Gecko Sitters?

[2bacop]

I am going on vacation for a week starting June 6th, my questions are 1) Do I need to get a gecko sitter to feed her or will she be ok for a week without food and 2) If i did get a gecko sitter how much would you think is fair to pay someone to take care of my leo(s) for a week

Right now I only have one leo who normally eats every other day but by June I will more than likely have another young leo from Chris Smith. I am thinking a will need a sitter which is fine, I dont mine paying for one I just dont know what a fair pay would be for this sort of thing.

 

[Foreverandever]

I'd get a "sitter". I think like $20 should be plenty. It's not like a dog where theyd have to spend 30 mins a day walking it. Just feeding, and a little cleaning of poo is all they'd have to do. A true friend would do it for free though lol

 

[WoodLizard]

yeah, i agree, i would get a gecko sitter, but, some one you trust.

 

[BGalloway]

Definitely get someone you can trust. Regardless of if they know about geckos or not train them in how you want your animals cared for. The cost is whatever you think is appropriate, if your gecko sitter is honest they might actually tell you what you're offering them is too much. (That’s what my soon to be gecko sitter said when I offered her $10 a day. She's getting $5 a day plus extra cash in case she needs to run out and get extra crickets or cricket vegetables.)

 

[Mel&Keith]

It's a great idea to find someone who can at least stop by and make sure your temperatures are ok and that everything has water. They can go a week without food but if you can find a friend to come over 2 or 3 times that don't mind messing with bugs then you'd be in great shape. I would consider how much of an inconvenience it it for the person watching them when figuring out the pay. If it's someone that lives 5 minutes away and they have a lot of free time you can pay a little less than someone who has to drive 20 minutes out of their way.

 

[2bacop]

Well I already know who I would get, another pet care associate who knows almost as much as me about leos and def. more about other reptiles than me. She will have to drive about 20mins, I was thinking about $25 dollars a day (remembering she only will come over every other day). I think she is just going to see if my leos can stay at work in the conference room so she can just do it at work but idk if my boss will agree to that or not, if that is the case however I will probably drop to $15 since she will be at work anyway and wont have to use gas.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Well I already know who I would get, another pet care associate who knows almost as much as me about leos and def. more about other reptiles than me. She will have to drive about 20mins, I was thinking about $25 dollars a day (remembering she only will come over every other day). I think she is just going to see if my leos can stay at work in the conference room so she can just do it at work but idk if my boss will agree to that or not, if that is the case however I will probably drop to $15 since she will be at work anyway and wont have to use gas.

What about just having your freind keep them at their house while your gone?

 

[2bacop]

What about just having your freind keep them at their house while your gone?

Because she has so many reptiles and hamsters at her house and she can only keep them in her room b/c she lives with her parents. There is truly no space there.

 

[Shem]

I have had terrible luck with "gecko sitters".
My advice, find someone who already knows what to do!

 

[2bacop]

I have had terrible luck with "gecko sitters".
My advice, find someone who already knows what to do!

The person who is going to do it does already know what to do, she has several leos, two uros, lots of different frogs and toads and some hamsters. She also works with me so I know she is trained the same way I am.

 

[Haligren]

Yeah, I'd definiatly get a sitter. You never know what might happen.

I'll be going away for a week here soon myself, and have enlisted my husband to care for Tiamat. However....he HATES bugs. So I hope she'll get fed.

 

[Foreverandever]

Jeez... $25 a day for a 20 min drive?? You're a good friend lol. I personally think thats way too much...but hey its your money. Id just figure out how much her total trips would take in gas then pay that plus like an extra $10 for the week.

 

[Mel&Keith]

We usually pay our gecko sitter (who used to be Keith's business partner when he owned his reptile shop) about $80 a day but be drives over an hour round trip. We also have a lot of geckos! LOL I think $25 sounds very reasonable for this situation though.

 

[2bacop]

We usually pay our gecko sitter (who used to be Keith's business partner when he owned his reptile shop) about $80 a day but be drives over an hour round trip. We also have a lot of geckos! LOL I think $25 sounds very reasonable for this situation though.

I was thinking so I mean it is a 40 min round trip plus gas and for two leos I think that sounds about right.

 

[Foreverandever]

Haha I guess Im a cheap-o then

 

[lizardlove]

Didn't want to make a new thread...

I'm studying abroad in Ireland in Spring '10, so I'll be gone for about 5 months. I want to try and get my friend to watch my gecko and my fish (of course I'd pay for food and other misc. supplies) but I'm not sure how much I should pay her. She only lives six houses down from me so travel isn't an issue. I'd pay her by the week, and she'd be on the job from mid to late January until early to mid June. Is $10/week good?

 

[Scooziee11]

we pay $10 per day for our dog sitter...but since its only a gecko and fish and they would only need to go once a day or once every few days...then i would say $10 a week would be a fair price...since you will be gone for such a long time. You could always as ur friend what they think would be a fair price.

 

[Redleg]

Since geckos store their excess food that they don't immediately use in their tail, they should be fine for a week or two. Remember, in the wild, they'd be lucky if they can find food on a daily basis let alone water. Most of their water source is from the prey that they eat or the dew drops in their surrounding environment.

We have pampered our geckos too much, lets think about the natural environment that they are from and how they have survived all these years.

As long as their environment.....terrarium/cage/rack/etc..... does not change drastically, they should be fine for a week.

Ultimately its your decision on how you care for your leos in your absence. For most collectors/breeders with a large collection, it makes since to spend a little $$ to care for the leos then take a chance at loosing the collection.

 

[BGalloway]

$10 a week sounds a bit cheap to me, but if they are only taking care of the animals a few days a week instead of every day it seems reasonable.
Ask your gecko sitter what would be a fair price.
Also let them know where you normally get your crickets and other supplies from so they know where to go when they eventually run out. If it was me I'd say keep the receipts, just so you have an idea of how much your gecko is eating and your sitter gets fair pay for expenses.

 

[lizardlove]

Well, she lives a one-minute walk away from my house and I would have the food and supplies provided (my parents could pick it up, I'm worried that they won't care for my gecko), so that won't be an expense for her. I'm worried because I can't really afford much more than $10 a week for her when I'll be paying her for 20+ weeks. But I don't think she can do it anyway, so I don't know what I'm going to do... Just try and convince my mom and dad to take care of her, I suppose.