What are the pros and cons of rehoming and rescue herps

[Cheesenugget]

I adopted all my dogs, cats and bunnies primarily from my local county shelter and they are either on the euthanasia list or would most certainly die from illness or put to sleep for a treatable illness. The pet rats are rescues. I had also adopted my first bearded dragon from the local herp society/reptile rescue.

My first beardie was gravely ill upon adoption. Due to lack of experience (she was my first reptile), and lack of medical literature online, I thought she was just entering brumation due to her lethargy. It wasn't until I took her to the vet for a check up did I realize she was sick, so sick that the vet immediately rushed her in the back for examination. After x-rays, ultrasound, bloodtest and other fees, I racked up close to about $400-600 in vet bills, I couldn't save her. Fungus was found by the specialist lab who was gravely concerned of her health. She had yellow fungus, something even the vet wasn't familiar with, especially there were no visible lesions on her body. Yellow fungus is fatal and treatment is very costly, time consuming, bad side effects with a low success rate and high remission rate. The vet performed a free necropsy on her after she was put to sleep. We also found out that she was eggbound for weeks, if not months, to the point the eggs bursts and infected her uterus. These problems would have existed and been treated by a vet if the herp society had noticed she was ill or taken her to the vet.

While the adoption fee was waived, the mental and financial costs of taking in someone else's burden (either from a rescue or personal keeping) has left me so angry and distrustful of others that I never adopt another reptile again. Reptiles are experts in hiding symptoms of illnesses. And finding the correct vet to treat what is usually a long, expensive treatment, is not what most people want to do. Reptiles recover slowly, they don't react to antibiotics the same way mammals do, and for some people it's more appealing to sell the problem than to fix it.

That is not to say all my adoptions of my cats and dogs went without any issues. My oldest dog had a ACL tear within 3 months after adoption which cost about $3k to get the surgery to fix. My other dog swallowed a toy whole which was a $200 after hours emergency by inducing her to vomit. But you can usually tell if you are adopting a sick dog or cat. The symptoms are less obvious for reptiles.

You can also find problems if you purchase from a breeder, but that risk is drastically reduced when buying from a reputable breeder. A breeder who can answer your questions, make sure the hatchlings are fed several meals before being sold, etc. Since I lost my first beardie, my 2nd beardie was a purchase from a reputable breeder but he sadly passed away earlier this year due to cancer. The rest of my collection are also purchased from breeders and they are doing well. If you plan to adopt, be prepared to take on whatever good and bad that comes your way. Do not pass your problem(s) to the next person if you change your mind.