Off the ark exotic reptiles stay away

[herpgirl2510]

130 for a basking spot. I saw that I should use 2 45 watt halogens so I have rhat plus a mercury uvb light. She has not pooped I did get her to eat a thawed mouse I refuse to do frozen. I had to coax her to eat it(she has quite a strong jaw as my fingefound out luckily I had gloves on) she looks fuller right now and is now laying on her basking rock. I have a large 9x13" water container. She is atthe door right now looking at me she looks better alot of the sheds have come off.

 

[james.w]

Seems you are doing everything right with her. I assume you meant to say you refuse to feed live?? Most important thing is make sure she gets hydrated. Do you have a herp vet that you use, and do you plan on getting her seen?

 

[herpgirl2510]

I do but I feel that the 1 hour 1/2 ride would be way to stressful. I have been in contact with them I am going to giv it a few days see if I can get some fluids and food in her to give her some strength. I have been giving her pedialyte through a syringe. She is way more active since I fed her an hour ago and gave her more fluids.

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I would also like her to poop so I can bring a sample.

 

[chelvis]

It sounds like you are going to keep her, which to tell you the truth is probably better for the animal and is not going to hurt the community. I have heard so many bad things about this place that when the animal arrives back he most likly will just turn and sell it to someons else or have it die and just use the now open space for more animals. I dont think sending it back will really teach this guy.

As for helping this girl out. As tempting as it will be do not feed fatty foods. This will lead to a high volume of work being put on the liver and kidneys and often is the cause for reptiles not bouncing back. Try and get in contact with a vet and get ahold of a food called Oxbow Carnivore Care. Its a diet only avalible through a vet but it will help increase energy and help with wieght without overloading the vita organs too much.
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/vets/products/carnivore_care

If it will be awhile for this to come in get some turkey and chicken baby food. This is easy on her system. You can add in some ground turkey or fish, both are lean protines and will help her slowly gain wait. That is the key here, it will take time but you want to slowly add weight to allow her body to get use the change in matablosium. Savies will put on wieght very quickly once all their other metablolic needs are met.

I would take her to a vet as well, good chance there is a partisite which all the food in the world will not help. Take a fecal sample with you.

No gatorade for reptiles (too much sugar) pedilyte is amazing, both for soaking and also for them to drink so keep up with that.

Keep her warm and hydrated.

Best of luck and keep us up to date.

 

[teguboy77]

I would see a herp vet i agree with op.

 

[james.w]

I would also recommend trying some insects, roaches or some sort of worms. These can be fed live which may help since she is used to being fed live rodents.

 

[herpgirl2510]

Great I have trukey and fish for my tegu also baby foo I will try that. I know the rodants are not good for her it is all she has ever been fed and it was live. Believe me I have learned a lesson about researching better.

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I have roaches too I did drop one in her mouth she ate it.

 

[chelvis]

We all go through that learning curve, some make it out better than others. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery

 

[herpgirl2510]

Thanks because I feel like a total Jerk but I thought it was important for me to post this stuff even though I look like a complete moron.

 

[james.w]

It doesn't make you a moron in any way. You bought an animal you thought was healthy, turns out it wasn't and you are gonna do your best to give it a good life. Good luck.

 

[chelvis]

When i hear rehabed i think ok its going to looks alittle beat up but its going to look healthy enough to ship. That poor monitor does not look healthy enough to ship.

You do not look like a moron or come off as a jerk for trying to pervent somone else from getting ripped off.

 

[Rhetoric]

Ewww I was creeping on their website (I think its theirs http://www.offthearkexoticpets.com/animals.php?cat=lizard) anyway they sell tegus and for tegu it says:
Tegus - [View Care Sheet]
Price:
$40 for Columbian, $100 for Argentine, $199 for Red
Get about 3'-4.5". [size=large]Kept like bearded dragons [/size]with hot spot around 110. UV light, burrowing substrate and fruits/veggies as they get older.



Sorry, I don't find any similarities between keeping my beardie and keeping my tegus other than they need UVB and heat... They say they sell argentines but only list a caresheet for the colombians.. I know the care is very similar but why not take the time to make a proper one for a DIFFERENT species? "OUR CARE SHEETS must be followed for Terms and Guarantee to be valid"
The other thing that bugged me is savys and niles were listed together saying they get 4-5' in length.. Aren't niles larger? I didn't bother looking at that care sheet, maybe its more detailed. I really really really hope they don't sell many puppies :[

 

[slideaboot]

It sounds like you are going to keep her, which to tell you the truth is probably better for the animal and is not going to hurt the community. I have heard so many bad things about this place that when the animal arrives back he most likly will just turn and sell it to someons else or have it die and just use the now open space for more animals. I dont think sending it back will really teach this guy.

Chelvis is probably right...But, you ARE doing something about it. By posting this situation and telling people about what a crappy deal they pulled on you will probably be much more effective than simply returning the poor guy.

A lot of people fail to recognize the power of "word of mouth" advertising. Bobby is a great example of "word of mouth"...he maintains such a successful breeding project because he's proven himself time and time again as a stand-up guy.

If enough people talk about the kind of animals that Off The Ark is selling, they won't be selling much for very long--which is good. Hell, in this economy, this guy doesn't deserve to be taking sales away from other vendors with actual integrity.

 

[Rhetoric]

Agreed, when I googled them this thread popped up before their website did and below that there were a few older reviews warning people to stay away. Word of mouth is HUGE. Many forums have a good guy/bad guy section. I haven't ordered anything online but if I ever do there are a few businesses I would check first and a few I would NEVER check all because of comments from forum members.

 

[hangtown530]

I disagree with everyone that is saying keep him. I would send him back and demand a refund. If you keep him this guy gets to keep your money, stay in business and make no changes. It's the same concept as the people that buy sick animals from petco/petsmart because they feel bad. They get their money and keep their husbandry and feeding practices the same. Even if you save this one animal he will replace it with 2 and they will die unless someone who isn't informed with this place buys them. Send him back and keep spreading the bad new about this place.

I know I'm on the late show with this post but I agree with James...it's sad but keeping him teaches the company nothing...

^x2

 

[herpgirl2510]

Regardless I am not going to give a lizard a death sentence because I did not do proper research. I have kind of bitten my tongue on this but I am surprised to hear so many reptile lovers saying to ship this lizard back knowing it will die. This poor thing did not ask for this. word of mouth is what is going to make a difference killing this lizard is not. I took it as a pet therefore now its care is my responsibilty. When I googled them I saw old complaints from 2007 but positive ones in 209. I had no idea about searching them on fauna.Kingsnake does not allow you to post feed back that is where I saw the savannah for sale. Also there are quite a few websites that do not allow you to post negative feedback. I have filed complaints with kingsnake with copies of all my pictures of her opefully they will respond but they do not alow you to post feedback if they did I would.
On a positive note she did eat and has been basking for hours.

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Let's not forget I have majorly mother instincts kicking in right noiw.

 

[james.w]

Another reason I would send it back is that I have dealt with "rescues" (which I would consider what you are doing) and I got the animals for free, but it definitely wasn't free in the long run. I would not be happy paying for a animal and than having to incur the additional cost of keeping it alive based on lies from the seller. I am not knocking you in any way for how you are handling the situation. I respect the fact that you are willing to take on the task of rehabilitating the monitor.

 

[herpgirl2510]

I know you not knoccking me. I only paid $40 so he is not making a fortune from me in fact his shipping was $36 cheaper than any livestock shipping I have ever paid. I put this out because they have several monitors on kingsnake now some that are quite expensive I would not want anyone to have this happen to them. I am done with getting more reptiles for now I am sure this girl is going to need alot of attention. She hasbeen coming up to the door looking at me and she is starting to dig burrow for what is probably for the first time since Vinny had her since he said just sand is a great substrate when I told him had her in soil and sand mix.

 

[AdrianPaul]

I put this out because they have several monitors on kingsnake now some that are quite expensive I would not want anyone to have this happen to them.

Ah but it will happen, many many times, because people keep buying sick animals, or keep "rescuing" them if you like that term better. Same reason why there are many backyard breeders of dogs that get euthanized later on. This " rescuing" of reptiles only makes the rescuer feel warm fuzzies, and does not help animal trade on a large scale at all.

 

[chelvis]

Sadly Kingsnake does not take claims seriously. Many people have complained about many other bussiness (will not name names) and they all still do business there, regradless how many claims are against them. As long as the pay thier acount fees they can use the site. Now im not saying Fauna is the best, they can have some bullies on there, but enough bad reviews and they are banned from the site and negative fed back can be given. The best bet is to find smaller forms like this one that specializes in the animal you are looking to get. Ask around for reputable breeders or suppliers. If they are large names posting an inquirery on any board should get you some idea of their charcter.

Glad to her she is basking and eating, savies are tuff little lizards.