Urgent! Friends Lizard needs help NOW!

To start off, I'm sorry. I didn't know where to post this. This is the best site I know for bearded dragons, and lizards in general. (This site has saved my life and made my beardie's life so much better. She's so spoiled!)

My (sister's) friend has a leopard gecko. He is NOT receiving proper care. I have tried giving advice to the owner but it is ignored and the owner gets mad at me for trying to help. I don't know what to do. I'll try to go into as much detail as possible.

Tank and set up:
-I don't know the specific tank size but it's less than 10 gallons
-He has no uvb light of any kind and doesn't even get taken outside for natural uvb
-He doesn't even have a heat lamp. All he has is an under tank heater.
(* I gave her an old heat lamp and bulb to use 6 months ago, and just found out today that it has not been being used. :twisted: )
(*I know under tank heaters are bad/not recommended for beardies, but I don't know about leopard geckos. Personally I don't like them at all unless there is LOTS of padding between it and the lizard. I think the heater may be causing burns on him as he gets tons of sores.)

Care:
-She used to feed him super worms (which I feel are waaayyy too big for him to eat) :? :?:
-He stopped eating and started losing weight so I suggested phoenix worms or at the very least wax worms to help him gain weight. She then started to feed him only wax worms (which I know is bad), but now he has stopped eating those to.
(*I don't know when he stopped eating as the owner does not want me updated on his condition because she does not want my advice or help.)

Current Condition:
-He has a rather large sore on his right side right behind is front leg. (my guess is a burn)
-Apparently, his back left foot got sooo swollen and bloodied that the decided to cut his foot off. At home. With who knows what. It looks terrible now. It looks like the bones are sticking through and bloodied. :shock: The poor baby
-He is EXTREAMLY skinny. You can see his spine all down his back and his tail is EXTREAMLY thin
-His mouth/jaw is misshapen. (I imagine this happened from malnourishment and lack of uvb)
-As said earlier, he won't eat
-The one good thing in all of this is that he is still moving and responding to stimuli. He will still walk around. This gives me hope that he is a fighter and with the right care can be saved.

What I've been told by the owner:
-They took him to the vet once a LONG time ago (before most of the problems now). Vet said sores were because of the shed skin that he was eating. It was collecting under his skin and pushing out? (I don't believe this) :?: :?: :?: :?: I don't believe he has been to the vet since.

I honestly don't know what to do anymore. I would love to take him and care for him but I don't know how the owner would respond to that, and I don't think I have the money to give him the care and treatment he deserves. Any and all help is much appreciated. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong spot, I just don't know where else to go. This is the BEST reptile forum that I have ever found.

Hello,

Sure, I will leave it here since it is an emergency. The poor gecko is not going to make it much longer though, at this rate.
I have kept leopards in the past & used an undertank heater with felt in between in combination with a low wattage overhead basking & a low UVB output tube bulb, too. I felt that the UVB helped their health.
At this point, whether or not they liked you taking him or not, since they are abusing him in my opinion, he probably should be confiscated or he wont make it. I can't tell you what to do because I'm not in that situation but ethically, I know that is a hard call. On your end there really isn't anything you can do if they wont listen to you or take any advice.
The sores are likely burns or he is chewing on his skin due to shedding issues.

Do they live close by?

Tracie

They do live close by. The owner is out of town for the weekend and asked my sister to take him out and play with him a little. They specifically asked her not to have me go because they didn't want me to know his condition, but my sister asked me to anyways. When we tried calling the owner with some concerns, they hung up immediately upon learning the reason of the call and refused any further contact. I'm seriously thinking of taking him and dealing with the owner later.

The sores may be from chewing, but the one behind his arm seems like it would be a hard place to chew. If it is chewing from difficulty shedding, how could I fix his shedding problem? Is it because his cage is too dry? Would soaks help? They only give him a bottle cap full of water in his cage, not nearly enough to soak himself.

And about his not eating, should I begin syringe feeding him if I do end up taking him? What should I try feeding him?

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

This is absolutely heart breaking. Sorry to say but sod ethics, and sod your friend. What sort of person does this to an animal? Take him and run, give that little creature the help it so desperately needs. It sounds like they haven't got much time for him anyway so would they really be that fussed? Tell them he escaped, died, anything.

Sorry for the outburst but this has me welling up, please help the poor thing.

They won't let me take him Her parent says it would break her (the owner's) heart.

Excuse you. MY HEART IS BREAKING!!! I REPEATEDLY TOLD THEM (over the course of a YEAR) HOW TO CARE FOR HIM AND WAS REPEATEDLY IGNORED! I'm soooooooooo upset and have been crying over this ever since I learned how he was doing. Why won't they just let me help!?!?! Why would they choose his slow painful death over me helping?!?!

Apparently, they took him to the vet, and there was nothing they could do. I don't mean to be pushy, but hello! I'm a vet assistant! I have seen the lizard! The fact that he is still moving means he is still fighting to live! He can be saved gosh darn it!

The poor guy!!

Unfortunately, in some countries (and states) pets are considered private property and therefore if you knowingly took the gecko without the owner's permission it could be considered stealing. That would give the owners' the right to call the authorities on you. Idk if they're that malicious, but assuming they are, you could be charged. I wouldn't want that to happen!!

Hello,

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that, it is inexcusable behavior for sure.
The only other thing I could think of would be to call animal welfare on them & file an abuse report. I have never done that before, but it sounds like it is absolutely warranted.
He is dying a slow death & they will not do a thing.
I wish that there was more that could be done.

Tracie

I wish I could do more for the little guy. How can people knowingly do this to animals? They can't play the 'I didn't know' card. I told them. Repeatedly. I just... I just don't understand people.

The only thing keeping me from totally breaking down is my baby (beardie). She must know something is wrong because she refuses to sit in her cage and has to always be with me ( she's never been like this). Bless her little soul, she knows just how to cheer me up.

Anyways, thanks for hearing my problem and offering advice.

GrandSkyDragon":2ckzb8ho said:

They won't let me take him Her parent says it would break her (the owner's) heart.

Excuse you. MY HEART IS BREAKING!!! I REPEATEDLY TOLD THEM (over the course of a YEAR) HOW TO CARE FOR HIM AND WAS REPEATEDLY IGNORED! I'm soooooooooo upset and have been crying over this ever since I learned how he was doing. Why won't they just let me help!?!?! Why would they choose his slow painful death over me helping?!?!

Apparently, they took him to the vet, and there was nothing they could do. I don't mean to be pushy, but hello! I'm a vet assistant! I have seen the lizard! The fact that he is still moving means he is still fighting to live! He can be saved gosh darn it!

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Whoa, I hope you don't think my message was me being off with you, because I promise, it wasn't. I can't imagine how you're feeling and sorry for my initial message, I just hate the thought of an animal suffering from through neglect.

GeoffreyDragon":1n7sk56g said:

GrandSkyDragon":1n7sk56g said:

They won't let me take him Her parent says it would break her (the owner's) heart.

Excuse you. MY HEART IS BREAKING!!! I REPEATEDLY TOLD THEM (over the course of a YEAR) HOW TO CARE FOR HIM AND WAS REPEATEDLY IGNORED! I'm soooooooooo upset and have been crying over this ever since I learned how he was doing. Why won't they just let me help!?!?! Why would they choose his slow painful death over me helping?!?!

Apparently, they took him to the vet, and there was nothing they could do. I don't mean to be pushy, but hello! I'm a vet assistant! I have seen the lizard! The fact that he is still moving means he is still fighting to live! He can be saved gosh darn it!

Click to expand...

Whoa, I hope you don't think my message was me being off with you, because I promise, it wasn't. I can't imagine how you're feeling and sorry for my initial message, I just hate the thought of an animal suffering from through neglect.

Click to expand...

No no no! I'm sorry! This is just me raging indirectly at the owners! I'm soo sorry! :shock:

Noo don't be silly, it's ok, just didn't want you thinking I was on the attack. The others were right, I didn't mean to make you feel like I was urging you to steal him, as I said I just get so riled up.

Where do you live? Are there any animal welfare groups that could help you here?

Tell us a little about your beardie? They are so much more emotionally intelligent than people think

GeoffreyDragon":1ywyn20p said:

Noo don't be silly, it's ok, just didn't want you thinking I was on the attack. The others were right, I didn't mean to make you feel like I was urging you to steal him, as I said I just get so riled up.

Where do you live? Are there any animal welfare groups that could help you here?

Tell us a little about your beardie? They are so much more emotionally intelligent than people think

Click to expand...

I was considering taking him the moment I saw him, but figured I should ask first as stealing (surprise adopting) him could very likely get me into trouble. So don't worry, you didn't put the thought into my head. Just gave me a push to do it if I was allowed.

I don't know of any groups that could help in my area... I should look into it. Would it be animal welfare groups in general? I feel like reptiles won't/don't receive the same amount of attention as cat, dogs, and horses.

I should make a new post about my baby girl. She's a real sweetheart. She usually doesn't like to cuddle long and prefers to sit in her hammock and bask, but ever since I became upset about my 'friends' lizard she insists on staying with me. If I'm in the same room as her tank, she NEEDS to be out with me and won't stop glass surfing til I take her out. I don't know what I'd do without her. What did I do to deserve such a sweet, scaly, little angel.

Animals really are another class. We are lucky to have them.

It's tough because I've found it varies from where you live. I once reported a severely neglected horse (cuts, emaciated, not being fed, no rug on in the winter) and the rspca did absolutely nothing, but then I found a horse charity and they helped and eventually had the poor thing taken away.

You didn't mention where you are, UK, USA? I could help take a look.

My name's Laura by the way and I'm from the south West England. I have a baby beardie and a Mediterranean tortoise. Also live with three snakes, two cats and a dog. Bit of a mad house!

My names Kayla. I'm in the USA, Utah to be more exact. I don't know any places that would be able to help with reptiles. I've worked with several rescue farms, but those were for horses, cows, sheep, etc. I've also worked at other rescues but again, no reptiles. :?

My life's not nearly as hectic as your is! I've just got my sweet beardie. She's about 11 months old now. I used to have some frogs to, but sadly they died of old age I kind of miss their squeaking at 3 am (oddly enough they never croaked, only squeaked, but it was super cute) :lol:

https://www.utahhumane.org/our-programs/investigation/what-humane-society-utah-can-handle- call the Humane Society - they can go investigate/seize the gecko. I'm new on the board, so I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. I volunteer at the local SPCA up here (I'm in Canada), and actually just adopted two beardies last week from them. The Humane Societies are created for situation just like this one. Hopefully the one in Utah will assist with the gecko, some are just not knowledgeable or equipped to deal with reptiles, etc.