watching a gecko suffer from a bad owner

[KaprikaAZ]

i dont know if this is the place to bitch about this, but it seemed about right


i dont know if anyone else has had an experience with this, but i just wanted to share it.

ive had gecko experience for a time now. owned some as a teen even, lovely creatures.
well, when i got back into leos. a person i knew immediately mirrored me and got one as well.
then i got a second gecko.
so did they

and i found it a little annoying, and i also knew that they have never HAD a gecko before. and it made me a little nervous, but i subtly talked gecko with them to make sure they had an idea of what they aught be doing. but then i find out they arent separating the geckos. my first thought is that the male is going to harass that female, i warned that it may be a good idea to separate them. they insisted "oh they get along fiiine" which...of course they did, they werent sexualy mature yet. and when i was aiming to get into breeding for hobby, they planned to do the same as well.

i was a little frusterated.
i educated myself, bought books, have the supplies/space. and they dont even have ANY experience with geckos. just copied me impulsively.
and i kept warning them, but they kept ignoring me saying "i got it, i got it" and sure enough. the male began harassing the female. and she looses her tail.
then comes crying to me about it, so i advise them as best as i can.
and FINNALY separated the geckos.

then got a third gecko.

i just facedesked repeatedly at this.
and just recently, i spoke to them purely to check up on the geckos. yeah...they tell me the female had dropped its tail a SECOND time. why?
because their cat got into the tank.

i.dont.even.

i could write a loong post about this particular person, but i seriously am like one more incident away from sneaking into their house and stealing those poor geckos away, they arent maliciously hurting their geckos. they are just..."not smart owners" to be as kind as i can word it.
and no matter how i advise, they dont really listen to me. they use sand bedding, they house improperly, breed without thought, and apparently dont close up the tank properly either.

like, i gotta wonder. is there people i can call to say there is a improperly homed gecko????
has anyone else been in my shoes???
should i offer to take the geckos, or would that be just too rude??
i dont know what to do. im just imagining that poor gecko right now

 

[tb144050]

Tell them you go on this forum to chat about geckos. S/he will get the point when s/he finds this post...lol

But ya, I understand. I hate stupid people. You can call animal control or the local vets can probably tell you of a local animal protection agency.

If you don't want to call them, just find out the names/numbers of the agency. Then have a courtesy chat with your friend.

Say "you know, _______ agency would fine you $400 for each violation/unfit-condition. You might want to get those violations fixed because it really isn't good for the geckos. It even hurts me to see them stressed/hurting like that.....(dramatic pause)....So do you wanna go to the petstore now?"

 

[KaprikaAZ]

wow..would it really be like 400 dollars?

 

[tb144050]

wow..would it really be like 400 dollars?

Oh, I have no idea...lol If you find the agency, you can find out how much the fine is for mistreating/unfit-conditions/cruelty to animals. Or you can just make up a believable number...lol

 

[KaprikaAZ]

i kinda want too. but i dont want to get them into LEGAL trouble, not that i have a particular fondness of them, but they have a baby on the way and i feel like putting large financial fines over their head isnt a good start to them having a child in their lives. (they live on gov cheese, go figure)

i was more hoping someone had a suggestion to me on how i could approach them to improove the conditions of their reptiles

 

[Phoenix1115]

Can you approach them as a friend and ask to take them in? Ive done that a few times with a few that looked on deaths door and the owner surrendered them to me. Idk if you've seen my post but that's what I did with her.

 

[tb144050]

^^ Yep, you can offer to remove the "financial burden" of these pets from them BECAUSE they are about to be under alot more financial stress when the baby is born.

Or you can starting buying or giving them all the things they are missing...and kinda force your way into redesigning their tank/s against their will.

 

[jxl22]

Have you tried scare tactics?

Maybe tell them that having the reptile while pregnant and with a baby is very dangerous because of a disease?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[KaprikaAZ]

im going to talk to my mate about how he would feel about me taking one or two in and finding them new suitable homes. because even though its not "my fault" i feel responsible for those geckos. they only got them because they wanted to mimic me, so i feel like im those geckos only hope. i know one is an enigma, one is a mack snow and the other is..i think a carrot tail? not sure. but i plan to try to do something

 

[stager]

Being a lover of all animals I can relate. I one went to a friends house and saw her brother housing a turtle in a tank so disgusting it would make you gag, I flipped out threw the tank in my car and left. I cleaned everything up got him eating and gave it to a friend who keep it for his son. But now I'm older and more level headed I try to educate people when I come across these things.

 

[KaprikaAZ]

so i dropped the idea to them that i could "eleviate their burden" by taking a few off their hands. they said something along the lines of "oh were getting gov checks. were pretty good here" and "ill think about it"
fingers crossed..

 

[tb144050]

so i dropped the idea to them that i could "eleviate their burden" by taking a few off their hands. they said something along the lines of "oh were getting gov checks. were pretty good here" and "ill think about it"
fingers crossed..

Tell them..."the geckos need better." and explain how you can help the geckos....say, "as a friend, I don't mind letting them stay at my place in my better setups".....even if you can't stand the people. lol

 

[KaprikaAZ]

i cant just say THAT. i risk irritating them into not talking to me at all

 

[tb144050]

i cant just say THAT. i risk irritating them into not talking to me at all

You already know what you need to tell them. I can't think of too many more ways I could tell a friend. I guess you could say they look sad and need to come visit your geckos for a sleepover?

Only you know your friend well enough to guess which approach is the best for their personality. I've suggested scare tactics, guilt-trips, and this last one is shady-trickery into them letting you take them home. Unfortunately, it's hard to force people to have morals & ethics, and it's even harder to convince them that morals & ethics should be used in the treatment of animals.

I know it sucks to see it happening, but only you can find the right way to talk to your "acquaintance".

 

[stager]

i cant just say THAT. i risk irritating them into not talking to me at all

If you can't be honest with your friends who can you be honest with? Life is to short to be tip toeing around.

 

[KaprikaAZ]

they arent..realy my FRIEND persay? i hardly know the person, we dont talk or hang out. its more like an aquantance?? they just happen to read my journals elsewhere and saw i was doin geckos and they decided they wanted to do it to.
i dont mean to put up blocks to what anyone is suggesting here, im just askin for input while also deflecting what i know to not be a viable option.
but the animal control idea isnt a bad one..i dont WANT to go that far, but i will if i must

 

[tb144050]

If you can't convince them to do the right things, your only options are to ignore it or to force them even if you don't like it. Good luck.