My Petco Gecko

[Wbrown5496]

This is not going to be like the thread you thought. I am going to explain how and why I purchased my first leopard gecko from Petco and had not a single issue.

It was a few months ago I went in for some live wigglies for my aboreal geckos. I grabbed the Petco flier and thumbed through it on the way to the back corner of the store. I saw that Leopard Geckos were $15.00. It got my interest. I grabbed my feeders off the shelf and asked the guy to get me a large order of crickets from the back. I then stood and inspected the leopard gecko tank. Its sad tiny geckos sat under a log in sand with no humid hides or water and I thought no way in hell. I talked to the guy who had already, under our advisement switched the cresties to CGD. I asked about the leo’s and got the run around. He also said that a new shipment was coming in for the sale and that they would be separated. I left, with no leo.

I got home and sat on the internet cruising forums, checking my mail, and then was like I’m going to do it. I busted out a 12x12x12 exo pulled out some natural slate tile and a heating pad. I picked up an exo terra hide I had from a previous set up and placed that in there. I also took a coconut half and set it in a petri dish. I filled this with moist sphagnum moss. I set the tank on a stand and just let it sit there. I called to see what day/time the new shipment would come in and made sure my set up was all set.

I got to Petco and there was a actually helpful employee shuffling the little ones around. She said they came in the AM and I was first to look at them. I then spent 20 minutes searching through the 15 or so hatchlings they had. The things I looked for: all toes, no visible scaring, full tail plump tail, and alertness. I only found one. I had her pack the gecko up and she had said that the always feed them regular size mealworms. I grabbed some mealworms and I went home.

I still have had no issue with eating, shedding, growing, or anything with this gecko.

 

[ElapidSVT]

looks good!

 

[SDCowboy]

Congratulations. I wish I had the same luck with petco geckos. Yours is very pretty.

 

[Franklinj480]

Here's my gecko from the other large well known pet supply giant. All toes, healthy appetite, alert, great pooper, and handles well.

Besides being slightly overcrowded and in a too small of a home, they had water, humid hide, and a dry warm hide. They all were surprisingly healthy, I picked the most alert and active fella

 

[GeckoDude31]

Wow! Both are looking great! Love the flower pic!

 

[Adinar]

Wish I could say I've had your luck when it comes to health with chain store animals. Several died, and those who are living just don't seem to bulk up as well as others, seem to have off/on appitites, and tend to be extremly slow growers (ex. - Mack Snow purchased last July came home and weighed 7 grams. She is now only up to 20 grams, recently found out she decided she doesn't like mealworms anymore but love crickets now. Picky. She was the other way before. lol) <--- Mack baby was my last purchase like that. $15 and the store never gets them.

Breeders only for me now. Shame I didn't learn that sooner.


Aside from that, what a beauty. Love that orange.

 

[Wowoklol]

Thumbs up Pet store geckos need love too!

 

[PaladinGirl]

What a precious story! I got Toon from Petco as a hatchling and she's been healthy thus far. I've had her since Feb. 2nd. I don't know how she compares in size to other geckos her age, or breeder ones, but she's got a nice plump tail, and I think she grew pretty quickly too.

But I have also noticed her become a little picky. She used to scarf down mealworms every night for about a month and 1/2, sometimes up to 8 or 10 a night, along with a few crickets, then she slowed down. Even now they will sit in her dish for a few days before she even looks at them. I've noticed she pigs out on them right before shedding. She still eats crickets every day. I'm waiting for dubia roaches to arrive in the mail, she loves those. And they make a funny crunchy noise when she eats them!

 

[Kristi23]

Thumbs up Pet store geckos need love too!

Maybe the perfect looking ones. The majority don't do well. They are also good for pets only. Too many people are breeding them when they do not know their genetic backgrounds. We end up with geckos possibly being het for multiple albino strains/etc. If you are going to test breed, you need to be willing to cull the rest (not sell them to others or assume you'll keep them forever).

 

[SDCowboy]

Wish I could say I've had your luck when it comes to health with chain store animals. Several died, and those who are living just don't seem to bulk up as well as others, seem to have off/on appitites, and tend to be extremly slow growers (ex. - Mack Snow purchased last July came home and weighed 7 grams. She is now only up to 20 grams, recently found out she decided she doesn't like mealworms anymore but love crickets now. Picky. She was the other way before. lol) <--- Mack baby was my last purchase like that. $15 and the store never gets them.

Breeders only for me now. Shame I didn't learn that sooner.


Aside from that, what a beauty. Love that orange.

I hear ya. I got my first one from petco and it got bloody diarhea and poop within a week. I took her back and exchanged her for another one that was trying to regurgitate from day one and wouldn't touch food. Exchanged that one for my current one which was eating like a machine for over a week but now she too is sick. That's the problem with pet store geckos. There's a ton of them all crammed into a 1' tank. If one is sick, likely all of them are sick yet they still get sold. The ones that get brought back, even if the store can get them back to healthy again, just goes RIGHT back into the tank with all the other sick leos again to be resold while likely sick again. To top it all off, they keep them all on sand so who knows how many have impaction right out of the gate.

 

[Adinar]

I hear ya. I got my first one from petco and it got bloody diarhea and poop within a week. I took her back and exchanged her for another one that was trying to regurgitate from day one and wouldn't touch food. Exchanged that one for my current one which was eating like a machine for over a week but now she too is sick. That's the problem with pet store geckos. There's a ton of them all crammed into a 1' tank. If one is sick, likely all of them are sick yet they still get sold. The ones that get brought back, even if the store can get them back to healthy again, just goes RIGHT back into the tank with all the other sick leos again to be resold while likely sick again. To top it all off, they keep them all on sand so who knows how many have impaction right out of the gate.

Sadly, it's true. I've seen several people say that they've spoken to the petco's and other chains in their areas and they've changed the way they keep their animals. Mine here are just far too stubborn.

 

[SDCowboy]

Sadly, it's true. I've seen several people say that they've spoken to the petco's and other chains in their areas and they've changed the way they keep their animals. Mine here are just far too stubborn.

I was at one of the petcos here again this morning, and good Lord. They had like four in the tank that were just frightful looking. Completely emaciated, and appeared dry and shriveled. They almost looked mummified. :main_no:

 

[Tailless]

Sadly, it's true. I've seen several people say that they've spoken to the petco's and other chains in their areas and they've changed the way they keep their animals. Mine here are just far too stubborn.

I have gently tried to suggest care changes to several chain pet stores in my area. However, I worry about doing this... specifically that if I come off as too uppity it could backfire (by which I mean that the store will just write off customers that are concerned about the care of the animals as "crazy animal rights people").

As I said in a post on another thread, I think that in an ideal world pet shops wouldn't sell live animals (other than feeder insects) period. That said (despite what some might call my extreme personal opinion), I think that there's definitely room to work within the system that we have and encourage pet stores to be better.

I'd be interested to hear other forum members' suggestions on how to broach the subject with pet stores and/or any success stories. I am also interested in people's thoughts on whether or not we as gecko enthusiasts have any obligation to try to make pet stores better. (Maybe this should be a different thread.)

 

[sjt6494]

I got my leo at petco and let me just say they have just as much chance of getting good or bad shipment of animals as the next place...when I seen my leo she had a second one with her and I noticed she had just gotten done shedding which I always found to be a good sign...she ate once that I have seen so far and I have had her for 3 days now...

 

[SDCowboy]

I got my leo at petco and let me just say they have just as much chance of getting good or bad shipment of animals as the next place...when I seen my leo she had a second one with her and I noticed she had just gotten done shedding which I always found to be a good sign...she ate once that I have seen so far and I have had her for 3 days now...

Yeah they have a low chance just like the other big pet stores. Buying from a breeder is infinitely better chance of getting a good, strong, healthy one. Even if they get a "good shipment" they just get crammed into the same tank with the other sick ones or where ones have been sick.

 

[Stimpy]

Yeah they have a low chance just like the other big pet stores. Buying from a breeder is infinitely better chance of getting a good, strong, healthy one. Even if they get a "good shipment" they just get crammed into the same tank with the other sick ones or where ones have been sick.

When i called petco to tell them the leo i had was sick i also pointed out that they were on sand and that they could even put them on paper towels and it would be better for them than sand. Thats even cheaper too. The lady said she will tell the reptile specialist and hung up. Thats petco for ya :main_thumbsdown:

 

[lovelovelove135]

I got my leo from Petco at 4 inches in January, and she's now 9 inches ^_^ She's never had a problem except for her first shed (her toes), which was just a couple of days after I got her. Sometimes she'll skip food for a day, but she'll eat the next day like she hasn't eaten in forever haha She's nice and chubby But today, I went to Petco and I saw this lovely leo. About 4 inches, and when I came by, it turned around and stared at me. That's when I noticed that it's two front legs were bent, it has MBD. I felt so bad for it, and it just kept staring at me with those eyes >.< It even tried crawling closer to the glass, but it was having such a hard time walking it stopped after a step or two. So sad I wanted to help it, but that would mean buying a whole new set up, and my parents wouldn't take too kindly to spending another $200 and vet care :'(

 

[SDCowboy]

When i called petco to tell them the leo i had was sick i also pointed out that they were on sand and that they could even put them on paper towels and it would be better for them than sand. Thats even cheaper too. The lady said she will tell the reptile specialist and hung up. Thats petco for ya :main_thumbsdown:

Yeah I wanted to say something also but just didn't think it would be wise as I'd like to still be able to buy other things there. It's too bad because for their usual $15 price tag is really hard to pass them up but $15 adds up with you have to keep getting rid of them or exchanging them because they're sick form the getgo or die on you.

 

[Stimpy]

Yeah I wanted to say something also but just didn't think it would be wise as I'd like to still be able to buy other things there. It's too bad because for their usual $15 price tag is really hard to pass them up but $15 adds up with you have to keep getting rid of them or exchanging them because they're sick form the getgo or die on you.

15$ + 45$ Vet Bill = 60$

For 10$ more i could have got a baby morph from a good breeder with no problems. Its quite the "mirage"/"illusion" they give you.

 

[SDCowboy]

15$ + 45$ Vet Bill = 60$

For 10$ more i could have got a baby morph from a good breeder with no problems. Its quite the "mirage"/"illusion" they give you.

The Kahoots pet stores by me seem to just keep one leopard gecko at a time so I might give them a try if my current (third from petco) doesn't work out. My only concern is if I have to buy ALL new housing/tank for a new one since the last three were sick. That really is a punch to the wallet.