Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the local pet smart (i know, i know) has an albino gecko for sale and i'm wondering if this is good/bad, average... here's the thing, it's a large gecko, at least 8 inches (at least) and it's a male. his tail is nice and fat, and i watched him eat in the tank, he's got very bright yellow coloration, but doesn't look like the gecko's i've seen for sale,--(he is not banded at all, he really just looks kinda blotchy yellow, with some orange mixed in as well) i handled him he was quite calm, all the toes present, looked damn healthy -- they want 90 bucks for him. i've looked at all the websites and i can't decide if that seems like a good price or not (considering i'm going to fork over another 35 in shipping), they said they got him from "their breeder" -- all in all looks real good... good price or no? (even the store clerk reminded me of the local reptile swap (lee watsons swap--- which i am already aware of; i breed corn snakes)- but i am leaning towards getting an adult because i want to know that he's going to get big-- i want a big gecko!!!)

n/p
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4.7.0 Leopard Geckos
2.1.0 Chihuahuas
2.1.0 Rottweiler Mix
1.0.0 Siamese Cat
1.0.0 Dwarf Hamsters

Josh
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n/p

One of my local stores wants that much for an adult normal, and close to that for baby trempers. They breed all their own Leos. The only two pet store Leos I have are High Yellow males, I paid $60 each as hatchlings. So compared to that, it's a good price for a nicely colored adult albino from a pet store. I would discuss what type of guarantee they have. You'll want to take the Leo, or at least a stool sample to the vets. You could get one cheaper at a show, or from a breeder. But like you said, you'd pay for shipping, and you might not have a local breeder or be able to get to a show. There is a guy in my local herp club that brought one of his male Albino Leos to last months meeting. I was blown away by it. Huge, healthy, gorgeous. He got it at Petco several years ago for like $30. I'd easily pay $150 for it if he'd part with it (which he won't). Some might say don't support their reptile sales by buying any from them. It's ultimately your choice though. Sounds like you really like him, and he deserves a good home. Not his fault he's stuck at Petco. Good luck with your decision!
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www.LynsLair.com
4.8 Leopard Geckos
(Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Buttercup, Nala, Mystique, Jewel, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Princess)
1.0 Carpet Python
(Bear)
5.1 Ferrets
(Wolf, Shadow, Roland, Verdell, Boo, Sullivan)
0.1 Cat
(Mia)
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog (Coming Soon)
(Trevor)
1.0.5 Assorted Tropical Fish
(Nemo, Whiskers, Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo)

thanks for the advice... not all of these places are bad-- they aren't good, but the clerk here told me they don't have or feed mice... and that's why they don't have corn snakes --(which is at least better than keeping them and feeding them crickets!) -- at the same time it's hard for me to support one of the local stores because the guy who owns it is a total jerk, not to mention charging 1.75 for a pinky.... maybe this is average, but when i was at college i paid 65 cents at the local pet store... anyhow, thanks for the advice... i do really like this guy, he's HUGE from what i've seen (maybe due to my limited exposure, but i really like him!!) - i think i'm going to get him, and i'll post a pic soon

I will NEVER buy a live animal from Petco/PetSmart ever again.

I bought one, and he died (crypto verified by my vet) shortly after. These types of pet stores rotate reptiles through cages so fast that you can pretty much bet money that each and every cage has some sort of disease if not all diseases present in them.. that leo may look nice now, but you don't know if he's been exposed to crypto or any other bacteria or disease...

I cringe every time I hear about someone buying a pet from one of these places... ideally, each herp would get it's own cage when it came in, that had been completely disinfected, bleached and had all new substrate put in.. then when that animal sold, they would disinfect the cage, put new substrated, etc.. but that's not really ideal for them, as they'd probably lose money on the animals with all the labor cleaning the tanks and supplies...

So.. he MAY be healthy... he MAY not have contracted anything YET... but I wouldn't want to risk it.