Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I come before you today to let everyone know, that my 2yr. old male eastern indigo named "Cloyd", has died. He was my friend, and my child. He was the cornerstone of my collection. he was the coolest snake I have ever seen, and It has been an honor to have worked with him. His loss is significant , not only to us, but to his species as well. He was not around near long enough. I miss him like I just can't describe. Many of you out there already know what I feel.

It happened two weeks ago. It took over so quickly, he was dieing before I even new he was sick, and he was gone before we could get to the vet. I just had to wait for the final results from the vet to make the announcement. He said it was crypto. He, and I and others have picked this thing apart and turned it inside out. But we are still no closer in solving the mystery of how he got it. Frankly, it's realy starting to get me down. Perhaps some day I will have an epifhany, but for now, I am left with more questions than answeres.

However, I have learned a thing or two. Which is the only positive aspect that I can see. Some changes will be made around here. Use amonia periodicaly in your cleaning regiment, as bleach will not kill it. Chlorine will not kill it in the water supply. I will be buying reverse osmosis water from now on, even though I have a well, I don't trust it now. And watch your animals more closely. This thing can be very hard to detect. They can carry it for a long time. Any little thing , takem to the vet! Take a fecal sample, but don,t expect to find anything. We did not find it the first time.

This mess has caused me to loose faith in god. But my faith in humanity has been restored by Dean Alessandrini, and Carl Gosset. These are two good guys! They have both earned my absolute respect, and my never ending gratitude. Thanks guys, I hope to shake hands, look you in the eye, and tell you thank- you soon.

I would like to hear from everyone who has anything positive to say. Especialy O.H. I still want to learn, and even though I have given up on God, I will never give up on indigos.

I am a newby to the Dry scene, and I do not desereve the respect of anyone here. Sometimes I must sound like a real jerk. I am sorry. Please forgive me. I do not come with the intent of hurting anyones feelings, or making anyone mad. But being the socialy challenged individual that I am, it never fails. In the end we all come here for the same thing, to learn and teach about the Great American Snake.
Tony-thesnakeman-Carlisle
"No tree would be foolish enough to allow it's branches to argue amongst themselves."

>>I come before you today to let everyone know, that my 2yr. old male eastern indigo named "Cloyd", has died. He was my friend, and my child. He was the cornerstone of my collection. he was the coolest snake I have ever seen, and It has been an honor to have worked with him. His loss is significant , not only to us, but to his species as well. He was not around near long enough. I miss him like I just can't describe. Many of you out there already know what I feel.
>>
>>It happened two weeks ago. It took over so quickly, he was dieing before I even new he was sick, and he was gone before we could get to the vet. I just had to wait for the final results from the vet to make the announcement. He said it was crypto. He, and I and others have picked this thing apart and turned it inside out. But we are still no closer in solving the mystery of how he got it. Frankly, it's realy starting to get me down. Perhaps some day I will have an epifhany, but for now, I am left with more questions than answeres.
>>
>>However, I have learned a thing or two. Which is the only positive aspect that I can see. Some changes will be made around here. Use amonia periodicaly in your cleaning regiment, as bleach will not kill it. Chlorine will not kill it in the water supply. I will be buying reverse osmosis water from now on, even though I have a well, I don't trust it now. And watch your animals more closely. This thing can be very hard to detect. They can carry it for a long time. Any little thing , takem to the vet! Take a fecal sample, but don,t expect to find anything. We did not find it the first time.
>>
>>This mess has caused me to loose faith in god. But my faith in humanity has been restored by Dean Alessandrini, and Carl Gosset. These are two good guys! They have both earned my absolute respect, and my never ending gratitude. Thanks guys, I hope to shake hands, look you in the eye, and tell you thank- you soon.
>>
>>
>>I would like to hear from everyone who has anything positive to say. Especialy O.H. I still want to learn, and even though I have given up on God, I will never give up on indigos.
>>
>>
>>I am a newby to the Dry scene, and I do not desereve the respect of anyone here. Sometimes I must sound like a real jerk. I am sorry. Please forgive me. I do not come with the intent of hurting anyones feelings, or making anyone mad. But being the socialy challenged individual that I am, it never fails. In the end we all come here for the same thing, to learn and teach about the Great American Snake.
>>Tony-thesnakeman-Carlisle
>>"No tree would be foolish enough to allow it's branches to argue amongst themselves."

Tony,
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I have lost animals in the past that were near and dear to me. It's crushing blow. It's something that the non-herper could never begin to understand. Don't let it shake your faith, though. He didn't really have anything to do with it. Cryptosporidium serpentis caused the death of your Indigo. God can't interfere in every life and death, and everything that lives has to die. Cloyd can't really be replaced, but you can get another Indigo. After a while, you'll be so absorbed in raising and taking care of the new one that you won't really think about this too much.

You are right, Carl and Dean are two of the "good guys". There's a bunch of them on this forum...we can be sort of a support group when somebody needs it.

Crypto can be very, very difficult to eliminate from your cages and cage furniture. You may want to consider retiring the cage Cloyd lived in and just get a new cage for your next one. You may also want to be extra diligent in sterilizing the rest of your cages and cage furniture so that it doesn't spread to the rest of your collection. It can go through a collection like wildfire. I'd thoroughly disinfect everything with either household ammonia or some quaternary ammonia product like Roccal-D, then rinse it thoroughly and let it dry in the sun for a couple of days.

If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just my condolences, Tony. It is very sad, but it will get better.

O.H.,Thanks a bunch! I have realy learned who my freinds are! As for God, the jury is still out.

Just wanted to tell you that I fully support your studbook idea, and if there is anything I can do to help, I would be honored. I have a computer, lot's of time, and too much ambition. I still wish there was some way to have a D.N.A. catalogue, with samples stored. D.N.A. cannot be faked, records can. While I would support useing wild caught specimens to bolster the captive gene pool, I would not suppoort doing it without the governments o.k., and D.N.A. would tell us what we need to know to keep it all straight. But it is only a dream for now. Later,
T.
"No tree would be foolish enough to have branches that argue amonst themselves".

I am very sorry to hear of your loss. I know exactly what it feels like because, I, too, lost one of my prized indigos over a year ago to crypto. It was devestating but also made me be thankful for following such a stringent quarantine and husbandry process. No other snakes were affected but like you, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what caused this (there's no doubt this snake was sick before I received it).

Don't let a situation like this allow you to lose faith in God. He cares as much about that snake as you; believe me. Use this as a learning experience. You are already making plans on improving your husbandry practices and who knows, somewhere down the road you might look back and see a positive in this terrible situation. Also, don't let this deter you from wanting to get another indigo; this sort of thing happens to the best of us.

If you are interested in obtaining another indigo (soon) let me know as I might have an idea. Take care, Rob

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation, IL

That must hurt quite a bit. Easterns are indded special creatures and the loss of one is no small thing to deal with. I have never had an adult Eastern due upon me but have had neonates not feed, and die, which is hard enough to deal with. I have had a few boa deaths that really bummed me out, and made me truly paranoid about who I bought from in the future. Sorry to hear about your loss. Dont give up on Easterns though, we need more appreciative people like you in this world.

sincerely,

Fred Albury

Thanks to you Fred, and to all who responded. Really helped a lot.
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amonst themseleves".