Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just at Petco getting some things for my two Leopards and I was just looking at their supply of Leo's and they looked horrible. their tails were skinny and they werent that fat. I was going to tell an employee about it but no one was around. That is were I got my first Leo at and he was healthy. I wonder what the deal is

Welcome to the world of Petkill. Most of them mirror your store. I personally attribute it to a lack of employee education.
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2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

I hate to defend employees of these stores, but while it sometimes is them it is very much the chain's management as well. My friend's brother worked up to manager of the reptile/fish/birds department. He immediately tried to move all the animals around, separate species, etc. The more he tired to fix the more heat he got for not "following policy" and making his store different. He even fought with proof that his reptile sales were the highest in the area and he didn't have sick losses.

Look for mom and pop stores that care, please.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I know this is going to offend some people but here goes... You got lucky with your first Leo. I would never buy an animal from Petco. Also, don't bother telling them about there animals. I don't go to Petco anymore, you don't know what you are going to see there. My last experience at a Petco was horrible. It wasn't the Leos, but a large tank full of young green Iguanas. As I got close to the tank the smell almost doubled me over. There was several small Iguanas in the tank. As I looked at them several looked very sickly then I spotted one that I thought was dead. I got the attention of a store employee and pointed out the one I thought was dead. He told me "Oh they're all okay. I guess they do need a change of water". He pulled the water bowl out and I almost puked. It smelled so bad and was black in color with dead crickets floating in it. Iguanas are completely vegetarians and don't eat crickets. But if that is all you're given, even you and I would eat crickets. He assured me again that they were all okay but I noticed he didn't try to pick up the one I thought was dead. Don't go to Petco, you'll be sorry. Find another pet store to visit for your feeders or whatever

Just wanted to point out as an Iguana enthusiast that young Iguanas do take insects
Foot Hill Reptiles

They take insects because idiots feed them insects, exactly my point!

That is so grown up of you to say
Foot Hill Reptiles

As an iguana enthusiast I like to point out that young iguana don't need insect in the diet. Animal protein is can lead to liver and renal failure in iguana if fed in excess. They need a vegetarian diet and protein from plants not animal protein.

"in excess" I don't argue that, Nothing in excess is good, While a lot of care websites don't necessarily recommend it they all just about note that some dose not hurt.
Foot Hill Reptiles

It's too bad that store is like that but I have too say that is where I got my first 3 leos from and all turned out fine. You must remember that they get their stock from breeders and if the animals are small or ill looking I would think it was the breeder not the store. I got mine in Visalia,CA and each time I've gone there their cages are clean and animals are nice looking so maybe its just some stores that have employees and not animal lovers.

I got my first leo at a Petsmart, similar to petco, but it was up in a college area where not many people can have pets in their rooms. Their fish were really healthy (fish are allowed in dorms of course) but their reptiles were in such poor conditions. I was close to complaining about a chameleon they had who looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Anyway, they sold me a sick leo and I tried to nurse it back to health but I learned my lesson from them the hard way.

On the other hand, back at my home there's a Petsmart near here, and this is a area where tons of people have exotic pets including me with two emus and a pig. When I went to look at their leos they had a huge selection with quite healthy pets, and even three adult leos who were absolutely gorgeous. I'm proud of the two I got from them.

I'll admit though, at each petstore I've been to the employees are too scared to hold the geckos. Great reassurance there.

I got my last Leo at Petco and I am very happy with her. Her picture is below, I got her for $19.99 go look at the classifieds and see how much this morph goes for. Just about every day on my way to work I run in there and see what other steels I can get. I admit she was a little underweight when I got her but not to bad, There were and are others there a lot worse off though.

Foot Hill Reptiles

I got this little girl from Petco.

The stores have absolutely no say in what their cages are like, how many animals are put together of what size/sex, or anything else like that.

Animals come in already scrawny & sick, and the retail outlet can't do anything about it. But to the people who say "all Petco animals are sick and dying!" Really?

That's funny, 'cause this guy came from Petco, too, and has all his toes & a full tail . . . He was nice & plump when I got him, and I've had no trouble with him at all.

The problem comes from the distributors, where they're kept in huge groups, and have no attention paid to them at all. But, you can find healthy animals there.

I agree with redmoon that it is not the store's fault that they sometimes receive crappy animals. I have gotten 2 of my leos from Petco here in Florida. Our petco takes very good care of their reptiles and actually has a pretty knowledgeable staff. Here are pics of the 2 leos that came from petco.

I agree with redmoon that it is not the store's fault that they sometimes receive crappy animals. I have gotten 2 of my leos from Petco here in Florida. Our petco takes very good care of their reptiles and actually has a pretty knowledgeable staff. Here are pics of the 2 leos that came from petco.

The biggest problem with Petco is they are a huge chain , animals are a product . The set up is to encourage people to purchase the animals so they can make the real money on the cage, equipment and food.
If a animals needs a hide, is nocturnal , has temp requirements other than their display area.None of this ''fits'' into their sales plan. So despite the best efforts of the many animals lovers who often work there , they are eventually forced into company policy.
Breeders might be extremely good, or dam poor. But in the end the care at Petco will be about sales and not the animal itself.
www.cnyreptileshow.com

the petco near me has really healthy animals, great looking fish (clean salt & fresh water) which i rarely ever see around here and nice healthy looking reptiles, last time we went they had a blue tongue sink who was very much enjoying his fresh bole of veggies and looked very spunky!

but knowing how stores like that run i would always be careful when buying from them, going there a bunch of time a month before hand and a pre-home vet visit (though for any new animal thats a really good idea to do anyway)

i think its just what store and wear, but i do agree there are more bad then good it seems...

Anna.
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3. Cats: Midnight, Tiger & Fluffy
rip. Leo: Larry, Crestie: Tuki

I wandered into a Petco a couple weeks ago and found two severely emaciated leos. One of them was the skinniest lizard I've ever seen in my life - I couldn't tell if it was dead yet or not.

I told the "reptile specialist," who assured me that they were fine. When I insisted, the manager came over and removed the two leos from the group. It turned out that one of the leos that was "just fine" was actually already dead. :/
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0.1.2 Corn snakes (snow, okeetee, amel)
1.0 Crested gecko
0.0.1 House gecko
0.0.2 Chinese tree dragons
1.1 cats
0.0.1 African dwarf frog
8.1 betta fish

Petco purchases all thier animals from wholesalers. Most respectible breeders wouldnt sell thier animals to them. As for animals looking good when you go there they get new reptiles probably every week. Ive been working in the petshop biz for 15 years and no other chain has given the industry a worse reputation. Thanks Ian