I need your help - ignorant pet owners

H

Hale

Guest
My cousin does a business of taking care of other people's pets. Her mother's friend rents from a rich family who own SEVERAL pets - none of which upon inspection - are properly taken care of by their owners.

I am asking your help for several types of critters, including leopard geckos, and I ask here because I need it as immediately as possible. I need to write them a very strong letter which includes the 'proper' care of their pets. And lay it strongly - but kindly - that if someone had seen the way their pets were taken care of, the SPCA could take them away instantly.

My cousin will take care of them this weekend - and not call the SPCA for the fact that her mother's friend cannot afford to move again, and calling the SPCA would mean her eviction. I have to respect her wishes as much as I want to call the SPCA.

They are rich people...I want to slap them in the face...but I can't, but this letter is the most I can do, and some of these pets I've had no experience with.

For example: Their leopard geckos are under weight, they've locked an apparently 'breeding' female in an incubator with no food or water - who is also underweight. There younger leopard geckos had no water, they have not cleaned the fish tanks or fed them, they lock their dogs away in the basement with no food or water all day, they have ducks that were left out all winter without their cage being cleaned (layers of frozen duck droppings to sleep on)....

Yes, this is very much neglect, but unless her mother's friend is ok with calling the SPCA, we can't, and it is not my decision to make her homeless. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

What I need is proper - and to the point - instructions on taking care of the following - or a good legit site to find the instructions to take care of the following:

- water dragons
- horned lizards
- proper breeding of leopard geckos
...and if you know anything about ducks...that'd be great, lol.
 
L

LadyGecko

Guest
I'm afraid that all that I can help you with is the Leos
If the female(s) are not gravid-have not been with a male-they should be housed separately especially if they are already undernourished

If the females have already been bred and are gravid-they should be fed as much as they will eat-crickets-roaches-super worms and a dish of plain calcium in their enclosure at all times

I would dust their insects with a multivitamin once per week and if you use Herptivite and Calcium with D3 (they need to be used together) that will work out just fine
The Leos ideally should be kept on paper towels or tile as a substrate and an under the tank heater should be used under the aquarium
The temperature measured on the floor of the aquarium right over the uth should be 88-92 degrees with a temp gradient cooling toward the other end of the tank
A digital thermometer with a probe or a temperature gun are the most accurate types to use

No direct lighting is needed for Leos and of course fresh water should be provided at all times


Insects should be gut loaded prior to being fed with either a commercial gut load or a home made one and I use baby carrots for moisture for the feeder insects

I am sure that this can be added to but it will get you started

Sandy
 
D

dim&shell

Guest
Found the below on a website (http://www.progeckos.com/caresheets/leos.htm) thought it may help:

Breeding:
Leopard geckos are one of the easiest geckos to breed. However before you attempt breeding keep in mind the amount of time, space and resources needed to maintain the breeders and babies. What will you do with the babies if they don’t sell right away? Can you still house and take care of them? These are just a few things to consider before attempting breeding. Most people fail to realize this until they have babies.

With that being said you’re breeders need to be ready. Make sure they are full grown adults, healthy and at a good weight. I recommend males a minimum of 8 months old and 45g and females being a minimum of 1 year and 50g. Although those are the minimums I prefer my females to be no less than 60g as it will be easier on them. If your female can be around 2 years old that would be even better for her.

Sexing - Before you can start breeding you’ll need a sexually matured pair. The good news is that leopard geckos are easy to sex. There are a few different methods to do this. The easiest way is to look at the under side of the gecko. The male will have two pronounced hemipenal bulges behind the vent on the tail side. You can also look for pre-anal pores that will be in a "V" shape just above the vent between the hind legs. Females will not have the hemipenal bulges but may have pre-anal pits rather than enlarged pores. If a female is obese she may appear to have bulges but it’s just fat. If you are raising them from a hatchling you can easily sex them (and know for sure) when they are 20+ grams and around 3-4 months old. Another way to tell is just by looking at them. Males are heavy bodied, have thicker necks with their heads being broader than a female.

Some breeders give a brief cool down period others don’t. Either way works so it’s just what your preference is. Personally I don’t cool mine. If you do cool them stop feeding a week prior to a cool down. Gradually lower the temperature until it is 70° to 75° F as a high. Do this for about 4 weeks then gradually raise the temperatures back to normal. Once they are warmed up offer the pair as much food as they’ll eat so they can gain back the weight they lost during the cool down. After a few weeks, put the male with the female. The geckos may mate right away or it might take a little time. Leave the male with the female for several days and then take him out. You may need to do this several times until you have a successful mating. If you don’t cool them just place the male with the desired females and use the same method as above. It also doesn’t matter if you place the male with the female or visa versa. Both ways will have the same result.

When you place the pair together the male will be aggressive toward the female. He will start biting her and if she is not receptive she will bite back. It may appear as if they are fighting but this is normal behavior. The male will also shake the tip of his tail very quickly. This can be loud at times but again it’s normal behavior and nothing to worry about.

Eggs - Up to 4 weeks after a successful mating the female will lay her first clutch of eggs. Each clutch will consist of 1-2 white oval eggs. Leopard geckos have been known to easily lay 8 clutches a year with each clutch being laid in 2-4 week intervals. Make sure to provide a suitable container for the female to lay her eggs in. This is basically the humid hide filled with moist but not saturated bed-a-beast.

Incubation - After being laid the eggs need to be removed and placed in an incubator. Leopard gecko eggs are temperature sexed dependent. This means that you can decide what sex baby you want just by incubating at a certain temperature. The text below shows the results with the given temperatures.

Female = 80° F
50% mix of both sexes = 85° F
Male = 90° F

The eggs will hatch in 30-105 days. Males generally hatch faster because of the higher temperatures. Females take longer because of the cooler temperatures. On average incubation for females lasts around 60 days and males around 35 days. For detailed instructions on incubating leopard gecko eggs visit my “leopard gecko incubation” page.

Hope this helps :)
 
G

Green_Snake

Guest
I've had chickens, but not ducks. However, they are similar in many ways. Kind of. I guess I would need more info about them in order to give advice, but they need duck pellets (or some kind of commercial food), a pond, or baby pool filled with water, water to drink, protection from the elements and animals.... They might like some hay to sleep on (and possibly perches. I don't know if they perch). If you could give me more specifics I could try to help you out more...

Poor animals. I hope their owners listen.
 
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