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Posted by FroggieB on April 03, 2003 at 15:50:21:
In Reply to: It seems... posted by perniks813 on April 03, 2003 at 14:45:05:
I feel that they are pretty sturdy little guys for the most part but most of those that have died have been WC. In my opinion the WC can be that fragile. First they are captured and held in a port city until one of the importers orders them. These holding cages are not set up for the lizards’ needs and often are very filthy. Many of the captives die during this confinement. Once the importer picks the animals he wants are bagged, several to a bag, the bags are piled in crates, and they are shipped overseas to us. During the trip from Asia to the US they are living in deplorable conditions and many more die before they reach the importer. Once in the US they have to be held for observation to make sure they aren't carrying some terrible disease. At this point they often are with out food or water. So, they have made a long journey in filthy condition deprived of food and water. The importer pays so little for the lizards that he doesn't care that 50% of them die as long as he can get the remainder out before they all die. Many more die on the way to the pet stores and the few that remain often die in the hands of the new owner. So, yes, they are fragile. They are malnourished, dehydrated, and carrying parasites. Many of the females are gravid. Once the MHD is in such poor health it doesn't take much to finish it off. I have had considerable success in getting the WC I have worked with settled in and brought back to good health and I believe it can be done fairly easily, but, There aren't very many vets who know anything about these animals so treatment can be hit and miss. If you find a vet who can properly diagnose and treat them the MHD may live, if not it probably won't. I know that Cyndi's babies weren't WC but they weren't captive bred either and the female was in poor health. I believe that the health of the female has an impact on the hatchlings. On top of all of this we are still leaning about The Acanthosaura species. I was talking to a Leopard Gecko breeder who was telling me that at one time nobody was able to keep a Leo alive because nobody knew anything about them. Now they are being bred by keepers of all experience levels from novice to expert and they are very easy to come by. My point is that any new animal is going to be a problem until we learn more about them. Once we have worked with them for several years and we know more about them I expect to see them become as common as Leos and Beardies.
