I have had a LOT of people lately who've been sending me messages, telling me why they absolutely couldn't pay for an animal (whether we're talking the chins, guinea pigs, whatever, doesn't matter), but they will gladly take it off my hands, and they will make the best home, so I should totally give it to them for free.
Now, while it's not about the money... at some point it sort of is. Here's why.
I got in those 20ish crested geckos awhile back. I'm down to maybe 10 or so of them, so they have been steadily getting adopted out. I had someone send me a long message a while back, assuring me they'd make an awesome home, they had all sorts of gecko experience, yadda yadda, but they wouldn't pay for them, because they'd basically be doing me a favor by taking them. Gee thanks.
I can sort of see the thought process, but hold on a second. Let's back up.
When the geckos came in, the previous owner brought enclosures for them, which had hides, plants, water bowls, feed caps. Things the geckos needed right then, and I really do appreciate her bringing those things, as I didn't have that many spares.
Knowing they were coming, I went and bought crested gecko diet (CGD). My geckos (I have... 7... 4 adults and a few hatchlings) eat the watermelon flavor, hers were eating the insect flavor. So, as to not have to mix two different batches (it's a powder you mix with water, to create a yogurt like consistency), I bought two one-pound bags of the CGD (one watermelon, the other insect). Mind you, these 1 pound bags are $35 (keep that in mind when you complain about 3 lbs of chinchilla food for $15 at the pet store, lol). So, the first set of bags cost $70. They go through them, so, so far, we've gone through two sets of bags, so we're at $140 for the CGD alone.
I feed every other day, and skip weekends, so that means I'm mixing up CGD Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In addition to the chow, their enclosures get misted on those days. When doing this, their water containers are filled up (and often, replaced with a clean, non-icky one). I also remove the previous food, wash that container, and put in the fresh CGD. About once a week, sometimes more often, I replace the paper towel bedding / substrate that's at the bottom of their tanks (basically, as needed... some geckos are more messy and icky than others). When the paper towels are out, the whole enclosure gets wiped down, scrubbed if needed, and new paper towels put down. As you can see, while this is not necessarily hard work, there is work involved in keeping these little guys.
So... when I get someone contacting me, suggesting that they will be helping me, by taking some of the animals off my hands... I do get where they are coming from. Yes, less geckos means less work for me, on an every-other-day-basis and on a weekly-basis. Yes, I will spend less (in the future, mind you) on CGD mix, paper towels, and cage cleaner.
However... keep in mind... them taking the pet for free, this does nothing to lessen what's already been spent. The adoption fees aren't in place for me to get rich. Far from it. They're in place for me to recoup money already spent, or money spent in the future. Sure, a good amount of geckos have found homes. That has put money into the rescue account. But now that we're about done with our second set of CGD bags, this weekend I need to pick up two more bags (another $70). As many of the geckos are $40 or so, that means two need to get adopted, just to pay for this week's food haul. The food isn't free, the paper towels aren't free, the cage cleaner isn't free. My labor... well, I'm not getting paid, but the time I spend on geckos takes time away from other animals, so of course there is some value to it. Basically, I need to not go broke doing this... that is what adoption fees are for. So, no, just because you are an awesome home, you cannot have the animals for free. It costs to care for them, ongoing costs that do not end, and by paying the adoption fee -- even if it is not indicative of what you may spend in the future -- you show me that you are able to pay for the care of the animal. That is all.
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