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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
 Posted - 13/10/2011 : 06:45:53
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There are many, many snakes that can and will pass through your hands as a reptile owner. There are very, very few with whom you will form a strong bond.
For me, Topaz, the first Brazilian Rainbow I ever brought home, and one of the reasons I got into this as a business, was one of those snakes. She was gorgeous…
...but, far more important than that, she had everything you could ever want in a pet snake.
She was friendly to a fault, the perfect ambassador for a species often faulted for being “nippy.” One of my friends uses crutches to get around, and whenever she came over to visit, would always want to hold Topaz -- and the worst Topaz ever did was handcuff my friend to her crutch with a roll of curious, friendly snake.
She was poseable, almost like she was partly made of Play-Doh. Ever since she saw a baby, she always settled for pictures when asked. You could even rearrange her slightly and she would hold that pose for you without complaint.
To the best of my memory, she never bit anyone.
So I was excited -- thrilled, in fact -- to breed her for the first time this year, so that I could share those glittering qualities with the world.
Unfortunately, Topaz began having health problems -- small, at first -- this past quarter.
In early July, she developed a small patch of off-color dry scales on her forehead. I put her in quarantine immediately, just for safety’s sake -- meaning, handle last and detox afterward -- and had a vet look at her soon after (as well as give her a general physical due to her being gravid). He said it was probably a skin issue, and to treat the area with betadine and Animax (effective against both bacterial and fungal outbreaks), and it should heal fine; she otherwise looked great.
Time passed, and other than that one issue, Topaz acted fine for a gravid boa.
On August 29, however, she lost her litter. She had great trouble with the delivery, struggling to pass some of the slugs especially. She sniffed through the pile of dead babies and slugs at the end, and I’d never seen her look so tired and sad. Later that night, she looked like she might have a retained slug, and I worried about that for days -- the lump thankfully went away almost right away, but I ran all the tests and exercises people advised anyway.
On September 4, I fed Topaz her first post-delivery meal -- a small rat, one size down from her usual meal to be careful -- which she took after a slight hesitation. All seemed stable.
On September 14, I had the vet look at her again -- costly for just her head and a slug check, but worth it for my favorite snake. The head had no changes, and he said to stop treatment and wait for a shed to heal it. He could find no retained slugs…which made me feel better. At least I could feed her more now.
That night, however, she refused her traditional meal of frozen/thawed. She had previously done this only five times in her life -- three of them in deep pregnancy.
The next night, when holding her to check up on her, she was attentive to me as always, raising her head right up to mine and watching my every move. However, upon putting her back in her viv, she had trouble staying upright.
I made a lot of calls/e-mails that night.
The first vet offered a third housecall, but seeing as he’d held her and missed any problems just 24 hours ago, I now wanted a second opinion. (Please note I’m not saying anything negative about this vet, I just wasn’t taking chances.)
So, that Saturday (September 17), I rose at dawn to rush Topaz over an hour away to the best reptile vet in the Los Angeles region. The vet was very gracious to see her as a walk-in. He looked her over, but could not find anything specifically wrong: weight was good, mouth looked clean, etc. He said we could treat with Baytril…but it would only be a guess. Instead, he suggested a blood test and skin biopsy, and so I broke out my wallet again. When I got her back from the poking and prodding, she was energetic, actively moving around her box trying to escape. As I later updated my notes for the evening, I realized that today was her fourth birthday…and all I’d given her was a painful vet trip. :-(
On Monday, September 19, I got the bloodwork results…but although a few readings were slightly off, nothing caused the vet alarm. He said we should wait for the biopsy results.
On Tuesday, September 20, she refused a second meal of frozen/thawed.
On Wednesday, September 21, I upped the offer to live mice. The store had only tiny ones though, really hoppers…but you take what you can get. To my immense relief, soon after dropping the first one in, my big girl came to life!!! She hunted it down -- not an easy coordination task the way hoppers jump -- killed it, and ate it. I put two more in. She killed both, but only ate one. I tried gently lifting the remaining body to her face, but she again refused. I tried one more live. She killed this one, too, but again did not eat. Not many calories, I guess, but at least she moved and hunted fine. Again, I felt a bit better.
On Saturday, September 24, the biopsy results came in. They had found nothing communicable. In the vet’s words: “Got good news/bad news for you with the histopathology that came in today. The good news that there was no pathological changes noted in the epidermis or dermis, no evidence of inflammation, neoplasia or infectious agents. The bad news is no causes for the skin changes were found. This means you don't have to be worried about your other snakes.”
On the evening of Sunday, September 25, I wrote the second vet again, asking what else I could do for my girl. I did not get a response. (Again, I assign no blame: vets are busy, and I assume the message got lost in the crush of daily mail.)
Over the next week, there was no other change in Topaz’s condition, for better or for worse. I prepped to feed her some live mice again, this time finding three fat and juicy rodents for the next evening.
On Friday, September 30, during my regular monthly weigh-ins, I tackled Topaz last, right before I was to feed her. When I opened her viv, however, I noticed her -- head at the door of her hide -- suddenly open her mouth, and just *leave* it there. There was no foam or saliva…but this was *not* a normal yawn. A minute passed, then three, and finally I reached in to gently touch her head. She reacted by closing her mouth and just looking at me.
On Saturday, October 1, I took her to the vet, fully expecting the worst -- probably, having to put her down. This was a third vet, as the other two were closed that weekend. Unfortunately, he was too busy to see her -- 10:30AM the next morning was the best they could do. I took my girl home and gently placed her back in her viv. She barely budged in her hide the entire trip.
By the next morning, she was already gone.
***
Soon after, I gently packed her up, and took her on one last car ride, right back to the vet for a necropsy. I spoke with the vet at length, then left her with a very sympathetic office staff, who said the vet would call around 4PM.
In the meantime, I settled down to deal with the aftermath. Thankfully, communicable or not, she had been on strict quarantine for months, so I only had to deal with her immediate viv. Over the course of two hours, I followed a ruthless, take-no-chances scorched earth routine: I emptied her viv of all disposables, bagged them, and removed them from the apartment, along with the newspaper I laid down on the floor to catch any stray moss. The odd scrap of shed made me stop several times thinking of her. I set the furniture to soak in bleach solution. The classic rock channel, left on to try and distract me, did not help: Blue Oyster Cult weighed in with “The Reaper.” The viv itself was scrubbed with an even stronger bleach solution, and I allowed the chemical film to sit. Kansas upped the audio with “Dust in the Wind.” I then went back and cleaned again with mint disinfectant, which was also allowed to sit. The music now was less invasive; either that, or I’d stopped registering. Finally, I cleaned the viv doors a third time, now using Chlorhexidine to remove any residue of the stronger chemicals.
I then cleaned my hands with arms and bleach and took a long shower.
At 4:10PM, the vet called with the necropsy results.
Topaz had died from pneumonia -- hidden away in her lower respiratory tract, deep enough that two other vets had not suspected a thing. The current vet, in fact, was amazed that she had not died a week ago. My poor, brave girl, hanging on to the bitter end, waiting for me to fix things for her like I always had.
The vet continued, rattling off technical details. She had a bit of extra liquid around her heart, but that could be a result of the RI. She did indeed have a retained slug (also missed by two vets), but it was not giving her any problems. The odd scales were surface issues only -- he had checked under them, and all was normal. Everything else was fine.
But details like those are black and white, not the vibrant oranges and reds that I remember her by.
Looking through her care notes now, I find myself second-guessing. I see once where I had once noticed a gentle wheeze in July 2010. I’d checked myself her and found nothing; and even asked an herp sitter, watching the place while I was out of town, to check too. She wrote to me via e-mail “No issues with Topaz. Did not hear any whistling or gurgling; did not see any bubbling from the nostrils.” Or, when I’d given her several betadine baths to treat the scale issues, and she had gotten a tiny bit nervous on the last one in August 2011 -- had she inhaled something then? I’d looked carefully, several times, and seen no signs at all.
All of which, I guess, is moot. She leaves me, if far too early, at least after four wonderful years, by my records having vanquished 146 rodents, filled 373 lines of Excel with care notes, and gifted me with dozens on dozens of amazingly colorful photos.
May 2011 (43 Months)
April 2009 (18 Months)
November 2007 (Baby)
Topaz, my beautiful, posable, always-a-sweetheart snake, I’m so sorry that I failed you in the end. You will always be the one living gem that I wanted to share. |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
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Mamma
Hatchling
United Kingdom
120 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 09:05:02
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Im so so sorry. I actually have the biggest luump in my throat right now. You didnt fail her. You tried your utmost to get a vet to shed some light, you knew in your heart and head that things were not right and continued to persue more help/advice, its just devestating that the pnumonia remained hidden 
R.I.P Topaz. My heart felt condolances for you at this sad time. |
Mamma. Location: Dundee
2.0.0 cornsnakes 1.1.0 kingsnakes 0.1.0 western hognose 0.1.0 hog island boa
wishlist: Arizona mountain kingsnake. Tricoloured, western hognose, Thayers kingsnake...pretty much MOAR kingsnakes
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oakleyman18
Hatchling
United Kingdom
269 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 09:23:31
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Wow Cliff, what a powerful story.. I am so sorry for you, but it really sounds like you did everything you could. I mean, 3 vets and none of them picked it up? I don't think there's much anyone could have done. How do snakes even catch pneumonia?  I'm worried for mine now! |
Oscar Morrell
0.1.0. Brazilian Rainbow Boa CB'10 "Jade"
1.0.0. Normal Cornsnake CB'00 "Camo" _RIP_
0.1.0. Normal Stripe, het Hypo, Amel, Lavender Cornsnake CB'11 "Amber"
0.0.1. Spider in the bathroom |
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ptmbradley
Hatchling
United Kingdom
105 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 10:38:24
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I genuinely have tears in my eyes after reading that. Cliff, I'm so sorry. You did your very best for her as the others have said, so you have nothing to feel bad about in that respect. My deepest sympathy to you mate. :(
RIP Topaz... |
Boas: 0.1 Arabesque, 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow, 0.1 Crawl Cay, 1.1 Hogg Island X, 0.1 Hypo Hogg, 0.1 Kahl Albino (poss coral)
Corns: 1.1 Anery, 1.1 Butter, 1.0 Carolina, 0.1 Hypo, 1.1 Snow, 1.0 Sunkissed
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Welly
Hatchling
United Kingdom
164 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 10:49:24
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| Sorry to hear that fella. |
0.1.0 Royal Python
0.0.1 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
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CDN_Blood
Rainbow oddball
Canada
489 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 13:17:14
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I feel for you, Cliff 
You've had a rough year and I sincerely hope things start looking up for you <provides reassuring pat on the back>.
I wonder if Ultrasound would have picked-up pneumonia. I'm sure it would have shown the retained egg. I know there are small, hand-held instruments that one can obtain which operate on the same principals as Doppler RADAR that I've seen people use on their snakes to listen for heart-beats in animals they believe to be gravid. I believe they're just called Doppler Ultrasound Device and you can rent or buy them. Perhaps something like that may be of use to you in the future - if they can detect embryonic heart-beats, they can likely detect the gurgle of a pneumatic lung in time to turn the situation around. |
TODD
25 Years of Commitment and Responsibility in Private Herpetoculture |
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gmac
Grumpy Scots Admin
United Kingdom
710 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2011 : 19:31:38
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Cliff,
I read that whole thread a couple of times now, and have come up with one conclusion. The amount of care and notes you take of your animals really is 2nd to none. You have not failed Topaz i know you may be feeling that way just now, but you done everything and beyond, you took her to 3 different vets and gave her the best chance possible.
Im now going to go have a drink as after reading that I think I need it.
Cliff I'm gutted for you and you have my deepest sympathies, Topaz was a beauty.
(and I apologise for breaking my own rule of using forum names to reply but preferred the personal touch here) |
GMac
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emmy c
Snake mite
Ireland
43 Posts |
Posted - 15/10/2011 : 16:14:14
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| Oh gosh I'm wiping the tears from my cheeks as I type, that is so, so sad. I know its easy to say, but please try not to blame yourself, from what I can see you did everything you could for her, and I am sure she would have sensed that.. |
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flaboye
Hatchling
USA
178 Posts |
Posted - 15/10/2011 : 23:15:18
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Cliff, I didn't know, but realized when you sent an email a few mins ago. I haven't been on in a week or more (forums).
I agree that your caretaking is 2nd to none, and I can't imagine that it's anything you could have anticipated and especially with two vets missing things, what else could you have done?
I am so sorry, she sounds so much like my female BRB, sweet, a perfect ambassador of how they can be as friendly (though more fleety than my common boas), but otherwise no aggression.
You have our sympathies
Joe |
0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow
1.0.0 Hypo BCI
1.0.0 Columbian RedTail
1.0.0 Great Pyrenees
0.0.1 Armadillo under house |
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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 15/10/2011 : 23:30:48
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| Thank you all for your kind words. |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
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newbie
Hatchling
184 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2012 : 16:59:03
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Cliff I'm so sorry, only just noticed this thread having been away for a while. Topaz was beautiful and you cared for her unbeliviably well. Can't offer enough condolances for you at your loss, and sorry they're so late.
Hope all's well with the other Living Gems residents xx |
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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 14/01/2012 : 00:25:06
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| Thanks Newbie. I still miss my big girl every day. :-( |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
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Sad News
