Last night was a sad night for me. I had the pleasure of owning two incredibly docile, wonderful male emerald tree boas for the last 5 years. These two boys were happy and healthy and great snakes to work with, until about two years ago when Mystery stopped eating. I wasn't terribly concerned about it, until Majik also stopped six months later. I had them to my vet and we ran tests to look for parasites and bacteria. We couldn't find anything conclusive, but the snakes seemed lethargic so they were given a course of Panacur and Amakacin. They perked up but neither ate. A year later they were given Tylan, also to no avail. I began forcefeeding in an attempt to keep some weight on them and help them survive, but they continued to lose weight and waste away. They also started to bloat up with gas, almost to the point of looking like ovulating females, although both were confirmed male. Probiotics and Reglan were given, also to no avail.
Last night, after almost two years of the struggle, I knew it was time to end their suffering. They had almost no muscle and I couldn't bear to try any more. It was breaking my heart to see my sweet boys so miserable. I took them back to Dr. Terry and he agreed. We'd tried everything, he'd contacted all the emerald experts he knew and the zoos that kept them and we'd both read everything we could find....nothing fit. How could they live for two years with a bacterial or parasitic infection that didn't show up on any tests? They should have succumbed long ago if it was that. It was almost as though they just both decided they didn't want to live anymore. We peacefully put them to sleep last night. I'll miss them terribly, but I know they are not hurting anymore and they are at peace. I'm done with arboreal booid snakes....I couldn't bear to see another animal go through a slow decline like this, and apparently it's not all that unusual with ETBs and GTPs. At least I have great memories and photos of these two I can keep with me. Rest in peace, my big green machines.
Majik
Mystery
R.I.P. Majik and Mystery
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