For seven years I’ve had a lovely, quiet, low-maintenance pet. His name was Ayame, and he is a snake.
Interesting use of tenses there you say? Well, Ayame is still alive, but he’s not my pet any more. Since Xander was born I didn’t handle Ayame as much (read: at all) and it became quite difficult to feed Ayame once Xander was able to walk because Xander would come over and try to stick his adorable baby hand in the terrarium and fat, pink baby fingers look not too dissimilar to snake food.
I was speaking with some good friends and Ayame’s sad situation came up in conversation, so my friends went through all the effort of getting a handling licence so they could take care of him.
Today those friends came over to take Ayame home with them. I’m glad Ayame is going to a home where he will get more affection, but it is still sad to see him go. I am lucky that it was friends who took him, so I can just go for a visit and see him again, but there’s still a sense of loss, because now there’s an empty terrarium under the TV.
Has anyone else had to make a decision like this for the good of their pet? I’d like to hear some stories to make me feel better.