I was getting my mealies at Petco today, and asked to
take a look at their geckos- I check up on them from
time to time, and let them know if they have any
animals in there that should be removed, etc... I
noticed they had a healthy looking biggish stripe with
a fully striped tail in there, and was checking her out.
I ended up talking with a few of the new reptile people
in training there, and I mentioned that I bred leopard
geckos. Anyway the girl I was talking to mentioned this
to her manager, and she came out and started talking to
me. She had a couple geckos that needed adoption, and
asked if I would come in back and take a look, as they
needed good homes. So I went back there and took a look.
Apparently one of the geckos had been thin so was
removed, but looked healthy now. The other was deformed,
with the head cocked to one side, and had a re-grown
tail (still growing I think). The stools in the
enclosure were solid. I asked if they'd had fecals and
she said yes, and they'd come out clean. No runny
stools. I asked why they didn't just sell the healthy
looking gecko that was no longer too thin, and they
said once a gecko has been in the infirmary their
policy is to adopt it out, not to sell it, and that
they both needed a good home and would I take them. I
couldn't say no, even though the last thing I need is
more geckos right now. So I took the two geckos, and
since I have to set up a quarantine space in a seperate
room anyway, I bought the stripe. So now I have yet
another room with geckos in it.
Attached is a pic of the deformed gecko, whose head is
always cocked sideways. I have named her Twink.
After I agreed to adopt the two geckos they mentioned another gecko, an adult male, that also needs adoption, but this is as much as I could take right now. This gecko lost its front feet in a fight or something, but is healthy. There is also a skink with some kind of deformity that needs a good home. If anyone local can provide homes for these animals I suggest you contact the manager of Petco on Sloat Blvd. in SF.
Also if you are from the SF Bay area and can't take a male, or it's gone by the time you contact them, please email me if you are responsible and can provide a good loving home and good conditions for a sweet pet gecko that can never be bred. I plan on providing her with a good home as long as she needs one, but if there is someone local who has more space who would like her, I wouldn't mind getting my kitchen back at some point (this is where she is quarantined in her new home now, I have geckos coming out of my ears).
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko