RIP angry tokay

[ADEE]

I just got home to find my little female Tokay had passed away. I feared she wasnt doing well, she hadnt eaten for us once since she came here and seemed pretty lethargic this morning. I called the shop we got her from and they confirmed she was WC and asked if we wanted him to replace her.. we declined with a heavy heart. Im really upset about it.

[NightLad]

Hi Ashley,

I’m very sorry to hear about your loss. Please accept my condolences.

I have also felt the sting of a WC pet-store lizard.

I once owned a beautiful CB desert iguana for several years prior to his passing. He was absolutely wonderful! He enjoyed being handled; he loved to sit with you and relax while you read or watched TV; he would happily perch on your shoulder as you moved about the house; he was an all-around great pet.

A few years after his passing my sister came home (I was mid-way though high school) and told me that she had found another desert iguana in a PJs Pets. They are not a common variety of lizard to see for sale, at least not in my area, so I went to have a look. I didn’t want to “replace” my first lizard, but knowing what a great pet he had been I thought another desert iguana would be a good choice.

I bought him, but I knew almost immediately something was no quite right with him. He was extremely jumpy, even after the initial ‘settling in’ period. He hardly ate anything and I had to resort to feeding waxworms to try and get some fat on him. He kept getting skinnier and skinnier. He was also nuts; it was impossible to handle him at all. If you tried to hold him he’d rum to your shoulder and take a flying leap up the nearest set of curtains while trying to escape.

It turns out he was WC and had parasites. He didn’t last long. I was extremely disgusted with PJs for how they handle their reptiles, and their dogs for that matter. I’ve seen obvious mutts being sold as purebreds for thousands of dollars.

I can really sympathies with what you are going through. I’m sorry this happened, and I’m even more sorry to know that some pet stores are still pulling this crap. After my own experience I vowed to only patron private breeders. It’s worked out very well!

Hang in there, hun.