too many geckos

[Dioxin]

I'm president of a reptile club. In my area 90 adult leopard geckos were confiscated because someone left them in an apartment and just disappeared. Another rescue group was supposed to help out, but they just stopped returning calls. So, now all 90 geckos are coming to my house tomorrow. :roll:

Should be fun.

[Queenzkilla1]

Have fun.

[LordCompulon]

I like leopard geckos. My brother had one for a while. They very well-mannered little creatures. You'll need a LOT of crickets, right?

Comp

[Dioxin]

yes, I like one or two leopard geckos too :D 90 will be an unfortunate challenge. Luckily I have a lot of people behind me. It won't take long for others to help with the rehabilitation until the court case is over.


It will be a lot of food. I'm not going to power feed them. Just maintain their weight. When you feed crickets, you have to watch them pretty closely. It doesn't take much for a lizard to be chewed up by crix. They will gnaw at the eyes and skin for food and moisture. Some people put greens or dog food in the cage and that helps. We aren't going to take any chances and just feed them meal worms. There were rumors back in the day that they could chew through the stomach of lizards. It's not really likely. Either way, a lot safer than crickets. I'm talking to some worm breeders that I know... see if anyone will be kind enough to supply us with free worms.

[RegentOne]

Good luck on this one Dioxin. Man, that is a lot of geckos. Hopefully folks in your area will lend a helping hand.

[Sarge]

Have fun with all the geckos. Is'nt 90 alot??????

[Dioxin]

yeah, 90 is pretty insane. The guy got away with it because he housed them in pretty tight quarters. If one crapped in the cage, I'm sure they were all covered. There's a chronic wasting "disease" associated with being housed too many in small quarters. Some type of natural bug or protozoa in their digestive system that takes them over if it gets out of control.


Anyway, another rescue group in the area took half. A friend of ours took 14 and another took 8. I spent today peeling stuck and necrotic tissue off of toes. It was gross. (Explanation: When dehydrated lizards shed, little rings of shed get stuck around the toes. As the shed skin rings dehydrates and shrinks, it cuts off circulation. This leads to necrotic/dead tissue.)

[fromunda]

I use to have an igguana, lizzards are cool pets. I fet it crickets for a while untill her leg started to swell up, it was about 3 times its normal size. When I took her to the vet they said that the crickets I was feeding her werent bread for feeding. You know how hard it is to give an iguana a shot, it suckd. So if you use crickets make sure they are the right kind

My friends roomate had a terrarium with a bunch of geckos and her son opend the aquerium and let them all out,she said it took them a long time to find all of them. Good luck.

[Dioxin]

formunda, iguanas are strict herbivores in nature. In captivity, people used to feed them dog and cat food because they grew quickly. However vets found that protein (whether prepared or from insects) caused kidney failure over time. The swelling leg certainly could have been caused by that.


In all actuality, the crickets that we get from the pet store for feeding lizards are not really all that healthy. If anyone is keeping cricket eating lizards, it's important to gut load first. This means feed the crix some healthy foods that are high in calcium. Then, this gets transferred to the reptile. I'm thinking that calcium deficiency might have led to the iguana's swolen leg.


Loose animals suck. My friend lost a 9ft scrub python. We found it three weeks later sitting right behind its cage. He also lost a veiled chameleon that my g/f and I spent a really long time rehabilitating (never found). He lost an eastern milk that someone killed thinking it was a copperhead. The snake was wild caught, but we spent about 6 months getting it to feed on rodents. He also lost a super sweet white southern pine that I bought him (he lost the female and I still have the male). Those were pretty frustrating losses...

[Dioxin]

holy crap, I thought I was busy before. Now it's just insane. A local pet shop was raided by the SPCA and 200 reptiles and amphibians were confiscated. I'm the only one right now in the area with time and experience to devote, so I'm heading up the care effort on these guys. I go to the shelter before AND after work. I'm freakin exhausted.

http://www.spcaec.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5797

[Locke]

Can't anyone release the geckos (or several) into their natural environment?

[hotwire]

good luck dioxin..looks like u got ur hands full..

[LordCompulon]

You could start your own reptile zoo..."Dioxin's Denizens" and charge people $5 admission. Or you could start up your own shop. If you have the experience and means to take care of so many, you could support a business.

[Queenzkilla1]

Wo i thought the geckos were goin to be tough but this dam that must be hard i dont think that snakes get along wit me wait wait yea they dont so i think u should change ur name 2 DR.Dioxin wow sounds good already alrite good job have fun dont kill ya self now or i will get in trouble o wait i wont.



Queenz

[UncleRico]

8O Hey nice to see another reptile guy out there. I would offer to take some in but I'm maxed out in my small room with a Mali Uro in a 100 gal a veiled cham in a screen 100gal, three female and one male leopard gecks, a RES turtle and some fish. Plus I live in Texas haha...If I was moving to a bigger house a little sooner I'd help you out man =) Mebbe if I find someone in your area I'll PM you, I might have someone I know up there. That sucks, I think your friend had issues keeping snakes in one place Yeah those White pines are pretty hot looking. Was it a white-wall or luecistic/albino? If you need some worms I could send you a starter colony of beetles or pupae too breed but I don't have enough worms to put a dent in that many stomachs. Those pics from the raid are terrible. Looks like the dude got too into the money side of things and it got out of hand. That's happened to me unfortunately, but I'm back on the right track and use only naturalistic enclousures too (thus the lack of space ) Seems like he have started off ok seeing all those vision cages and nice rack systems. Oh well. Hey man your a great guy for doin' that for all those little guys. I salute ya haha. Good luck man,