Deep Within

So we got audited this past week....and well....
We were woefully underprepared for that. 

And my department didn't fair much better than the rest of the store...though I haven't yet got official word on what our score was or what exactly we missed out on in the department. Beyond a couple of points here and there.

One of those points being that we weren't keeping all the cages up to standard.
Like bird cages in our new arrivals room need to be set up exactly the same as the cages on the floor...so with nests and hay and toys and cuttlebone...

Which I'd stopped doing like...two or three years ago? Because at that point I think I'd just run short of supplies so I barely had enough to take care of the cages on the floor. And since the birds were only temporarily in the back branches and food/water seemed to be the most important thing. 
*exhales* Nope. Gotta have all the extras too. 

Same with the reptile cages.
All the cages are supposed to have a branch within so the reptiles (even if they don't climb) can climb up them.

Again, that had gone away as things had broken and such....

So like....I knew all those standards.
But nobody else knew them because the standards stopped being met like...2 or 3 years ago.
And no one else had brought it up so I didn't think it was important....

But to the auditor...it was important. *exhales* 
That's what happens when it's been like...four years since they last came into the store and everyone is new...
it didn't help that we're in the middle of resetting the entire store (moving product all over the place) and preparing for our yearly inventory count next month as well.
*shakes head*

In any case.
Reptiles.
The branches.

I hadn't thought much on those branches after my coworkers had pointed out to me that they'd added them to the cage when I worked on Saturday.

But today when I was opening up the department.
I noticed that our fancy leopard gecko cage was suspiciously empty....
but the branch within that cage wasn't the normal stick branch.

No it was one of those fake decoration branches....that has holes in it.

Who knows why those things have holes in them honestly....

Because while it's not an issue for larger reptiles.
I've known from past experience with other decorations with similar holes....
That our baby reptiles like the climb into said holes...and vanish.

And sure enough.
Picking up that fake branch and putting my fingers in the two holes I could...
I discovered one of the missing leopard geckos hiding within.

But last I'd checked....
There had been two in the cage.
And I was only feeling one. 

So a quick check with our inventory later....showed that we should still have two of those leopard geckos in that cage.

Which either meant a) it was also hiding somewhere in the branch fake branch, probably further up one of the forks that had no holes...or b) it had died or c) it had been sold without being bought (aka hadn't been rung up at the register) 

So first priority was to get the one leopard gecko I could feel out of the branch.

I ended up having to soak the thing in warm water to get him to come out to the point where I could reach him.

But after feeling around again...and soaking the decoration a few more times (never longer than like thirty seconds because I didn't want to drown the other leopard gecko if he was in there) 

I couldn't see any sign of the second leopard gecko. 

*exhales*

Which....like I said...I had no idea if he was in there or not.

So I left the decoration in a container hoping that the gecko would come out on his own and made a note of why the decoration was in there. 
(Leopard gecko potentially stuck inside)

And promptly forgot about the thing.

I mean I'd mentioned it to the morning managers that we might need to break the decoration (since it's one of those ceramic plasticy sort of decorations) to make sure the leopard gecko wasn't in there.

But the store got crazy with customers and it completely slipped my mind to inform the evening manager or my coworkers about it. ^^;; Heh. Ooops.

So I was taken a little by surprise when my manager texted me out of the blue a couple of hours later with the message "We got the leopard gecko out!" showing a picture of a shattered decoration and the leopard gecko in their hands. 

Yep.
Not sure how long they tried to get the gecko out for before the decided to break the decoration.
But break it they did.

And I was right in my thoughts as to where he could have possibly ended up.

It was basically the deepest furthest part of the branch you could get into....and couldn't see in at all.

Dude had wedged himself in pretty nicely.
And may have even been stuck as I think he tried to get out when I soaked him...but couldn't turn around in the narrow space to accomplish it.

In either case I'm glad we found him and got him out of the decoration. 
Though I am a little sad we had to break the thing....

At least the gecko is okay. :D 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi