“They” say bad luck comes in threes. I’m currently hoping that’s the case because within the span of just a few months, I sadly had to say goodbye to three of my Wild Hearts. Prior to this year, I had an amazing streak without any pet deaths. 2025 just hasn’t been my year, though. Besides losing three pets rather recently, I also lost a fourth, Tito, earlier in 2025.
Tito was my male Mexican red knee tarantula. Anyone who knows tarantulas will understand that Tito’s death wasn’t unexpected, as he had molted into a mature male in late 2023. Mature male tarantulas are pretty much living on borrowed time. I felt lucky to be able to enjoy Tito for a bit over a year after he matured.
Then, in late April, I was so sad to have to say goodbye to Aurora, one of my leopard geckos. She would have turned 17 later this year, but developed kidney failure. As far as my amazing exotic vet could tell, this was just due to old age. Aurora’s death was especially hard because we had spent so many years together. She was one of my OG pets. I got her very shortly after my partner and I moved into our first apartment together.
I lost Locke, one of my axolotls, after what appeared to be a hard-hitting, very fast-acting illness. However, his vet and I were not able to determine what, exactly, was making him go downhill so quickly. Everything we tested him for came back negative, so it was hard to know how to properly treat him. We tried antibiotics and supportive care as a last-ditch effort, but sadly, Locke didn’t improve and passed in the evening on June 4th.
After Locke, I was hoping I’d get a break from dealing with having to say goodbye to my Wild Hearts. I was very sad to discover one of my scorpions, Kubuki, passed in her cage on June 10th. Her death felt especially unexpected because she didn’t show any signs of having any issues. However, on reflection, I realized that Kubuki had been with us for just over 5 years, and had come to us as an already full-grown adult. Asian forest scorpions typically have a captive life span of 5 – 8 years.
Bad Timing
After Kubuki passed on it made me realize that, chances are, I may have to deal with more Wild Heart deaths in the near future. I have another scorpion that I got at the same time as Kubuki, so he’s technically a senior scorpion, I suppose. I also have two Trinidad dwarf tarantulas that are both almost 6 years old. That tarantula species isn’t known for being especially long lived, with the average lifespan for females being around 7 years.
I suppose I, in a way, kind of set myself up to have to deal with this. Besides Locke, all my pets who have passed recently were essentially well into their senior years. At one point in time, I got quite a few pets, inverts especially, around the same time, which sadly means that now I may have to deal with losing them all around the same time too. In the future, I think I’ll try harder to space out my animals’ ages more. Having to say goodbye to so many of them in a short time frame is especially sad.
A Part of Pet Keeping
Losing four pets in a somewhat short time frame feels pretty crappy. I mean, losing pets in general is horrible, but four!? Especially when I pride myself so much on the health and wellbeing of my animals, and spend so much time, hopefully, teaching others how to improve their pets’ lives too.
The homesteading/farming community has a saying that goes something like “don’t get livestock if you can’t deal with deadstock”. AKA, anyone who cares for large numbers of animals is, at some point in time, going to have to deal with death. It’s just a part of the game, the circle of life and all that. Unfortunately, especially for those of us who keep larger numbers of pets, the same type of saying could apply to pet keeping. As heartbreaking as it is, your pets will eventually die.
The Added Challenges of Exotic Pets
I’ve kept a lot of different types of animals over the years, everything from more traditional, domestic-type pets like dogs, to species some would consider livestock (rabbits), and, of course, my exotic pets. Thankfully, our knowledge on how to keep animals well, as well as the medical care available for them, has advanced quite a bit. That doesn’t mean we can always save them, sadly. Aurora and Locke both saw amazing, trusted exotics vets before they passed. Sadly, we couldn’t save them. And good luck finding a vet that’ll see species like tarantulas and scorpions.
In some cases, it’s difficult, even for experienced keepers, to even know when something is wrong with one of their exotic pets. I was surprised when my scorpion, Kubuki, passed. As far as I was concerned, she wasn’t showing any signs of being old or sick. She was eating well, exploring her cage, hiding in her cave, doing all her normal scorpion things right up until the day before I found she had passed. Does that mean she wasn’t showing any signs of her impending death? Not necessarily. It just means that if she did show any signs, I missed them.
It’s sadly not necessarily uncommon to miss health problems in exotic pets. They are so different from ourselves, especially when you’re talking about things like inverts. So while I wish I could always have a good, 100% accurate, picture of how all my animal pals are doing, I try not to beat myself up too much when I miss something. I’m only human, and no one is perfect.
What’s Next?
We keep on keeping on. What else can you do?
Because I feel like it’s a question I always get asked when any of my animals die – No, I’m not currently planning on adding any new pets to my crew. I love my inverts, but I doubt I’ll ever get back to the numbers I had a couple of years ago. After the loss of Locke, I’m still left with 3 axolotls, which is plenty, for now. And as much as I’ve loved my time with Aurora (and my other leopard gecko, Miyuki, who is still with us) there are other species of reptiles I’d love to experience keeping in the future. Unless I come across a rescue that really needs me, I doubt I’ll get another leopard gecko.
I know not everyone gets as sentimental over their exotic pets as I do, but I think it’s important to view them each as individuals rather than part of a ‘collection’. None of my animal buddies can be replaced.
But I have been doing some fun pet related projects, such as cage upgrades and target training. Maybe I’ll post about some of those projects here soon.
Rest in Peace, Buddies
I hate having to post memorial posts, and debated a bit whether I even wanted to announce when my pets pass here. I’m not sure anyone really likes/reads these more update type posts, as I seem to get the most views on my more helpful articles (makes sense!). However, at the end of the day this site is about, and inspired by, my exotic pets – my Wild Hearts. Each and every one of them, right down to the smallest invert, is a part of our story. While they are here with us, I share their lives. I share pictures, and videos, and stories about them to connect with other animal lovers, and to hopefully help advance the care standards for animals kept in captivity.
If I’m going to continue to share my animals’ lives this way, I think it’s only fair that I also share their deaths. That I remain transparent and tell you all what happens to them. That I take the time to honor their lives and the endings to their stories. Because once a Wild Heart, always a Wild Heart. Our departed pets, big or small, may no longer be with us physically, but they will always be a part of our journey.
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