Personally, no rescue that I know eats t-bones on fine china. Many of them have not had a true vacation in years and years. Any trip that I choose to make usually involves education of some sort. I drive a 7 year old vehicle that has served me well, travelling over 140,000 miles, most of them reptile related. I don't know any people involved in rescue that drive BMW's or a Lexus. It's a good thing that I happen to love peanut butter and eggs (and an occasional McDonalds double cheeseburger). It's also a good thing that I can function well on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I invest a good part of my time, energy, and personal earnings to do what I do. Daily care, food prep, application screening, phone calls, all take up a lot of time and energy (approximately 7 hours a day for me).

I do rescue for several reasons, the foremost being that I love working with these animals. There is a tremendous need for rescue and rehabbing in the reptile pet hobby. If I had the resources I'd probably have 2-3 times as many herps as I have here now but, unfortunately, I have to turn some away. You learn early that you can't help them all.

Requesting an adoption fee is one more assurance that an applicant is serious, responsible, and willing to do what it takes to give an animal a good home. I will never ever come close to recouping the investment that I make in one of our adopted animals and I'm fine with that. The 9 new Tegus will eat far more dollars worth of rodents while they are here than I will charge for an adoption fee for them, not to mention the cost of heating them and vet care. In some cases the adoption fee isn't even enough to cover my transportation costs when I offer to drive partway to deliver the animal to it's new owner. In my eyes the adoption fee is not about the money, it's about the willingness to make a committment and a sacrifice for that animal.

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