Ruby

Ruby was the first snake owned by Clan McNulty. She was a red-albino corn snake that Kevin and Debbie purchased in 1989.

Life

Debbie and Kevin's Calico Street house was just down the block from the Mira Mesa Mall, which had a pet store. Debbie was window shopping at the mall when she spied the beautifully-colored young snake they brough home a reptile starter set complete with 10-inch long Ruby.

Snakes grow their whole lives, and Ruby grew rapidly. By the time she was five, she was nearly five feet long. She was very tame, and never nipped or struck while being handled. While it is difficult to ascribe any emotion to a snake, it did seem that she enjoyed being handled. She became an educational showpiece on several ocassions as she was brought to many programs that Kevin and Debbie did for their local wildlife resuce program.

Death

While handling her one day, Debbie noticed a lump in Ruby's side. By now the clan was living in Tallahassee, which fortunately had an exotic-pet vet who had done his internship with a reptile practice. He examined Ruby and performed surgery to remove the lump. Unfortunately, as he explained, "Snakes take long time to get sick, but they take even longer to get better." Ruby never recovered from the surgery and was euthanized in 1998. Never fully understanding the calciferous mass on her side, the vet respectfully asked if he could perform an autopsy. Hoping to spare another family the same fate, the McNulty's agreed. The vet found smaller, repeated masses continuing down her side. By the time the one lump became large enough to feel, it was alrerady too late.

The clan enjoyed the experience of owning a snake so much that it would not be long before they owned another, but they would always fondly remember their colorful Ruby.