For those of you that have not read the beginning and/or do not know me or of me... let me make it perfectly clear:
1 - my boyfriend was at his friends house and the guy told him all about this fantastic lil RT albino he had went to Tx to get he and Ron had spent all this time picking out this perfect lil gecko... the only thing wrong with it was that it had a skinny tail.. he was afraid it would be genetic therefore wouldnt breed it - since I am not a breeder per say I am really a pet owner that might have some sweet babies one day he said I would be the perfect owner for it... He said he would sell it to us for 20.00.... I had not seen it but my BF wanted me to have a really nice bloodline in case I ever did have any babies -He called and said "I've got this sweet lil guy coming for you next week".. I was so excited, I talked to the guy on the phone he assured me this lil guy was in PERFECT health.. eating like a little pig... THEN 2 weeks later he takes it to a our friends house and he, not being a gecko fan never even opened the container - just brought it to my home.... I opened the box, literally screamed and ran for the Panacur... He never went in the room with my other guys.. The guy told us he worked at a local REPUTABLE pet store - NOT A CHAIN but a mom/pop store... I trusted his word... He is now w/out a job... So, to assure anyone in question of my integrety or my ethics please note, I didnt feel like I was "saving" anything, I thought I was getting a HEALTHY leo.... I never intended to breed it for babies to sell as I am not a breeder - I am a pet owner!
2 - I am WELL AWARE of purchasing from reputable breeders, most of my leos are RESCUES from people that bought from petsmart, didnt realize what was involved in having leos, or had children that bite off the tails of their pets... I do not have one single leo that came directly from a breeder.. I do not buy them from pet stores and with 3 vets in my circle of friends I feel pretty confident when I say that I am a responsible leo owner, I do not support the import of these guys.. I believe there are MORE THAN ENOUGH leos in the USA right now that we pet owners and breeders could breed enough never to have another poor leo be shipped from Pakastan or any other country for that matter - I believe importing them is cruel and inhuman! Hell I wont even buy from Ron because I REFUSE to have one SHIPPED... He's coming to Daytona so I'm sending a friend to Daytona to pick one up for me.. I am 100% against shipping too.... I realize many of you ship/receive leos and I do not hold that against any of you.. MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE is to hand deliver/pick-up anything I purchase...
I've tried not to take any of the accusations, repremendations personally as you have no idea how many tears I have shed over the leos at our local pet stores- I REFUSE to shop at petsmart/petco simply because they fill their leo tanks with sickly animals... yes, I still have to have supplies, but I get all of them from online. You have no idea how many times people have emailed me and asked me why I am so passionate about the banning of importing of leos.... so I will continue to try and accept that you, like myself just feel very passionate about the cruelty of any animal, in this case specifically leos... and this was not a personal attack of my integrity...
bottom line:
I was told it was healthy, only had a skinny tail - I bought it sight unseen, being the trusting southern woman that I am, I immediately took him to a vet, who did everything within his power to save the little guy... it was too late, he's asleep now and no longer hungry, or suffering. The man has been black listed at any of the local petstores, he no longer works at the one he was working at when he sold it to me... I'm out 20.00 and another bucket of tears for the loss of something so sweet and precious! His last few hours were warm and cozy... nothing more needs to be said... it's over... lessons have been learned, karma has been initiated... it's done...