Mr. Hissy Pissy

[Squeezer]

I hate posting in here. Mr. Hissy Pissy, the Burm Ed gave me, passed away yesterday. I took him to the vet last night to have a necropsy done. He died of heart failure caused by a build up of bacteria on his heart valves. His aorta was almost completely blocked. I don't remember what the vet called it, but he had seen it earlier this year in another snake. In that case the snakes entire heart was full of the stuff. It really is amazing that they lived as long as they did with that big of a blockage in their hearts.

[eddie]

Man.. sorry to hear about this..

Was he showing any outward signs of distress or symptoms of anything beforehand?

[Squeezer]

He wasn't eating but Ed told me he had stopped eating for a while last year too so I just assumed it was a seasonal thing again. After talking to the vet and looking at HP's feeding records, it became obvious that this heart problem was probably why he wasn't eating. I got him from Ed in June. He was eating regularly through June, July and most of August. Towards the end of August he started to slow down. He was only eating every 2 or 3 weeks. The last time he ate was Oct 25th. He ate 2 collosal rats. I could see he had lost some weight but it wasn't enough to make me worry. I took a poo sample to the vet in September because I thought he might have some sort of parasite but it checked out ok. Other than not eating, he was being his normal hissy pissy self.

[Ed_r]

Awww man that really sucks. Really put me in a bum mood when i heard about it, since i was having a really bad day as it was. The heart blockage thing does make sence though. When I had him he was very normal acting, fairly active. He always fed normally, until last winter, when he went off feed for the entire winter. I was quite worried about him, but come April, he acted like he wanted to eat. (dont ask how i knew i just did) And he took 5 colosal rats that day, and was on a feeding tear for the rest of the time I had him.
What i mean by the heart blockage makes sense is, that he was now 4 yrs old, and barely a tad over 8'. Granted I never minded that he stayed small, kinda saw it as a blessing.
Wasn't a day that went by that i didnt think about him. It was an incredibly hard desision to part with him. I knew he would be going to a very responsible person, so it made me feel better. Plus we always had the agreement that if it didnt work out, that i would take him back.

He was only the second snake I owned. I bought him as a baby. He's given me many fond memories, and many happy and funny stories to share with others about his antics. I'll really miss knowing he's not around anymore.

[savannah_babe]

aww, im so sorry.. thats horrible. i know how hard it is to loose an animal..again..my condolonces...

[reptilemama]

Oh, I'm so sorry! It's always hard to loose one, but worse when you're not expecting it.

[captainmorgan]

I'm sorry to hear that. Was it a physical snake? Was it handled alot to maybe give it some exercise?

[toker]

I am very sorry for your loss