The Beauty is dead:
The beauty has died. It actually was last week Friday, but I only now have been able to come to grips with it and say anything about it. I waited several days to tell my wife. This RED Monster Tail Hypo was, in my eyes, the most beautiful Boa I have ever seen. A Monster Tail Hypo from the original litter produced by the Monster Tail female in 2000. She was the most important Boa that I owned. The one animal I valued over everything other animal that I have ever produced or purchased.
On Friday, February 22, 2008, I was making my standard rounds. I turned up the thermostats and I checked to see who was breeding, who was looking closer to an ovulation or who was actually ovulating when I came to her cage. Her cage at eye level, where I keep all the most important animals. She first one I checked in that isle most days. Several times a day actually. She was all stretched out leaning slightly. An unusual position to lay in, but generally not any reason for alarm. The male Motley that has been breeding her was still doing his job. He was on her courting with his vent aligned with hers. But it was strange that the leaning was extended all the way to the tail tip. Her vent was actually off the bottom of the cage pointing sideways. That was unusual, and immediately when I saw that, my heart sank knowing that was not normal. I bumped the front of the cage. She was actually leaning against it. The Motley moved but she did not. I opening the door, as my heart sank deeper, still she moved not a muscle. I touched her firmly with my right hand. She was not stiff, but neither was she solid and muscular. There was no push back from her flexing muscle as I gently squeezed for a reaction. She was dead and apparently very freshly dead.
This lovely creature that had never missed a meal except when gravid three years ago. The Beauty that was nearly 8' long, almost 8 years of age and my pride and joy amongst my Boas was lifeless. She had seemed submissive to the courtship she had endured for the past 3 1/2 months. She ate each time I offered a rat during this breeding season. Three times did she eat including the last time less than three weeks ago. She had appeared very thick and I was anticipating an ovulation at any moment. Anticipating with great interest actually that massive swelling that she will never have again. I am heart sick. I am down. But! I am not defeated.
You see, she did have that litter three years ago. I still have every baby from that litter save one. No big surprise there I suppose. There will be more eventually. Several of her male babies have bred this year and I hope to have babies from them. While she is gone, her genes will live on and I look forward to making more. I was so looking forward to this particular female producing some Monster Tail Hypo Motleys with her color. That will have to wait now, but I will continue to work toward that end. Eventually it will happen.
I thought I would take this very negative experience to talk about this just a bit. Breeders do not like to talk about this. It happens. When you have a lot of Boas, you will see it more often than you wish to. Boas die. And they die sometimes without any warning whatsoever. Everything can be going perfectly well. No sign that anything is amiss and... it happens. It happens less often with males. At least that has been my experience. Females that have been successfully bred are more likely to do this. Older females that are never successfully bred, seem to just go on and on. But once a female has been bred successfully, she may shock you one day. I don't know how many times it has happened to me. I have been keeping a lot of Boas for a long time. I rarely get rid of older animals choosing rather to keep them indefinitely. I have seen it. I never get used to it. I just wish there was a good way to know better than I do. Had I known anything was wrong perhaps I could have done something differently. The beauty is dead, but not gone as her genes live on.
Here is a shot of her mom the original Monster Tail:
Here was the Red Monster Tail Hypo was as a baby right after her first shed:
Another shot as a little one:
Her she was when a bit over a year old:
And in all her glory when she was about 7' long two years ago:
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