Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got my new female phantasticus in this morning. first thing i noticed was she dropped her tail sometime on her way here. second of all, i was a little concerned when i noticed that the paper towel in her deli cup was bone dry. third thing that concerned me was as soon as i went to retrieve her from the cup, she vomited what seems like whatever crickets she ate before shipment. she's been swaying her head back and forth time to time, which is really concerning me so of course first thing i did was email the seller. why have i been cursed with such awful luck recently?

or maybe a better question would be... why cant people take the extra 1-2 weeks to make sure the geckos are completely fed and fully hydrated before shipping them? not only would that make the seller look better, but the buyer happier and have better luck getting their new gecko acclimated.
good luck with it, dropping the tail doesn't mean sudden death. i've had a lineatus without a tail for several months and he is eating well and drinking perfectly fine so it may not be the end of the world. good luck with it and keep us posted!

well, the fact that she is throwing up halfway digested material and her eyes are sinking in, AND she seems to be weakly clinging onto a plant worries me. last time i got a sickly-looking female, she lasted almost a week but only deteriorated in that time. when they only offer 24 hour health, i've got to voice my concerns right off the bat. and i am indeed extremely concerned with her health and surivivability.

Good luck..I agree if sellers took better care...we wouldn't need so many exotics to begin with.

Goodluck man
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Uroplatus sikorae
Uroplatus henkeli
Ball python
Hogg Island Boa Constrictor
Several species of tarantula

yea guys, unfortunately she didnt make it through the night. i really appreciated all the helpful suggestions though.

as far as the whole acclimation thing, i know i've talked to jason about it before, but the more i think about it, the more i'd really like to set up some sort of "pet store" if you will in the future dealing with imported exotics and such. the more experience i get with these guys, the more ill know. it would also be nice if there was a more delicate shipping method, as i have seen many careless shipping guys haphazardly handling the boxes.

maybe one day ill have enough money to set up my own exotics shop. i've never found a pet shop in NC that deals specifically with exotics. the only place where i can really hope to find a good variety of (not always) acclimated reptiles is the local reptile show, but even then you arent guaranteed to find what you're looking for. it would be nice to walk into a place with some experienced herp keepers with some truly healthy, parasite-treated animals. but thenagain, prices would probably be higher, and novice herp keepers would more than likely be shunned by the higher prices. but its something i would go for at least, and i know other "advanced" reptile keepers would like a place to go to like that. i get the idea that theres places like that here and there, but mostly in FL and CA. we can all keep dreaming though.

Thats a darn shame. I feel so bad for some of these little creatures.
I just consoled a friend that ordered a baby bearded dragon and was so excited waiting for her to arrive. She arrived dead yesterday morning
apparently the seller put the heat pack right under the babies container. Which you are NOT supposed to do. Everyone involved felt just horrible, but it could have beed prevented, and a baby lizard would be alive.

I just hope your next experience will go much better, and you get a healthy little female real soon.

As far as your exotic store vision, I have had that thought myself lately. But alot involved, I'm a couple states above you, in NJ maybe you and I can start our own BIZ, LOL
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Eve / PHEve

Sorry to hear about your loss. I received 3 satanics that same day. 1 didn't survive the trip. The other two seem to be weak and not very active. They did take some babyfood and pediolite yesterday though. I just hope they make it at this point. They are also receiving extra mistings. Any help as to help acclimating them would be appreciated.
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Scott & Mary Ann
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1 panther chams
2 jackson cham
2 leapord gecko
1 cat
1 dog

I'm so sorry for your recent troubles Mike, such a shame, I hope the little girl can hold on and snap out of it, no matter what you decide to do as far as (arrangements with the seller)

Shame these little gems have to go through so much also. :0(

I wish you all the best in your breeding efforts, as I know you are very passionate about it, and are trying so hard despite the problems you have been given as of late.

Hang in there buddy! Let us know how she is
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Eve / PHEve

well, i immediately contacted the seller, and im happy to say that this time around i am 100% pleased with the complete cooperation he showed me immediately. even though my gecko wasnt in the best shape, i really look forward to doing business with this guy again in the future. great customer appreciation and understanding from this guy. now lets all keep our fingers crossed and hope that we can help this tailless female pull through!

What was his solution? I'm curious to know.

This is what happens when we buy from jobbers. I hate it. Hopefully it'll come up good in the end.

Try getting a hold of a liquid called vitamin water. I've been using it with those two dehydrated females I have and it seems to be working really well.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,
jason

Whew, good luck... I have always been happy with pedialyte as a rehydrator (liquid and powder form) and I would recommend you assist feed the hell out of her without handling her too much...
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Ben

well, shes really not fond of the pedialyte (i've never known them to be) but im gonna go ahead and keep on trying because i know it will be worth it if i get her to pull through. im a bit weary about the assist feed because i've honestly never had to assist feed any of my geckos, only some green anole long ago. im wondering if you think mealworms would be a better choice for the assist feed, but the only reason i really ask about using mealworms over crickets is because of the greater ease she should have getting them down as opposed to the much bulkier crickets. but i know that mealworms are a little harder to digest, so im wondering if you think that would place too much stress on her (as if handling her, trying to get her to open her mouth, and rehydrating her isnt stressing her enough). anyhow...luckily i've got the tools to get it all done and although shes spitting up most of the pedialyte, i know shes gotta be getting some of it in there. it's gonna be a long night, she seriously looks to be at her end but ill try my best to keep her going. if i can do this successfully i just might have to change my mind and go for vet school after all! everyone kep your fingers crossed for her!

First of all, I would not recommend mealworms, their calcuim to phosphorus ratio is terrible and they are very high in fat... In addition to being hard to digest...

You can do one of two things to get the pediatlye in her and there are trade offs for each;
1) I have never had trouble getting Uros to take pedialyte when mixing it with babyfood (I always use chicken with gravy flavor)... add other supplements as needed... If you have the time, you can easily dropper feed it onto her snout and let her lap it off (less handling, less stress)... If you don't have the time (which I know I don't) get her to gape, shove the syringe into her mouth and squirt... Sometimes they'll spit it back out, but as long as you do this with a little bit of formula at a time she should swallow it... Now, do you know the tricks in getting her to gape?... I first try gently, but somewhat forecably tapping the snout... if this doesnt work, use your index finger and thumb in abrupt motions and tap the sides of her face (in the mouth region)... And second, if both of these fail... Get a guitar pick (and thin one)and gently slip into the side of the mouth, slightly turn it to pry it open and follow immediately with the syringe... Obvisouly this approach is more invasive and may inflict more stress...

Wheew... My second suggestion;
Construct a "rain chamber" and lightly mist on her continuosly for several hours... Obvisouly this will take some more explainantion if you so choose...
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Ben

ben, i really appreciate all the advice you're offering. i started off with the dropper, and i have some baby food that can possibly offer some more consistency, so ill try to make a small soupy mix and try it out. i've got a couple of dissection kits which have come in handy because i have a thin probe that i've used to get her to open her mouth....but it still takes a bit of work. due to her already poor condition, i was wanting to try to get SOMETHING in her as soon as i could, which is why i tried using the dropper. so she did get some, but she's obviously not fond of it. ill try the baby food added to it but from past experience my uros have always spat out baby food. i've been lightly misting her more often than usual, if thats what you mean by a misting chamber. honestly, her tail didn't look to be in that bad of shape when i found it when i first received her, which makes me somewhat curious as to whether hydration was really that big of a factor. nonetheless she has lost her tail and a small amount of blood, which is probably reason enough to rehydrate her. she was obviously eating and all before she was sent to me, because thats the only way to explain the half-digested crickets she threw up when i first opened her container. so all evidence seems to point in the direction that she just had an unfortunately rough trip. even though it might have to be lightly squeezed between my relatively mammoth fingers, im gonna give her plenty of TLC in hopes that there is hope.

it worked out very well, and he actually left it up to me as far as what to do. i know sending her back is a death sentence, so i simply asked if he would mind if i held on to her and tried my best to bring her back to health, which he gladly accepted. of course, both of us knowing there is only a very slight chance of bringing her back, he offered to get in touch with me as soon as he got a new shipment, allowing me first choice from the batch. and of course, if all else fails, he offered an absolute full refund. extremely accomodating gentleman, and of course i would do business with him again.