Wednesday, December 31, 2014

End of 2014

So ... its the last day of 2014 ....

I have been given the clearance to no longer feel like a crack junkie selling her kid for more crack  - Venus gets to stay.  I am not sure what it says about me when she is the only one I was willing to offer to sell. The thought never entered my mind to put any of the cresteds up for sell .... am I really that evil?

I got 2 new/used big tanks for Red and Ghost on Sunday ... but they have basics in there yet. I will try to fix them up better on Thursday, like add dirt substrate and stuff.

We are still "fighting" with BK  but as yet have not been advised of the tribunal date. I figure that will be next week or so, if they go that far. My luck, it will be on my birthday. 

It seems my usual crested gecko food etc supplier doesn't have much for leopard geckos, so I will keep buying her bugs etc. One of these days I will need to pick up (or get them to drop off) the big tank they have there at Trish's. It will not be long before she is going to outgrow her 10 gallon tank....

Here is hoping 2015 goes more smoothly .... this has been a harsh year indeed ....

Saturday, November 29, 2014

November - Photos

New photos ... been a while ... Cosmo & Charlie decided to not participate in photo day ... LOL

GEORGE













RED













VENUS













MAX













ELVIS













SYLVESTER













GHOST













LADY M













LUCINDA

Friday, November 28, 2014

November 2014 (long post ...)

And so it begins ....

With the multiple changes in personnel at the rental office (BK) for my apartment complex, someone there has decided to get picky while ignoring Acts in place for years.

I have been in my apartment since October 2012, but this November was the first "annual" inspection they have done. I show the super in, she checks the smoke alarm etc., then makes a note of the pets I have; in this case the one cat and the 11 lizards as she put it down. Now, at this point, I am not concerned since they are all in tanks (well not the cat, obviously) which are clean and they are all sleeping etc. Nothing there, right? Wrong!

I got notice on Nov 18th about my breaking the lease rules about having lizards in my unit. They were so kind (note the sarcasm) to include a copy of that page of the lease, with it highlighted, as well as typed out in the letter itself. This letter was very politely worded but definitely stated to get rid of the lizards or further action would be addressed. I was given a week, at which time they would "inspect" to ensure this had been done.

This notice was found on my way out the door to babysit. I did my best to hold it together, but I did indeed have a couple melt-downs. Can you blame me? These are my babies they were talking about .... George & Elvis have been with me for 3 years, at least.

So, after getting home and after having been given some info to reference, I wrote up a proper response. I spent until Friday re-reading it to be sure it was worded properly. On Nov 21st, I took in this response to their claim about not being permitted to have pets, specifically lizards on or about the property ... I clearly pointed out where the Residency Tenant Act 2006 unquestionably states that part of a lease is void. The property management people at the BK office essentially threw my letter right in my face. They made a wild claim that there is a lizard clause. When I asked them for more details, all they said was that they want my geckos gone.

They suggested that I call the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) to clarify this exception, which I did. I called as soon as I got back to my car, and even waited on hold for nearly 15 minutes to reach a live agent. That call suggestion was a big mistake on my rental office's part, because it was explained, no matter how I asked, that there is NO exclusion, no lizard exception; a pet is a pet is a pet. They (BK) cannot ask me or make me get rid of them unless it goes to Tribunal & the order is handed down from LTB. My property management office (BK) also is claiming that they have taken another tenant to court & won, but I am not able to confirm this, of course.

Needless to say, I needed a breather, and I ran into a couple reptile friends at PetSmart (I needed to wander to de-stress), one being Christine of Recycled Reptiles. When I explained what was going on briefly, these two said that BK likes to do this stuff to people.I dug a bit deeper, just to be safe, and confirmed that there is no Ontario By-Law about any restricted animals as pets either to support them. 

So, at this point, I am trying to not stress, but it is hard. One idea I had was that I will put the critters into hiding for the next inspection, and then bring them back out. They can't get cranky about the tanks. But I have been advised that BK will come up reasons to "inspect" and they will search for them.

All that was over the course of a week.... and now we come to the inspection to see if I complied with their request on November 24th.

Well the day came, and the super was back at my door. She seems to like animals, reptiles even. She said she has talked to BK about my geckos; explained how they are all beautifully set up, clean, quiet, well cared for, all of it. Guess what? She got as far as I did. I simply told her that the geckos are still in my residence, that I am not getting rid of them, and that BK do not have the grounds to ask me to do so. I showed her the letter I took to the office, about it being thrown in my face, and the other documents I had printed and highlighted. She wrote the key info down, and I said I would wait for next stage, because whatever they try will be a waste of time & money for them. I am SO glad that I am on FTO (paid time off) still, because I am not sure how this would have played out otherwise.

Then the next stage of BK stunts has hit. The super (poor girl gets to play evil middle-man in all this) came by to hand me the next notice to either get rid of the geckos or move out. They (BK) have essentially issued an  eviction notice with due date of Dec 16th. Again, I called LTB who reminded that I can dispute the notice, and wait for the next stage, which should be hearing. 

Well, today I was given a notice that the super will be back to "inspect" how well I am obeying BK's absurd request on Tues Dec 2nd. Guess what? The geckos will still be here, still in their tanks, and I will still be refusing to clear them or myself out.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

October 28 2014

Wow ... long past couple of weeks .... hope my kids don't think I've been ignoring them ....

I decided to take a few minutes, before spraying their tanks for the night, to say HI to those that were willing.

Lucinda calmed down fairly quickly, as did Sylvester. Yeah, that gecko is female, but the name has stuck. Mind you, she has a fair bit of excess skin etc so I am wondering about a gecko treadmill for her soon. LOL

Charlie's was a shorter visit in comparison, but still a visit. Cosmo dd her usual pee thing on me, but we still did a visit. Ghost was not bad, but I am not sure what was up with Elvis. He was all edgy and even tried to bite me a couple times. I know he was not mad at me, and since he is past the "teenage" stage where it is normal, I might have to say he is gonna get paired up in Februray.

I do still intend to pair up Ghost and Lucinda too.... they should produce stunning babies. I just hope to find homes for the babies ....

The rest decided they were not having anything to do with a visit, so it's their loss ....

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

OCTOBER 8 2014

Finally ... got them all weighed ... and new pics ... last weigh in was December 2013 ... some gained ... some stayed the same ... and some lost ....but I at least got some hands on time with each .... so its all good still ...



SYLVESTER (even though maybe female, keeping the name)
Dec 2013 48g
Oct 2014  53g














RED
Dec 2013  48g
Oct 2014  48g














GEORGE
Dec 2013  56g
Oct 2014  59g














ELVIS
Dec 2013  37g
Oct 2014  33g














LUCINDA
Dec 2013  47g
Oct 2014  43g














MAX
Dec 2013  64g
Oct 2014  64g
 
 









 


CHARLIE
Dec 2013  32g
Oct 2014  33g














COSMO
Dec 2013  48g
Oct 2014  44g














GHOST
Dec 2013  49g
Oct 2014  45g














LADY M
Dec 2013  23.5g
Oct 2014  48g














VENUS (new leopard gecko BLIZZARD morph)
Oct 2014  18g



Monday, October 6, 2014

October 6 2014

So ... I am gonna try to make nightly posts ... again ... LOL .. yeah, right .... I said "try" ...


Tonight while watering their tanks, I got to say HI (and by this I mean petting them on their heads) ... some let me pet their head a few strokes and were quite happy sitting there ... getting attention ... others booked it with one touch ... so this will be my way of seeing how it progresses ... 

Tonight I got to say HI longer with Sylvester, Red (who has started a nightly thing of hanging on the branch/vine watching the room... ) and Elvis (who would sit there or walk onto my hand and revel in the attention ... he has been like that forever ... give or take LOL)

The one touch and run's were Cosmo (slow run, mind you), Ghost, Max, and George (sort of a slower run than he normally does).

I was not even able to do that one touch to Charlie or Lucinda, mainly because they were just too far hidden to touch. Venus had her head sticking out of her cave, so I am not sure my very light touch counted in either way. She didn't run but she pulled her head back in soon after.

More fun next time ... now it is bed with the crack-head crazy Ravyn ....

Sunday, July 13, 2014

JULY 12, 2014

So I did another hands-on / saying HI to the critter crew tonight as I did the night-time watering. I managed to do a bit with each of the crested geckos ... even if it was literally a few seconds with Mr Anti-Social, aka George.

As usual, most of them spazzed a bit before they realized it was just me, and that they were safe. Elvis even got to spend longer with me ... until Ravyn found out he was there ....

Oh well ... try agan next time. Maybe I will work on one at a time over a week instead of  all of them....

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Hands on time

I decided tonight I was going to give the geckos each some hands-on time, whether they agreed or not.

I started with Lucinda .... and she was quite fine with it all.  No spazzing or jumping. Sylvia was fine, but not the same degree of calm, and Charlie was a bit more hyper. Both of them calmed right down within seconds, and I hope it was cuz they remembered it was me, and that they were safe.

Ghost was fine once I snagged him, but Red was another story. But he too calmed down like the others. Cosmo was surprisngly calm once I scooped her up. Max was true to his name, max jumping but not overly.

George was the only issue, being too stubborn for more than a few seconds of hands-on time, and being edgy the whole time. Lady M made a dive for the floor, and was still a bit jumpy even after. My wee Elvis is still the only one that will jump into my hand and stay there for hours if it weren't for the cat thinking the geckos are toys for her.

I am hoping to continue this nightly or as best I can. Hopefully I can get new vids and weights for them soon .....

Sunday, April 13, 2014

JUST PICS

No new info ... other than the matches don't seem interested in doing their business ... LOL

So here are new pics ...

LADY M

 ELVIS

CHARLIE

RED

LUCINDA

GHOST

SYLVIA

COSMO

GEORGE

MAX

Friday, March 21, 2014

Quick Posting

Tonight I did a few minutes with some of the critters ..... it has been so long. I am sure they have forgotten who I am.

I gave a few minutes of hands on time to Lucinda, Sylvia, Charlie and Cosmo, and Ghost.

Speaking of Ghost, I am beginning to doubt the two kids did anything. I might try with a different pair yet.....

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Inter-species Interactions

Well I decided it was well past time to get the cat and the geckos on equal footing ... after all, they BOTH live in this place ....

So Thursday night, after work, I did some hands on time with Lady M ... took her out of the tank, let her walk hand to hand .... get some time getting to know me since it had been a while for her. I kept Ravyn out of reach for the time, only letting her get closer once in a while - but not too close. Lady M was all "whatever" ... no freaking out, no spazzing, no twitchy tail that would indicate stress etc ...

But MAN did that drive the poor cat bonkers! Funny but .... well funny mainly .... sorry kitty ....

Tonight, I decided it was Sylvia's turn ... oh, and she is not a he known as Sylvester ... I weighed her, and if she WAS a male, it would show by now. So she is now Sylvia, and is either gained a LOT of weight, or is getting ready to lay her first duds. Guess she will get the next big tank whenever I get one ...

Anyways, there was a lot more up close time between the cat and the gecko, but it still drove Ravyn a bit mad .... so close but not allowed to play with the "toy" ... poor kitty. Sylvia was all calm, chilling on my shoulder, doing the walking from one hand to another, not caring at all about the cat mere inches away. No spazzing or tail twitching either, even after Ravyn managed to get a paw onto the gecko.

So this may yet work ... she will learn to not see the geckos as play things when they are out, and the geckos will learn she will not hurt or hunt them. It will be a long work in progress thing, but it will get done. I have denied the geckos their time with me long enough ...