summerseeking
Avid Member
Hi All!
It’s been a while since I posted. Stopping in to say hi, tell y’all about the sick Cham I bought on impulse, and to vent (just a little)
Last week I was in Vegas, supporting my cousin/favorite human who was competing for the title of Mrs. American. Like everyone else visiting Vegas, I Googled “reptile stores in Vegas”
. Was stoked to see there were a bunch. I checked out a few and was WILDLY disappointed and saddened for the animals. We’re talking, they made Petco stores look like saints. The worst of the offenders was LLL reptile. It was so very bad. Turtles with nasty water, Veileds and Panthers sleeping during the day, emaciated. It was bad. There was one Ambilobe Girl that was sweet and looked like she could have a fighting chance.
I had an honest conversation with the staff. I told them the reptiles are in bad shape and they were open to have a “transparent” conversation with me because “folks come in and see sick reptiles, never try to talk to us about it, and just assume we don’t take care of our animals”. They blamed the poor health of the reptiles on the breeder they came from, but they definitely had many other sick Chams that didn’t come from that same breeder (I of course asked lol).
I spent a little bit of time holding and examining the sweet Ambilobe girl and I just couldn’t leave her there. Because of her condition I negotiated a price that felt reasonable, and now I’m back home in the Bay Area California caring for her.
Her first vet visit wasn’t great. To be cautious my vet said she is “circling the drain” and “she would have died without intervention”…we are doing everything we can to try and help her. She is on an antibiotic, dewormer, and a nutritional supplement. The vet RXed carnivore diet, but I’m switching her to a combination of grub pie and carnivore because of the chicken main ingredient. She also was given a dose of concentrated calcium.
From what I can tell she doesn’t seem to have MDB, she had signs of an oral infection, possibly parasites, she is malnourished and dehydrated. Based on her length im guessing she is 6-7 months old and she only weights 13 grams. Her grip is weak but she hasn’t fallen and seems to climb well. She sleeps during the day, but less and less frequently which gives me hope for her.
When I see crappy reptile care at petco, I kinda expect it, but seeing such horrible conditions from stores specializing in reptiles was heartbreaking. I know LLL reptiles has a bad reputation, but this was so beyond what I expected.
Here are some links to video content of this story and of her
I named her Ezme which means beloved
Video of the day I decided to bring her home
Her quick enclosure setup
Video update of her condition
Hope everyone one is well.
It’s been a while since I posted. Stopping in to say hi, tell y’all about the sick Cham I bought on impulse, and to vent (just a little)
Last week I was in Vegas, supporting my cousin/favorite human who was competing for the title of Mrs. American. Like everyone else visiting Vegas, I Googled “reptile stores in Vegas”
. Was stoked to see there were a bunch. I checked out a few and was WILDLY disappointed and saddened for the animals. We’re talking, they made Petco stores look like saints. The worst of the offenders was LLL reptile. It was so very bad. Turtles with nasty water, Veileds and Panthers sleeping during the day, emaciated. It was bad. There was one Ambilobe Girl that was sweet and looked like she could have a fighting chance.I had an honest conversation with the staff. I told them the reptiles are in bad shape and they were open to have a “transparent” conversation with me because “folks come in and see sick reptiles, never try to talk to us about it, and just assume we don’t take care of our animals”. They blamed the poor health of the reptiles on the breeder they came from, but they definitely had many other sick Chams that didn’t come from that same breeder (I of course asked lol).
I spent a little bit of time holding and examining the sweet Ambilobe girl and I just couldn’t leave her there. Because of her condition I negotiated a price that felt reasonable, and now I’m back home in the Bay Area California caring for her.
Her first vet visit wasn’t great. To be cautious my vet said she is “circling the drain” and “she would have died without intervention”…we are doing everything we can to try and help her. She is on an antibiotic, dewormer, and a nutritional supplement. The vet RXed carnivore diet, but I’m switching her to a combination of grub pie and carnivore because of the chicken main ingredient. She also was given a dose of concentrated calcium.
From what I can tell she doesn’t seem to have MDB, she had signs of an oral infection, possibly parasites, she is malnourished and dehydrated. Based on her length im guessing she is 6-7 months old and she only weights 13 grams. Her grip is weak but she hasn’t fallen and seems to climb well. She sleeps during the day, but less and less frequently which gives me hope for her.
When I see crappy reptile care at petco, I kinda expect it, but seeing such horrible conditions from stores specializing in reptiles was heartbreaking. I know LLL reptiles has a bad reputation, but this was so beyond what I expected.
Here are some links to video content of this story and of her
I named her Ezme which means belovedVideo of the day I decided to bring her home
Her quick enclosure setup
Video update of her condition
Hope everyone one is well.
test.
