Posted by:
OKReptileRescue
at Sun Nov 4 00:38:25 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by OKReptileRescue ]
As for treating the wound- iodine swab sticks- LOVE THEM. then some neosporine.- keep it out of the nostrils and such.
as for rescue..... I started a little bit when i worked at a pet store- people would bring stuff in and say 'i dont want this' or we'd get there to open in the morning and there would be a box at the door- i took them home...
then several years ago, i started going to the herp club meetings at the zoo... and they would sometimes have a list of ppl that had called the zoo to get rid of stuff- i'd take the things i wanted.
Then I met Zeus... it was this time of the year- oct/nov. at the OUTSIDE flea market. dude had some 20 snakes/lizards/etc outside- no heat. zeus was a 12 ft skinny burm- i stepped on him. he was laying on the ground so cold he couldnt even move. he was blowing bubbles the size of my fist out his nostrils from a URI> I picked up the burm and walked of--- quickly. dude called the police and after about 3 hours and several animal control officers. I got a ticket for attempted robbery- he got fined with some 20 animal abuse charges and i left with all 20 of the dudes animals.... wtf was i going to do with them all?
blah blah blah...
word spread around slowly by word of mouth that i'd take in some animals if i could, take them to the vet and pay the bill... then my vet started calling a lot- got 2 boxes for yha... got an iguana with a 400$ bill- owners cant pay- come get it.... blah blah blah... word spread some more... then i figured what the hell... at the rate i was going i had about 4 animals a month in and out.
4 years later and we're averaging 4-8 in a week and 3-6 out. some weeks i have more in, some weeks more out... I quit my job 2 years ago just to manage the average of 30 rescue animals at a time, plus my some 15 personal animals. emails(about 15 a day), phone calls (about 3,000 min a month), advertizing, application processing (calling vets, and refrences, etc) cleaning cages, soaking, record keeping, blah blah blah...
I have hard applications and dont care how long it takes to find them a home. I've had some snakes here for over a year... have had an iguana here for almost 8 months.
I finally broke down and got some buisness cards made up about 2 years ago.... occasionally i'll put an ad in the paper... i've recently started looking into getting a table at a reptile show... I do have an adoption fee for our animals- it ranged from 30-100$... and i have never only asked 100 $ once- for a tame adult female chondro. iguanas are 30. reds are 40-75 depending, BPs are 40, beardies are 30, torts/turts are 30.... the adoption fees will get us through a week usually- helps a lot more than you would think- but doesnt come close to breaking even...
just bear in mind the cost of rescue. how healthy are your personal pets? probably quite healthy- how much is an average vet trip for you if you need to go?.... take one vet trip and multiply that by... we'll say 5- our average trip is about 200... depending.... thats 1,000 a month at the vet- which is about average. i dont get a discount.... now food... again no discount.... i dont even know how much we spend... at tax return season- i order about 900$ from rodentpro... through the year i buy crickets, worms, rabbits... stuff like that.... i dont keep track... then theres uva/uvb lights (yikes), heat lights, replacement heat pads, other medical supplies- iodine, neosporine... swab sticks, tongue depressors (for opening mouths). needless to say- i'm so damn tired of paying the bills i'm putting myself through vetrinary school.....
ugh.
rescue is a beautiful, wonderful thing... but don't get overwhelmed. mine has gone from 1-2 in 6 months to 4-8 in a WEEK. its a lot of work- quarantines, cleanings, feedings, medications, and then people.... its a lot of money as well... I have converted my garage and 2 rooms in my house to keep reptiles in.... and i have my personal animals scattered through the house- living room, bedrooms, bathroom even, theres beardies on my desk now.... they're everywhere.
hope that gave you some insight on rescue.... I have seen many people dive head first into rescue only to get a slap in the face. there are many ppl here that dont like me- and thats fine. rescue is a harsh world.... good luck
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue
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RE: New Rescued Burm - OKReptileRescue, Sun Nov 4 00:38:25 2007