Ren's WILDlife

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Do you mean just geckos you don't hold because they are too fragile/skittish? If so yes, though nothing as sensitive and expensive as a leaftail; they don't get surrendered to rescues often, methinks (I wish! lol).

I currently have a moorish gecko and turner's gecko, as well as a tokay and golden. The latter two are pretty hardy compared to the former, but you sure don't want to handle 'em anyways. Much too stressful, plus they're enthusiastic biters.

I had another species as well, tiny little arboreal guy, but for the life of me I can't remember what he was. I'll look it up later and post it here.
 
Geckos just just overall can't be held. I have never had a turkish or moorish gecko.

I did have a Tokay gecko that I was in love with, and wanted to keep. But as a male, he started yelling at night. It was really awful, lol. Thankfully I found someone who has thier own reptile room and could deal with it. I also don't understand keeping Tokays in the pet trade when they are known for giving out bites very freely and often.

Do you find yourself coming across a lot of Goldens? I have had a record number of 7...I don't know why people buy them just to toss them away. I had one that was a really beatiful Plum once.
 
Ah now I remember. The lil guy was H. platyurus.

I think the main tradgedy of Tokays in the pet trade is that they're (mostly outside of morphs) wild caught, cheap, and pretty; what an awful combination from them. People don't seem to understand that they need a rather large tank, can be noisy, can definitely be bitey, and overall will probably spend most of their time hiding from you. IME at least, they're a pet vivarium that you have to dump food into, and at $10-20 a piece, they become disposable very, very quickly. I try to keep things interesting with a very decked out vivarium, and night time snooping with a flashlight to watch the beast in action. Bische is the biggest tokay I've ever come across, and I've rehabb'd a few and seen a ton now. Here's a pic of the beast:
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Classic tokay! haha.

I find leopard geckos rather than goldens to be the most abandoned in this area at least. My list-o-common gecko surrenders probably roughly goes:
1. Leopard Geckos
2. Tokay Geckos
3. Golden Geckos

I reckon that Cresties would be on there but I don't generally accept them, which is why I have only one and haven't had any as fosters. Honestly they'd probably have a better turnover rate than the last two. But I do think that it could potentially stress them to have them in my herp room in the summer, as it does get up and stay up around 85, which I believe is about their "limit." Currently my parents are OK with Rhako hanging out in their bathroom on hot days (their room is the only AC'd one in the house, to about 78 deg in the summer), but I feel like a pile of foster geckos would displease them.

Oye, I can't wait until Steve and I move into our own place; I feel bad for inconveniencing the 'rents so much!
 
*Clears throat and pulls up Soap Box.*

I have been a licensed wildlife rehabilitator since age 16. I don't know how many animals have come through my doors, and how many have left, but suffice it to say that it is a hefty number. The vast majority of my patients are rabbits, and the vast majority of those rabbits are cat-caught newborns. Virtually all of these rabbits are victims of free-roaming pet cats, and virtually all of these free-roaming cats have a consistent habit of maiming wildlife that their owners observe for years without taking any proactive steps to prevent it from happening. Their survival rates are poor, and they often die in agony from their wounds and the subsequent infections. The few survivors are disadvantaged by not being reared wild.

I am an advocate for feral cats and a proponent of TNR. I have spent thousands of dollars over the years spaying, neutering, feeding, and homing stray and feral felines. However, the phenomenon of improperly contained cats absolutely makes my blood boil, specifically because of the apathy and callous disregard demonstrated by the owners of these cats.

I can not wrap my head around the ridiculous double standard that exists in the US when it comes to keeping cats. Every other companion animal needs to be properly contained, be it livestock behind a fence, rodents and birds in a cage, dogs on a leash or behind a fence, etc. These laws exist for the safety of the animal, the public, and our wild flora and fauna. But CATS are allowed to freely roam, unprotected by containment laws, getting hit by cars, mauled to death, murdered by sickos, getting and spreading disease, and worst of all mass slaughtering our native wildlife.

In some areas, cats - an introduced species in the United States - are the primary predator of native song birds, reptiles, and amphibians. They also take a heavy toll on common animals like rodents and rabbits, directly competing with native predators that don't have the benefit of vaccines, vet care, and supplemental food provided by humans to keep them in tip-top hunting shape like your average indoor/outdoor pet cat. Wild animals merely injured by cats die slow, lingering deaths from infection.

This is completely and utterly unacceptable ethically. The owners of domesticated animals have a duty and obligation to properly contain their animals, regardless of the species. Cats do not "need" to hunt or "need" to roam freely outside any more than your dog needs to run around killing wildlife or your horse needs to wander off of your property into the wild. There are cat-proofed fencing options, cat enclosures, cat harnesses, and of course the option of enriching the indoor environment. In short: there is no excuse to risk your cat's safety and the survival of our native wildlife by letting your cat roam. Wild animals have no where else to live but the wild, and are entitled to a survival free of threat from invasive species like the domesticated cat.

Whenever this debate comes up on a forum, which it recently did on UltimateBettas.com, the forum I moderate, the cat owner always talks about how much they love their cat and could never hinder its freedom. Yet apparently the love for that cat stops where the dollar signs start stacking up: the cost of a safe enclosure or cat proofed fence. Likewise, these same "loving" cat owners wail about how their cat would be bored indoors, when there are many simple steps that can be taken to make a cat's live perfectly enriching and active inside with just an inkling of effort from the caregiver. There is a fundamental stubborn laziness I see in these instances that I feel is utterly unacceptable of a self-proclaimed "lover" of cats.

Perhaps if more cat owners had to own up to the expense, time, money, and heartbreak of caring for mutilated wildlife as I've had to, they wouldn't be so gung-ho about kitty's hunting habits. Perhaps if they had to watch a baby squirrel exhaling maggots that crawled in through a punctured lung, or try to glue a screaming baby rabbit's lascerated flesh back together, or watch a fledgling bird writhe in agony from a systemic infection, they might be willing to put fourth the money or effort to do the right thing. Maybe if they had seen the burned body of a cat tied to a fence with a hate message scrawled below, seen a cat gasp out its dying breaths through a crushed face after being hit by a car, or watched a kitten mewl pitifully as it dies of distemper, they'd see the inherent risks of their irresponsibility.

I have been foced to witness all of these things due to the actions of other people. And I am so tired of living in a world where pet ownership does not equal owning up to one's responsibilities.
 
Ren....I agree with you 100% on the cat thing. I do think it is very inhumane to let cats wander around outside. I could never let my babies outside because I'd fear for their lives (and the lives they may kill).

My MIL dumped her cat on us when she moved to WI last December....my kitties do not like this cat and the cat was mainly an outside cat...so things had been really hectic here for 4 months while the cat (Marvin) was turned into a house cat. Finally it got to the point where I was either going to have to rehome Marvin or start letting him outside....I started letting him outside and hoped he wouldn't jump the fence. Well....days, weeks went by and he hasn't been able to leave the yard at all. Things are much better in the house now that he gets to go outside during nice days (comes inside at night). I think this house is just too small for 4 cats. Our fence is really secure, so I haven't seen any little critters out there and I do not feed wild birds....so Marvin has way less of a chance to catch and kill anything (yes....I walk the yard for "evidence", lol).
 
Just a quick bunny update:

1. I am so totally jazzed that I decided to try a foraging toy for half of the bunnies' daily pellet ration. They didn't like it much the first week, but now that they are learning how the toy works, it's becoming an excellent way to give both Wendy and Brindam some additional mental stimulation and exercise. Now they get very excited when I introduce the foraging toy for the day, and immediately set about rolling it around the cage and scarfing up pellets.

I realistically can't give them hours of one on one a day, and frankly neither of them like humans enough for that anyways; they are far less playful and explorative when I am in the room, because they simply are rabbits that came from situations where humans = bad. I've earned their trust enough to care for them, but I've also accepted that they're never going to be "snuggle bunnies" that love being doted on by humans. So the more ways I can find to keep them mentally and physically active without my looming presence, the better.

2. Our LPS has a program where you get a free bag of Oxbow hay for every six you buy. They're a good $2 cheaper than Petco for Oxbow hays, and since I found a cheaper place to get their pellets, I have a little extra dinero for things like this. I picked up orchard grass, bermuda grass, oat hay, bunny brome, and some kind of floral mix. I've mixed all of these grasses in a big storage bin.

I can't afford to offer this variety every day, and I want them to focus on their timothy hay and feed hay (which is always available) anyways. However, they loved "bunny chop" so much, and are so otherwise reticent to try new hays, that I've decided to make it once a week using their weekly treat item. I realize long stems are ideal, but since they are constantly eating large ammounts of long stem timothy and feed hay, my greater concern is the value of these mixed hays nutritional variety. They get fruit or a more sugary veg (ie. carrot, squash, etc.) once weekly, so this is the perfect time to introduce new hays by making Bunny Chop. It will also keep adding some hay variety affordable, and serve as an enriching change from the norm. I'm really excited to see how it pans out this week!
 
I wanted to say that we would be intrested in male or female.. :DSince it is a single any would be welcome. We are both happy because we have wanted another for a long time but wanted to rescue one but didn't know how that would happen considering the rescues we found are to far away.




 
This one is a female. Right now she's not feeding as strongly as I'd like, but once that is rectified, we can definitely talk logistics. If she'd be set up anything like your other leppie I'd be very comfortable with you as a home! :)
 
RandomWiktor wrote:
This one is a female. Right now she's not feeding as strongly as I'd like, but once that is rectified, we can definitely talk logistics. If she'd be set up anything like your other leppie I'd be very comfortable with you as a home! :)
Well that just made me feel awesome! She would have the exact same thing. :biggrin2:
 
Steve's dogs have turned into rabbit killing machines :(They're both fine with Steve's pet bunnies - supervised, obviously - but Penny and Joseph have been killing wild rabbits like crazy. It's very upsetting for me as a wildlife rehabilitator. The dogs are confined to a yard, not roaming wild, but since they have an "invisible fence" bunnies still regularly come into the yard. Thisspring alonePenny has killed and partially eaten at least four rabbits, and the other day they massacred an entire litter of five. I'm trying to think of effective deterrents that can be applied to the property, since apparently the reek of dog urine and feces and thedin of boisterous barkingisn't effective enough (not very smart rabbits, apparently). I looked up some scents and non-toxic irritantsthat rabbits are supposed to really despise, and am going to see if sprinkling those around the yard's perimeter - OUTSIDE of the e-fence - will help.

In less bleak news, however, I finally launched the Betta Blog for the forum I moderate! I've been a moderator at UltimateBettas.com, the biggest betta forum on the web, for a good four years now, and the staff team recently decided after many members expressed interest that we'd start a blog. The goal is to attract members, but also to spread betta care information for people who don't like to join forums. The best part about it (IMO) is that it really involves the membership. In addition to member photos, polls, and anectdotes being included in the articles, several members will be contributing authors. I am the admin for this project and got it up and running a mere two days behind schedule (oops). If anyone wants to check it out, it's http://ultimatebettas.blogspot.com - so far there is only an intro post and one article, but we'll be updating weekly with care advice, and will also have a monthly feature with product reviews and the like. :)

I'm also trying to amp up my involvement on Frog Freaks, another forum I am an admin of. The root admin wants to make the site more conservation geared and child friendly. He's enlisted Steve to help out with the children's section, and me to help out with the conservation section. We're hoping to add kid-friendly frog info, contests, etc. plus feature the profile of an endangered or threatened frog species in the conservation section. I'll also be uploading my hand-outs and powerpoint that I'm preparing for Save the Frogs day in case anyone else wants to give a talk on the 30th as well. Fun fun!

I haven't forgotten about my critters in the hustle and bustle of course. Today was rodent cleaning day, and everyone got fun little enrichment boxes filled with bugs and my home made rodent mix. I took photos of all of the rodents since no one here as seen the lot of 'em, and it might be nice of me to post a mammal every now and again for those not fond of reptiles and amphibians ;) So here they are!

meecers.jpg

Not the most becoming photo, but here's Fivel and Frank hanging out in their bedding basket. They're supposed to take the fleece pieces out and stuff their nests with it, but they apparently like the "hammok effect" and sometimes cram both of their big fuzzy butts in there to sleep.

captainwatson.jpg

Captain Paul Watson, my winter white hamster, squeezing through a paper towel roll. He's my resident"dignified older gentleman"rodent; everyone else is under a year old, and he's closing in on two years.He's got to be the laziest hamster ever. I'm used to them being balls of energy that need constant enrichment, but ever since he came in, he's been a total couch potato. His *cough*ample frame might reflect as much.

pennydreadful.jpg

Penny Dreadful the foster hammie, settling in to her new home. She's very active and seems to be loving all of the enrichment and new toys. She still doesn't seem to grasp the concept of a wheel - poor deprived gal - but enjoys rolling her wicker ball around, chewing her hanging toys, running through tunnels, etc. Still working on a less-than-perfect temperament, but she's getting nice enough that she should be able to be placed, I think.

opus.jpg

kiamesha.jpg

Opus (top) and Kiamesha (bottom), my African Soft Furred Rats. I picked these two out as pupsto beeducation animals for Learning Gone Wild, as Steve was selling off his colony (where we normally sourced our education ratties). Surprisingly enough,his ample population of large snakes, lizards, and frogscouldn't eat enough ASFs to keep up with the breeding, and we wound up with a feeder colony of over 300 x_x which was way too expensive to maintain. We sold them to a guy with a LARGE breeding collection, but I'm glad I snagged these two, because they're total sweeties - often rare for the species. I do feel bad though; Opus has a slight head tilt and it's my fault. When he was a pup, he nipped me. I jerked my hand a little in surprise, and it shouldn't have been an issue, but it spooked him and he took a very dramatic flying leap in response, head-planting into the hardwood floor. He's had a tilt since then, though it doesn't seem to affect his quality of life. In fact, he's very good at foraging toys. Check out the boys digging in:
asfs.jpg


On a final unrelated note: I upgraded the fire skink to a 20g long and he's totally digging it. The schneider skink is next!
skinktank.jpg

 
I missed your gecko post.
That is a beautiful Tokay!
I can't believe you get Leopard Geckos the most; here they are pretty rare (Unless you count all the poor baby geckos at petco on sand) and there is only 2 other reputable breeders, and one I think just moved to Bakersfield CA.
 
Ah, see - my area is within driving distance of several major reptile expos, plus we're infested with crummy pet stores selling sick, overpriced geckos to anyone dumb enough to buy one. *sigh* I swear the worst possible thing that can happen to a species is that it becomes popular.

I was just at an allegedly reputable pet store the other day on my "pet store watch" that carries a ton of leppies. Too bad they have them on a dangerous substrate, they're chewed up from crickets, they virtually all have dropped tails, and most have constricted toes from bad sheds. I've complained about it but their reptile care manager is a flaming a-hole; I've talked to him before and he basically wrote me off as a stupid kid since I'm tiny, petite, and under the age of 30. I did have a minor victory going over his head to corporate to help their scorpions (they had TROPICAL scorpions on effing CALCISAND, all dehydrated and caked with the stuff), but I've had no similar luck with the leppie situation.

Last time I was there, they had an enclosure with the hides turned over and water dish pulled for being "empty" - which would have made sense if there wasn't a very weak, skinny, dehydrated gecko struggling to shed without a humid hide or even a drink of water. I called an employee over who was horrified and thanked me profusely, not knowing why he was in there. He immediately tended to it which made me feel better.

My schneider skink is actually from this place as well. Steve argued them into giving him up as a freebie when it turned out he had potentially expensive medical problems including a serious mite infestation, mild respiratory infection, and completely pus filled, scabbed over ears. I wrote a letter about the animal's condition, including the fact that his enclosure was inappropriate and he was covered in bites from being in with another more aggressive species of skink, and never hear a peep back from the higher-ups. Thankfully, said schneider skink is doing awesome and is about to be upgraded to a bigger, naturalistic enclosure after months of recovery.

The one thing that really bugs me is that this store has the audacity to consider itself an educational facility, and has children come to learn abut animal care. Yet almost all of its exotics are improperly cared for and in poor health. I would need to use my fingers, toes, and someone else's to count off how many problems I've seen with their animal care. Yet they charge people god only knows what to throw educational "paries" for their kids there. Oye.

I have a feeling I might ruffle someone's feathers with this post if they see it because I know at least one member on here that thinks highly of this store (and anyone who knows the place knows from my post which store I mean). But it needs to be said; they may have pretty well cared for mammals, but the reptile section is positively shameful, and that alone has caused me to loose any and all respect for this store.


Wow, that reply turned into quite the hefty rant! In non angry Ren news, and more importantly in bunny news, I weighed Brindam the other day and she is down to her target weight! She still looks a bit flabby because I suspect from her build that she doesn't have much muscle and still has some excess fat, but I think as she continued to get more exercise and a proper diet, this will change. She's SO much more active, friendly, and playful now. And those GI issues are virtually out the window! Wendy is still... uh... Wendy. But she's a less sheddy and more enriched, happy Wendy even if she hasn't made a dramatic turn-around like Brindam.

I'm so very happy I found this site, it's really helped my rabbits out tremendously. *Hugs RO*
 
Well. One of my favorite fish, a Chinese Algae Eater I've had for almost four years, is now dead. And I got pretty badly shocked while finding him dead. His heater cracked, electrifying the entire tank. I can't imagine how terrible and painful his death was based on how the shock I got reaching into the water felt.

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RIP Harar Goldeneye. Very sorry that you went out that way.
 
Since I can't edit: If any of you are wondering how a fish gets electrocuted, seeing as they're not grounded, I can only guess that it may have been because he liked to hang from the heater by his mouth - maybe he was unlucky enough to hit the big cracked spot? Or maybe something nasty leaked from the heater. I don't know, all I know is that my fish is dead. :(
 
I am sorry Ren :(

Have you tried RENA heaters? They don't crack and have a protective case.

Four years..he must of been really big! Another poor animal in the pet trade.

I know how you feel about the pet store..although I don't know what the pet store yoru talking about, my local petstore keeps leo's on soil..and they are extremely overpriced. They also overfeed crickets to thier Crested geckos..but there is just no aruging with them.
 

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