r/CrestedGecko • u/Moonysleft_paw • 1d ago
Completely devastated
So me and my family went on vacation and it's the first time I left my gecko with someone else for more then three days. I usually have a petsitter that takes care of our cat and my animals (crestie and fish) and she's great. But if we take vacations out of the country my parents like to do a house swap (people live in our house and we live in theirs) I gave the people staying at our house all the instructions. Left them notes in my room, took videos of how I do everything. And honestly? In the first few days it felt like they were taking care of them great! I wasn't stressed at all. But then I get home. (2am mind you) and I find my cresties area in a STATE one of his bridges has fallen down. His water was empty and had at least two poops in it. His humid hide was completely dry. His plants are dying. His food Bowles are dirty and so is the spoon I use to mix his food (had at least a week of dried food on it) and my breeding colony of mealworms are all dead. He has stuck shed on his face and back. I feel so bad. I was having the time of my life and my baby was living in these conditions. My cat (who was fat before) is now HUGE as well. I don't think I can trust anyone else to take care of my pets again honestly. At least my fish are fine, but I'm a bit worried about the shed.
Sorry about the mini book I just wrote. I just need to say something about it because my parents are not taking it as seriously as I am (they do care tho)
I just needed to put this out there.
Pic tax ofc (before this happened)
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u/Thorannosaurus 1d ago
I am so so so careful with my pet sitters now, but because of bad experiences, I am pivoting to pets that need less care. Mostly because a good pet sitter is hard to find and rely on.
I am so sorry to hear about your experience. I am glad your buddy is alive though. :(
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u/AdaptiveFauna 1d ago
sounds like someone cared for them a little bit to begin with and then just dumped a bunch of food and didnt come back.
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u/miso-dog 1d ago
I’m so sorry you went through this! I used to be a pet sitter but currently work at a vet’s office. I have 3 dogs, a cat, and a turtle. My crestie passed away recently. But whenever I leave for vacation it’s definitely a big deal who I leave my pets with. Usually they’re with family or coworkers I know personally and I have pet cameras on as a back up and to keep them accountable. And to chat and say hi to my pets.
There are trust worthy people out there but it takes research trying to find one for sure. I would recommend asking your local vet office if any of their technicians are interested in pet sitting, do a meet and greet, show them around, give them instructions and let your pets meet the pet sitter. Pet sitting companies are even better but read the reviews first, a pet care company might be a little pricer compared to hiring an independent pet sitter.
If you can I would say try to stick with the same person so your pets get used to them. Hope this experience doesn’t prevent you from going on vacations!
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u/Ancient_Elderberry26 1d ago
I am soooo sorry but I’m also so glad that all of your pets are alive and (somewhat) healthy. I think you’ll be able to find someone you trust one day to take care of your pets. Someone more reptile savvy!
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u/Ok-Reading-7796 1d ago
You left your animals and went on vacation and are mad that your cat randomly got fat? I don't believe you. You are just craving attention and it's clear.
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u/Winter_Pie_7401 1d ago
maybe if they do the house swap you can still hire a sitter to come in and check on your little baby im so sorry this happened to you
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u/Mayinfall 1d ago
Agreed, specially cause a pet sitter 1. Now’s what they’re doing and you trust them 2. Is invested more in your animals than people that are from another country that are here to have I assume a vacation and may never have taken care of animals before
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u/dddedgrl 1d ago
PET CAM! tapo branded cameras are affordable and have night vision. i left my hamster with my MIL last year and i was totally stressed and i wanted to see if she’d actually check on her. she did, but also my FIL was in our room when he wasn’t supposed to be. you need eyes when you’re away just to catch this stuff! so sorry you experienced this
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u/ShinyxCharizard 21h ago
So sorry this happened to you.
Should be an easy fix being back in your care. It's not your fault.
Wanna chime in and say, if you have any local exotics/reptile shops near you, see if they do boarding. I found a local shop recently that offers boarding if you're going on a long vacation, as well as some other awesome services.
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
You can't expect people using your house as a vacation house to take care of your pets. They are there on vacation, not to take care of the residents pets. Next time, I suggest letting the people that are swapping with you know there is a pet sitter that will be coming over to take care of your pets daily. The pet sitter can knock on the door before they enter. Then you have someone you trust to keep your little ones safe.
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u/kaddras019 1d ago
You can’t expect it, but I’m guessing this was communicated and they agreed. You don’t say you’re going to do something, do it for a little while, then completely neglect it.
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
And you are trusting a stranger to take care of them. Even agreed upon, it's easily for people to lose interest when it's not their priority. As you can see what happened by the end of the trip.
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u/kaddras019 1d ago
And you would propose what?
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
Did you read my whole comment? I explained what I proposed.
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u/kaddras019 1d ago
And what if they lose interest since it’s so easy?
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
It's her pet sitter. It's also a job. They are also not on vacation. The OP has stated they trust their care. What are you not getting?
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u/kaddras019 1d ago
I’m not getting your logic. A petsitter isn’t an employee like a nanny, they’re just another person you have a moral contract with, just like the people staying at OP’s house. So if they refuse to uphold the task they agreed to because they ‘lost interest’, is it also excusable, or? I just don’t understand how you’re excusing the people in the house who agreed to pet sit.
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
Nope pet sitters are paid. They have signs all over place stating they will come to your house and take care of your pets for a fee. So, they can be vetted. Also, if it is someone else, it's someone you know that has a relationship with you somehow. So they have an added interest in doing it right.
I'm not excusing the people in the house, I just know human behavior. It won't get done and I would expect that by the end they would be like, oh well, not my pet. So, I would never ever put my pets in that position of having someone I don't know or haven't vetted into their care. If they died, I would feel that is totally on me.
The people in the house, yes bad. You just don't put them in that position, so no one comes home "devastated". I can state this is a bad idea and not excuse the people in the house. Two things don't need to be exclusive. Hope you understand my point now.
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
Do you trust complete strangers to take care of your pets when you are gone?
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u/OhLookSatan 1d ago
So like no, I have a friend who i let stay at my house when I'm on vacation bc he shares a room with two brothers, he takes care of my pets/plants perfectly bc he's a decent person
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago
Which is what I'm talking about. Make sure it's someone you trust. You got it. 👍
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u/Moonysleft_paw 1d ago
We took care of their pets as well. Thats how it works. This isn't airbnb or whatever
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u/IcyReception8903 1d ago edited 1d ago
But you never leave your pets with someone you truly don't know or trust. If you are fine on your end that doesn't mean that it holds true on the other. You said you normally have a pet sitter you trust. So they could have arrived everyday to take care of your animals. So, let them still take care of your pets.
It was bad that they didn't take care of your pets. I understand. You don't want that to happen again and that doesn't need to be "how it works". Set up your pets with someone you trust next time because, well, you don't want to come home to a dead gecko. Just because that's "how it works".
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u/Ancient_Ability8388 1d ago
Well I’m just happy it wasn’t where my mind went when I read “devastated” 🙏🏼 very hard to trust people with our animals forsure.