Worried about Earl

[Catherine]

This is Earl the day I realized he was coming home with me.


He was an older snake, but he was still fine looking.
I have a beautiful son from Earl and it gives me an idea of what Earl was like as a young snake. He is the long one that looks like a baby Earl.


This is Earl with his true love, Caitrin

You can see how big he is.

Here he is trying to help her lay eggs. He meant well, but he wasn't much help.

This is Earl a year ago.

He is healthy looking and his weight is good.

Now I don't want to take his picture. He has lost a lot of weight. I can feel a hard growth along one side. My guess when you add the weight loss and how he looks, it is probably cancer. I am not sure. Maybe Earl is just having a hard winter and come the spring he will rally and return to his old self.
The trouble is, I don't believe it for a minute. My instinct is that I am going to lose him. I don't know how long it will take, but I think Earl is dying. It could be months. I have moved his tank so I can watch him more closely. I certainly won't let him suffer. I want to enjoy what time we have left. He is certainly happy to be with Caitrin. I am just watching him go from a strong vigorous snake to an old and fragile creature.