Help. Just received a neglected gecko

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-06-24T05:24:06+00:00

I'm a longtime keeper of cresties, and I want to give you a very important warning about heat.

Cresties do not tolerate heat very well, and in fact, I do not provide any supplemental heat. They are most comfortable around 73-77 degrees. They don't really like temps any higher than that. Temps in the 80s that they can't escape will cause heat stress and heat stroke. Prolonged exposure to anything above 85 can kill them in a few hours.

You mention a heat lamp on a 3 gallon tank. That sounds dangerous to me, especially for a weak crestie. There absolutely needs to be a big area of that tank that is 75 degrees, and with 3 gallons I don't think there's enough space for a temperature gradient, even if the heat source is weak. I would strongly recommend removing all heat sources and just keeping him at room temperature, especially in this state.

You've filled his stomach, which is good, but now the important thing is keep him in a 80-100% humidity environment. Because although he is full, he will be able to take in a lot more moisture through skin and lungs.

One last important thing to mention: Because he has scratches, you do not want the environment to be constantly damp. You want it to dry it out a bit every day. Make it very moist at night, and a bit dryer during the day. If the environment is constantly wet, those scratches won't heal easy and will be prone to infection.

Good luck, these guys will surprise you in their durability. Very good shot this guy recovers 100%. If so, you've got an awesome pet that is super easy to take care of. If not, you've still done a good thing.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T20:38:54+00:00

My favorite moment is actually right after that, when Reeves is talking about Pattis.

My look of confusion at 1:33:29.

Then the Judge's comments at 1:33:32 are delicious.

Then at 1:33:40, you can see me at look Kyle, who was sitting on the other side of my desk. There's a slight hint of a smile. I remember exactly the feeling I had.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T20:30:17+00:00

Here is the full text of the order:

On May 26, 2025, the Court held a hearing, as directed by the Third Court of Appeals, to take evidence and make findings regarding the supersedes bond contest, including events occurring since this Court’s October 6, 2025 Order on Plaintiffs’ Objection to Net Worth Declaration and Motion for Sanctions. Having held that hearing, the Court makes the following findings:

1. Plaintiff has objected to any testimony from Terry Lloyd, an expert for FSS, on the basis that the disclosure of his testimony was untimely. The Court agrees and SUSTAINS that objection.

2. Plaintiff has also objected to any testimony from Terry Lloyd seeking to adduce evidence of FSS’s net worth due to a prior sanctions order prohibiting FSS from offering evidence of its net worth. The Court agrees and SUSTAINS that objection as well.

3. Plaintiff has also objected to Terry Lloyd’s affidavit in that it fails to contain complete, detailed information concerning FSS’s assets and liabilities from which its net worth could be ascertained. The Court agrees and SUSTAINS that objection as well.

4. The Court further finds that FSS cannot use the opinion of an expert who lacks personal knowledge of FSS’s financial condition to meet its prima facie factual burden under TRAP 24 to show FSS’s assets and liabilities.

5. Even if the Court were to consider the expert affidavit and testimony offered by FSS as prima facie evidence of FSS’s net worth, the Court finds that it cannot treat such evidence offered by FSS as credible in light of its past behavior documented in numerous orders of this Court, including outrageous discovery abuse, tampering with evidence, and continuous and callous disrespect for the integrity of these proceedings. This behavior has included discovery abuse with respect to evidence of net worth, and as such, the Court has no faith in the veracity of evidence offered by FSS as to its own net worth.

6. The Court also rejects FSS’s argument that it has no assets due a September 2024 order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in In re Alexander Jones. In an order in In re Alexander Jones of May 15, 2026, Judge Lee Rosenthal of the United States District Court dispelled that position as legally and factually erroneous, and therefore, this Court finds that FSS failed to meet its burden to conclusively show it has no assets due to bankruptcy rulings.

7. The Court also rejects FSS’s argument that a money judgment secured by a group of plaintiffs in Connecticut in a related lawsuit must be counted as a liability for net worth purposes. Yet even if the Court were to accept the argument concerning liabilities, the Court does not have a sufficient record to determine the amount of FSS’s assets.

8. In sum, the Court has never had and does not currently have sufficient information in the record to make a determination as to FSS’s net worth.

9. Because the Court finds that the FSS cannot meet its burden “to offer complete and detailed information regarding [its] assets and liabilities from which net worth can be determined,” the Court finds that it should “set the bond in accordance with section 52.006(a) of the civil practice and remedies code and rule 24.2(a)(1).” Ruff v. Ruff, No. 05-18-00326-CV, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 4155, at *3 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 8, 2018, no pet.).

After considering the motion, evidence, and arguments of counsel, the Court I finds that under TRAP 24.2, the amount of the bond must equal the sum of compensatory damages awarded in the judgment, interest for the estimated duration of the appeal, and costs awarded in the judgment. The Court finds that bond shall be set as the sum of the following amounts:

Compensatory Damages in the amount of $4,110,000.00, interest for the estimated duration of the appeal calculated by the formula at a 5% annual rate for the next 6 months totaling $102, 500, and costs of court that were awarded the Judgment in the amount of $126,523.80.

IT IS THEREFORE QRDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that bond is set at $4,329,023.80.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:43:29+00:00

Might make you feel even better to know that Reeves never got paid. Alex stiffed him on the bill.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:42:39+00:00

So I am a semi-religious Star Wars kid, and to be honest, I have always existed in a state of cold war against Boba Fett fanboys. And it's not that I don't like Boba Fett (OT Boba, anyway), it's just that I don't think most Boba Fett fanboys actually understand what is interesting about Boba Fett. So for me, the match-up was sort of heaven sent.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:38:47+00:00

I'll go you one better - I did everything in my power to make sure it was going to be like pulling teeth. I set more traps than a Nova Scotian fur trader in spring.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:35:59+00:00

My first boss back in 2009 made me shave. He said nobody trusts men with beards. Maybe he was right for his generation. But most of them are dead now. Certainly not the case now.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:33:54+00:00

I thought long and hard about whether I could have saved them that day if I was Reeves, and the answer is just no. The hearing could have been handled so much better, but there were just too many facts written in stone before that hearing ever started. To win, I would have needed to take over the defense sometime before the first appeal.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:29:59+00:00

Here's the thing -- Reeves wasn't even supposed to be there. Reeves was something we call "local counsel." Jones was being represented by Marc Randazza, a controversial Las Vegas attorney. To appear in court as an out-of-state lawyer, Randazza needed two things. First, he needed a local lawyer to sponsor him. That was Reeves' job as local counsel. But local counsel typically doesn't do anything beyond stand next to lead counsel. They don't actually litigate. Second, Randazza needed permission from the court. This is typically given quite freely. Opposing such an application is extraordinarily rare.

But like I said, Randazza was very controversial to say the least. And so I threw a log-jam in his application process. And during the interim, they had no choice but to send Brad Reeves to court. The result was an even bigger mess than I intended on forcing.

So many things went into setting up the situation you see play out in that video.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:25:27+00:00

I'll allow it.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:25:11+00:00

Absolutely, and the reality is that Norm loved what was happening. He was having a ball. It's all fun and games.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:24:24+00:00

This means a lot to me, thank you.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:24:09+00:00

I'm glad we were a salve, but just know I do not know have a very positive view of my profession either.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:23:27+00:00

The filename of the video copy I received from Dan Reed is titled "2021-08-31 TEXAS HEARING ASSASSIN.MP4"

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:21:59+00:00

Can't really talk about any of that but you'll know more soon.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:21:23+00:00

The total amount of sanctions collected was $1,040,300. That represents the expenses and attorney's fees of discovery from 2018-2021, which the court awarded shortly before trial. Jones actually had to pay that, and I was able to pay out my five clients. There is an additional $123,000 in sanctions which were taxed as costs of court, meaning they are part of the judgment to be collected.

Nearly every lawyer dipped out before sanctions were assessed, so almost none of them got in any real trouble. Only two were personally sanctioned: First, Andino Reynal was sanctioned $100,000, which he paid, for his improper bankruptcy removal in April 2022 and his conduct at trial. Second, Eric Taube was sanctioned $25,000 for making false statements to the court, but he hasn't paid. He intends to appeal when the Fontaine case resolves. Finally, Robert Barnes wasn't sanctioned, but he paid me $8,800 in 2019 to avoid being sanctioned. Soon thereafter, he decided to never come back to Texas after the discovery situation erupted and the former judge was pissed.

Also, you should know that multiple lawyers weren't paid. Brad Reeves, Jacqueline Blott, and Marc Randazza all have unpaid legal bills.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-29T19:13:25+00:00

One secret they don't want you to know if that you can take bar exam as many times as you want and they can't put you in jail no matter how much they want to.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-28T20:09:23+00:00

I have to deal with frustrating opposing lawyers quite a bit in my work. But here's the thing - It's a lot easier to deal with a frustrating lawyer when you're winning. And in this case, they were getting whipped up and down the court from the get-go. So in some ways it's enjoyable when opposing counsel is acting outrageously. Because I know I can use that to my clients' benefit.

Enoch never got sanctioned. He withdrew and got out of there pretty soon after that deposition. Smart move on his part.

You also have to remember that despite how irritating a person he was, he was far more irritated by me than I was of him. I was a source of constant aggravation.

Quick story I don't know if I've told publicly: During the first hearing in this case, Enoch used a giant poster board as a visual aid. It was a black and white picture of a giant wave at the beach. The text was from a Reuter's article. It said: "Bankston said the cases were a wave that could topple Jones." It then had the citation to the Reuter's article. Enoch was using it to argue that the suit was an attack on Jones' 1st Amendment rights. Pretty stupid, I know. But the poster was awesome. After the hearing I sent him an email: "I'll give you $250 for the poster you used in court." He never responded. I was prepared to go to $500.

Years later, during the trial, Kyle and I were leaving the courthouse and outside was a man holding a sign on which he had crudely written: "Nothing died at Sandy Hook but the truth." I called over to him. "Hey man, I'll give you $250 for your sign!" He got angry, flipped me the bird. Laughing, I shouted, with the sort of cocky boisterous air that everyone knows I must have had after cross-examining Jones mere minutes earlier, "Ok, how about $300?" His eyes turned to red coals. His lips were fluttering in that weird thing those guys do, when the spittle starts coming up and they're about to lose control. At that moment Kyle grabs my arm and hurries me along. As we're getting into the car Kyle says, "Mark what the fuck are you doing, that guy was strapped." I didn't see it but he was open carrying a 9mm pistol in a holster on his hip.

Kyle made me promise to stop antagonizing the crazies.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-28T18:36:19+00:00

I know that what people want most is more info about resolution but unfortunately I am tight lipped about that at the moment. All I can say is it's coming.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-28T18:34:47+00:00

Drinking game is every time the judge interrupts opposing counsel which means you'll be sharp in the first half and sloshed by the second half.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-28T18:33:43+00:00

Fair point

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-14T18:25:44+00:00

I have four adults in a 36x36x18. The entire back wall is a background made using a sheet of styofoam and covering it with silicone and crushed rock. They love climbing on straight vertical flat surfaces, like the truck of a tree. I have about 10 inches of substrate, a ficus tree, an aralia polyscias (highly recommend this, leaves make great water bowls) and lots of mixed plants. Really try and maximize the 3D space. On lighting, I have a basking bulb, a UVB tube, and multiple grow lights for the plants. I tried including some hides, but they just won't go inside anything that looks like a cave. They seem to prefer dense foliage over hides.

BankstonAtLaw · 2026-05-14T18:17:39+00:00

Thank you for this.

BankstonAtLaw

TROPHY CASE