Rescuing?

[malt_geckos]

We've adopted a gecko from a bigchain petstore. He two front toes left, a hunk taken out of his back, and serious MBD. We are college students and it's hard to find the money to take the little guy to the vet. So, my suggestion is to you, coming from a person with a huge heart and a wallet with little money: don't adopt/rescue unless you can pay for it. We are coming up with the money for this little guys vet visits. But it's not easy to pay for a vet visit with a small salary. We love little David(our rescue) and I really hope he does well for us.

Marcia- I'm going to try that slurry. We've had our rescue for about a month and he's still not eating much. Hope it works!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Several years ago, I was thrown out of a "big chain pet store" for taking photos of the sick and even a dead gecko and the conditions they were forced to live under. There were at least 30 skinny little geckos in a small enclosure when a large sand skink that came out of the sand and ate one of the babies right before my eyes. There was another dead baby in the sand with a cricket eating at it's eye. There was green, runny feces everywhere... even in the empty water bowl.

I know what you mean about punching walls!

Needless to say, that particular store was closed down and then forbidden to sell live aimals after the San Francisco District Attorney filed a lawsuit against them. If you are interested in the case, just go a Google search for: San Francisco District Attorney Dennis Herrera "chain pet store".

 

[Greyscale_Geckos]

Anyways, I thought I'd give an update...

Takara passed away this morning. Right now the vet is working on a necropsy, although we all pretty much can guess it was a combination of starvation, lack of nutrition, and other factors she was faced with before she came to the shelter.

We tried our best to get her to gain more weight and eat, and she really did seem to be getting better. My only guess is that it was too much to take. I feel bad about losing her, especially after everyone at the shelter named her just yesterday, but sometimes things just can't be helped. Even the vet said that there could have been nothing we could do besides what we were doing.

My stomach feels sick right now and I wish we could have done something more. I had really hoped that she would get better and then I could adopt her, but things obviously didn't turn out that way.
--

My only hope now is that her siblings will survive and that we can place them with good homes. My friends and the vet at the shelter have all pretty much encouraged me to get my first leo from a breeder now (which had been my plan until little Takara came into the shelter).

Disappointment is the first thing that comes to my mind... We all tried our best to bring these babies up to health, and we couldn't do it in time even though we were doing everything we could. The next emotion is regret, because I can't believe I let myself get attached to her over these past few days when I knew very well this could happen.

This experience has taught me many things, and I can only hope the necropsy can bring us some answers or reveal anything that could effect her siblings. In such a short time I have experienced the wonderful feelings, and the most heart breaking when it comes to rescuing...

Hopefully in the future our shelter, our staff, and myself will have better luck when treating reptile rescues.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Hannah, how very sorry I am! I truly know that sick and empty feeling in the pit of the stomach you are having. These creatures really do work their way into our hearts, and tug on those strings. You all did the very best you could do for this little unfortunate baby, and you should be very proud of your efforts! My heart goes out to you, and I know there will be successes in the future.

 

[malt_geckos]

Oh I'm so sorry! I know it's hard to lose the little ones you care about. Atleast she was in good conditions for awhile and out of that icky place. I'm happy that you atleast took the time to try and give the little one a chance at having a great life. I'm sure the time she was at the rescue was very peaceful for her.

And Marcia- That's Horrible! I can't imagine seeing that awfulness...the little gecko getting eaten by a sand skink?????! I would've punched someone out!

 

[Alusdra]

Oh I'm so sorry! I was so hopeful that she would pull through for you. Would you not consider adopting one of the other babies?

 

[Greyscale_Geckos]

Oh I'm so sorry! I was so hopeful that she would pull through for you. Would you not consider adopting one of the other babies?

No, all of the members on the team pretty much designated what baby they would like. My friend Jessica already has her heart set on one, and then our vet really has his eye on the other. Both of them also are aware that they might pass away like Takara, so yeah...

I don't know if I feel up for adopting one of them. I really wanted her. But in a greater sense I want a leo that is going to be healthy and not be suffering.

 

[Jenna4Herps]

Hannah,

I'm so sorry for your loss. Sadly, many of us who has taken in and does take in rescues knows just how heartbreaking it can be . My thoughts, as well as many others thoughts on this forum are with you. We all know that you and the staff at the vet's did everything they could and I hope that her siblings have a better chance at survival. Perhaps something will come of the necropsy to determine better chances for her sibling's recovery. It's too bad that rescues, most of the time, come into loving and caring hands way too late.

When it's time for you to have a new leopard gecko, you will have gained from this experience . Leopard geckos are truly little treasures with their forever happy faces and sweet dispositions and your next leopard gecko experience is sure to be fulfilling .

Again, I'm sorry for your emotional stress. I'm so sorry...

 

[Ccrashca069]

At leaste you tried your darnest too help her out. Thats all you can ever do. And btw some the great breeders we have in this forum such as Marcia and David have leopards to be adopted if you don't mind giving alittle extra care to them. It was just a thought unless you are ready to just buy a leopard.

 

[rubym]

Marcias slurry really is a miracle. I used it on my little sick girl and she is doing so much better. We had bought another gecko from a breeder at a local show and my husband admired this other "LITTLE" geckos colors and said if she was bigger he would have picked her. The breeder said that she was just a really picky eater and he would throw her in for $5.00. YES, I am a sucker. I bought her and 2 days later was on the phone with a vet and on here getting help and the slurry recipe. She ended up costing us around $140 or so but to me she was well worth all those nights of getting up every hour and half to get those 2 or 3 drops into her. I was so excited the first time she ate a cricket!!! As others have said, it is worth it IF you realize what you may be getting yourself into. I am sure in your little ones case the shelter will make sure that she is over the worst before they adopt her out so you will probably still be getting a healthy gecko. If you don't plan on breeding then perfect is over-rated. Those little ones with some "issues" make just as wonderful pets.

 

[rubym]

I am so sorry I didn't read the last page of the post to know that your little one didn't make it. Please accept my apologies. I am so sorry for the loss. I know how hard it can be to try so hard and them not make it