Re: LOOKEY LOOKEY!!

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Posted by PH Meliss on September 03, 2002 at 13:12:22:

In Reply to: Re: LOOKEY LOOKEY!! posted by Merlin on September 03, 2002 at 12:00:47:

A couple of comments...

First off, anyone who is getting any animal just so that they can have a "big monster" (in terms of size, not temperament) is getting the animal for the wrong reason. No matter what age the person is, no matter what species the animal is. The bottom line is: is the person prepared to care for the animal properly, no matter how big it gets nor how expensive it is to care for it, in illness or in health, for the rest of its natural life? If the answer is anything other than a resounding, "I do! I will!", then that animal isn't the right one for that person. No matter how old the person or what type the species.

Next: It is an unfortunate fact of life that too many people who get pets of any type, but especially exotics, either haven't a clue what they were getting into--what exactly it takes to care properly for the species they chose--or they had a clue, but figured they'd just dump the animal on someone else if it "got too big". If the animal gets sick or injured, they make it the animals fault if the animal doesn't get better all on its own, even though the reason the animal got sick was because it wasn't cared for properly and the owners refused to take the steps necessary to both correct the problems that caused the illness and get the animal the veterinary care it needs.

Reptile rescues rarely get in healthy, well-adjusted reptiles. That's because people rarely give away healthy, well-adjusted reptiles. They give away their mean, boring Burmese python, 16 cranky feet of malnourished, hypothermic, mite-ridden mass of respiratory infection and rampant mouthrot. They give away the semi-paralyzed and deformed iguana with advanced metabolic bone disease. They give away the turtle drowning in both its own lung secretions and the filthy water it was kept it as it floated lopsidedly in the cold tank.

And these are the lucky animals: their owners finally gave them away rather than letting them die, cold, stressed, in pain, and alone in some dark back bedroom or dank garage. Some don't wait for the animal to die - they just toss it out in the nearest park or creek area, because, after all, "it's survival of the fittest". Of course, the fact that the sick exotic isn't native to that area doesn't matter, and the fact that their sick "pet" can spread disease to the local native wildlife, well, who cares? It's just a bunch of bugs and slimy snakes 'n stuff. Like, get real.

So, yes, the reptiles one adopts from a rescue will most likely have had health problems - sometimes serious ones - in the past. We adopt from rescues not because we want a cool, big monster, but because we know that it is the right thing to do: give a previously abused or neglected animal a second chance, a chance to live a far better life than it's had before.

So it may not live to the full life span of the species due to the care provided by its first owner (or 2, 3, 4 or however many owners so many of these reptiles pass through). That doesn't make the animals any less treasurable by those who adopt them.

A good rescue will not only carefully screen the prospective adopter, but will also fully disclose everything they know about the animal's past and the problems they dealt with while the animal was in the rescue. If the prospective adopter is a minor, good rescues will involve the parents in the screen process.

Not everyone who dumps an animal on a rescue is up-front about what they did or didn't do ("Gee, I dunno how he got those scars..."; "I fed him right! The pet store told me this is a special dwarf species which is why he's only 5" SVL at 6 years of age! He's really rare so YOUR rescue should pay ME to take him off my hands.")

So, the rescue may have to guess "Hmmm...looks like cigarette burns" or "To be this stunted probably means lousy diet and inadequate temps...better check those internal parasite loads along with everything else.").

Anyway, I think Edgar looks swell. That pale color is striking, though you might find that he gets more intense once he settles in and feels at home in his new home.

--
Meliss
Herps and Iguanas
Herp Societies/Rescues and Vets

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