Wow, missed this thread till now. Sorry to hear you had such a thing happen, Dean. Like everyone else, I will add to the..... It wasn't intentional so don't beat yourself up too much over it..... remarks you have been getting. While it was definitely an extremely unfortunate accident, it was just that, an accident.
Anyone who has owned any number of snakes will be able to tell you that they have made costly mistakes or accidents at times. And I use the word costly not in the money sense but in the "life" sense. I have accidentally killed or hurt a couple in my dealings and, although it bothered me horribly (Terri can attest to one incident in which I was ready to get rid of all my crew I was so terribly upset with my stupid mistake), I have to regretably say that I know that it is inevitable that sometime, someway, a mistake will happen again. This may be your first such accident but if you continue in this hobby, I would venture to say it won't be your last. We are not working with dogs or cats here, with animals that are domesticated and pretty much do as we expect them to. These guys are going to try to get free at all costs, they are going to get themselves into situations, such as you experienced, when we don't expect it, and we are not going to be able to forsee all the possible accidents that can happen. AND it is inevitable that when we find we have to multitask that the chances of things happening rises. This is not said to excuse what happened/happens but to try and put a logical prospective on it.
I don't want anyone to get me wrong......I am NOT trying to say that when things happen we should brush it off and think, 'oh, well, it's going to happen sooner or later', but that after we suitably "beat ourselves up over it" that we also understand that we are human and we are going to make mistakes and that these mistakes are much easier to make with a species of animal that would rather not be in contact with humans and have no social tendencies. I am also NOT saying that we should ever take these incidences with an indifferent attitude, never. Our care should always be with the best health of our snakes in mind. I guess what I am trying to say is that you did the right thing, you came to a place where people would listen and understand and help you through the trauma of the event, and also, that if you stay with this hobby be prepared for more heartache as well as the joy of it.
I hope that the little guy ends up ok, even if it means having a tilted head all the rest of its life. Hey, he just might be your most endeared snake after all is said and done and get special status treatment...lol....not a bad trade off for him, hey?
