William Gangemi (at repticon)

Originally Posted by BlueCrowned

Wait hold on. Taking an animal to the vet... is BAD? What planet are you living on?

Well it sounds like the animal was just fine besides a few runny stools (fairly normal after a stressful event like a show and a new home) and then started vomiting and died very shortly after the vet injected it with god knows what (protein shots??). I would be curious WTF the vet did as well.

Being a blue tongue "guy" I can tell you that hundreds of wild caught ones come in from the south pacific islands. Some are in great shape others, not so much.
Last year I know of a pet store animal purchased in Southern California that was "chubby". Two weeks later she had 8 babies. That was a good buy.

Buying at shows is good if you know the right questions to ask.
Who bred it? Where did it come from? How long have you had it? What if it dies?

A reptile show is similar to a swap meet. Not a place I would expect to find deal on a real "Coach" handbag. But you can buy hand made products made by local artisans that may be of good quality. Buy from breeders not wholesalers....

Originally Posted by Gangemiw

I have offered replacement animals to both parties. That’s more then fair. I have dealt with huge numbers of skinks and believe me I would never have an emaciated blue tongue on my table not to mention I have only ever even encountered but one skinny blue tongue. They basically are fat garbage disposals. That being said someone taking there animal to a vet them giving it injections and worming medicine and god only knows what else makes me not interested in replacing the animal. That essentially sounds like “voiding” it’s warranty. Because as we all know most quack vets will dose reptiles with baytril and causes kidney failure. Last but not least, all animals at the show are vet checked. If any seem sick or lethargic they are not allowed to be sold and are not cleared by the vet. Thanks, sorry for all this but this is the reality of this situation.

William, using a defense that the skinks were vet checked is ridicules, or maybe not? please post the paperwork from the vet who examined your skinks.

I know theres a lot of people complaining about quack vets killing reptiles but I've been able to find tons of reptile vets that know what they're doing. I always question them first just to make sure they know their stuff but every reptile vet that I've stumbled upon in my area has been amazing. Believe it or not reptile vets do study reptiles before they start practicing on them lol And it seems that since competition in the vet field has gone up theres more and more exotic vets that are actually good. I take in so many rescues that have such advanced problems they have to see vets and without those guys knowledge some of those animals wouldn't have made it. So "voiding a warranty" by seeing a vet is complete bull.

Originally Posted by Vithaxton

I know theres a lot of people complaining about quack vets killing reptiles but I've been able to find tons of reptile vets that know what they're doing. I always question them first just to make sure they know their stuff but every reptile vet that I've stumbled upon in my area has been amazing. Believe it or not reptile vets do study reptiles before they start practicing on them lol And it seems that since competition in the vet field has gone up theres more and more exotic vets that are actually good. I take in so many rescues that have such advanced problems they have to see vets and without those guys knowledge some of those animals wouldn't have made it. So "voiding a warranty" by seeing a vet is complete bull.

And I did say REPTILE vet not regular vet. There is a difference. Normal vets usually take one look at a reptile and either put them on antibiotics or ivermectin and both can be fatal. Especially if they don't know how to does them properly. Reptile and Exotic vets know their stuff.

Originally Posted by Vithaxton

And I did say REPTILE vet not regular vet. There is a difference. Normal vets usually take one look at a reptile and either put them on antibiotics or ivermectin and both can be fatal. Especially if they don't know how to does them properly. Reptile and Exotic vets know their stuff.

Exactly!
I have my vets for my Bengal and Savannah cats and then I have my vet for my snakes, I would definitely not cross the pair with animals...lol.

I trust both of them with the lives of my animals but you could never mix them up at all, or woe betide you for sure.

I thought I had heard most of the bs excuses until I read that "taking your animal to a vet voids any warranty" WTH??

Still be nice to see some actual proof from the two buyers of the skinks that died though

Finding good reptile vets in the rural south, where many of this company's shows are located is a bit harder than you guys might realize. I was lucky enough to have a couple good ones in my time, but yeah, even "reptile" vets down here are suspect until proven otherwise. And as mentioned, the "vet check" done at shows is a complete joke and waste of time done as a formality. They do not inspect animals any further than glancing at them.

The two people being merged into one thread is a little confusing. Are the facts that two separate people bought skinks which quickly died from William at the same reptile show?

I ask because one skink dying here and another dying at a different time would be far less of an implication of pre-existing disease than two dying on two separate people who purchased at the same show.

Even still, I would not label it as a bad guy post. Living animals sometimes seem fine, then die and the stress of changing conditions could certainly increase those odds. If this had happened to me, I probably would have asked for store credit and called it a day.

Forgot to add, I certainly think William would be entitled to a copy of the vet report, too. It's unclear to me if that was provided to him.

I made a last-minute decision yesterday to buy a fat tail gecko from the table of William Gangemi. They was doing fine yesterday, temperature and humidity was good, and water and food were available. I checked on in this morning and all seemed good. He had obviously eaten and messed so I cleaned his house before I went to work, gave him fresh water and made sure there was food and that the temperature and humidity were good.

I came home from work tonight and the gecko I bought yesterday was just about dead. Only its tail was twitching and it looked like it was dehydrated. I tried giving it some water with an eyedropper and it didn't work. He died shortly after. I had no contact info for the seller but I explained what happened in a review of the service through Square since I had paid using my debit card. I would love to at least hear back from them but I'm not convinced that I will. This is all very frustrating and I don't think I would ever buy another gecko at an expo.