GrumpyTheSnake
Well-Known Member
I don't know whether Angry is the right word.. maybe devastated is a better choice.
Some of you have probably seen my enthusiastic threads on our new BHP. We have fallen head over heals in love with our little chap, he is just soooo adorable. Well, today we got the worst news I think we could have been given. Our little boy doesn't stand much of a chance of surviving.
Let me explain... the day he arrived, we noticed he had a lump near his heart area, so we rang the person that we bought him from. We were informed that he had been taken to a vet and that he had enlarged ribs and it was normal and he was fine. I asked this person why they wanted to sell him, and they said because they had bought a trio and then found that there were two males. So one had to go. (this comes into play later)
Well, after speaking with a vet on the phone, he told us that he'd never heard of such a thing, and gave us a list of possible problems. So to cut a long story short.. we took him to the vet, only to find out that he doesn't have enlarged ribs.. he has a lesion just behind his heart at the entrance to his oesophagus likely to be an abscess, but could also be a tumor. But further more, he has sustained a broken neck that has since calcified.
The fracture has healed and nothing can be done about that, and it doesn't seem to cause him any discomfort. But the lesion is a different story. We have him on a 21 day course of antibiotics to see if it will reduce the swelling, but it's a long shot. Next step is needle aspiration, culture and most likely surgery. The vet has told us that we probably only stand a 50/50 chance of survival if he goes in for surgery, because the problem is so close to his heart. There is just no guarantee.
I rang the person that sold us the snake, and said, "remember when you said he had enlarged ribs?".. their first response was .. "Oh.. is he dead?" .... now I don't know about any of you.. but that seemed a little sus to me!! Then I was informed that the vet they had seen was no longer there. Uhuh... surprise surprise!! Then when I told them that my vet had said that the break was a few months old, and there was a good chance the lesion and the break coincided, and was more than likely the result of something landing on the snake or being stepped on.. (you get the point).... this person told me that it was like it when they bought him. They bought the snake when he was only 2 months old, and according to them, the breeder had told them that it was normal and all was okay.
Well, I have since spoken to the breeder, and the snake was not in this condition, it was in perfect health, and he was bought as a single snake not a trio!!!
If you are still with me at this point... thankyou for letting me vent. I am just so ... angry:evil:. We should have been told about the "enlarged ribs" before we ever paid any money. And then to just get excuses and lies. And all this is without considering the cost!! $900 for the snake, $250 vet bill, not to mention the cost of setting up an enclosure!! Now we are up for surgery costs on top, and may not even have our little guy at the end of it all.
I'll go now. Thanks for listening. I'm just so sad about our little friend.:cry::cry::cry:
Some of you have probably seen my enthusiastic threads on our new BHP. We have fallen head over heals in love with our little chap, he is just soooo adorable. Well, today we got the worst news I think we could have been given. Our little boy doesn't stand much of a chance of surviving.
Let me explain... the day he arrived, we noticed he had a lump near his heart area, so we rang the person that we bought him from. We were informed that he had been taken to a vet and that he had enlarged ribs and it was normal and he was fine. I asked this person why they wanted to sell him, and they said because they had bought a trio and then found that there were two males. So one had to go. (this comes into play later)
Well, after speaking with a vet on the phone, he told us that he'd never heard of such a thing, and gave us a list of possible problems. So to cut a long story short.. we took him to the vet, only to find out that he doesn't have enlarged ribs.. he has a lesion just behind his heart at the entrance to his oesophagus likely to be an abscess, but could also be a tumor. But further more, he has sustained a broken neck that has since calcified.
The fracture has healed and nothing can be done about that, and it doesn't seem to cause him any discomfort. But the lesion is a different story. We have him on a 21 day course of antibiotics to see if it will reduce the swelling, but it's a long shot. Next step is needle aspiration, culture and most likely surgery. The vet has told us that we probably only stand a 50/50 chance of survival if he goes in for surgery, because the problem is so close to his heart. There is just no guarantee.
I rang the person that sold us the snake, and said, "remember when you said he had enlarged ribs?".. their first response was .. "Oh.. is he dead?" .... now I don't know about any of you.. but that seemed a little sus to me!! Then I was informed that the vet they had seen was no longer there. Uhuh... surprise surprise!! Then when I told them that my vet had said that the break was a few months old, and there was a good chance the lesion and the break coincided, and was more than likely the result of something landing on the snake or being stepped on.. (you get the point).... this person told me that it was like it when they bought him. They bought the snake when he was only 2 months old, and according to them, the breeder had told them that it was normal and all was okay.
Well, I have since spoken to the breeder, and the snake was not in this condition, it was in perfect health, and he was bought as a single snake not a trio!!!
If you are still with me at this point... thankyou for letting me vent. I am just so ... angry:evil:. We should have been told about the "enlarged ribs" before we ever paid any money. And then to just get excuses and lies. And all this is without considering the cost!! $900 for the snake, $250 vet bill, not to mention the cost of setting up an enclosure!! Now we are up for surgery costs on top, and may not even have our little guy at the end of it all.
I'll go now. Thanks for listening. I'm just so sad about our little friend.:cry::cry::cry:
