I had a very unfortunate experience when I brought by very rare and expensive two month old Giant Horned Lizard (phrynosoma asio) to Alameda Pet Hospital to be treated for impaction. My lizard was lethargic with her head down and eyes closed but was still responsive and had eaten just two days earlier. Instead of doing a warm bath to stimulate digestion and begin force feeding (reptile first aid) I did "the right thing" and took my animal to the vet. When I arrived at allegedly the only veterinarian licensed to treat reptiles they were uneducated about the species, failed to do any research on it and immediately began manhandling my 2 inch long, 2 gram hatchling. The vet was turning the lizard on her back, flipping her body in every direction which was causing my lizard major stress and to begin flailing about. She also shoved her finger in the lizard's mouth to see if there was any obstruction of the airway and was in no way gentle. Within 90 seconds of entering the examination room my lizard seized up (while the vet was holding her on her back – which horned lizards will not tolerate) expelled feces, stiffened up and died right then and there. I was so shocked I just stood there as she asked me, "Do you still want to keep the body? I mean I need more than 5 minutes to treat these guys and she died before that." The worst part of it all is that this woman was not in the slightest way apologetic. She matter-of-factly handed my lizard and said, "You never know with these critters". I thought her job WAS to know. Then on top of that, they proceeded to charge me $20 for the 5 minutes I was in the building - just long enough for them to kill my lizard and for me to leave. These lizards can be worth well over $1000 full grown and were bred in captivity for the first time in North America by the Los Angeles zoo in 2011. This vet clearly had no idea what she was dealing with and that is entirely her fault. I trusted them to help me treat my sick lizard and instead they guaranteed her demise. I called about 20 minutes later to discuss the situation with them and the vet only argued with me the entire time. I told her that she killed my animal, which she denied. I told her that I knew for a fact that my lizard would have lived several more days at the very least had I not brought her in to the vet, to which she patronizingly asked me, "Well why did you bring her in then, sir?" I thought I was doing the right thing - evidently not. Anyone with reptiles should avoid this place and anyone who doesn't want to deal with a company with shady practices and policies should follow suit. I will say the receptionists are very kind, caring and helpful, though.