# Buying animals via Facebook groups..



## cobra148 (May 13, 2013)

Just wondering if anyone has had any horror story dealings when buying animals? I've got a Leopard Gecko at home, and my oldest daughter decided she would like one too, so on Monday night, she bought one locally from a group on Facebook.
She rang me on Monday evening, all excited, saying "Dad, I've bought a Gecko, but it looks funny 'cos its shedding". The "looking funny" didnt sound right, so I went to her house to take a look. I have never seen an animal in such a bad state, its eyes were closed, its feet were incased in old sheds, and it was passing blood as poo :gasp:
My daughter immediately rang the seller and said she was returning it as it was clearly ill, to which the seller said " It was ok when it left here, you are not getting a refund, and if you turn up at my door, I'll ring the police and say you are harrassing me"
My daughter took the Gecko to the vet, and it turns out that it has NO eyes at all :gasp: They bathed its shed encrusted feet, and the two back feet actually came off, there was that much dead skin on them :gasp: The vet said the only option was to put it to sleep.
My daughter rang the RSPCA to say of the neglect of this little Gecko, even backed up with the vet report, but they were not interested. The seller has now blocked my daughter from her Facebook account, even though my daughter was completely civil throughout, and never uttered a harsh word. She's now after another Gecko, but I think Dad will go with her next time.


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## Gratenkutzombie (Dec 28, 2012)

That sounds absolutely horrendous, poor gecko. I recommend buying reptiles from a reputable shop if your new to the hobby, or buying from a trusted breeder.


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## Khonsu (May 20, 2009)

It sounds pretty appaling, suprised RSPCA not interested, it sounds right up their back passage.

In aswer to the post however it could have been anywhere, facebook, gumtree, RFUK classifieds, crap pet shop, there are uncaring people in all walks of life, you just gotta learn not to step in them.


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## bigd_1 (May 31, 2011)

Khonsu said:


> It sounds pretty appaling, suprised RSPCA not interested, it sounds right up their back passage.
> 
> In aswer to the post however it could have been anywhere, facebook, gumtree, RFUK classifieds, crap pet shop, there are uncaring people in all walks of life, you just gotta learn not to step in them.


RSPCA interested in reptile :lol2: all the rspca like are thing there can put on tv and get people to give them ££££££ wast for space :whistling2:


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## cobra148 (May 13, 2013)

I rang my daughter tonight, and it seems she still has Grace (thats what she named the gecko). I thought the vet had euthanised it, but my daughter took it back home.
It seems she can still walk about, despite the absent rear feet, but she does have a problem catching live food, understandable as it has no eyes. My daughter is hand feeding the gecko on crushed crickets and mealworms, which it seems to eat readily. Maybe there is some hope for the poor thing :hmm:


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

we have a blind and very lazy leo here that was a rescue. She's really good at feeding but she has to be fed live insects via tongs lol. Being blind isn't as debilitating as people think just remeber when you clean her out to put everything back in the same places so she doesnt get confused. 

ALso, it could have come from anywhere. I've brough great animals through facebook groups and shops. But i've also seen aweful ones on here, FB and shops. 

Jay


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## Rottalma (Dec 20, 2012)

Gratenkutzombie said:


> That sounds absolutely horrendous, poor gecko. I recommend buying reptiles from a reputable shop if your new to the hobby, or buying from a trusted breeder.


Finding a reputable shop as a beginner is daunting. 

I use 3 shops out of necessity and one if i am in their direction. One i do like but has real humidity problems. One i despise keeps the animals at about 5 degrees c lower than they should and charges 3 times the going rate. And the final one, the owner has the personality of a stone.

There is only one shop i felt 100% happy with and this was blue lizard in dinno. I wasn't in long enough to scrutinise things as i did the others but all seemed in order, this is by the by though, the point is, all of these keepers are more experienced than i. And definitely more experienced than someone getting their first royal/corn/so on. I think what you really need is a friend who can help you out. It is very easy to be misled.

Sorry i waffle on but yeah, it is just very easy to think, because they have a big shop, and lots of animals, they must know more than you. 

As for a horror story. I bought what was claimed to be a scarlet kingsnake that would top out at 2-2.5 feet. I ended up with a flighty 4 foot+ Pueblan milk. I was new to the hobby and it was my first snake, i knew nothing. It was of no consequence to me, but to someone else, the difference could be far more severe. Maybe a "dwarf" "male" retic. Haha. Scary prospect for the amateur.


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## cobra148 (May 13, 2013)

*Update*

My daughter had a call from the RSPCA today, they wanted to arrange a vet check on the Gecko. They collected it from her house and took it to a respected reptile vet in Bedford.
I believe the vet treated the Gecko's eyeless sockets which were both very badly infected, and it seems its mouth has infection too. The RSPCA inspector told my daughter that the total vet care bill was likely to be in eccess of £300 unless she signed it over to them :gasp::gasp:
It now appears that the RSPCA are going to take action against the original seller, and my daughter can foster/adopt the Gecko back after the case, if it should survive that is.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

cobra148 said:


> My daughter had a call from the RSPCA today, they wanted to arrange a vet check on the Gecko. They collected it from her house and took it to a respected reptile vet in Bedford.
> I believe the vet treated the Gecko's eyeless sockets which were both very badly infected, and it seems its mouth has infection too. The RSPCA inspector told my daughter that the total vet care bill was likely to be in eccess of £300 unless she signed it over to them :gasp::gasp:
> It now appears that the RSPCA are going to take action against the original seller, and my daughter can foster/adopt the Gecko back after the case, if it should survive that is.


As a word of advice, They can't take the gecko ever whatever legal action they try and threaten her with, they have no powers of confiscation. They also cannot make her pay for vet care if they took it to a vet. 

They also do not need to take the gecko to start a case against the previous owner. 
I would not under any circumstance sign the gecko over personally especially with the RSPCA's stance on keeping geckos alive. 

If you want to get proffesional advice message Chris Newman, as the RSPCA can use very aggressive bully tactics to get their own way especially against women. 

jay


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

cobra148 said:


> My daughter had a call from the RSPCA today, they wanted to arrange a vet check on the Gecko. They collected it from her house and took it to a respected reptile vet in Bedford.
> I believe the vet treated the Gecko's eyeless sockets which were both very badly infected, and it seems its mouth has infection too. The RSPCA inspector told my daughter that the total vet care bill was likely to be in eccess of £300 unless she signed it over to them :gasp::gasp:
> It now appears that the RSPCA are going to take action against the original seller, and my daughter can foster/adopt the Gecko back after the case, if it should survive that is.


As a word of advice, They can't take the gecko ever whatever legal action they try and threaten her with (unless they have police and a warrent), they have no powers of confiscation. They also cannot make her pay for vet care if they took it to a vet. 

They also do not need to take the gecko to start a case against the previous owner. 
I would not under any circumstance sign the gecko over personally especially with the RSPCA's stance on keeping geckos alive. 

jay


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## cobra148 (May 13, 2013)

The RSPCA inspector told my daughter that the initial inspection/treatment was going to cost her £50, then they told my daughter that the Gecko needed some kind of scan (she can't remember what it was called) plus other meds, to which she would be liable to pay. My daughter rang me at work yesterday afternoon crying down the phone that the RSPCA wanted the money from her and she had no way to pay it.
I must admit, I was angry, and told her there could be no way that she was liable for the costs. Thats when she rang me a little later to say thay had waived the costs as my daughter had signed something to release the gecko into the RSPCA care.


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## blood and guts (May 30, 2007)

am i the only one not thinking parts of this just dont fully add up?


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## ChazzieJo (Jun 14, 2012)

Regardless of whether you've bought a pet from a shop, breeder or seller, it's essential that you health check it. 
There's always going to be those people who try to flog off ill animals to avoid paying costly vet bills unfortunately, which is why it's so important to check the animal over before accepting it.


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## cobra148 (May 13, 2013)

blood and guts said:


> am i the only one not thinking parts of this just dont fully add up?


You and me both.



ChazzieJo said:


> Regardless of whether you've bought a pet from a shop, breeder or seller, it's essential that you health check it.
> There's always going to be those people who try to flog off ill animals to avoid paying costly vet bills unfortunately, which is why it's so important to check the animal over before accepting it.


Totally agree. The only problem was that my daughter was alone when she bought the gecko, she did querie the appearance, especially the eyes, but the seller told her it was shedding and this was natural, obviously, my daughter didn't know any different. I'll make sure I go with her now for any future animals.


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

I don't understand why the RSPCA are being made out to be bad guys in this situation? Maybe it's because I've just woken up so correct me if I'm wrong but... the gecko clearly needed medical attention (seeing as it was on the verge of being put to sleep) from the sounds of it, and if your daughter had no way of paying it then they were totally justified in taking the gecko. Signing over the gecko was completely the right move to get medical help. 

Having worked for the RSPCA all I have to say is, please don't automatically assume that it will be neglected/poorly treated/put down. We had loads of reptiles through our doors all treated properly and either moved on to our reptile expert or rehomed. Although just because something is still alive doesn't mean it has any quality of life, unless you've seen the gecko in person and how it behaves nobody here is in a position to make the call as to whether keeping him/her alive or euthanasia would be the best course of action.


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