Yesterday was the last straw for me as a herper.
Grant it, what happened Saturday, March 13, 2004 had been building since last month: when a "frined" tried to charge me twice the normal price for a gold dust day gecko that he said he bred himself but was obviously wild-caught. The thing was crawling with mites. He wanted $60 for it. We argued, I told him I was not interested, and he stormed off.
Then Friday my female gold dust day gecko excaped when my grandmother left the screen lid open while I was not here. It froze to death on my window seal overnight. I spent hours searching prior to finding her.
Then yesterday, I found my crickets had ALL excaped after they apparently chewed a hole in a the top of the plastic screen contaner I used to house them. When I lifted the container, the lid came off and cricket droppings went everywhere onto the NEW CARPET, which was wet from my trying to set up a 25-gallon tank for a warty newt.
Anyway, I set up the tank for the warty newt, and the damn thing just went nuts and tore the whole tank apart. The water was dechlorinated, temp right at 70 F, tank was properly cycled. I had decorated it with driftwood, pothos (rinsed) and java moss. T
Then one of my fluorescent light fixtures got wet when the newt splashed water on it.
So there I was, in the middle of my room, carpet soaked from the water that had spilled out of my newt tank. The quiet of my house was broken suddenly as I began to jibber with hideous, cracked laughter.
Ten minutes later, I tossed my pothos and broms into the trash along with the soil and pea gravel they had grown in for a long time. My remaining tanks were wrapped in lawn bags and I sledge-hammered them like nothing else. These included a 25-gallon and a 20-extra high. I took my critters keepers and remaining fluorescent light and slammed them on my concrete porch along with severl 2'' lenght of bam--boo and cork bark. REP-CAl: in the trash. Start Right: in the trash. Full-spectrum: trash. And as for that lousey warty newt, well, he ended up garter snake food.
So that's it folks. I will never keep another animal again. I wasted money and got only frustration and disappointment in return. If anyone so much as offers me a hermit crab, I'm going to turn and run, or act like I'm having a heart attack or say I don't keep ANYTHING becuase of some crazy religious ideal.
