Refusing to sell a gecko to someone

[Alchemy]

I have to ask, especially with all the breeders on here. How do you do it sometimes? I had someone bring their kid over to pick out a "boy and a girl so they can make babies" today. The son already had a little female that looked to be about four months old tucked inside his shirt. The little female was what could have been a very pretty hypo, but was faded to a dull yellow and tailless. I later found out it was actually older and they had assumed it had stopped growing and was an adult???? They were surprised to see the adult size of my breeders.
I immediately went into my "this is how you take care of a gecko" mode. Which I feel bad about now, but I think really needed to be said. As we were sitting and talking about gecko care the female fell off his shirt, bounced off a chair and hit the floor!!!! It laid their upside down and I thought for sure that it was dead, dear god I about had a heart attack right there!!! He picked it up and put it back into his shirt and I could see it moving again. He than claimed that it often fell or jumped off (omg!!) and mom proceeded to tell me about him taking it to school in his shirt all the time????!!!! How the heck is it getting the food/water/heat that it needs that way???? Not to mention the stress it must be under!!!
So now I'm sitting here thinking that I'm never going to be able to sell another gecko ever again because it might be THAT gecko. The one that ends up being loved to death. Seriously LOVED TO DEATH!!!
Ugh, how do you do it???

 

[DLS Reptile]

Every time I sell a gecko to someone I think of that very thing. If you think about it, it is this way with any breeder. Whether it be dogs, cats etc.. You did not do wrong by explaining gecko care to him. The way I look at it is this, If you did not say anything you would feel more guilty about the situation. And if it helps the gecko, so be it.. That is definitely the hardest part with raising and selling geckos. You will always wonder if that person will have as much love and passion for their pet as you did. I like to make sure people know their care before I sell...

 

[david13]

i never sold any geckos but good job on telling them about the proper care. I would be worried about my gecko im selling to be "that gecko" too.

 

[eyelids]

The one that ends up being loved to death. Seriously LOVED TO DEATH!!!

Reminds me of Lennie from Of Mice and Men...

That is exactly why I only sell to hobbyists now... I wholesaled out a group last year as a spur of the moment kind of thing and it drags me down into a deep pit of sadness and despair just thinking about it...

 

[geckoluv2187]

I used to work with cat rescue, and the way we would turn people down for adoption is by saying that the animal is not the right match for them. Basically we would say that it's not the right match for their family, because that cat required, for instance that it stay inside. You could go with the same kind of thing, "This gecko really needs to live in a cage" or "these gecko's cant be handled a lot" or even "these gecko's are not a match for children". Good luck! It's absolutely your right to deny them a gecko. You've put all your love and hard work into raising them, whats the point of throwing all that away?

 

[The Sunset Gang]

Michael, I love that book. It is one of the greatest ever written in my opinion.
Celeste, if I were you I would have told them no. You are in business to sell them, but that kid obviously is too in love with the gecko and the mom isn't telling him not to do stuff with the poor thing. But, at least you did tell him how to properly care for geckos.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

i agree that its good to let them know proper care on their leos and if it were any other reptile then they need to know its proper requirements. i guess it was good the kid really liked it but then again it wasnt took care of as it should be. hopefully they took your advice and get it back to being healthy and well again i would hope so since the little boy probably really loved it. i have a couple of geckos that are a little faded i do not why its weird mainly one she was very bright when i bought her but now shes a dull yellow almost a caramel color even when taken into the sun and shes huge about 80 grams shes from masterpiece geckos in 2006. i like selling leos to kids but the parents have to have the proper knowledge to in order to make sure their kids take care of the animal in the correct way and willing to help them learn to take care of an animal. some parents dont care but some do and you have to find those whom are interested in the geckos themselves too if they hate reptiles then they are unlikely to teach their kids to take care of them. if they are not good matches for a reptile then you can refuse the sell because of the welfare of the reptile. just my opinion

Danielle

 

[dprince]

It sometimes really SUCKS to sell some of your geckos. Even when I've sold them to good homes, bad things can happen.

I have definitely refused sales based on my gut feelings. It's the best I can do. I care a lot about my animals, and when bad things happen, it just makes me feel physically ill. :main_no:

 

[GeckoStud]

I know the feeling, I've been downsizing the collection for college and it was hard deciding whether or not to sell a gecko to some people. One man in particular I felt had no business in keeping animals at all, and a vendor who was clearly in it for the money. Needless to say they didn't leave with any of my animals. I can only hope and pray that the ones who were sold do well. The people I sold to seemed to at least acknowledge what I was telling them and put serious thought into their purchases.

I know from experience too with special geckos. Like the little lvpa I got from Ryan and Val (which by the way I did NOT sell and never will guys, rest assured of that.) who needed to be forcep fed and never be bred. Also just a little update if you two manage to read this, I finally coaxed that little stinker to start eating mealies from a dish, it took a while but she finally seems to grasp the concept that there is food in there!

 

[mynewturtle]

If they intend on using calci sand, and other bad materiels in tank. OR are not going to be feeding them correctly and will NOT take advise then they are going to have to find a difrent gecko. And I write there IP and email down on my do not sell list. If you are not providing a good home for my geckos you will not get them.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Fortunately, any customers I've had gut feelings about not selling to have ended up deciding against buying geckos from us. Maybe it's a little easier because we mainly sell geckos online. We live in a large, crime ridden city so as a general rule, we never let people come to our home to pick out geckos. It would definitely be a lot harder to refuse a customer right in front of your face. I have discouraged several 1st time gecko owners from buying pairs though. Once you explain the serious work it takes to breed most people understand and would rather take two females instead. I'm pretty blunt so I guess if I didn't feel comfortable selling to someone I would give them a care sheet, refer them to this site, and ask them to do a little more research before they jump in to getting a gecko.

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

Man. I was at the show yesturday in taylor. And I was looking around and there are some people that I just wouldn't sell to. And my boyfriend and I were talking and I told him that if someone came up and told me the set up they are using, and if involved sand and anything else I would never use I would refuse the sale. I have a friend of mine who has a friend that bought 3 adult leopard geckos that were living in a 50 gallon tank home, and she took them out and put them in a 20 gallon long with a male and has eggs coming out her ears and no incubator and no knowledge of how to care for the geckos she has let alone the babies. And I told my boyfriend I would refuse to someone like her. Or anyone who wanted to buy a male and female and place them together. I just have a fear of what could happen to my geckos!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

This is what happened with a gecko I sold to a kid at a show last Fall:

http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=15346

If I don't think someone is a good candidate for having one of my geckos, I simply won't sell them one. I nicely tell them I don't think a leopard gecko is the right reptile for them... and then tell them why.

 

[Bodon]

i remember that post, very rough to see.

Today in petco i saw a lady saying she wanted a small lizard that she could hold, her two little kids, maybe 5 or younger, said how bout these ones?? Of course pointing to the leos, the dad then pointed out a 5 gallon tank and said, "this is cheap, its good enough we could just get this." and i just walked away shaking my head. I felt bad and those werent even MY geckos! If i was a breeder id refuse many people like that.

 

[Alchemy]

This is what happened with a gecko I sold to a kid at a show last Fall:

http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=15346

If I don't think someone is a good candidate for having one of my geckos, I simply won't sell them one. I nicely tell them I don't think a leopard gecko is the right reptile for them... and then tell them why.

Oh my god! That makes me sick to my stomach! I hadn't seen that post before, I'm so sorry! I feel sick to think of something like that happening, when it's so easy to give them what they need!!!

 

[Mel&Keith]

Today in petco i saw a lady saying she wanted a small lizard that she could hold, her two little kids, maybe 5 or younger, said how bout these ones?? Of course pointing to the leos, the dad then pointed out a 5 gallon tank and said, "this is cheap, its good enough we could just get this." and i just walked away shaking my head. I felt bad and those werent even MY geckos! If i was a breeder id refuse many people like that.

LOL I've walked up to people in pet stores and told them that the supplies that the store suggested were wrong or that the pet they were thinking about might not be a good match for them. I figure, what is the store going to do, kick me out?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

LOL! I got kicked out of a [big-name pet store] for doing that!

 

[Bodon]

LOL! I got kicked out of a [big-name pet store] for doing that!

haha, well good for you! FIGHT THE POWER! Telling that lady all she was going to need and that a 5 gallon was a joke, did cross my mind.

 

[rubym]

I think I would have had to. I have trouble keeping my big mouth shut sometimes...espescially when its a subject that I feel strongly about. Too many places and people view these little guys as "disposable" pets. You hear " they are just lizards". I know i am going to have a rough time selling my hatchlings!

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Breeding since 1993 I have heard all these stories and a few more...I do not feel bad anymore giving them the news that "they are not a good match" when I meet them in person, such as at a reptile show. Fortunately I carry gecko t-shirts and I offer to sell them one of those. Impossible to kill, t-shirts!

One thing I did do was create a section of my website called "For Beginners" where I outline at what ages most children are capable of being responsible for a pet, and where the child needs to be maturity-wise. Usually by 8 years old a child is ready, some really mature children are ready as young as 6 years old. I had a social worker check this section for me to make sure it covered all the bases. Folks tell me it helps them greatly in making a decision whether to purchase a gecko for their children.

One thing you need to watch out for is parents that are going to get a pet gecko for their kids yet aren't going to let the gecko be the kid's pet. This is a situation where the parent does all the care and the kid does basically nothing. This is a dangerous situation for the gecko as it usually gets neglected, not being anyone's real pet. As a bonus, the kid gets to learn how to be an irresponsible pet owner....:furious3: If you see this situation explain how the child can easily learn to take care of the pet and can gain a lot from having that responsibility. Self-esteem of these young gecko owners skyrockets! If they don't go for that then put the brakes on and get out the t-shirts!