Poor Brett the Butter-Stripe (Semi-graphic photos)

[Roy Munson]

I just tuned in and saw this~ sorry to hear your girl had so much trouble! Sounds like she is on the road to recovery now~ even if breeding again is not in her future (such a shame~ she is beautiful!). How are the eggs doing though? Does it look like you've got some live ones to work with?

Thanks Cheryl. The five good eggs that were laid before the "issues" seem to be fine still. I'm hoping to produce at least a good pair from them to keep.

Off-topic: I didn't know how to say it in your Fauna thread, but I was very sorry to hear about Ebay the Emu. His story really did capture my imagination. I really hope you give a PET emu another shot...

 

[JM :o)]

Off-topic: I didn't know how to say it in your Fauna thread, but I was very sorry to hear about Ebay the Emu. His story really did capture my imagination. I really hope you give a PET emu another shot...

Thanks~ maybe next year~ I don't know. We'll see

So glad to hear the five eggs are doing well. Keep us updated~ I'd like to hear how it goes. I lost a female to egg binding a few years ago~ got ONE good egg from her~ it hatched a female. She is still here with me~ guess we'll see how she does next year when she is big enough.

 

[Pasodama]

Seems that Brett is progressing nicely. That is good to hear.

Sounds like you have your hands full, with having to administer pills, though... but I know you will pull through it.

 

[Pasodama]

That sounds like a girly method. Jamming pills down a snake's throat is more manly! (But I WILL keep it in mind next time.)

Subcutaneous injections are, also, much easier, than having to do the pill thing, and causes much less stress to the snake.

Perhaps it could, also, aid in lessening any feelings of "girliness".

 

[claralouise]

awww poor gir i hope shes ok now, good luck with the eggs hun keep us updated

 

[Nanci]

I didn't even know you _could_ give pills to a snake! My vet always does liquid or shots. I'm so glad he's never mentioned pills- that sounds impossible! But obviously it isn't. Wow. At least you're working with a nice big adult.

 

[Roy Munson]

Subcutaneous injections are, also, much easier, than having to do the pill thing, and causes much less stress to the snake.

Perhaps it could, also, aid in lessening any feelings of "girliness".

Well, I'm VERY girly when it comes to needles! I'm not sure I could give a snake a shot.

I didn't even know you _could_ give pills to a snake! My vet always does liquid or shots. I'm so glad he's never mentioned pills- that sounds impossible! But obviously it isn't. Wow. At least you're working with a nice big adult.

She WAS given an antibiotic shot at her second visit. That's why I was surprised by the pill thing at her last visit. If she (or any other snake) ends up needing oral meds in the future, I will definitely be seeking the oral syringe method! The pill thing is incredibly difficult-- though I've got it down pretty well at this point.

 

[JennS]

food for thought

Sorry to hear about your girl. I just wanted to mention to you, that my vet told me that snakes have a hard time metabolizing and absorbing meds in pill form. I don't really know the logistics of it but, I have a snake that was treated for an eye infection with pills the infection would start to clear up but once the pills were done it would come back. I switched Vets and this new vet is the one that told me about the problem with pills. She gave me oral liquid baytril and it cleared right up and never came back. Just thought I would pass that along for future reference

Jenn

 

[diamondlil]

Deano, You're a total star. The thought of you wrestling with your (allegedly) tiny hands trying to get pills down a snake's throat is priceless.

 

[Rich in KY]

I just saw this thread.

I am glad she is doing better for you Dean. She is lucky to have you as her father.

 

[starsevol]

Deano, You're a total star. The thought of you wrestling with your (allegedly) tiny hands trying to get pills down a snake's throat is priceless.

Janine, ya gotta give the guy props. Even "ham-handed brutes" would have a fair amount of trouble pilling a serpent.
Brett's a very lucky girl

 

[Roy Munson]

R.I.P. Brett

Brett was euthanized about 15 minutes ago. I brought her in for another vet appointment this afternoon because I didn't like the way things were looking. It seemed that the dead and dying tissue near her vent was increasing, and the Baytril wasn't doing much to halt this. I left her with the vet so that she could anesthesize her and attempt to clean up the area so that further evaluation could be made. This was done, and the decision was made.

I take some responsibility for this myself. I'm not kicking myself, but I AM taking a number of hard lessons to heart. I'll never breed another female unless she has the muscle-tone necessary to crack walnuts. I'll never slit another mouse again. I'll never allow another female to get chunky even if I have to half-starve them to prevent it (none of my males get chunky anyway). I also need to try and find a way to exercise breeder females. I hate swimming them, so I'm hoping to come up with something else.

Thanks for all the support. I really don't want any sympathy replies, but since I'd already started the thread I felt compelled to make the final update. I could lock the thread, but that would be sort of an abuse of mod functions.

 

[Nanci]

Well, since you didn't lock it- I am so sorry. But stop beating yourself up about it. The vet said she had decent muscle tone and wasn't overweight. Bad things happen to good snakes.

 

[starsevol]

Aw Dean,
Please don't be hard on yourself. You've FORGOTTEN more about snake-keeping and breeding than most of us will ever know.
And that is a certainty...

 

[Susielea]

Aww c'mon Dean, you did everything that you possibly could for her, please, your being too tough on yourself. This is just one of those horrible things that life throws at us, and it's how we deal with it that counts....and I think you dealt with it well and I'm sorry it didn't work out as you'd hoped.

Best wishes to you,

 

[JoannaD]

I'm so sorry you lost her. I think no matter what you do, some girls just have a tough time of it and don't make it. It's the risk we take when we breed our snakes.

 

[Tula_Montage]

So sorry to hear this Dean It makes you wonder why we chose to put ourselfs and the snakes through captive breeding programs.

 

[wade]

That sucks Dean. What can you say?

Everything we do with our snakes is because we believe it is the best. We take our own experiences combined with others experiences and then we make our best guess. Smart people are always adjusting that guess because our experiences are always changing. If you learn from an experience and adjust you methods, then your current snakes will be getting the best you have to offer. What more can anyone ask for?

 

[Lynnea]

If it helps, I've lost my share of a few dogs and puppies over the years, and it is *always* difficult to deal with. I lost my favorite girl, who I imported from Russia and made a champion, because I bred her; she got a uterine infection, my vet recommended a drug that was supposed to shrink and expel the infection, and she died of heart failure later that day after the injection. I still kick myself, but would I have done things differently at that moment (and not knowing the future)? Yes. She was young (4), strong and healthy.

Breeding animals is a challenge and there's always something to learn--if you can deal with the losses, you'll be wiser from the harsh lessons. We know you did the best you could--hang in there, friend.

 

[diamondlil]

RIP Brett.