LYNDEN VETERINARY HOSPITAL

CRESTED GECKO OWNERS BEWARE.
Went in with my Crested Gecko, Pastrana, today to get his
back checked out thinking it was some sort of break or MBD setting in. At first Dr. Berry seemed great, he
said he has 23 years of experience with reptiles and he was saying things
initially that matched up with what all of my research had been telling me. He
decided that Pastrana had a fracture. He gave Pastrana a Calcium Gluconate
injection and said to come back once a week for the next three weeks to have
more injections done to jump start the calcium absorption into his system. He
then began to tell me that I should keep Pastrana at 85-90 degrees while he's
healing to boost his immune system. Those temperatures are very dangerous for a
CRESTED GECKO. He then began talking about how pet stores give wrong
information (ex. suggest keeping lizards on sand even though it can cause
impaction) even though Cresties that I have seen are never kept on sand, even
in stores, because they are a TROPICAL ARBOREAL species not a desert ground
dweller! It became apparent that maybe this vet didn't know as much as he
claimed.
That would have been fine until they did the fecal float and
determined he had some parasite eggs in his system and needed an Ivermectin
injection. One of the assistants came in this time, I didn't catch her name and
she isn't listed on his website, she didn't seem to know what she was doing and
asked me to hold him so she could give him the shot. He was not happy at all
after receiving this second injection, his mouth was gaping, his tail was wagging
and twitching and he was trying to bite us, when we first tried to pick him up
to get him back in his carrier. I asked her to leave him alone to calm down for
a minute and instead of waiting and letting me get him on my own she tried to
pick him up again. (Why in such a rush to get us out of the room? It was
already closing time no one else should have been coming in at that point.) He
darted off the counter onto the floor and then tried to run back underneath the
counter. She grabbed him (by his legs, she claims, I couldn't see around her to
tell for sure) because apparently they have a hole underneath the counter that
goes into the wall. (Why isn't this patched up in a vet clinic that deals with
animals small enough to fit inside such a hole like lizards, snakes, mice, and
rats?) He dropped his tail but we got him back into his carrier nonetheless.
What really made me angry was that the assistant went to
confer with Dr. Berry and came back saying that he should be fine because the
tail drop is a natural defense mechanism (it is) and it will grow back. OK.
Stop right there. Grow back? Anyone who has worked with Cresties at all, or
even done a bit of research via Google will know that CRESTED GECKOS DO NOT
GROW THEIR TAILS BACK. Thinking maybe he had meant the little nubs that regrow
in place of their tails I asked the other assistant who was helping me if I
could speak with him personally, she came back and said he was busy working
with two other clients at once but that he said to keep the cage clean and if I
was worried I could put some Neosporin on the area to prevent infection while
it healed up but don't worry, it will grow back.
This was my first, AND LAST visit to this vet clinic with
ANY reptile. I currently own ten crested geckos, I have had a bearded dragon
before, and I'm looking into ball pythons. Under no circumstance will I take
any of them to this vet. Even if he is more experienced with a different
species of reptile. When I called yesterday to ask about them being able to see
a crested I specifically asked if they had worked with the species before and
was told that yes, they had seen many crested geckos. Apparently this was not
the case because if they had seen this species before they should have been
more knowledgeable about care requirements and the species behaviors.
I have a recommendation for other crestie owners (from other
crestie owners and breeders in Western Washington):
Dr. Kamaka in Mount Lake Terrace. I didn't want to drive that far from home for
an initial visit and thought I would try Dr. Berry since I didn't see any
negative reviews for him while I was looking but unless I receive another
recommendation from other crested gecko owners that is closer to home I will be
heading down to Dr. Kamaka for all future veterinary visits for my cresties.

unknown

I used them last week. They have a great staff. I really like the doctor. He is very personable. The cost is very low. He is good with animals.