Loss?

[capsicum]

Just wondering how others here deal with the loss (death) of herps? Are you upset, angry, indifferent? I had to have my male spotted python PTS this morning, and am unsure as to how I feel. So, would love to hear from you :)

TK

[marisa]

I guess it depends on the reptile for me. Any animal I own dying simply sucks. But there are degrees. I have a few favs and when one passes it's pretty upsetting.

Although I have to admit, for me personally it's nothing like the feeling of losing an animal that gives love in return like a dog or cat. I feel not less upset by a reptiles death, but definitly a different feeling from a dogs passing.

Sorry about your Spotted! It just plain sucks.

Marisa

[Linds]

Sorry to hear about your Spotty! :(

It sucks losing any animal, especially one you've grown with for a while. I get upset, but like Marisa, it is a different feeling than when you lose a dog or cat.

[capsicum]

Thanks, that is what I am finding as well. Very different than with an animal you can become very attached (or close) to.

TK

[Manitoban Herps]

Sorry about your python :(


When my herp dies I just try to find out what went wrong, I feel angry at myself if I did something stupid....

[snakehunter]

One of my geckoes died, but it was a house gecko, not one that should be held, when I heard the news (im in college) I was a little indeifferent as the distance, not seeing him and never really 'bonding ' with him.

[CamHanna]

I had a rat chew through the watering tube today and drown. I feel pretty terrible about that; not because I was attatched to the rat but because it was such a lazy mistake on my part (not drilling tubs, not supporting tubes better) and drowning is a horrible way to die IMO. Luckly she was on the bottom row and all alone so she didn't effect any other rats.

Cam

[HeatherRose]

Losing animals of any kind is always hard. I agree with the opinions obove though, losing a family dog/cat is much different than a herp. There was always kind of a very heavy, sad feeling around the house that was shared by the whole family whenever we lost a kitty.

So far, in my herping adventures I've only lost three herps. One, a cham to old age (there's a kind of relief when you find out it was old age) another baby chameleon (too small when I bought it, never ate properly for me...hard not to blame myself) and a rescued leopard gecko that was just too malnourished to make it.

The two chameleons are buried in the backyard with little stones on top of them (one was kind of a family pet, the other I just wanted to put in a safe place) while the leo didn't get as much of a proper 'send off' because he was not mine and I wasn't all that attatched...I was still upset about it though. My main concern has always been to find out what went wrong, even if I'm scared of the results (that it was solely my fault), and sometimes I feel angry because people who sell reptiles can sell them too small, or sick, and in the end the one who really suffers is the herp itself.

I don't think it gets any easier, and losing a pet is still losing a pet no matter if it's furry, feathered, slimy or scaly.

[Kimo]

i my self personally don't see the difference between losing a herp, or a dog. I put the same care, love and devotion into my reptiles as i do my cat, or dogs, so when i lose a herp, it hurts me just as much. Just because my snake doesn't lick me like my dogs do, doesn't mean that the memories i have of my snake, are any less important, they are all equal in my life...but hey, thats just me, someone whom cares for all his animals equally!

Josh

[Terri]

Losing any pet is heart breaking. I just lost an adult female iguana yesterday. She was a rescue, as are all 8 remaining. She is the fourth of my iguana rescues to pass on and it does not get easier. I knew it was coming but it still hurts.
With most of our animals being rescues, we never have a complete history of how they were treated before we get them, but I take great comfort in knowing they lived out the last of their lives happily here with someone who loves them.
Terri

[marisa]

I care for all my animals equally. It has nothing to do with that. But it's a fact that humans can find losing a dog harder than losing another human.

I am not saying losing reptiles is not hard but most people simply do not feel as upset by it if they lost the family dog who has been with them for 15+ years, on walks, vacations, everything.

Personally I have lost a few. A chameleon, a cornsnake, a amazon tree boa, and a couple other here and there. None were anything like losing a dog we adopted a couple years ago. Upsetting, crappy, sad, when a herp dies, but like I said above, for me, the grief isn't as strong at all.

Marisa