pet store chain geckos rant

[robin]

ok i have this rant about pet store chain geckos. thing is people see the sad lil small gecko maybe with stuck shed or no tail and think "omg i must rescue this baby gecko". the only thing you are doing by buying a pet store chain gecko is making the pet store chains buy more of these massed produced geckos that may or may not be healthy and most likely not be getting the right care and supplements. private breeders can offer you quality animals and you are supporting main street america, the mom and pop gecko breeders who do this as a hobby and care for their animals.

 

[ajq1540]

I agree

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Agreed! Not to mention, by 'rescuing' a gecko with questionable health and paying money for it, you are really only perpetuating sub-par husbandry and animals. What incentive does a big-box pet store have to do things right if people wil buy the geckos anyway? What about all the anxiety and broken hearts these poor little creatures can give us?

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Think of it this way when you want to rescue a gecko from a store that isn't taking proper care of it- The store marks up the price by at least double. So every unproperly taken care of gecko you save your condeming at least two more to what that one was subjected to.

 

[Olimpia]

I totally agree, but I did feel that it was my moral obligation to rescue a crestie a few weeks ago. I fought with the store and got her for almost nothing, instead of the $50 they usually go for. But with her it was different from the usual "it's so tiny/it's so thin/it's kept in poor conditions" reasons people usually rescue animals for. She was actually deformed from a fracture in her hand/wrist that healed poorly, she was missing several fingertips, no tail... what's a climbing gecko if she can't climb? I think, honestly, having been there already for about 6 months, she was just going to live there forever with her handicaps and I just thought that was horrible.

If they'd made me pay full price for her I would have gotten her out of there through other means. At least they gave me an 80% discount, and that means a loss of 80% on this gecko. But I don't plan on doing it again. But I think that what everyone needs to do is write letters to these petstore headquarters instead of just complain and try to get more done for the reptiles. And if you can include photos then do, I know I have my case photos for when I write pet co one of these days.

 

[Palor]

I went into ***** to get emergency catfood and stopped by their reptiles section and was simply horrified. Nothing there was kept in anything close to a healthy setup. Their Leos and Anoles were in the worst conditions. The poor leos were on some sort of decorative orange sand and there were 15 of them crammed into this tiny tank. All of them were in sorry shape, stuck shed, missing toes, etc. The had no humid hide at all.

It is depressing to see how big box stores keep the animals.

 

[spykerherps]

Thank You Robin! for posting this If not you it was going to be me. I agree 110% and.....:main_lipsrsealed:

We try not to use those places except for certain items Dry goods and urine cleaners. They have their place just no business with dealing with live animals.
I have had bad experiences with them half my life. visiting these places to try and get them to take care of their animals properly or give there employes some tips or even tell there employees they could at least clean out the dead ones.

Most recently my wife and I walked in to such a place for some cat litter. of course we checked out their reptile section (got to keep on top of them) We had to bring attention to the section manager that the conditions these animals were in was inappropriate, and needed to be addressed immediately. (there where 12 to 18 hatchling sized geckos housed on sand in some thing no bigger then a 10 g. half with severe dry shed and bony little tails) after she was no help we asked to speak to the store manager. All he could say is "the conditions they where providing for them were set guidelines that were established by a bored of supervisors or veterinarians." fortunately after several phone calls reporting certain stores conditions where a little better but not by much and not for long.

Buy local. From breeders/Hobbyists on this forum for instance. Its good for the community good for the buyer and most of all good for the geckos.

 

[justindh1]

The bad thing is that for every one person who realizes that chain pet stores have poor quality of animals there are many more that start to buy from them. We will never get them out of business or even get them to change their views on proper care for these animals because of their corporate rules and regulations made by the man. They are concerned with a profit not quality but quantity. We should have every single person that we know send hand written letters the guys high up on the latter to try to convince them. We are not going to do it by telling them the poor quality of animals and lack of staff knowledge but by telling them the amount of money they loose by people not wanting to buy half live animals that look like they are about to die. You have to think about what they view as being right and what they are wanting to accomplish before you can figure out a solution. Just my 2 cents! :main_thumbsup:

 

[malt_geckos]

Yeah, I agree. However...our one local store here in Gainesville has someone working for them that knows what they're doing!

 

[Malibu]

you folks could not say it better. the pet dumb store here has them on sand as well. they are so tiny could'nt be more than a week old. I would never ship one that small!! We do have a non chain store that is great they even carry my normals most of the time. buy from breeders or small one off shops that carry local breed reptiles.

 

[JordanAng420]

Well, not only does my local pet store chain do pretty much all of the above, but the request for a donation was what broke the camel's back for me. Today I was buying dog food (seems I live there lately) and they asked if i'd like to donate to "a foundation to help rescue pets in need" Upon asking exactly which foundation I would be donating to, I was told....wait for it....

the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS. Are you kidding me?? I told them, "No I don't think I will be donating to that organization" and the cashier kinda gave me this "Oh, okay, I see how it is..." kind of look. :main_rolleyes:

 

[Neo.Reptiliac]

Whats really said is that most the pet stores get their geckos from Ron Tremper

 

[JordanAng420]

Whats really said is that most the pet stores get their geckos from Ron Tremper

:main_huh:

 

[Tsks7205]

Whats really said is that most the pet stores get their geckos from Ron Tremper

Please explain?

 

[Misstasha]

ok i have this rant about pet store chain geckos. thing is people see the sad lil small gecko maybe with stuck shed or no tail and think "omg i must rescue this baby gecko". the only thing you are doing by buying a pet store chain gecko is making the pet store chains buy more of these massed produced geckos that may or may not be healthy and most likely not be getting the right care and supplements. private breeders can offer you quality animals and you are supporting main street america, the mom and pop gecko breeders who do this as a hobby and care for their animals.

i agree, its hard cuz wen you see those lil sick reptiles you want to take them home and save them sooo bad, but that jus gives the store an excuse to buy more!!! its horrible, i bought my first two leos from a pet store and haven't bought any from there since!!

same with pupppies you see these adorable puppies in a pet store and you want to get it, but then you realize its a puppy mill pup!! people are sick!

 

[robin]

Whats really said is that most the pet stores get their geckos from Ron Tremper

yet you just bought one or two from him.

 

[GrimmyX15]

Same thing happned to my Chain pet store. I just seen dead leopard gecko first time. A baby one. which i bought my leo from. but My Leo was fine. I got him the day the leopard geckos babies arrived. They are keeping it in with loose mealworms and feces. Anywhere. Before i bought my leo from it. it was setup fine. now changes it's tank. Horrile.

 

[LizMarie]

I haven't purchased a gecko since my first one. All my geckos are "Adopted" if your not planning to breed or are looking for a good pet it's the best way to go! And I'm ALL for supporting breeders that actually do this as a hobby! Sadly not to many mom and pop shops around here and the ones that are around her don't sell many animals or stick to fish.

 

[Tony C]

The ******** where my girlfriend got her gecko must be the exception to the rule, the geckos were on clean repti-carpet with multiple hides, including one humid hide, clean water, and looked to be well fed. The cage was small, so temps probably weren't optimal, but compared to the stories posted here they were pretty well cared for. The lady who helped us was clueless, but somebody there is doing a good job with what they have to work with.