oh, i'm SO sorry. i was hoping for good news, and i feel terrible for you.

my husband and i have had our redfoot since she was a hatchling in '03, so i know how attached you can get to them -- mine needed surgery due to some female reproductive issues (eggs stuck in her system that she would neither lay nor reabsorb into her body), and got an infection, and for a bit i wondered if she was gonna make it. there's so much that can go wrong with them, even if they're in the best of hands. even just anesthesia can be a risky business.

my sincere condolences. you did right by him, and hopefully he knows that, somehow. i like to think so.