A livestream clip shows Maya Higa, co-founder of Alveus Sanctuary, directly calling out streamer FaZe Lacy for buying two leopard geckos and returning them roughly a week later.
The confrontation happened during a stream where Maya didn’t mince words about the situation. She pushed back hard on the impulse purchase, making it clear that exotic animals require research and commitment before anyone brings them home.
When Lacy tried to interrupt during the exchange, Maya shut it down with a firm “don’t interrupt me” and continued pressing her point about responsible pet ownership.
The timeline is the problem here. Lacy purchased the two geckos, kept them for about seven days, then returned them. While returning pets you can’t care for beats neglecting them, the short timeframe suggests he didn’t do the homework first.
Leopard geckos are commonly marketed as beginner reptiles, which leads many people to underestimate their needs. They require proper enclosures with specific temperature gradients, multiple hides, correct substrate, and a diet of live insects with vitamin supplementation.
These animals can live 10–20 years in captivity with proper care. They’re not a week-long experiment.
This goes beyond just one purchase. When streamers acquire pets on camera, viewers often copy the behavior without understanding the full responsibility. A cute gecko unboxing stream doesn’t show the daily feeding routine, temperature monitoring, or long-term costs.
Maya’s public callout points to a larger problem in streaming culture. Pets become content props, purchased for a video or stream segment without considering the animal’s wellbeing beyond the initial novelty.
