Additional Rescue & Rehoming information:
Need to rehome a pet?
Please note: I do not accept voluntary surrenders, and resources are limited to assisting other licensed shelters, wildlife authorities, and animal control officers in the transfer and placement of animals seized in cruelty, neglect, illegal possession, and abandonment cases.​
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If you have a pet you simply feel you can no longer care for, please seek these other options:
- Consider getting assistance to KEEP your pet. Most reptiles will thrive with very little hands-on interaction so long as their habitat and dietary needs are being met. There are many ways you can reduce the time required and costs involved in caring for your pet reptile without having to find him a new home. If you would like information on how to improve your pet's care and better manage your lifestyle please feel free to email me with details of your situation and challenges.
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- Try posting your pet for re-homing on a classified page or social media pet group. When doing so, ask a reasonable fee, and ask questions to ensure that interested adopters are serious in providing your pet a good home. I can suggest some ways that you can screen potential adopters.
A few things you should do when trying to re-home your pet yourself include:
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List your pet on reptile-specific websites, facebook groups, and animal adoption pages. Target your listings to places where other pet enthusiasts would be interested in looking.
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Ask a SMALL rehoming fee to deter impulse buys, but do not expect someone to pay you the same amount as you have invested in your pet for your mistake.
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Ask LOTS of questions from people interested in your pet, such as their previous pet experience, veterinarian information, what sort of habitat they can provide the animal, and whether or not they intend to use the animal for breeding purposes.
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Offer to deliver the pet to their new home so you can get a final glimpse of the type of situation the animal is going into. Due to privacy reasons many people may be hesitant to allow this, so ask for them to send pictures of their current pet's habitats or a picture of where your pet will be going instead.
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Have a veterinarian do a basic exam on your pet prior to rehoming. If you can afford to do so, please have your veterinarian do a basic exam to ensure your pet is healthy prior to finding a new home for it. Many times, this can offer new owners peace-of-mind that they're taking in a healthy animal.
- Contact veterinarians in your area to see if they would be willing to take your pet as a surrender. If your pet needs expensive medical treatment talk to your veterinarian about payment options such as CareCredit or see if they would be willing to work out an arrangement for you to make payments in installments or through fundraising campaigns.
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- Contact local pet stores and other places that sell reptiles or pet supplies to see if they would be willing to take your pet. Some places even offer consignment or store credit options, which will allow you to recoup some of the costs you've invested in your pet.
- Contact local wildlife authorities or animal control officers to see if they offer a relinquishment program for exotic animals. In cases where you may be in possession of a restricted species they generally accept voluntary surrenders.​​
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UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER RELEASE YOUR PET INTO THE WILD!
Releasing captive animals into the wild is not only ILLEGAL it is potentially dangerous as it could introduce foreign diseases into a delicate ecosystem, or introduce invasive species which could out-compete wildlife. It is also unethical and harmful to the animal being released, since they may suffer from injury, illness, disease, and exposure from the environment they are not acclimated to. If you have no other choice but to get rid of your pet, you may want to consider humane euthanasia as a last-resort option to prevent further neglect, suffering, or stress caused by rehoming.
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Additional resources to rescues, herpetology clubs, or pet care information can also be found by visiting:
https://neherp.com/
https://www.meherpsociety.org/