Cross-posted from another forum/group:

Some of you may remember two years ago we notified herpetologist's
that we were looking to close down the Long Island Reptile Museum and
needed volunteers to help take the 150+ assorted reptiles and
amphibians housed there. I was asked to do a test of the existing UV
lamps on the premises and make recommendations on how to improve the
general conditions at the establishment by Lori Green of "turtle
homes". Lori had been working hard to either improve those horrendous
conditions or shut the dump down.

The site of the malnourished, dehydrated, and mite infested creatures
made you just want to grab them up and steal them out of there (some
of that may have actually happened but I can't be sure). There was no
UVB, very little heat and extremely poor husbandry conditions. The
only reason the creatures ate was because the volunteers would bring
in the old greens from the local markets. The carnivores were in the
worst shape because "meat" was even scarcer.

On the 10th of November it came to a close. The power was turned off
for non-payment and the ASPCA came to the rescue. The News Day
article of the closing is posted on the ReptileUV site at
http://www.reptileuv.com/Rescue.htm and
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/lo...-top-headlines At this time
the "International Fauna Society" is housing most of the rescues. On
the chance that the animals will not be returned to Steve Kates (we
hope that is a very big chance it won't happen), very experienced
volunteers will be needed to help take the many different species
that are now in custody.

If you feel that you can help if needed, please contact me at
BobMac(my hotmail is really slow) and I will forward
the information to the appropriate people.

Please forward this information to any group or site that may be
interested.

Thank you,

Bobmac

__________________
Veronica
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Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

The International Fauna Society of Hauppauge NY has the incredible task of caring for the 175 ASPCA confiscated turtles, tortoises, snakes (hot and cold:^), lizards, alligators, and amphibians. They are in despite need of donations to fulfill the needs of at least 4 years of neglect these animals
endured. This can be accomplished by going to the Fauna website, Fauna Magazine and giving a monetary donation, joining this organization by buying a membership, or sending supplies directly to the Hauppauge office.

If you are in the lower NY area, volunteers are needed to care for these creatures. If you are licensed to handle “hot” snakes and are able to help at the holding facility, please contact Bob Smith directly at the Fauna Society.

Reptile UV/ Westron Lighting shipped a case (24) of 250wt mercury vapor Zoo type spot lamps over to the Fauna society and we hope that they arrived today. This is but a drop in the bucket to cover this immense project. We believe that many of the reputable Reptile Supply Distributors and Manufacturers will follow suite. Medications (such as Natural Chemistries
“Reptile Relief” to rid mites, this is REALLY on the top of the list) , heat mats, commercial reptile food, frozen rats and mice, daily greens, various habitats and enclosures such as reptariums for the smaller critters and cages for the larger lizards, more UV lighting, and so on. I will list more as I am given more details.

Remember that a lot of this can accomplished by simply donating at the Fauna site of membership dues to the Fauna Society. Fauna Magazine

AJ Gutman from the International Iguana Society drove down from Connecticut to help with the rehabilitation and clean-up work on the many iguana species at the facility yesterday and will return tomorrow. All of the creatures from the museum are infested with mites; all are dehydrated to varying
degrees, many have fungal and bacteria infections, some from severe bites from cage mates.

Please under stand that none of these animals are up for adoption at this time. This is still a court mater. Regardless, of the outcome, the Fauna Society needs you help to care for these creatures as long as they are entrusted with this responsibility. Those interested in being able to adopt if and when its possible can contact me directly at bobmac@reptileuv.com

We have created a small web site http://*************es.bravehost.com/
to post all the available information, new coverage, distributor
donations, past papers posted on the LIRM conditions, and if granted permission, pictures of the work being accomplished by the Fauna volunteers on site.

Best wishes and health to all,

Bobmac

Please forward to all concerned.

This information was written by Robert K. MacCargar, taking full responsibility for the content in this paper therein and all
information on the Reptile Refugee website Reptile Refugees . You can contact him at BobMac .

__________________
Veronica
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..._//......_\\
Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

http://*************es.bravehost.com

The animals have been released to the Fauna Society to send to foster care. "The animals were released for foster over the weekend …..Distribution of the animals is not open to the public at this time" Has been publicly posted by some of those involved. While I'm not completely happy with the internal workings at this time, I will say that it's still far from over. If anyone can help with the many different species, please contact Bob Smith at the Fauna Society bob@faunasociety.org with serious inquiries only. Requests like "What animals are you looking to get rid of?" will most likely get dumped as they should be (that's what I have done so far). The Fauna Society is not in a position to *ship* these creatures and I doubt that they should be after all the problems they have been through. So, if you
can't pick them up, donations would be best to help at this time.

As before, joining the Fauna society at the Fauna web site http://www.faunamagazine.com/ can really help offset some of the tremendous cost that this rescue mission has burdened this organization with. It's not expensive to do and the benefits are
wonderful!

My understanding is that Lori Green from Turtle Homes has "control" of all the Shells at this time. "We are doing a 50 aquatic turtle rescue on Wednesday. You will need to fill out an application found at www.turtlehomes.org ..... You can call us at xxxxxxxxx after Wednesday and I'll have a list of species available." I believe there is a phone number on the site to call.

I would like to mention that Reptile Direct http://www.reptiledirrect.com has offered to help with donations to the Fauna Society. Please remember this when reptile supplies are needed, not to mention that I have never seen their prices beaten. These are great people and I want to thank them publicly.


Now the for some of what I feel is good news. Below is a report on the iguana species by AJ Gutman (International Iguana Society and the Connecticut Iguana Sanctuary). After reading the report, if you feel you can help with these creatures please contact me of AJ directly bobmac@reptileuv.com , ctenosaura@cyclura.com . Pictures of some of the iguanas in the CIS facility being cared fore will be posted on the http://*************es.bravehost.com site SOON!

As always, best of health to all!

Bobmac
www.reptileuv.com

The following animals are seeking homes.

Nine Green Iguanas of assorted sex. Six of these animals are in reasonable health, although thin. The three in need of continuing care are all males. Two of these are undersized and have a variety of bite wounds to their limbs; broken bones may also be present. The third is a much larger male iguana that is extremely thin, in part due to extensive damage to his lower jaw.

Two stunted adult male Rhinoceros Iguanas. One of these animals is missing half his tail and has some spastic movements in his front wrist joints and at least one of his legs. Based on experience with
another Rhino, who was rescued last year from the same location, the spasticity is likely permanent, but doesn't seem to impede locomotion. Both these animals have been substantially underfed for
many years and have been without UV light for probably the same period of time. Both are extremely frightened and therefore aggressive and require patience, persistence and gentleness. Both Rhinos that I rescued last year were in much the same state and now, a year and a half later, have grown substantially and have very sweet temperaments.

One stunted adult male Cuban Iguana (possibly hybridized with something else). This little guy is also very frightened and was the smallest of three males housed together. Other than a few missing digits, he seems in reasonable shape under the circumstances, but is very much in need of proper care to make up for years of malnutrition and neglect.

5 adult Ctenosaurs (If you don't know what Ctenosaurs are, you don't want to even consider adopting these critters. Ctenosaurs pose a challenge for even experienced keepers.) Four of these are Ctenosaura similis, one very large male and three females. They are skinny and scarred but are all eating well. The fifth animal is a female belonging to one of the species in the hemilopha complex (I need to check markings and coloration on both front and back limbs in order to properly identify her).

It should be assumed that all these animals have mites and require proper quarantine and treatment. I would also advise full vet checks including a fecal exam.

Pickups are far preferable to shipping at this time of year. Individuals adopting these animals are encouraged to join the International Fauna Society at www.FaunaSociety.org .

__________________
Veronica
,,
/_^.)///////////,,,,,
...\\\_#_#_#_//_#_#_#_#_#_£_£_&_&_
..._//......_\\
Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~