BTS problems at petsmart?

[sportbike_rob]

okay, my local petsmart has a BTS on display, it looks like its deflated, it seriously looks like someone took all the bones and guts out of the rear half of its body. its isnt moving much. when i confronted them about it, they said its normal:main_huh: i was like "that cant be normal, the thing looks like its totally deflated." according to them its normal that will fill in while they get older. but i honeslty think that they are B-S ing. and the poor BTS is injured or severely sick

 

[LadyGecko]

Here is a pic of a healthy year old BTS
This is Sadie

This is Stanley-I bought him from a local pet store when he was supposedly around a year old
He was a trade-in from someone
He has an indented spine and some say that it is from being housed in too small of a enclosure-some say-poor nutrition early on

He is healthy today and gets plenty calcium and food but he will always look like this

He is about 7 now and doing well



Bluey's bodies should not be deflated or sunken in
There IS something wrong with that lizard
Just another case of ignorance of what they are selling
sigh

Sandy

EDIT-sorry I wasn't very clear on this post-(pain level is bad today and I am pretty scatterbrained) Stanley did have MBD-and was treated for it by my vet when I first acquired him about 6 years ago
I would guess that one of the problems that the skink in the pet store that you saw is also MBD as well as "who knows what else"
I hope that if he doesn't get medical attention that he passes quickly-for his sake

I really try to avoid most pet shops anymore these days-it is just too heartbreaking

 

[sportbike_rob]

thats waht i figured, i was upset, it almost looks as if someone stepped on the rear half of it and just crushed everything. the poor thing couldnt move very well.

it kind of looks like the one in the second pic only its ALOT worse than yours.

 

[ReptileMan27]

That stinks , its very possible it was in bad shape when they got it and didnt notice that their is something wrong with it, probly know one working their knows much of anything about herps. The ones here have them sometimes, cant say I ever saw any unhealthy ones though.

 

[sportbike_rob]

yeah, i felt bad, and i must say its probably gonna pass very soon. which i hate to say it, but im sure it would be better off that way. but for them to try and tell me its normal really upsets me.

 

[LadyGecko]

That is my point exactly
That they are selling it as a healthy animal and pretend/believe it to be that way

If it was brought into the store that way and they had any knowledge of that species of lizard then they either would not have accepted it or would have quarantined it and sought medical attention for it


To have it on display and for sale speaks volumes of their husbandry and lack of animal care
:main_thumbsdown:

Sandy

 

[sportbike_rob]

looks like im doing my own little petsmart boycott, or at least that particular one, i know not all petsmarts are bad, just this particular one is, what they need is someone with herp experiance to go in there, i'd go in and straiten it out, however it dont pay enough.

 

[GeckoStud]

Thats terrible, as a new bts owner I am angry as well. My bts has mites! MITES! I am doing everything I can to get rid of them but as far as I know he had them since I got him in Jan. They were so tiny that I didnt notice them until he had a substantial amount crawling around on him. He is doing better now and hopefully with a few more consecutive baths he will be doing even better and this whole mite mess will be over with.

What is it with blueys seemingly getting the raw end of treatment in the pet trade... Tis sad, most of the one's I have seen have had something wrong with them. Yours look great though Sandy, and it was great what you did for Stanley. Hopefully with enough tender love and care and with the riddance of these mites my little guy will be as nice as yours.

 

[LadyGecko]

I am not really sure why Bluey's seem to get 'the short end of the stick' but I do agree with you that many do

As anyone will know that keeps them-they are a sweet docile lizard that need a large enclosure and a varied diet to do well
They just can't be stuck in a small tank and thrown some crickets and that is the way that I have seen them kept in many pet shops

Most of the Bluey's that I have seen for sale look terribly underfed to me

When I got Sophie-she ate like a pig for a month after I had her and gained so much weight so fast that I thought she was gravid

I do know that Stanley was in way too small of a tank in the pet shop that I got him from and that was one of the reasons that I bought him and took him home

All 3 of my Bluey's came from completely different types of places-a small privately owned pet shop-flea market and an online private breeder and I had complaints on each one about the condition that they were in
The last girl that i got in a trade was a baby that was in good enough health but was shipped with no heat pack when conditions clearly called for one and she was very cold and immobile when she reached me after being shipped overnight
I really was not sure that she was going to make it for her first week here

I did at one point want to breed them but they just have so many young to try and find good homes for and with Stanley having the problems that he does-I would not feel comfortable breeding him and I would need to get another male so i will most likely just continue to keep them as they are-all housed separately and as pets


Sandy

 

[sportbike_rob]

update on the BTS, well, went in today and seen it again and low and behold the same employee was there and when i said something to her again, she still insisted it was "natural" and i said, in a smart @$$ tone "i gots the internet, and the internets told me that it is called MBD metaboic bone disease along with too small of an enclosure. the internets, is alot more accurate than you, so let me speak to your manager..." and the employee said "i have one at my house that is the same was im telling you its natural", then is said to her "then yours gots the MBD too, better get the calcium right next time, these guys need a very big enclosure, a varied diet and calcium and vitamin suppliments." needless to say she, she reluctantly got the manager, and a i told the management the whole story, and the manager said to me this is his exact words, "we actually got it in that way from a trade in becasue the previous owner couldnt take proper care of it we are doing our best to give it proper care, but nobody here really knows much about lizards. as for that employee, between you and me, this particular employee dont know her @$$hole from her elbow, and is not gonna be here long."

 

[LadyGecko]

That is just sad

I wonder exactly what he meant by

"between you and me, this particular employee don't know her @$$hole from her elbow, and is not gonna be here long"

Did he think that it would die soon or were they going to have it euthanized?

Also-I did not think that the large chain stores took in animals off the street-so to speak
I guess it depends upon the management
The least that he could took is get their vet (if they have a "store vet" ) to put it out of it's misery

Sandy

 

[sportbike_rob]

That is just sad

I wonder exactly what he meant by

"between you and me, this particular employee don't know her @$$hole from her elbow, and is not gonna be here long"

Did he think that it would die soon or were they going to have it euthanized?

Also-I did not think that the large chain stores took in animals off the street-so to speak
I guess it depends upon the management
The least that he could took is get their vet (if they have a "store vet" ) to put it out of it's misery

Sandy

he was talking about the store employee who insisted that the skink was just fine, meaning she wasnt gonna have a job much longer. as for the skink, the poor thing is living with MBD, his new enclosure is quite big tho, lots of floor space at least. and they say they are working on giving him proper treatment, which i doubt that wil happen.