Most CTS enthusiasts on this site would be aware of Gigantor, my particularly large Common Tree Snake. At ~1.8m long, I've been under the assumption that she may have been the largest CTS in captivity. Certainly, I've never been made aware of a bigger one.
You may have noticed that I used the past tense just then, and that's because I have the sad task of reporting that she has recently died, most likely due to post-surgery complications. But I promised you a story and, for the most part (chronologically), it's a happy one. Although it didn't start that way ...
I acquired Gigantor three years ago in poor condition from a friend who didn't have the time to put into to get her back to good health - he'd bought her sight-unseen. Like nearly all adult Common Tree Snakes she was originally wild-caught and had seemingly never adjusted well to captivity. She'd obviously had a problem shedding, with a retained eyecap and two dodgy patches of ventral scales. Unsurprisingly her first slough with me was predominantly unsuccessful.
I didn't hold out much up for her in the early days, but she's a tough nut (as she would later prove) and she not only recovered but prospered. Without wanting to get too anthropomorphic, she was absolutely the loveliest, placid, most gentle-natured snake that I have come across. She was tolerant of anyone handling her and was happy just to site on my shoulders whilst I watched tv without feeling the need to explore ... more so than any python. I wish I had more photos of her in her prime, but some of you will have seen her at Amazing Amazon display at the expo a couple of years ago. Here's a couple of photos showing her size compared to my largest Golden CTS ...
She was quite the voracious feeder and that didn't always end up so well for me ...
Fast forward to this year and I noticed that she was gravid. She dropped a couple of slugs but there still appeared to be eggs inside. After a while I became worried and, shortly after some manipulation, another couple of slugs appeared. But there were still more in there, so I took her to the vet. As it turned out, she was eggbound, but in only one oviduct. And because she was such a large snake, the eggs were probably there originally unnoticed for a long time. An xray revealed 5 eggs and they were surgically removed.
She seemed fine after surgery and began eating immediately. She went into slough mode a couple of weeks before her stitches were due to come out and when I went to assist her get past the incision I was shocked to find the following aggressive (wasn't evident a few days earlier) infection ...
So back to vet we went and after making a 20cm incision what couldn't be seen on xray was a mass of liquid and solid pus - the result of a previous infection further up her body. In all likelihood, she had been carrying this around for years. The vets were shocked that she was still alive ... let alone prospering. They had no alternative but to remove all the pus they could, leave a drain in her and flush it out out daily.
Believe it or not, after all this, a week after surgery she was back home with a (typical CTS) smile on her face. She was kept in a newly F10-disinfected tub and regularly 'bathed' in a betadine solution. She was eating, though without her previous vigour. Once again she went into slough mode and this time the incision seemed fine, although I had to cut the skin away close to the actual stitches.
But unfortunately, the inevitable occurred and she died last weekend. Even in death she was still the epitome of placid ...
So it's sad end to a triumphant story. She lasted three years longer than I ever expected and enchanted all those who met her. RIP Gigantor.
You may have noticed that I used the past tense just then, and that's because I have the sad task of reporting that she has recently died, most likely due to post-surgery complications. But I promised you a story and, for the most part (chronologically), it's a happy one. Although it didn't start that way ...
I acquired Gigantor three years ago in poor condition from a friend who didn't have the time to put into to get her back to good health - he'd bought her sight-unseen. Like nearly all adult Common Tree Snakes she was originally wild-caught and had seemingly never adjusted well to captivity. She'd obviously had a problem shedding, with a retained eyecap and two dodgy patches of ventral scales. Unsurprisingly her first slough with me was predominantly unsuccessful.
I didn't hold out much up for her in the early days, but she's a tough nut (as she would later prove) and she not only recovered but prospered. Without wanting to get too anthropomorphic, she was absolutely the loveliest, placid, most gentle-natured snake that I have come across. She was tolerant of anyone handling her and was happy just to site on my shoulders whilst I watched tv without feeling the need to explore ... more so than any python. I wish I had more photos of her in her prime, but some of you will have seen her at Amazing Amazon display at the expo a couple of years ago. Here's a couple of photos showing her size compared to my largest Golden CTS ...
She was quite the voracious feeder and that didn't always end up so well for me ...
Fast forward to this year and I noticed that she was gravid. She dropped a couple of slugs but there still appeared to be eggs inside. After a while I became worried and, shortly after some manipulation, another couple of slugs appeared. But there were still more in there, so I took her to the vet. As it turned out, she was eggbound, but in only one oviduct. And because she was such a large snake, the eggs were probably there originally unnoticed for a long time. An xray revealed 5 eggs and they were surgically removed.
She seemed fine after surgery and began eating immediately. She went into slough mode a couple of weeks before her stitches were due to come out and when I went to assist her get past the incision I was shocked to find the following aggressive (wasn't evident a few days earlier) infection ...
So back to vet we went and after making a 20cm incision what couldn't be seen on xray was a mass of liquid and solid pus - the result of a previous infection further up her body. In all likelihood, she had been carrying this around for years. The vets were shocked that she was still alive ... let alone prospering. They had no alternative but to remove all the pus they could, leave a drain in her and flush it out out daily.
Believe it or not, after all this, a week after surgery she was back home with a (typical CTS) smile on her face. She was kept in a newly F10-disinfected tub and regularly 'bathed' in a betadine solution. She was eating, though without her previous vigour. Once again she went into slough mode and this time the incision seemed fine, although I had to cut the skin away close to the actual stitches.
But unfortunately, the inevitable occurred and she died last weekend. Even in death she was still the epitome of placid ...
So it's sad end to a triumphant story. She lasted three years longer than I ever expected and enchanted all those who met her. RIP Gigantor.