Had to euthanize my buddy tonight... :'(

[Lingling]

Did you try to calculate how much time it took you to drive home pick him/her up and drive to the vet to be put down, plus the time it took from the initial assault, the ripping and tearing of his legs and broken bones.

Thanks for that vivid depiction; seeing him like that wasn't quite enough - I needed to hear that, as well. Actually, I didn't have time to grab the stopwatch before running out the door. Why the cuss does that even matter? I did everything I could to get him help immediately. I knew the vet couldn't save him; I could have kept my grocery money and just let him pass on his own. I did the responsible thing for him as fast as I could.
Glad you mentioned moving the rat cage to a different room. I hadn't even thought of that yet.


As far as everyone else goes... I appreciate the sympathy and kind words. Of course I've learned a huge lesson from the loss of my big guy.

 

[sagemoon2004]

Extremely sorry for your loss! Very sad story, and again, sometimes things happen beyond our control. It can happen to anyone's pet, thus the fragileness of life, our own included. May you quickly find peace....

 

[Action Jackson]

That really sucks. Very sorry to hear you lost your Chameleon.



Quote:
Originally Posted by javsto
Did you try to calculate how much time it took you to drive home pick him/her up and drive to the vet to be put down, plus the time it took from the initial assault, the ripping and tearing of his legs and broken bones.

Wow, that was totally uncool.

 

[Lingling]

I buried him this morning with a couple leaves from the plant he slept in every night. Glad the ground was soggy... made it quick and just a little easier.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

I'm so sorry for your loss!
We all know it was an accident!
Do you plan on keeping the rat?
I wish you the best. I know that I would be crying so hard!

As for that ridiculous comment on the second page....that was really unnecessary.

 

[javsto]

sugar coating only goes so far

 

[pinocchiosmommy]

It's not sugar coating..no one can know all the dangers for their pets or children for that matter. All that we can do is try to protect them. Sometimes things happen to everyone. That's why there are tragedys.

 

[Lingling]

Do you plan on keeping the rat?

If it were up to me, I would really rather not... but it's my sister's rat, and she loves it as much as I do the chameleons.

And Javsto, thanks for you "advice", but I honestly don't want to hear it. There is a huge difference between making helpful suggestions (kindly) and slamming someone just for the sake of making it harder on them. I cannot in ANY way see how your comments could have been helpful, for me or any future chams I might have. Save it for someone else. There are plenty of members who sympathetically suggested changes in the future, which of course I already knew where necessary.

 

[ChameleonRave]

sugar coating only goes so far

you should have simpothy, accidents do happen! If one of your animals or loved ones died would you like someone else to described how they died to hurt your feelings? I'm sure you wouldn't. Think before you speak/type.

So sorry for your loss LingLing. May your little guy Rest in Peace.

 

[jojackson]

sugar coating only goes so far

Its not as though the chance of that happening is screamingly obvious or comes immediately to mind mate! Fair dinkum!
You can make a point without going all 'carebear', but also without blatant cruelty. Your graphic depiction wasn't nessesary to 'hammer home' your point,
I think what happened, 'hammered' her more than enough.
I'm quite certain she has learned a horrible lesson about the unexpected and will never allow it to reoccur.

tact (tkt)
n.
1. Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.

Take some prozac Dude!

 

[Lingling]

Its not as though the chance of that happening is screamingly obvious or comes immediately to mind mate!

One day this week we noticed that Ling was getting a little curious about moving around more, so we immediately took the rat's cage out of the room. I was especially careful to keep an eye on him this week, and made some changes to his setup just in case he decided to wander. I still had a few more things to do. Well my sister moved the rat's cage back into the room when I wasn't home. I was as cautious as I could have been, and she just didn't know any better.

 

[jojackson]

Well there you go, you just cant predict something like that. Dont blame yourself, Im assuming your not phsycic!

Really sorry to hear such a horrible thing happened, but dont let it put you off, you know what they say 'get back on the horse that threw you".
Best wishes for the future.

 

[yokman]

im sorry....but if you let your pet free range with other "deadlier" pets in the area, its tantamount to letting him swim in a pool of pirahnas, or letting him share a cage with a boa. Free ranging is nice idea, its something i would love to acheive but i have two small dogs who, whenever i let them outside in them outside always make a bee-line for the oak in my backyard only because they know that the squirrels live there and always try their hardest to catch and maul them. Thats the only reason why I would never let my cham free range anywhere in my house.
Maybe you should have put the rat cage in another room away from his free range area....did you try to calculate how much time it took you to drive home pick him/her up and drive to the vet to be put down, plus the time it took from the initial assault, the ripping and tearing of his legs and broken bones. thats alot of time to sufffer, the agony. was it hissing or making some sort of vocalization of pain? The only thing i can say is take more time later and think things through.

One would hope that those squirrels don't rip your little puppies to shreds 1 day because of YOU not taking the PROPER precautions to protect them. Have sum HEART sledgehammer and I can only hope to be as perfect as you one day as you seem to have it all figured out. This was a SAD lose and one should'nt make another feel worse then they already do!!!!!!

 

[SweetObsolete]

I am really sorry to hear of your loss. It sounds like a terrible accident.

But, thank you for posting, I don't think I would have thought of something like that. I don't have rats, but if I ever decided to free range a cham, and had a rodent/mammal in the future, I am glad to have this knowledge stored in the back of my brain.

 

[theresaintucson]

I am so very sorry.

 

[javsto]

It's not sugar coating..no one can know all the dangers for their pets or children for that matter. All that we can do is try to protect them. Sometimes things happen to everyone. That's why there are tragedys.

no but do you let your kids play in the street, do you not keep certain locks on your cabinets so that they dont get into the chlorine or other household chemicals, do you have some firearms in your home and keep them away or hidden from them. you do things or take precautions cause you are looking out for thier safety and security. I personally dont like rodents of any kind, nor have I ever kept one as a pet so im not sure how this guys rat was housed, either in an aquarium or some sort of wire cage/bird cage but it was something less than secure in order for his cham to be attacked thfough and mauled but its ok because he didnt take that into consideration so take that to heart and give him a pat on the head and a cookie to make him feel better.

 

[javsto]

Its not as though the chance of that happening is screamingly obvious or comes immediately to mind mate! Fair dinkum!
You can make a point without going all 'carebear', but also without blatant cruelty. Your graphic depiction wasn't nessesary to 'hammer home' your point,
I think what happened, 'hammered' her more than enough.
I'm quite certain she has learned a horrible lesson about the unexpected and will never allow it to reoccur.

tact (tkt)
n.
1. Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.

Take some prozac Dude!

im sorry but i have no idea what "fair dinkum" means so i cant properly respond to that.

 

[Samcham1]

The OP said they removed their sisters rat from the room and the sister put it back into the room when the OP was not home. Maybe like some one going into your locked cabinet and not closing it and your kid getting into your household products even though you took the necessary precautions to avoid a tragedy. Accidents happen all the time dude, get over it.

 

[javsto]

If it were up to me, I would really rather not... but it's my sister's rat, and she loves it as much as I do the chameleons.

There are plenty of members who sympathetically suggested changes in the future, which of course I already knew where necessary.

ok so you knew there were changes to be made, changes that you knew were necessarty yet you didnt act on them or put enough thought into them. Ok I can understand that you had/have midterms and are busy studying trying to better yourself or your scholastic future, weve all been there. But can I assume after all that studying you still found time to put the books aside and maybe picked up your ps3 controller and blast some zombie's to pieces or (not knowing how old you are) either went out to the local bar and threw some back with some friends or even visited your girlfriend or boyfriend for some personnal time together. all that could have happened but we dont know if it did. Some where in there you hypothetically could have told your sister not to put the rat in the same room that your cam is freeranging in because you would like to have prevented any sort of accident. woulda coulda shoulda. we learn from our mistakes.

 

[javsto]

The OP said they removed their sisters rat from the room and the sister put it back into the room when the OP was not home. Maybe like some one going into your locked cabinet and not closing it and your kid getting into your household products even though you took the necessary precautions to avoid a tragedy. Accidents happen all the time dude, get over it.

its not the same cause if i locked the cage or cabinet then no one would have been able to open it and let some harm come to my kids, which i dont have.