Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well.... I had 2 nice Columbian boas come into rescue the other day, but they are of the "magical shrinking snake" variety... LOL In other words, the "thirteen foot" boa apparently overhead that she was coming here, and shrank down to only about 7.5' by the time it arrived. The "nine footer" was only 7' when it got here. WOW - I just must have all the luck to have these amazing size-changing snakes always come here... hmmmm....

Some really sad news, though, that I know you guys can relate to, even though it's not a boa: I shipped 3 sulcatta tortoises out to a guy in CA on Tuesday - a 12", 8" and 6". The 8" had a REALLY super-soft, rubbery shell, and I was afraid he might not make it. The other two were healthy, though the smallest one was moderately pyramided. Well, the guy called yesterday to tell me that the box arrived, and the LARGEST one was dead... I am stunned. He was the HEALTHY one!! They were all in the same box, same packaging, same everything... I cannot understand what might have happened. In six years of shipping, I've never lost an adoptee during shipping, and I'm devastated. If only I knew what killed him, I'd at least be able to deal with it. At least the other two are doing well, and are now basking in southern CA sunshine.

Bummed,

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Bonnie Keller
VA Reptile Rescue
www.vareptilerescue.org

Divide "given" length by 2, round up if you get a .5 from the division, and add 1. Hence that 9-footer on the telephone becomes a much more reasonable 6' actual size when you see it in person, which is typically how it works anyway.

Good luck with the new ones!!!

Kara - NERD

I know that you gave him the best possible care while arranging for a new home...losing any animal sucks, but like you said - at least you know the other two have a better life now.

Hang in there, and thank you for keeping up such a labor of love!!!!

K

Sometimes you just never know when you ship. Although I am glad that the 'huge' boas were not quite sooooo large! I would be a bit suprized to find a 13 ft columbian boa. I think that would darned near be a record!
Good Luck - I'll be looking for the boas on your web page!
Erin

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Jonathan Brady
My Kingsnake Photo Gallery

... but you must not blame yourself for it.
You have done everything right and maybe it's not because of the transport. Perhaps the animal would have died anyway. One can not look into an animal. There might have been some health problem that was not obvious.

Keep up your great job in rescueing these poor beings. You do so much good!
Boa constrictor

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Beware of Commies and Mutts!