Sad day for me, R.I.P Snoopy

hotrod128z · #1 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 06:50 PM

Early this afternoon Snoopy, our young male Hogg Island passed away. I am more than certain it was due to a neurological problem with him. He held on through the night, but I knew it was certain. Last night when I checked on them he was totally non responsive and just didn't even act like he could move anything from his mid body toward his head. He was breathing very shallow. So This morning first thing I checked on him and he was worse but still alive. I pulled him from his tub and he was still breathing but his whole body from mid to head was just total limp, lifeless. I just held him feeling that there was nothing I could do. I felt like this was way beyond an emergency vet visit. I held him til the end. He couldn't move at all, but I could barely see him take a couple small breathes. He passed a small bit of urates and finally at around 1pm, he passed on. I felt helpless and just kept saying please don't be in pain. He was fighter. He will be missed. We had picked Snoopy because he was just beautiful. He was a great pet and was hopefully going to be a sire for Peaches in a few years.

hotrod

-Jim- · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 06:53 PM

That's sad. I'm sorry.

Icicle · #3 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:13 PM

Sorry for your loss.

Stargazer · #4 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:15 PM

I'm so sad for your loss. I can't even imagine how hard it is for a snake to die in your arms. Do you know the cause of the neurological problem?

Hypoboa1234 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:17 PM

sorry 4 ur loss...

Sakara · #6 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:24 PM

I'm so sorry

I know how hard it is to lose a pet in your arms. I had the same thing happen with one of my cresties after my cat attacked him

I know it's hard, but I would really get a necropsy done on him if you aren't already. just to insure that it was just something with him and not something contagious.

sorry again for your loss

hotrod128z · #7 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargazer

I'm so sad for your loss. I can't even imagine how hard it is for a snake to die in your arms. Do you know the cause of the neurological problem?

Not really sure. I am thinking that I brought it on myself, god help me. I had checked his temps a few days ago(with a laser temp gun) and his warm spot was only showing around 78 degrees. I bumped up the thermostat 6 degrees and had left it overnight. I thought it would be fine as a 6 degree increase shouldn't be that much not when his warm spot was only at 78. I figured actually that I would have to go up another 2 degrees or so the following day to get the temp just right. Well, the next day his warm spot had risen to between 101 and 102 degrees according to my temp gun. I was shocked and went into action immediately. I got the temps back down to the mid 80's within the next 20 mins or so. He was still in a small tub so his cool side really couldn't get cool enough I suppose. I know that these temp fluctuations sound far fetched but I am telling you the truth. My other boas that are in the same rack were all at the front of there tubs were it is cooler during this time, but so far they are showing no ill effects. One of them was even still in her hide in the warm spot during this high temp time and she seems fine, so honestly I am kinda clueless. I want to say that is the most likely cause but it is so hard to say. It was a very strange day with my temps. I actually thought that maybe I wasn't getting an accurate temp reading b ut I double and triple checked. Batteries were new in my temp gun and all of my other temps are showing spot on, so I am thinking that I am at fault for Snoopy's passing. All of my equipment is checking out fine so I really don't understand what caused the temp to get so high during that time period. This was within the last few days.

hotrod

Red-Tailed_mustang · #8 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:43 PM

My Condolences. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.

Stargazer · #9 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotrod128z

Not really sure. I am thinking that I brought it on myself, god help me. I had checked his temps a few days ago(with a laser temp gun) and his warm spot was only showing around 78 degrees. I bumped up the thermostat 6 degrees and had left it overnight. I thought it would be fine as a 6 degree increase shouldn't be that much not when his warm spot was only at 78. I figured actually that I would have to go up another 2 degrees or so the following day to get the temp just right. Well, the next day his warm spot had risen to between 101 and 102 degrees according to my temp gun. I was shocked and went into action immediately. I got the temps back down to the mid 80's within the next 20 mins or so. He was still in a small tub so his cool side really couldn't get cool enough I suppose. I know that these temp fluctuations sound far fetched but I am telling you the truth. My other boas that are in the same rack were all at the front of there tubs were it is cooler during this time, but so far they are showing no ill effects. One of them was even still in her hide in the warm spot during this high temp time and she seems fine, so honestly I am kinda clueless. I want to say that is the most likely cause but it is so hard to say. It was a very strange day with my temps. I actually thought that maybe I wasn't getting an accurate temp reading b ut I double and triple checked. Batteries were new in my temp gun and all of my other temps are showing spot on, so I am thinking that I am at fault for Snoopy's passing. All of my equipment is checking out fine so I really don't understand what caused the temp to get so high during that time period. This was within the last few days.
hotrod

Well, that's twice as awful because of the guilt you must be feeling. What a painful learning experience. It's so tragic when they die due to something gone wrong with the husbandry. But I assure you, it's happened to all of us (or most of us) at least once. I don't know what kind of thermostats you use but it's probably a good idea to get a back-up for them.

heatviper · #10 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 07:58 PM

sorry for your loss

Oroborous · #11 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 08:56 PM

Very sorry for your loss...

hotrod128z · #12 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Well, that's twice as awful because of the guilt you must be feeling. What a painful learning experience. It's so tragic when they die due to something gone wrong with the husbandry. But I assure you, it's happened to all of us (or most of us) at least once. I don't know what kind of thermostats you use but it's probably a good idea to get a back-up for them.

Thermostats are a Helix DBS1000 on our small rack and Herstat Pro on our big racks. Temp gun is 412L IR gun. When I got the low temp reading of 78 degrees in the back of the tubs my Helix was set at 86. I bumped it up to 92 and that is when the next day I recorded readings of over 100 degrees in the back of the tubs. I guess I need to do my homework and figure out at what degree range I am getting in my tubs compared to what my thermometer is set to. I check the temps on a regular basis with the IR temp gun. I guess my dumb self thought that a 6 degree temp increase on the therm. would equate to a 6 degree increase in tub temps. Now I know that this is not necessarily true. I am trying to figure out what went wrong still. I do plan on going with Rancos for back up therms. At the moment I have the temps stable where they should be and will keep on monitoring them. Hopefully I have it figured out to the point that this doesn't happen again. I try my best to give our snakes the best of everything and I seem to have failed this time. I still just have a lot of confusion, I mean our snakes are like family to us.

hotrod

nitram · #13 (**permalink**) 03-20-2010, 09:48 PM

man that sucks. best thing ya can do now is maybe get a necropsy to make sure whatever happened doesnt happen again. though its painful its for the best if taken as a learning experience.

mlf · #14 (**permalink**) 03-21-2010, 06:00 AM

Sorry for your loss.
I don't know if you use flexwatt with your tubs but if so I have found that even when controlled with a good on/off or proportional thermostat (ranco and helix in my case) the temperature along a length of flexwatt (both long and short lengths) can vary a good 10 degrees. By this I mean that when you have the probe on the flexwatt and set for say 92F the temperature at various points along the length will vary from 90F to 102F. So both the heated and cooler portions of the tub need to monitored more carefully than one might think.
Bad stuff happens to even the best keepers.
You at least cared enough about your boa to have proper husbandry tools and seek out knowledge on its care which is unfortunately more than many do.
Again sorry for you loss

hotrod128z · #15 (**permalink**) 03-21-2010, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlf

Sorry for your loss.
I don't know if you use flexwatt with your tubs but if so I have found that even when controlled with a good on/off or proportional thermostat (ranco and helix in my case) the temperature along a length of flexwatt (both long and short lengths) can vary a good 10 degrees. By this I mean that when you have the probe on the flexwatt and set for say 92F the temperature at various points along the length will vary from 90F to 102F. So both the heated and cooler portions of the tub need to monitored more carefully than one might think.
Bad stuff happens to even the best keepers.
You at least cared enough about your boa to have proper husbandry tools and seek out knowledge on its care which is unfortunately more than many do.
Again sorry for you loss

Actually I am using Flexwatt, so that makes sense. When I noticed that the temps were in the high 70's in the warm spot the overall room temp was a bit cooler than what it should be. I had my therm. set at 86 then. I did 2 things very wrong without even thinking. I raised the overall room temp up to normal the same night that I turned the therm. up to 92. I should have known better and was not using common sense. Then I should have started to monitor the temps immediately until I got them stable. I didn't, I waited until the next day to check them, big mistake. I currently have the room temp. normal, in the low 70's and I have my therm. set at 83. I am monitoring my rack temps very closely and I have them stable at 86 to 88 in the warm end of the tubs and 72-75 in the cool end of the tubs. Keep in mind that this is on my small rack and the tubs are small(Iris tubs that are approx. 5.5 quart). I so wish that I would have done things differently several days ago and used my head.

hotrod

96Blacksunshine · #16 (**permalink**) 03-21-2010, 06:42 PM

Sorry for your loss. Im have found that it is best two do 1-2 degree changes at a time This helps with the fluctuations some setups can have. I know when you see something you dont like you want to get it right as fast as possible. I too made similar mistakes when I first got my stuff going. I learned real quick how easy it is to get temps out of range from what you want them to be. But it is a learning process. None of us can say we havent made mistakes while doing this hobby. So just learn from it and move on. Don't let it sway you from keeping reptiles, just try and do it a better and different way next time and you will have learned a valuable lesson.

Aaron-Insular · #17 (**permalink**) 03-21-2010, 07:19 PM

very sorry for your loss

woodrow · #18 (**permalink**) 03-21-2010, 09:37 PM

I am sorry to hear

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