Goodbye Big Yan

reptilemama · #1 (**permalink**) 05-31-2008, 11:55 PM

I just came home to find my oldest boa, Big Yan, dead. He regurged his last meal, but had been doing ok before that. I had heard a few wheezes in the last couple of months, but he has had two abscesses over his nose which caused a lot of scarring, so I assumed it was from partially obstructed airways. Now I'm feeling horrible for not investigating further, and wondering if it was an RI. I know I should do a necropsy, but I'm not even sure I want to know- I feel guilty enough as it is. Of all the snakes I currently have, he was one of the two I've had the longest. He was a sweetheart, and even through treatment for the abscesses he behaved himself perfectly. He was the perfect education animal, and didn't mind being out for hours on end. He attended Reptile Fest a few times, and was always a perfect gentleman for all the kids who came by and petted him. He will be greatly missed. If I can afford it, I may get my first tattoo as a memorial to him. This picture is from before the abcsesses, and is how I want to remember him- young and healthy.