Two deaths in a week

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freves

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Foster Reves
Earlier this week one of my T. taliangensis died. It is never pleasant when an animal dies however it happens so rarely that I did not worry much. Tonight I found one of the T. shanjing dead. Both of these individuals have seemed to be doing well. All of the others seem fine and almost all of the fed in front of me tonight. Still though, I am concerned. If I lose anymore then I plan on taking the body over to the Virginia Tech school of Veterinary medicine for an autopsy. I am obviously hoping that this will not happen but if it does would it be better to freeze or refridgerate the body? Also, the shanjing was already decomposing so I threw it away.
Chip
 
I was told to refridgerate specimens.

I'm sorry for your loss and I hope it was a freak one time thing.
 
That sucks, Chip.

Refrigeration is probably more appropriate. Freezing can cause tissue damage. I don't know if that would have an effect on necropsy results, but I imagine the more intact the specimen, the better.
 
I hate to lose caudates...it's gut wrenching. I hope all your others stay well.
 
Well there have been no further deaths at this point and again none of the individuals appear to be acting any differently. Hopefully the two deaths were just an unfortunate coincidence.
Chip
 
freves said:
Well there have been no further deaths at this point and again none of the individuals appear to be acting any differently. Hopefully the two deaths were just an unfortunate coincidence.
Chip
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Chip,

Keep your head up. I have had similar unexpected deaths of healthy animals and just have to remember that we collect living animals and not baseball cards ;-)

Travis
 
So sorry. I definitely can empathize with you, in the past 24 hours I have lost a dart frog and a scorpion. However on the up side, I think I know why I lost my dart frog, two of my red-eye tadpoles have morphed, and I received an e-mail saying my cave salamanders would ship tomorrow.
 
All of the other animals continue to do well. I am beginning to think about how much more space and time I would have if I did collect something like baseball cards though...
Chip
 
freves said:
I am beginning to think about how much more space and time I would have if I did collect something like baseball cards though...
Chip
Click to expand...

I have been having very similar thoughts lately. The thing is...you always come back to what you love. We could sell out or sell down but someday will build it back up again.

Travis
 
In the five years or so since I have been predominantly into caudates I think that I have used incredible restraint overall in building my collection. There are several other species that I would love to explore keeping but at the moment I am pretty much at my personal carrying capacity. The total amount of feeding and maintenance time averages about four hours per week for my collection, including other herps, inverts, plants, and a fish tank. This is not that bad at all I suppose but sometimes when I am rushed I fantasize about what it would be like to only have three or four enclosures. As you mentioned however that situation would not last long...
Chip
 
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