Amanda & Mike Webb of The Pet Gecko

I am posting this thread reluctantly, as I'm a relative newbie to the online herp community and don't have much of a reptuation. I am also quite aware that a "Bad Guy" thread should not be posted lightly. On the other hand, I'm fairly certain this situation qualifies.

On 1/18/2014, I attended the Hutchinson Repticon with my family and purchased (for $60 cash) a young TSF leopard gecko from Amanda Webb of The Pet Gecko during the first couple hours of the show (VIP tickets, we were there soon after they opened). I took the gecko home, established her in an empty rack, and let her settle in. I also named her Bella, short for Bellatrix.

Although she seemed fine at the show and for the first couple of days, within that first week she began showing signs of illness -- runny, very smelly stools and regurgitation of food items. Eventually, she also regurgitated her shed skin as well. Some days she seemed to do better than others, but she clearly wasn't in perfect health.

I was already planning to have my entire collection tested by PCR for Cryptosporidium through a company named AvianBiotech/Animal Genetics, Inc. and had ordered test kits prior to attending Repticon. So when the test kits arrived, and with Bella showing what seemed to be classic Crypto symptoms, I collected a sample from her to be sent of wth those from the rest of my collection. All the samples were stored in the refrigerator until shipping, which occurred Monday, 1/27/2014 by USPS Priority Mail.

In the meantime, I kept Amanda updated by Facebook message through her personal and/or business pages. I also kept a close eye on Bella, providing extra nutrition and fluids by syringe as needed. If she took a turn for the worse, I intended to get her in to see my veterinarian ASAP, but until then I wanted to avoid stressing her out unnecessarily while waiting for the test results.

Avian Biotech received the samples Thursday 1/30/2014 and began processing them, and I was able to access online results as of Monday, 2/3/2014. Hard copies of the results were also mailed to me, and arrived the following week.

Thirteen of the PCR tests came back negative for Cryptosporidium. One, however, was positive -- the sample collected from Bella. I double-checked the result with the lab by phone and requested they send me a PDF copy so I could provide it to Amanda Webb as proof of the test result. I then contacted her with an update through both her personal and business pages and asked her how she would like to proceed. What followed was a less-than-satisfactory response, the details of which I will leave to the screenshots of our entire interaction since the beginning, including non-related discussion that I included simply for the sake of completeness and to avoid any appearance of hiding something/leaving something out. There are MANY screenshots, plus other supporting documents as well, so please bear with me as I upload them in further posts. There is also more to the story that will come out as I post interactions.

When things started to go wrong...

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Unfortunately, at this point a huge snow storm blew through my state, and the KSU campus was shut down for several days. The necropsy was delayed. This delay led to less-than-conclusive results on the necropsy, because Bella's remains had begun to degrade and the small intestine, which is the site of most Crypto infections in leopard geckos, was unable to be evaluatated for Crypto at all. Other locations were tested and did not find Crypto present, but that couldn't be considered a definitive result.

At this point, I contacted Amanda and provided her with all the documentation I had available, including the emailed record of the necropsy findings.

Further details:

Around 2/6/14, she announced a SALE on her FB page, 15% off for former customers, 10% off for new customers. This in spite of the fact that she had had at least one gecko with diagnosed Crypto in her collection/possession, and that others might also be at risk if not already infected. She has also continued vending at shows, including the Repticon this last weekend in Utah.

As of 2/7/2014 or 2/8/2014, I was defriended and blocked by Amanda on her personal Facebook page, leaving only her FB business page as a point of contact.

I have not received any response to my message from last Friday, 2/14/2014 or my messages yesterday, 2/18/2014 or today, 2/19/2014. They have not even been opened according to FB messaging, despite Amanda having been on her business page posting pictures late last night/early this morning of a new gecko picked up at the show this last weekend.


At this point, I do not expect a refund, and I am not likely to receive one considering the conditions laid out for me to meet in order to receive one. I am simply posting this to make people aware of the situation and that Amanda Webb has not only not made good on a bad transaction, but has behaved in a way that many people could consider to be irresponsible and dangerous to the health and safety of other people's reptile collections. If that isn't deserving of a Bad Guy mark, I do not know what is.

And in case anyone wonders... I have notified Amanda Webb of this post now through her business FB page.

Well first off we have been upfront and quick with all responses, as shown by the time
Stamps on the responses. Our animals are regularly tested for all parasites including
Crypto. As soon as you mentioned you had a sick gecko we did stains AND PCR test, and every
Single animal we have available for sale was vet checked by a
2nd vet that I do not work at so no chance of foul play could be suspected.
I had a health certificate covering every animal I had for sale in both
Locations and will have one next week as well. On display in full view for all to see.
None of our animals have come back positive and we have had no other issues with any other
Geckos that were sold at that show. As for your testing, we asked that your vet confirm the
Results prior to your vet visit. You still did not get a positive
Confirmation from your vet, and necropsy proved inconclusive
With the other tested tissue samples being clean. Again our stock has no
Symtoms and anybody is welcome to see our stock at any show.
We have had no other reports of any runny feces or signs of crypto from
Any other customers. IF your gecko actually did have crypto then with there being negative results from other parts of body tissue we feel that it would be in the early stages of infection and most likely contracted after your purchase, possibly at the show itself as prevailent as it can be. You mentioned after you got the gecko home how great it was doing even then but it was not until a few days later
When the gecko showed signs of illness. As we mentioned before we would refund the cost of the gecko purchased from us per our policy, even though the vet did not do the requested testing and with
Inconclusive necropsy results. However our stock is healthy and we have our animals vet checked monthly, and anybody purchasing any animal from us is more than welcome to make a photo copy of our current vet health certificate if they want a copy for their records. Any questions or concerns you may call/text/email/ or facebook message us anytime. We keep each gecko individually and have strict
Quaranteen and record keeping procedures as well as VERY strict hand sanitizing protocol at all expos.

Mike Webb,
The Pet Gecko
719-468-8131
Thepetgecko@gmail.com