A reptile rescue

C.Phillips · 07-18-10, 10:40 AM

Here in the South East region on the USA hundreds of pythons and other reptile are released into the wild to die and sometimes grow and eat peoples pet hince for giveing reptile that we all on this sight love a bad name. This is just a dream I am having and hope to bring it to a reality in the future. I want to open and Reptile rescue for when peoples reptiles get to big or they cant have them anymore, I can take them in and arange to find Homes for them. I already have a Pet shop interested in helping supply so much food a month. The owner is also a BP breeder as well. This is just a thought and will take a year or to to get going since I am in college to be a EMT-I (emergencie medical tech Intermediat) and will graduate this Sept.

Lankyrob · 07-18-10, 11:02 AM

We have similar aspirations for the South West of the UK - good luck with it and keep us up to date with how it goes!!

Nafun · 07-18-10, 12:35 PM

I've put a lot of thought into this.

Food is not the only thing, hell food is easy. Herps generally eat either fruits and veggies (approach a farmer's market or supermarket about donations of spoiled produce.) or insects/rodents (very easily to breed, insects will eat spoiled veggies, and rodents can be fed a mixture of horse feed, bird food, and dry dog food).

If you want pet stores to donate something, vitamins, lighting, fixtures, heating, etc are your big out of pocket needs. You'll probably want to invest in building tub racks, both for feeders and for herps. You can make them yourself out of dimensional lumber, concrete mixing tubs, and hardware cloth.

You need to find a herp vet willing to work either pro bono, or at a discount. Every animal you bring in is going to need to be examined, many will need treatment. Disease spread is also going to be an issue. It will be virtually impossible to maintain quarantine for a large group of animals for the recommended 3 to 6 months at a rescue. If you don't want IBD or mites to run rampant, you're probably going to need something like a poultry fogger.

Georgia is warm, but not warm enough. Most herps will need to be sheltered inside at least part of the year. You'll also need to look into getting tax exempt status, unless you want to A> pay sales tax on everything you buy for your rescue and B> pay income tax on all donations to your rescue.

The biggest obstacle is going to be PR. There is a huge amount of prejudice surrounding herps. Getting donations for animals that most people would run screaming from will be difficult.

Good luck, and I hope this works out for you.

C.Phillips · 07-18-10, 09:08 PM

Theres quit a few breeders and all in a close area of hear and lots of herp owners Like i said though it will be a year or so befor i can get it going I have a few friends interested in helping too so.. and I agree PR will be a hard part if not the hardest

presspirate · 07-18-10, 09:29 PM

Look into shipping also, maybe the interest in herps/snakes in your area is not huge, but if you were to build a website and ship these herps nationwide to willing adopters, you may be able to find long term homes for your rescues. I know I'd pay for shipping from Georgia if I saw a snake that tugged at my heart strings.

C.Phillips · 07-18-10, 09:31 PM

Thats a good IDea then I could do reptile shows in Atlanta GA and Charrlott nc and Columbia SC and have a snake adoption booth to draw in finance for suport

percey39 · 07-18-10, 09:44 PM

It would be very hard to do and i wish you well with it. The money costs will be extreme ie heating, cages, (even if your building them yourself) vet bills and there are lots of cost that go unnoticed with small collections and once you get over 25-30 you start realise the hidden expenses. Also it will be very hard to rehome normal snakes as everyone would be buying mostly through a pet shop as this is where newbies start out. A lot people also would be inclined to buy through breeders still as there is massive risk of disease.

Just a few things to think about. I do really wish you all the best.

C.Phillips · 07-18-10, 09:48 PM

yeah I know its going to be hard to get started but a little help with the education of people about these herps and it can possibly start a chain reaction of relocating the snakes to good homes

presspirate · 07-18-10, 10:55 PM

3 words Network Network Network

infernalis · 07-19-10, 06:28 AM

I used to know a lady who did this, when she started out, her intentions were pure, but the first three snakes that ever came her way were all retics, big massive adult retics.

She was in love, all seemed well, but alas, no one wanted to adopt the retics.

How can this be? sweet tame beautiful retics.... 20 plus feet of lovable snake.

She wound up giving the snakes to another rescue and shutting down.

Just keep in mind, not everyone will want to adopt what you may get in.

Government funding, not there... donations? maybe.... guaranteed homing for all unwanted animals taken in?? not by a long shot.

People will be knocking on your door with anacondas, half dead boas that have been left with hungry rats in a cage without supervision, things that will rip your heart out.

Just make sure you are ready for the unexpected......

C.Phillips · 07-19-10, 06:34 AM

yeah i am i love helping animals and people to i already save peoples lives why not help some herps live theirs a little better

infernalis · 07-19-10, 06:37 AM

Please don't think I'm discouraging you, this is commendable, I have thought of it myself.

Just be ready for some horrific things.

C.Phillips · 07-19-10, 06:45 AM

Oh yeah I know some people out there will bring neglected beating and worn down old snake not to mention the agressive one they never messed with as the grew up and are now unable to be tamed. Theres lots of other things too that are possible. When I first started thinking about it I thought of most all of the possibilitys I dare not say ALL of them. But If People can help Pitt Bulls I think theres hope for some herps, Not saying that one animal is better than the other cause I love pits. But I think in my opinion they are more dangurouse than a boa and a python anyday (most of the time).

shaunyboy · 07-19-10, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

Please don't think I'm discouraging you, this is commendable, I have thought of it myself.

Just be ready for some horrific things.

as wayne has said its a most honourable and commendable thing your trying to acheive.

he's only trying to prepare you for the bad side of it.

mistreated pets,wrongly treated snakes through bad husbandry,snakes that get huge and scare their owners.that means they've not been handled and can be quite wild to deal with.never being able to find homes for some of the rescues so you may have to keep them yourself.snakes can live for 20 to 30 years.

over here in scotland the few rescue centres we have for instance will not take an iguana as a rescue.the reason being no one wants a 6 foot agressive lizard that will eat you out of house and home.my friend works for a rescue and he's told me storys of people leaving iguanas in boxs during the night for him to find when he arrives in the morning.sadly most of the iguanas get euthinised as they're just too long living and big to do anything for them.

on the up side a successfull re homing will lift your spirits but please be prepared to see some horrific sights.

all the best with it
cheers shaun

Nafun · 07-19-10, 08:33 AM

First, I want to clarify that I think your plan is commendable. It is absolutely great, and I wish you the best of luck.

Here's for the nasty warning bit.

This is going to break your heart. People are going to bring in herps that need to be put down. People are going to bring in animals that they have clearly abused or neglected, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it, and it's going to make you fume. You can report them and get them arrested, but if you do, no one will bring abused animals to your rescue. They'll be released into the wild, or killed instead. And, of course, people are going to bring in herps that are not adoptable. Nobody wants a 500lb cage aggressive anaconda, not even a zoo.

I have two pieces of advice for you, and they are contradictory.

1> Consider narrowing the focus of your rescue, being a "snake" rescue or a "lizard" rescue. Reptiles are a huge and diverse group of animals. Taking in all comers could become overwhelming, in numbers, and diversity.

2> Consider broadening the focus of your rescue, being an "Exotic Rescue" or "Bird and Reptile" rescue. This would serve to downplay the reptile aspect. You will get many more donations if your letterhead and business cards have a picture of a parrot than a snake. Parrots are always portrayed positively in the media, and in the social consciousness they have a positive connotation. Everyone thinks parrots are beautiful, even if they don't want to own one. This can also serve to get people "in the door" for adoptions, and even if you don't convince them to take a snake, you may convince them not to hate/fear snakes.

Oh, and one final note.

Rescues don't have to accept any animal they are offered. There is a cat rescue here. When my roommate moved out and didn't take his cat, we tried to take her to the rescue. They refused. They will only take kittens, because adult cats are too hard to adopt. It sounds chilly, but if they didn't, they would soon be overrun with adult cats with virtually no hope of adoption.

(We ended up putting his cat in a crate with food and water and leaving it on his porch, then calling him to tell him it was there.)