. The vet later established that was infectious goo however she initially agreed we me that he may have been over hydrated from his continous water going. From the first day I got him 3.5 years ago, he has always been a water snake. I of course thought something was wrong with him way back and took him to the vet. She established that nothing was wrong with him and that I just had "a weird one". He would even eat his rats in his water dish, seemed happy as a clam haha. Never showed any signs of this.
    He had lost 200g of body weight (which again isnt super unusual as he is a fully grown male and he hunger strikes every winter). So between the funky urine smell, body weight lose and the mush I knew something was up. Vet took blood, and gave him Ceftiofur injections. She however squeezed a surprising amount of the goo out of him. After his 3rd round, he passed last night. I wasnt expecting him to make it the night as I opened his cage and he had his mouth wide open staring at the ceiling. Very sluggish. He passed within 5 hours of yesterday's vet visit.
    I know my snakes very well, they are my children. I did what I could for him, reading the signs he was giving me. The vet reassured me that there wasnt much I could have done for him even if I had come in a month earlier. Still makes me feel guilty. Oh and before someone brings up temp and humidity, it was all fine. The rest of my collection is flourishing.

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    Bogertophis (01-05-2020)

  6. #5
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Thanks for the details...that's very sad indeed...and you're right, snakes are very stoic & hard to read. You didn't have much to go on...so sorry.

    I agree with your vet...there wasn't much you could have done differently. If anything, I'd say that his previous life in a classroom was very stressful, less than ideal,
    & probably left him more vulnerable to infections than he'd otherwise have been. I understand that well-meaning teachers often have classroom pets for the kids to
    learn from, but there is an unavoidable downside to doing that...it's very hard on the animals. Of course, so is life in the wild...lucky are the snakes that have skilled
    & caring owners for life. You did the best you could...this stuff just happens.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

  7. #6
    BPnet Veteran EDR's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear this I lost three last year. 2019 was a terrible year for me. Now reading your posts I noticed this all happened right after the vet. Maybe the vet squeezing goo out of him and giving him injections was too much for him. And if the vet said there's nothing wrong with him then why have this done in the first place. I'm not putting you or the vet on the spot but these questions do come to mind when i read the post. But again sorry to hear this it sucks i know.
    0.1 : Albino Clown - GHI Pastave - Killer Bee Fader - Sugar Bee - Pastel het pied - Lemon Blast het puzzle

    1.0 : Banana - Mystic Potion 66% pos het pied - Pastel Lesser het puzzle - Super Pastel 66% pos het puzzle

    1.0 2012 Albino Red Tail

  8. #7
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Re: Had one of my best friends pass away tonight Poe

    Quote Originally Posted by EDR View Post
    Sorry to hear this I lost three last year. 2019 was a terrible year for me. Now reading your posts I noticed this all happened right after the vet. Maybe the vet squeezing goo out of him and giving him injections was too much for him. And if the vet said there's nothing wrong with him then why have this done in the first place. I'm not putting you or the vet on the spot but these questions do come to mind when i read the post. But again sorry to hear this it sucks i know.
    Sorry for your losses in 2019 too. It's rough being a snake vet...symptoms are very hard to read, & while treatments can certainly be too harsh, not doing enough can
    just end up with longer suffering. Sometimes it may appear that snakes respond poorly to antibiotics but it may also be that they were sicker when symptoms finally caught the attention needed. Like you, I wonder about the vet "squeezing goo out"...I've seen a vet that I considered way too heavy-handed for a relatively small & delicate snake. For me the worst thing about keeping & adoring snakes is that the medical options when things go wrong just aren't as good as with more commonly kept pets.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 01-05-2020 at 08:47 PM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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  10. #8
    BPnet Veteran EDR's Avatar
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    Re: Had one of my best friends pass away tonight Poe

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    Sorry for your losses in 2019 too. It's rough being a snake vet...symptoms are very hard to read, & while treatments can certainly be too harsh, not doing enough can
    just end up with longer suffering. Sometimes it may appear that snakes respond poorly to antibiotics but it may also be that they were sicker when symptoms finally caught the attention needed. Like you, I wonder about the vet "squeezing goo out"...I've seen a vet that I considered way too heavy-handed for a relatively small & delicate snake. For me the worst thing about keeping & adoring snakes is that the medical options when things go wrong just aren't as good as with more commonly kept pets.
    Yeah thanks I agree. Last year I realized its wrong considering how many reptiles are sold each year and when they get sick your options aren't wide and varied. You'll probably have to go to that one place that does reptiles and the reviews aren't great. The world needs more real vets who aren't afraid of snakes and places that will try and help a reptile. Now im talking a little smack here but if your a "vet" and reading this and all you do are cats and dogs your not a complete veterinarian or even a real one in my book. And i understand where does it stop cause they'll say oh now I need to do all exotics and zoo animals? No if your a veterinarian you should be able to look at stuff sold in basic pet shops like basic birds and reptiles should be apart of being a standard veterinarian. But yeah sorry I'm just ranting a bit.
    Last edited by EDR; 01-06-2020 at 12:16 AM.
    0.1 : Albino Clown - GHI Pastave - Killer Bee Fader - Sugar Bee - Pastel het pied - Lemon Blast het puzzle

    1.0 : Banana - Mystic Potion 66% pos het pied - Pastel Lesser het puzzle - Super Pastel 66% pos het puzzle

    1.0 2012 Albino Red Tail

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  12. #9
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Re: Had one of my best friends pass away tonight Poe

    Quote Originally Posted by EDR View Post
    Yeah thanks I agree. Last year I realized its wrong considering how many reptiles are sold each year and when they get sick your options aren't wide and varied. You'll probably have to go to that one place that does reptiles and the reviews aren't great. The world needs more real vets who aren't afraid of snakes and places that will try and help a reptile. Now im talking a little smack here but if your a "vet" and reading this and all you do are cats and dogs your not a complete veterinarian or even a real one in my book. And i understand where does it stop cause they'll say oh now I need to do all exotics and zoo animals? No if your a veterinarian you should be able to look at stuff sold in basic pet shops like basic birds and reptiles should be apart of being a standard veterinarian. But yeah sorry I'm just ranting a bit.
    Honestly, when I first got into snakes, I was really shocked to find out that most vets didn't just love & care for all animals & that not only didn't they treat them, many hated & feared them as well? I thought it rather funny, when I finally found a vet that was willing* to see a snake, he was all bandaged up with wounds from the cat he just saw, yet received not so much as a hiss from my scaly pal. *But I give him credit for at least trying to help...even though it meant him pulling out medical books to research what we should do. Many others wouldn't even have let us in the door. Happily, I found out later that at least one of his techs was into snakes too, so that probably helped.

    That was many years ago...these days there's little excuse, with as common as reptiles are in pet stores- so many vets are unwilling to keep up with the times. I understand that reptile medicine is quite different from dogs & cats, but any medical practice needs to keep current anyway...would a few more courses kill them? Sadly I think it's mostly because they still fear & hate snakes...
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 01-06-2020 at 12:42 AM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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  14. #10
    Registered User Weremey59's Avatar
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    Normally I would fully agree with you guys however not in this case. My sister in law is a vet tech and in turn I have spend alot of time in vet clinic (visiting and having a old problem puppy)/ hearing the horror stories of other cases that vets were completely incompetent. There are some very bad vet out there, even the "just dogs and cats" kind. That being said the vet I took him to was fantastic and owned many of her own reptiles. Two balls and a Boa plus others. I learned so much from her on how to get there mouths open nicely and just cool tricks of the trade. She was a plethora of knowledge and I do not think she was to rough with him. She was firm where she needed to be and was gentle the rest of the time. I in no way think this was because of the vet, other then the inherent stress that comes with going to the vet. I definitely think she is the 2% of the vet community that really cares and knows first hand how to take care of the animals she is treating.

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    Bogertophis (01-06-2020),EDR (01-06-2020)

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