Reptile Rescue Thread - Weirdest Rescues.

[gillsy]

After another exotic thread being blow out of proportion, i'm after all the license reptile rescuers out there.

What are some of the strangest things you've seen, what are some of your best rescues.

I'll start every one off, I was called for a big green snake, fairly thick, in Sydney's northern beaches.... I live in the city so it was a fair way out, but I was thinking I might finally get something good. After getting mainly carpets and anterisa as escaped pets in the city.

It was the ugliest skinniest diamond you've ever seen, I've euthanased a few corn snakes and a friend got a red tail boa which as beautiful as it was (and i'm spewing i missed the phone call for the call out) it was euthan as well.

There's been a croc rescued from West Sydney as well.

I've had a few with the Fire and Rescue come out, there's a few good looking boys in that lot!

 

[waruikazi]

Just the usual rubber snakes and earthworms for me.

 

[sookie]

Nothing so cool as any snakes,we did a sleepy lizard with two hind legs that wouldn't work,so he moved into the house...free.he just wandered about.i used to do horses mainly,had a couple of rescued goats once.only ever had to euthan an old mare whose hooves had grown around her feet.oh and several abandoned dogs.

 

[gillsy]

HAHA Waz, I use to have earth worms enter my granny flat as a teenager, especially after rain. They'd be as big as any anterisia i've caught.

 

[killimike]

I'm curious, how did you get involved in this kind of work? And who are you employed by, is it your own business, government dept etc.

I've never come across a snake around houses myself, whether mine or mates' or whatever, only seen em in the bush.

I've had a few with the Fire and Rescue come out, there's a few good looking boys in that lot!

Perks of the job eh?

 

[gillsy]

I volunteer for Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Service, similar to WIRES. It's all volunteer. Wildlife rescue is not a paid job in NSW, it's all volunteer.

 

[killimike]

Ahh ok, I had got the impression that people did it as professionals, is it different in other states?

 

[Elapidae1]

Are you the snake remover? Yes. I have a possum in my roof. ????

2 kids were playing with a blind snake at school even showing the teachers. I assume it musked and the kids transfered it to their faces as apparently they had a skin reaction (anyone else heard of this?) kind of makes sense considering the snakes diet. Anyway the kids were rushed to hospital and the snake scooped into a container, an ID was given to the hospital with an explanation that they are harmless and the skin reaction was the first I'd ever heard of. I never followed it up further, I wish I had. i imagine they would have still gone through the full snake bite procedure. Would have been an expensive excercise for the parents with the Ambos and all

 

[jmcsnake]

I once removed most of the dashboard of a truck to find an Asian house gecko, the snake must have gotten out before I got there apparently! Frogs under the rim of the toilet ( carry chlorhexidine in the car after that one) Many Taipans, you know, the ones with the yellow belly /sarcasm
One of my favs was a Long neck turtle that was too fat to move, poor girl had big calluses on her fat rolls spewing out from under her shell.

 

[Elapidae1]

Ahh ok, I had got the impression that people did it as professionals, is it different in other states?

Some people I believe make an income out of it. Over here in WA it's generally on a volly basis with donations accepted for fuel etc

 

[Wild~Touch]

We were called out to remove a big lace monitor from the pantry in a nudist colony

They had been feeding it bread (ugh) ..and when they left the kitchen door open the good ol' lacie had helped himself to anything he could find the pantry.

The pantry looked like a rubbish dump with their food everywhere and the people were terrified.....LOL...I still laugh at the situation

 

[gillsy]

In NT they are paid by the government, and are allowed to sell anything they legally rescue... Mind you during peak season they can have 12 a day, so it's a full time job up there.

Queensland, they paid to rescue snakes by the callers, I've heard $250 for a venomous reptile. It varies state to state, and is handled by the DECCW version in each state, like licensing is.

 

[jmcsnake]

In QLD you can't charge to rescue injured animals, but with an appropriate license you can charge for relocating snakes, possums etc. I've heard of $200-$250 price range for snakes, but never actually met anyone who has been charged that much, just friends of people.
I'm a big believer in the pricing matching the service and being affordable enough that it's a better option than the shovel, just my opinion.

 

[Elapidae1]

The problem I have with charging the caller is that nobody asks for a snake under their bed and how do you tell a struggling, terrified pensioner that it'll cost 250 bucks to remove it? I would love to make a living out of it but not from the householders, Government contract would be great.

 

[nathancl]

i think its mainly donation, not an actual fee

 

[waruikazi]

In NT they are paid by the government, and are allowed to sell anything they legally rescue... Mind you during peak season they can have 12 a day, so it's a full time job up there.

Queensland, they paid to rescue snakes by the callers, I've heard $250 for a venomous reptile. It varies state to state, and is handled by the DECCW version in each state, like licensing is.

Not quite so in the NT, not everyone is paid. The callouts are contracted out to private individuals in different areas (darwin, katherine and alice), the contracts are handed out on a 5 year basis with a small ammount of money that is meant to cover costs but i don't think there has been anyone in the Darwin region yet to see the contract out. The contract holder is allowed to keep what ever is caught, that is supposed to be where the money comes from. I used to do it in Darwin, 10 calls a day was about the average, each call usually taking about an hour throughout the day and night. I think 16 calls was the most i ever had.

Now i do it on a volunteer basis in my community, i get about 5 calls a month. Much much more handleable lol.

 

[gillsy]

Not quite so in the NT, not everyone is paid. The callouts are contracted out to private individuals in different areas (darwin, katherine and alice), the contracts are handed out on a 5 year basis with a small ammount of money that is meant to cover costs but i don't think there has been anyone in the Darwin region yet to see the contract out. The contract holder is allowed to keep what ever is caught, that is supposed to be where the money comes from. I used to do it in Darwin, 10 calls a day was about the average, each call usually taking about an hour throughout the day and night. I think 16 calls was the most i ever had.

Now i do it on a volunteer basis in my community, i get about 5 calls a month. Much much more handleable lol.

Yeah I did hear that selling was to cover costs plus to actually pay the person doing it, but wasn't 100% so didn't want to say that.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

We used to conduct call-outs in the Brisbane area. Our minimum charge was $90, our most expensive was $330. The reason we charged that amount was the same as anyone running a business where you are on call 24/7 - you are available all the time. What other service can you have at your house immediately?

If someone has gone to the trouble of calling you first, rather than using the shovel, they will nearly always agree to the price. We would, of course, show leniency if the caller was obviously a battler.

Our best call was for a snake that turned out to be a slug. The lady had recently immigrated from Vietnam and was absolutely petrified of all the dangerous animals she had been warned about. I put her mind at ease...snakebite is far more dangerous in Vietnam than here.

 

[gillsy]

Yeah we are on call 24/7 here as well, however we just don't get the numbers you guys do. Plus most of them down here are diurnal.

Plus you have to be part of a wildlife organisation and they are required to be volunteer.

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

i do it as a fulltime job during summer/spring/autumn travelling all over sydney and get called to some of the weirdest jobs but some real crackers as well.There is also alot of inspections and educating,also giving people a pice of mind to feel safe again in there homes or workplaces.
many jobs are customersknee jerk reactions and there was never a ssnake to start with but a bluey or better still this was my all time favourite.

callwas from suther land and women had snake in the track of her slidng door at back of house,she said its head was poking out
i went down there and went into house to remove the foul and loathsome reature to find this in the track of the glass sliding door

i said is this your snake ,she looked sheepishly and said she wasnt sure,then it buzzed its wings she said YES YES thats was it,
cause it had eyes she thought it was a snake lol
still imagine not charging a fee and having to deal with jobs like that