Reptile & Amphibian Forums

sorting out the confiscated animals from the Long Island Reptile Museum... Finally, after years of trying to get the place shut down, our dreams have finally come true.

Enjoy the pics...



"double fisting" it

bob
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TheOdatriad

hahaha, that is priceless. It looks just like the monitor butted in on your photo like a total ham.

What is going on with the animals? Sent to another zoo or sold to private keepers? Are they all in good shape? I like the little rudi, she's a cutie!
Hope you had fun.
D.

What happens to the animals now? I am sure I could find room for the lace. Kick out some kids and I'll have plenty of room.
hahaha

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Wow Bod, those are some great pics. That lacie is incredible. And the size of those beaded lizards. What's going over there. I've heard you folks complain about that place alot, so if its closing down I assume its a very good thing. If so, are they closing intentionally or getting forced to?
Thanks

np

he sure is a big boy, it's really sad that he is in the poor mental state that he is....at least the animal is out of the death museum now...

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TheOdatriad

Well, the place has been closed to the public because of hazardous conditions, violation of codes, and as of last night, is now condemned. The owner is facing charges of animal cruelty/neglect. They did not pay their electric, or heating bills, so power and heat was shut off, with temps dropping down into the 20's. So SPCA moved in, and seized all of the animals. The museum has been in horrible condition both structurally and zoologically since it first opened. Finally after many years, the place is officially closed, and the public has finally seen the nightmare that it truly was. I am not sure of the futures for the animals, however I can tell you this, that they are all going to live better, healthier lives.

There are a few articles if you google it, about past SPCA lawsuits, and a very comprehensive report by the Turtle Trust... it sums up much of the conditions that still existed recently, although in my opinion, was much worse.

The pics i previously posted were of some of the lucky animals, and animals that I obviously show a fondness for, varanids and heloderms.... but, unfortunately, not all the animals were in good condition, as many were sick, emaciated, dehydrated, and some were even dead inside their enclosures. Not to mention the dirty, soiled cages these poor animals were living(can you call it living?) in....

As for the lace, although it may appear physically healthy, the animal is suffering from a severe neurological disorder, most likely to the horrid conditions it was put through... It does not walk normally, support itself normally, behave normally, or eat normally... It takes this animal 1-2 hours to consume a mouse.... pretty messed up...such a shame... a beautiful animal....

I'm sure there will be more news and developments as the days go by... cheers,

bob
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TheOdatriad

That is what I have heard and seen in pictures from talking to people about that place.

Very sad to hear of such nice animals being treated so poorly.
I see some of the same animals in that shape down here. Mostly they are wild caught but sadly some are in poor homes.

I cannot ever say I have seen a lacie poorly treated or a caimen lizard though.

I wish all of them animals luck and hope they find better homes to live out there lives.

Thanks for sharing those pictures with us.

Hey Jody, I have lots of pics.... there are many other animals that are in much worse shape, there are snakes with horrible respiratory infectiosn, abcesses, mites, etc... turtles and tortoises with horrible bacterial infections, lizards with abcesses and stomatisis, lots of sick animals, many of which the vet took out immediately, others are being evaluated as we speak.

yes, it's very sad to see such rare, precious animals in the horrid state that they were...but there's still that ounce of hope that they will make a recovery in their new homes, wherever that may be..

Hopefully, the media will cover this as a true dire cry for help, as opposed to making the owner out to look like a "victim", as they have in the past, preventing any results or consequences from affecting the museum.

Needless to say, it is the end of the Long Island Death Museum...
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TheOdatriad

and read some of the reports from the media. They don't really say much other then the place was closed down for not being up to code. Missing cieling tiles, uncovered or broken outlets, and uncovered electrical wires. They then said around 200 animals were removed from the facility. The power had been turned off for a few days from unpaid bills and the owner has made no effort to fix any problems.

200 animals seems like a low number to me I thought they housed 3,000 or some such number? I know through the years some animals have been removed. I am just wondering if they had 3,000 how many were removed and how many ended up dead? I hope it is not 200 removed and 2,800 dead.

hahahahahahaha.... Yeah, I always found that funny.... 3000 animals my ass... maybe they were counting the tapeworms and roundworms which resided inside the animals??? maybe some mites, or the roaches that ran rampid in the building????

at the peak, I have been told there was around 300-400 animals... There were many empty exhibits the day the animals were confiscated... I honestly do not know how he could keep the doors open, and have people walk through there, seeing only 1/2 of the enclosures with animals...morbidly sick ones at that...

3,000 animals....haahahhaha that's pretty funny.... I think we resuced something like 185 animals total..
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TheOdatriad

atleast the media is right when they said about 200 were removed.

Thanks for the info Bob. Those were some really horrid pics. Somebody should take the owner out to the back alley.

That place needed to be shut down long ago but atleast it is finaly happening.

I assume the aspca and local herp society got together on this one? Good too see the animals faired well atleast the ones you showed.

I have seen other animals released from that place in the past that did not look so well.

Hopefully the animals can go into a better enviroment now.

just send all the heloderms to me, thanks
scott.....lol good to see them shut down, we have some pet stores like that around here, and some were actually shut down from people protesting, and not patronizing their stores.

hey bob, is that cumingii water monitor still there when they confiscated the animals, i think they had one last year when i observed tehre

i saw the story on fox, yesterday

they said he could get a maximum of a year in jail and/or $1000 in fines, which to me is like nothing

Hi Bob,
Much CONGRATS on getting that scum bag place shut down! I visited there in its infancy and it was horrible to see. I had never seen such filthy animals in my life - V. albigularis with 'thousands' of ticks on them!; the then curator in charge was trying to get it all built and cleaned up ASAP and the owner (s.c.) hindered him whenever possible...so he quit and moved to Costa Rica where he has built his own institution.

I AM DELIGHTED the animals have now gone to a new home and will be taken care of! Boy your house must be crowded now! Your food bill must be equal to the feeding of our armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan combined!

Cheers,
markb

hey mark,

I take it you're talking about Quetzal... he's a great guy, and is apparently doing well with his serpentarium down in Cost Rica.

For the record, these animals are not at my house, or in my possession, they are in a temporary holding facility, until their fate is determined. Apparently the owner is going to try and fight to get the animals back, even without a place to house them, since the building was condemned....

So, like I said they are in temporary holding facility, until we are given the go ahead to begin sending them out to the designated facilites... Sorry, but I do not believe any of these animals will be reaching private collectors...

Cheers mark,

bob
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TheOdatriad

Hi Bob,
Yes, I am talking about Quetzal - and he is a great guy. He has deep passion for varanids/animals, and damn nice guy.

That is too bad SPCA does not give them to people like you who also have the passion. Cates only has $$ on his mind, and to hell with the animals. This incident of no heat came up before, like I said when the place was just beginning; he had a pair of V.s. cumingi Mindanao types. They escaped from their enclosure and went into the rafters to hide/dwell. Quetzal got them down finally, but there was NO HEAT in the building, it was (NY) december and they were frozen SOLID! Yes solid like a mackeral. Quetzal thawed them out, and they were still alive (I bet Robert Scott had wished he could have done that!), but neurlogically damaged and never regained full cognitive levels we are accustomed to see in Varanids - and to be expected as freezing drastically alters cell morphology (red blood cells, brain cells, nerves etc)... but again we see no heat scenario, and I am glad somebody finally took the initiative to get those animals out of that mini-Dachau!

Thanks for sharing Bob,
markb

trust me mark,

as a former employee(I hate to announce that fact), I know all about his ways, and the horrible, uncorrectable conditions there... I can literally right a novel about the atrocities that I whitnessed while I was there. The only thing that has kept people working there, is the emotional connection they make with the animals, and the fear of when they quit, the animals which they have become so attached to, would surely die...

maybe i should write a book....hmmmm.

bob
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TheOdatriad

Hi Bob,

Let me know if you need some 'early LIRH' materials - Glad to provide whatever I can...and a few others I know can also.

Raymond Hoser wrote about corruption and smuggling of animals etc in Australia, and they have hounded him since, i.e. a strip search in a public airport carpark etc..., so apparently what he said hit some nerves....such things need to be exposed, but responsibly, and in doing so, 'changes' can happen! Think about it.

I did not know you worked there...
Cheers,
markb

Glad to see you 'in the thick of it' with those marvelous animals. Hopefully, you'll be in on the decision making as to where they send the animals, so they go to places where they will receive proper care. Sometimes you can beat the bad guys. Hope they throw the book at that guy, and in addition order that he never have ownership or care of any sort of animal ever again.

You're my hero!

Leslie