Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Dan]

I have never been one for the touchy feely side of forums, watching loads of random people apologise for the death of animals they have never met and hoping people they have never met feel better etc etc.

That said i thought i should make a post about this particular animal as many friends know i have been struggling with him since his arrival.

For those that don't know:
A couple of years ago i bought 2 retics from Indonesia, a calico which was my original goal from this particular shipment and a striped retic that was what you could call a fast ball. The week before the shipment was due in i was offered the striped, we had no photo's and no way of knowing how striped the animal really was but as i have allways liked them i said yes and a deal was struck.
After some customs trouble i was finally able to go pick up my 2 snakes. When i opened the bag i was amazed, he was a perfect striped retic and EVERYONE that saw him was amazed i had got him for the price i had nevermind the fact i got him at all.
At first glance he looked thin and he had rubbed his scales off on his snout - nothing i couldnt sort out.
These are a few pics of him the night i got him home :







Upon closer inspection it became apparent he had severe mouthrot. His lower front left tooth had been damaged so mouth rot had infected this site, easy enough and nothing to shocking. The top right jaw however was a whole different ball game. Several teeth had been damaged and once all the scuzz had been removed you could put a cotton bud through the hole inside his mouth right up through his nostril aswell as showing a length of about 10mm of jaw bone - personally i have never seen mouth rot so bad. We treated it in the same way we allways do and within a matter of 3 or 4 months it had cleared up and he had started to regenerate facial tissue although he was allways going to have a funny top lip due to the scarring.
Soon after that he ate his first meal, a single medium sized rat - we were happy with the way he was progressing. Unfortunately that was his last meal for around 18 months. During this period we tried just about every feeding method and food source we could find be it live, dead or freshly killed (don't ask). His weight wasn't dropping much so although i didnt like it i just presumed this was his way, after all he was thin when he arrived.
Then around september we found something he would eat!! For the first time in so long he ate, of all things, a squirrel with its tail cut off. Finally we had found the answer. Over the next month he ate 3 squirrels and finished with a small rabbit. Again we were so pleased with him and his progress especially taking a rabbit. Again though he stopped after this meal. It was to be his last.
Over the next 3 months the weight started to fall off him until finally in the early hours of this morning i found him dead.

After nearly 2 years of struggling it was over in the worst way possible. There will be no autopsy, i am happy in this case to refer back to what a smart man once said - "they only catch and export the weak and sickly animals, catching a healthy snake is too hard" - whether that is true or false doesnt matter much, for now it'll do for me.

The only hope i have now is that he was succesful in breeding and was the father of the clutch i currently have incubating.

I'll finish with a few pictures of him from this summer:





One final note, i have spent the morning asking myself whether he would have been better off left to his own devices in the jungles he came from. The answer is far from simple. Put in short terms - he may have survived longer but i can only hope the existance i provided him was better and safer than he would have ever found in the wild.

Either way a truly stunning animal is now resting happily
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TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!

[Martinh]

My sincere condolences go out to you. Losing animals is never easy especially one as beautiful as him. You did everything you could have done and as you say sometimes it doesnt work out.

Martin

[Scott W]

Sounds like you done a good job with a very difficult animal. 2 years of hard work only to be rewarded by death is never a good thing especially after his mouth healing up so well and him taking a couple of feeds.

Working with animals always has it's upsets and frustrations, don't let this experiance dampen your enthusiasm with working with the more difficult animals.
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[Stuart]

Sounds like you done all you could Dan.Really sorry mate as I knew how much you thought of him.

[warhammer]

iam sorry to hear that dan

[goldenburm]

Dan, me and u have never really seen eye to eye have we, but I am truly sorry for your loss of this snake. I know u have worked soo hard with him, no-one and I mean no-one can fault u in your care!


Peter

PS hope he fathered your clutch and that his progeny throw u some stunning curve balls~!
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1.0 striped supersalmon DEAD
0.1 salmon poss TH moonglow DEAD
0.1 Orangasm DH ghost DEAD
1.0 pastel motley DEAD
2.0 sunglows 1.0 LIVING
1.1 pastel het snow 0.1 LIVING
2.2 albino boas DEAD
0.2 albino ara's DEAD
0.4 boa constrictors 0.2 LIVING

[Michael]

Im so sorry to here this Dan.....after all the hard work u have put in.
I had the pleasure of seeing this retic in the flesh and believe me pictures do not do him justice,his colours were amazing.
I know we have spoken many times Dan about this retic but im shocked to here hes gone.

Keep your chin up bud.

Michael
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Its been emotional

[mark]

sorry to hear that but looks like you gave him more of a chance than he had his condition looked so much better than when you 1st got him
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boas and burms

[Jamesg]

Sorry to hear the news dan, its tough when you put in all that hard work to be taken on a rollercoster ride.

You did one hell of a job keeping him alive for two years.

Fingers crossed for you that he is the father of your clutch.
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3.7.3 Stuff!