Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OMG, ok I am so upset about this I need to vent off some frusteration.

I have been working part-time at Petco to bring in some extra cash.Yesterday, my boss Erik came up to me and said "did you see those two people I was talking to?" I said "yeh". He continued to tell me that they had brought in two younger leopard geckos that were having a hard time shedding. They had not shed properly the last TWO times. They still had shed stuck to them. The lady wanted money for them, but since Petco doesn't do that, the lady demanded that we get the shed off them and she would be back in two days to pick them up. She was going to donate them to her kids teacher. Erik said "steph, they are in the infirmary. I am going to send them home with you and we will see if you can help them at all but I think they will lose part of their feet." Ok, we were really busy yesterday and I wasn't able to go check and see what I was up against until after my shift. My first impression when I looked at them was OMG!!!! Brad,a new worker, came in. He took one look at me and wanted to know what was wrong. I was so ANGRY, I was shaking and almost crying.

Ok, I am about to describe the condition of these things, so you might want to skip this part.

Both had two layers of shed stuck to all four legs and their heads. I could see that they both already had places on their feet that were going necrotic. Their little toes were black. One's eyes were stuck shut from dried shed. BUT this is not what really got me. They both had SEVERE Metabolic bone disease. I have never seen it this bad in leopard geckos, ever. Igs and beardies, yeh but leos? never. Neither one could walk. There was no bones left in the legs.One had developed a curved spine, which indicated that it had spread to his spine. It wasn't until I tried removing the shed, that I also realized that it had spread to their jaws. One, without the curved spine, couldn't close his mouth to even drink. Upon further inspection when I got home, I realized that there was not a solid bone left in either of their little bodies. When you tried to remove the shed (we had them soaking in water for hours) one one had some fight left in him and it broke my heart to hear him squeak in pain.

You all know that I have pulled two little dudes back from MBD. Had it just been the legs, I would have tried to help these guys but when you added in the fact that the entire body was affected, THEN added that they both had gangreene in at least two feet each...We decided that they had been through enough and we put them down.

I told Erik yesterday before I knew the entire extent of the problems that he should be very glad that I was not the one that talked to the lady and should she call back, he had better hope that I am not the one that takes the call. NOW knowing what I know, he had better pray to all that is holy in his world that she never steps foot in the store again.

Rest in peace little ones. I hope that your next life treats you better than this one did.

hi.
i'm very very sadend by this story why does this happen
when there is loads of web sites explaining the care and attention.
these cool little lizards need for a happy life.
i mean come on they are not that hard to keep.
sorry to hear of the loss of another couple of leos.
a very sad.

I too work part time at Petco, and it's amazing how many inconsiderate dolts come in asking about reptiles. Both of my managers are very caring about the health of all of our animals, and flat out told me to use my own judgement of who I sell the herps to. If someone comes in looking to buy a tegu and picks up a ten gallon tank, I have the right to tell them to get a much bigger enclosure or I can't sell it to them. I've actually had people come in asking if they can buy a bearded dragon and keep it in a shoebox. I've heard a lot of criticism about petco on a lot of boards, but rest assured, there are some very good Petcos out there. Petsmart on the other hand, I haven't gone into one where the herp enclosures were actually the way they were supposed to look as far as cleanliness and health of the animal. I complained about a month ago to the local petsmart, one of the leo's had a toothpick-thin tail and I said that this animal is definately not healthy. So they took him out and said they were going to "quarantine" him. So I was walking around the store, I guess they thought I had left, and before I left, I saw the same leo back in the cage on display and for sale. Some people honestly could just care less, and it's sickening. Especially for a business that revolves around the sales and care of pets. I wish there was more I could do, or we could do as a whole, but no matter what you do, there are too many morons in this world and something is going to suffer because of it. I know I spend about two hours a night feeding, caring for, and cleaning my reptiles and their enclosures. Not because I have to, but because I want to, and If I am going to commit to keeping as many reptiles as I own, I want to assure that they are as happy as they can possibly be. I just wish more people felt the same way. I think i'm done with my venting session... next?
-----
Ten million dollars on a losing campaign, Twenty million starving and writhing in pain, Big strong people unwilling to give, strong in vision and perspective, One in five kids below the poverty line, One population running out of time...

1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Rough Green Snake
1.5.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Viper Gecko
1.1.0 Pictus Geckos
0.0.1 Colombian Tegu
1.1.0 Collared Lizards
1.1.0 Blue Tongued Skink
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.0.0 Red Tailed Boa

my petsmart and petco are both pretty good. the petsmart used to be really really bad, but now, it's better. it's not perfect, fat-tails and leos go in the same cage, but they are all fat and bright and healthy. the other herps are fine too. i'm actually trying to get a job there, and they've told me they will call soon if i'm hired, maybe today.
-----
Well sit right down my wicked son
And let me tell you a story
About the boy who fell from glory
And how he was a wicked son

This ain't no holiday
But it always turns out this way
Here I am with my hand

He took his sister from his head
And then painted her on the sheets
And then rolled her up in grass and trees
And they kissed 'till they were dead

This ain't no holiday
But it always turns out this way
Here I am, with my hand

Well sit right down my evil son
And let me tell you a story
About the boy who fell from glory
And how he was a wicked son

This ain't no holiday
But it always turns out this way
Here I am, with my hand

This ain't no holiday
But it always turns out this way
Here I am, with my hand

if you have AIM, IM me at chichandoCONrosa

Very sad, sorry you had to go thru that. Its really not that hard to care for these guys and like you said the info is out there in plain site. Every baby Ive sold I give this web site and my personal email and phone # to so those kind of things dont happen. Just Sickening.
-----
My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.10 Tokays
1.4.10 Leos(13 albino)
1.2.0 AFT's(amel male)
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

Sorry to hear about the gex. Iknow how bad it was for you.I received two iguanas 8 years ago that I desperatly tried to bring back from the same condition.The young lady that I got them fromwas only able to get them to me three months apart.
Her father had bought them for her brother and from day one they were not treated correctly little food no heat no calcium
The first one I was able to move right up the health ladder but the second ones legs would not move all four of his feet were bent upwards and his spine was severely crooked. My wife and I tried and we were able after months of hand feeding and TLC to get him up and around and he appeared to be doing fine even though he was half the size of the first one we got. He was fine and moving around by himself and eating without help when I went to check on him one morning he had passed on and now to this day my wife gets upset and doesnt like igs. I see it this way at least we tried!
The problem with most pet stores is the Good ole boy groups which seem to form. It is no longer your Knowledge that gets you into the door it is either how cool you are or how attractive the person hiring thinks you are and they want you to only use that stores philossophy. This is not always the case but the last time I went into a pet smart they had a Schleptopusick skink marked as a Russian Moniter and even had some weird varanus something or other listed on the cage.

I have to say also that it is not hard to care of them...I only have 3 leos of my own, and just got into them not even for a year now. I got 2 from a petsmart, not knowing at the time they were not good to buy from, kind of jumped into getting them. They ended up both having bacterial infections and never ate and were really skinny...I then sought information on the web, found it, took them to a vet, and they are healthy as can be now....all the information you can imagine is out there...just have to take the 30 seconds it takes to type in leopard gecko care...that's about it.

I am very saddened to hear of the loss...rest in peace lil ones
-----
AIM sn: bmills02

If the geckos had been dogs or cats, there would probably be news coverage and animal cruelty charges. But hey, they were "only" lizards. People like this make me sick. I think people guilty of animal cruelty should be treated the same way they treated their animals. Kind of "thin out the herd".

Ok, that's just sick. I had 2 baby leo's. Unfortunatly, one died from an impaction. I know that sounds bad, starting off like this, but hear me out. Once I saw she was sick, I put her into her own enclosure. I then immediatly took her to the pet store to get a refrence to a good reptile vet. When I got there, everyone one was surprised. They were all saying stuff like "Oh, I can't beleive you actually brought her! We get so many stupid people saying they need a replacment because they were sick and died, but when I ask if they ever took it to the vet, they say no!".
I have also heard of people comming in to the pet store and being asked how their pet was doing. And the response was "Oh, pretty good, but it's leg broke off while my kids were playing with it" and worse yet, when they were asked if they took it to the vet they responded with "Oh, I didn't think it was important"

What is with stupid people comming into the pet stores and eather asking "What is the CHEAPEST way I can do this?" Or they'll spend $400 on their gecko, and never take it to the vet if it's sick, but they'll take a FREE kitten to the vet at the first sign of anything!

Stupid ppl....
OH well, what can I do right?

I work at a pet store where we sell mostly puppies and a few kittens.

Puppies cost anywhere between $700 -> $3800 depending on the breeds. Food has to be purchased with the puppy or else you don't get the dog.

Every puppy comes with:
All shots and wormings up to date.
a FREE vet check at the vet that we use
15 day general health guarantee.For colds, coughs ear infections and the like.Our vet will even cover parasites if they pay for a fecal exam.
One year congentital/hereditary guarantee.
And they all get seen by a vet before they go up for sale

Pretty nice, really. But you know what?

People still refuse to go to the vet. It's a FREE exam.But most would rather not bother,
It's sickening really.

Our kittens come with a free vet exam too. But hardly anyone goes to those.

Stupid! I worked at a halfway decent Petco for a little while. A customer called us (yes, called the petstore) at 9:00 at night because her children had squeezed her hamster's eyes out... Hamsters really get the worst of everything... people stuffing two females in a 10 gallon and the like (hamsters, especially females, will fight to the death).
It's not really that they're stupid, although some are. They just don't care and don't care to care, the animals are objects to them.
-----
Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?