Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Slytherin just died today. She was moving around a little bit this morning but now she is gone. I had an appointment to take her to the vet today. My heart is broke.

Barbara

Hi, Barbara:
My sincere sympathy for the death of Slytherin. This past spring an adult male Northern died as I was holding it. There is no way to convey the sense of loss, but I know your pain. I know you cared for her and I know you will miss her -- I still miss mine.
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Edward
Carpe diem

Does nto make it feel any better, but hey we learn how to make the next guys life that much happier and better by what we learn. Sltheren, is fine, NOW !!

Eve

Barbara, I am so sorry that slytherin died. My first skink Elvis was an imported gigas that i purchased from xtreme reptiles for like $75. I thought i was getting a bargain. Than, four days later, elvis died. I was nieve, but i will never again make the same mistake. Like i said, i am so sorry about your loss. if you decide to buy another blue tongue, just make sure you dont repeat the same mistake by getting an imported one that is probably very stressed and has lots of parasites. just out of curiosity, where did you get slytherin from?

I am so sad for you. I know you cared very much for your skink, and gave it a wonderful home.
--Denise

I tried to give her a good home. She had a piece of bark in her mouth,I will never use that bedding again. I kept her hydrated as much as I could by spraying her cage everyday and I was careful not to do too much. I soaked her every couple of days to get the food off her feet. Next time I'll put the food up higher so it don't walk in it's food; like it was suggested to me.

I got her from Zoological Imports Inc. As far as I could tell she was healthy and fat. They said she was cb. She loved her Gerber babyfood. Friday was meat day and I gave her crickets from can'o crickets and mealworms from can'o mealworms. I made sure the stuff didn't smell sour.

Thank you everyone for helping me with her and being patient with my questions.

Barbara

You sound like such a nice "lizard mom." Of course you did everything you could to give your BTS a good home. You seem in your writing to feel that you were responsible in some way, but I don't think that you were. It sounds like she had excellent care from you. I lost a very dear lizard this past summer despite giving her the best care I could too. I had a necropsy done which revealed a fatal liver problem that was beyond anyone's control. You may wish to do this, to put your mind at ease and to give yourself answers regarding what happened to your Slytherin. You might feel more in control over having it not happen again. They even gave me the body back after the necropsy, all wrapped so I didn't have see her, and I buried her on a tiny island in one of our forest ponds. It may sound silly to say so, but it gives me some comfort to look out there and see her little wild resting place. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you feel less sad soon.
--Denise

Just beause the BTS was said to have been CAPTIVE BORN doesn't neccessarily mean it was healthy to begin with. Indos were imported in large numbers this last fall and many females gave birth making the babies CAPTIVE BORN. Depending on how the babies were raised would play a large part in their future. It's difficult to keep these lizards at the reptile dealers and raise them properly for they almost need individual care. You can't just throw a bunch of crickets, chopped veggies and cat food in and hope they make it till you can pass them on. Your care sounds like you did everything you could and needed to, but as stated before, if the BTS didn't have the proper care to begin with, including nutrition, then all the care you supplied and then some probably wouldn't have made much difference. Next time though you may want to raise a baby on paper towels (then there is no doubt as to keeping its cage clean), mist the spot where it keeps warm lightly when it is sheding and feed it by hand which will increase the bond between you both and insure of proper food intake. This should consist of finely chopped to pureed veggies and catfood-turkey-chicken instead of crickets and meal worms and the like.

Sorry to hear about your loss. I have baby Indos I'm raising and they do seem to require a bit more care than other BTS species when it comes to feeding, heat, and moisture. They seem more nervous than the other species and less tolerant of humans. Some are sick from the start and because of their size there just isn't much one can do no matter how much they try. I think this might have been the case for you. I have a female that has just had babies and I have to hold her, piss her off to get her to open her mouth, then place pureed food into her mouth to ensure she eats. Hope this experiance doesn't ruin your desire for BTS as they can be great pet lizard, one that enjoys being held and rubbed. Sometimes we get a sick reptile that just doesn't respond no matter what. Mike.

I am so sorry for your loss. I know you have been worried about her/him for a while. Take Care.
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Stacey

I think I'm going to the Maryland show Jan. 3 to see if they have BTS there. Between now and then maybe everyone can help me improve on my caging and care. I have learned so much from this forum and I appreciate the suggestions I have gotten lately. Thank you for your posts and I hope someday I will be one of the ones helping others with my experience. I greatly trust this group.

Barbara

If you are interested I may be able to help if you email me at stacey_rader@yahoo.com Take care.
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Stacey