Reptile rescue is in its infancy. But too often I see organizations that say they are rescues and they are not. These folks troll free to good home ads on places like Craig's List, local news papers, etc and turn and flip these animals for a profit. Trust me there is no profit in rescue. Our rescue switched to shelter intake only a year ago simply because the need was greater. To prevent the animals from undue stress and harm in shelter, which are not prepared to care for reptiles, we work to offer in shelter support and get the animals out.

So what makes a reputable rescue? What makes it a real rescue? Reptile rescues should in fact be held to the same standards as dog and cat rescues. Not only intaking animals but also providing adoption services placing animals in appropriate homes. They should have an application process and a screening process. Knowing how many of the animals come to me, they should also practice strict quarantine and medical care when needed. I don’t expect every rescue to have each animal visit a vet, but when things are needed, tail amputations for example, a vet should be looking at the animals and ensuring the care is proper and humane. Basically you don’t take the animal in on Monday and place it on Tuesday. There is no way to know the condition of the animal.

You should work with in your local community. Be able to supply a list of references and be prepared to have them checked. Trust me, if you are offering someone as a reference, and they are not aware or do not really support you, be prepared for the backlash.

Saying that you are a rescue, but only taking animals in for personal gain or to add to your personal collection is disingenuous. You are not a rescue. You are merely receiving free animals, plain and simple. A rescue operates to rehome animals into their hopefully forever homes, not add to their collection.

Stating you are a rescue and then turning around and breeding animals such as green iguanas, bearded dragons and ball pythons is not a rescue. You are just a breeder giving both good breeders and good rescues bad names. Good breeders selectively choose their stock and put great effort into their lineage. Slapping snakes together breeding them and then “adopting” out offspring is changing the word sale to adopt to cash in on the good feelings of rescue. In turn other rescues are looked at when they adopt out as possible sellers.

I don’t care if you want to get free animals or breed. Really That is not the point, however stating you are a rescue while doing so sullies your reputation as well as others in both the breeding and rescue end of things.

We operate as though we were a dog and cat rescue. A vet sees each animal; each animal spends a minimal 2 months with us before becoming available for adoption. Each snake leaves us mite free and feeding on frozen thawed rodent reliably for 8 feedings. Once a feeding is missed we start from the beginning. We review applications, look at potential issues with future care, discuss what is needed for the specific species they are adoptiong and ensure the caging is set and complete before we adopt. Our goal is to get folks off to a good start in the hobby so that down the road when they are looking at less common species, we can point them in the correct direction and they go into it with a good base knowledge. We have flat adoption fees. In some cases, such as adoptions of large pythons, we will in fact do home visits. This is how a rescue organization operates.

I am not faulting folks desire to help with pets in need of homes. On the contrary, if you see something listed that someone can no longer care for, great! Pick it up, but please unless you are operating as a rescue organization (no matter the size), do not call yourself such.