petco rescue help

[syntheticreality]

I went to petco today and they have a new shipment. I would say 5 of the 10 they have are albinos. One looks like a nice stripe, and a few look like they may grow to be tangs.

I want to go back and rescue them all, but I cant. I am considering getting one or two. I figure the at 20 bucks, the albinos would be my best value, correct? A hatchling tang is harder to identify, but the albinos are surely albino.

These things are tiny, and when I say tiny, I mean TINY. The problem is I'm going away this weekend. Just friday night to Sunday night. If I bring one of two home and leave plenty of small meal worms in their enclosures in the rack and a good amount of fresh water, they should be okay for that expanse of time, correct?

This is obviously not they ideal situation, but I dont want to pass up a great deal on what look to be some banded trempers.

Also, how can I tell what strain of albino they are at that age? My guess is tremper, but I am the farthest thing from an expert.

**EDIT: And I'll possibly be going to pick it/them up within an hour, so I need quick advise!

 

[acpart]

I don't think I met your time criterion, but here's some thoughts anyway. It does seem like a good deal and it's nice to get them right when they come in so they don't have time to get whatever might be going around at the store. If you house them together you need to be prepared to separate them if it becomes clear later that they are both males or male and female. Since they'll probably be getting used to their environment for the first few days, it seems that leaving them with water and some food should be OK.

If you got them from Petco,they are trempers unless their supplier has changed

Aliza

 

[syntheticreality]

I went there and brought home two. They look pretty nice to me. I'll post up some pics. Would everyone agree that they are prob tremper?

sorry for the crappy phone pics. I will get more when my camera charges.

 

[syntheticreality]

thanks, Aliza. These two look really nice to me. They've got nice orange on them, so I am thinking tang trempers. They came straight home to my rack where they are separated and will continue to be separated.

 

[Bodon]

They look great to me, id say tremper but im far from an expert.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I'm sure they're probably Trempers. And remember...rescue = free, Paying $20 = buying. Hopefully they'll do well for you.

 

[syntheticreality]

I'm sure they're probably Trempers. And remember...rescue = free, Paying $20 = buying. Hopefully they'll do well for you.

It seems a lot of people use the term "rescue" almost facetiously because those places are notorious for the way they treat leos. But... yeah thanks for setting me straight


anyway, here are some better pics with natural sunlight. Are these what young sunglows look like?

 

[fallen_angel]

they are absolutely gorgeous

 

[syntheticreality]

Thanks, Jess!

 

[Ccrashca069]

I could not tell you the morph but sunglo maybe. They are very pretty. Nice finds.

 

[StinaKSU]

They're cute! Petco does have a size minimum that the vendors are supposed to follow....I know recently we've been getting hatchlings (and I mean hatchlings....can't possibly be more than a week old)...and we've had to keep them in the wellness room till they get larger. If they have the tiny babies out on the sales floor, call the Petco Hotline that's posted in the stores and report that you suspect that the store has animals available for sale that are not meeting the minimum size/age requirements (its highly likely that the associates in the store don't even realize that the animals aren't meeting the minimums). As mentioned...you're really not "rescueing" anything...you're buying them and the store is just going to get more in. If you call the hotline and the geckos are removed from the sales floor, they will have some time to grow up a bit before being sold, it will be awhile before the store gets more in, and the vendors will likely be contacted about sending older animals.

 

[syntheticreality]

Well, they are small. I think they will feed alright. I already saw the one drinking from its water bowl. They are also very tame. I think they will survive just fine. I also think it's good I got them after the shipment had just arrived.

The problems I did have... there were 12 of them in a smaller than 10 gallon enclosure (prob 5-7 gallon). Also, they were all this tiny and they were on sand. My girlfriend works at petsmart and she tells me that they have rules against putting a smaller than 6 inch leo on sand at petsmart.

 

[StinaKSU]

Petco's policies require keeping all leopard geckos in sales floor enclosures on sand. I don't know about other stores, but at the one I work at we keep the babies in the wellness room on paper towels with humid spots.

I'm not saying that you will have trouble keeping these little ones alive....but I have no doubt that there are MANY people who will buy them without knowing how to care for them properly and they won't thrive b/c they are just too young and small to be able to handle improper habitats/handling. They are also young enough that failure to thrive can't yet be readily noticed, especially by inexperienced keepers and some will be sold that may not end up thriving no matter what conditions they are kept in. Policies such as size/age minimums exist for good reasons.

 

[syntheticreality]

Christina,

I understand and agree with what you are saying. Is there anything special you think I should do for these two?

 

[StinaKSU]

I don't think anything particularly special...just watch closely for any weight loss or abnormal stool....really something you should do with any new animal.

 

[Kimjorg]

Are these the 2 I talked to about earlier? If so they are awfully cute.

 

[syntheticreality]

yeah... I couldn't pass them up. That's why I asked for your advice.


anyone know why the one is so much darker than the other

 

[Leonardo]

its quiet possible theyre from different clutches. leo's colors and patterns are so varied and different from one to the next, its like the skin color of humans, we're not all the same shade.
as for morphs, im definitely not the one to ask being a new owner myself.
with pet stores, i think its almost possible to tell exactly what a morph is or what genes it has in it since the parents are unknown.
oh well, i got a beautiful snow (at least i think its a snow) from my pet store. but thats all i know about her.

 

[skyline]

thats what i did i saw the poor looking geckos at petco an i just had to get one. now he/she is doing fine =).

 

[kathleen]

Hello all, my name is kathy and i am a new member and owned by 4 of these
same little Petco guys. I have had geckos, anoles, turttles, fish etc. When
i got my little ones i did not realize they were just hatchlings, i bought 4, they
were in deli cups on the counter waiting to go to the display tank i bought
them right then and there I had 2 twenty gallon empty tanks and a 30 gallon
Terrarium set up at work. After I got the little ones home i decided to cut the
20 long down to about a 15 with plexi-glass, and provided the necessary hides and last but not least very soft light and no disturbances, they are thriving three of the four ALL shed last weekend and slow poke is shedding now they have grown a tremendous ammount since the purchase about a
month ago and they looked exactly like yours. treat them like the babies they
are and they will be fine. while i'm here you guys are a great bunch i just had
to respond to this posting to let the o/p know they will be fine