Hey AC,
Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you! Unfortunately, I'll remember our transaction for a very long time. Like I already stated, when I buy an animal I own it for life. It's horrible that you sent me such an unhealthy gecko (he does have nice spots), he'll have to be my spokes-gecko for why you shouldn't buy from jerks like you who only care about money. I’m so disgusted I can’t even find the right words. I would have been happy with any gecko you sent me, as long as it was healthy. Just as I suspected, about five months later, the wonderful under bite gecko you sent me is still showing signs of having a severe calcium deficiency. His under bite is not going to go away, it looks more prominent. I take care of Algernon (gecko) last, every night. Every shed he has had since I have had him (which seems to be constantly…) he needs help with. He can’t even shed on his own, although his conditions are ideal. Your comments about having him kept at the right temperature and feeding and watering him properly are ridiculous. All my geckos shed clean, eat plenty, drink from their water bowls and enjoy getting misted every evening. The only problem gecko I have ever owned came from your factory. I have to place Algernon in a sauna and carefully pull the shed off with a q-tip because he can’t shed on his own (not even once!). It's quite a sad experience having to pick at such a tiny gecko. He is currently three grams up from the whopping one gram he was when you sent him to me. He falls a lot even though I have taken the best care of him; he’s still shaky regardless of his extra special care. It’s a shame, and I blame you.
It seems to me that you made the mistake of crossing the line between dedicated hobbyist to mass producing for profit. You rely on your geckos for income and don't care much about them. I would think even less of you (if that's possible) if you really didn't notice his condition when you sent him out. He was received and was showing signs of a severe calcium problem, plus he was dehydrated. He has never been able to shed on his own. He has trouble sticking and is quite fragile despite the added measures to ensure his full recovery. Taking care of this frail gecko has been a burden, as I knew it was going to be. You should have refunded my money, taken the gecko back, and you should be the one that takes care of this special needs gecko, then you’ll understand how I feel. But instead you decided to cull your unwanted stock by sending it to me and hoping I wouldn’t notice. After I spoke with others about what had happened, I heard that I wasn’t the only one that received a substandard animal from you during the same time period. You even admitted that his mom was calcium deficient from laying a lot of eggs. I hope that you’ll be allowing her to have the season off this year. If you were an honest person, we could have chalked the dehydration issue up to him sitting in a box in Virginia for over twenty four hours because he got misrouted. For future reference, when you use such a small box, it's more likely to get lost in the shuffle. But you’re not an honest person, now are you? You’re arrogant and selfish. All in all, this gecko is quite slow. I have received (and produced) some of the most beautiful, healthiest and active animals from people who have the same stance on inbreeding as I do.
My questions to you are what exactly is the benefit of inbreeding (besides the fact that you can mass produce geckos that look identical quickly)? I find it to be lazy. Is it really worth having a gecko with a couple extra spots? Would you inbreed a dog? Date your cousin? Where’s the line?? You still haven't changed your terms to "one hundred percent health guarantee (unless of course I decide I don't like you!)" which you should do because you never made good on your deal with me. You say that ninety nine percent of your geckos are one hundred percent healthy, well, I got the one percent. You said that you have geckos and their under bite goes away, would you then breed them? Do you really think the gecko you sold me was anything more than a (very sick) poor quality gecko? You think you know everything, and you don't. I'm sure you're gonna come back and try and say that I'm not taking proper care of the gecko. You think I'm an amateur, but in reality you're just being so defensive because you know the truth. You sent me a gecko that was in very poor health and I called you out on it. For you to take almost a week to respond to my email with the subject stating “problem with my recent purchase” is unacceptable, maybe you should hire a secretary? Or provide another form of contact information?
You should strive to further the species, not be the decline of it. I have plenty of rescue animals, and now I have another. The problem I’m having with this one is the fact that he was ill wasn’t disclosed! If I had made a purchase, and you said to me “hey, I have this gecko, he’s not doing so good” it would have been a completely different story. It’s obvious what you do when you encounter a problem in life; you turn your back on it. You send me a sick gecko that you produced and then blocked my email without sending me a healthy gecko like you said you would when you sent me shipping confirmation. I heard you weren’t a nice person and now I can confirm that for myself. You try to make a joke out of everything, the only joke is you… but I’m not laughing. Thanks for nothing.
Sincerely
Courtney Jackson
