Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I've been frequenting this pet store lately for my crickets. They have some desert dwelling reptiles, and one grandis, which the moron store owner is housing like the rest...a 10 gallon tank, on the bottom shelf of the store, with lizard litter as substrate, a horizontal long on the substrate and a water bowl! The gecko appears stressed and sad and possibly ill. I've been watching this lizard for the past few months, and it just breaks my heart to see it. I mentioned to the guy to put at least one fake plant or something in the tank, and he said no, then no one will buy it b/c they wont be able to see it! He also said it's been living like that for 6 years and it's fine. Well it doesn't look fine to me. And I can't stop thinking about it and how I could give it a good home and make it happy. I want to buy it, but I'm concerned about it being ill (and passing it on to my other geckos). I was thinking about tryin to talk to the owner again, to find out if they can get it to a vet for a checkup and I'd buy it if it was ok. But my question is.....Should I bother? Should I not be a rescuer? Or is it the right thing to do? Could they be reported for this??

pet stores are the worst. espescially the reptile sections. personally i know the feeling of wanting to save the animal. but you can't save all of them anyway. so even if you buy that & risk disease & headache that won't stop him from getting another grandis & repeating the previous horrible scenario. I would hold off. it's sad but it's even sadder to have your current beloved animals get sick because you brought home damaged goods. as far as reporting I assume you can make a complaint about anything, wether or not things are done is a different story. i say the best thing is to not give this man any business. you & the people you know should grab stuff from another pet store until you see his husbandry improve. I have done that with a couple of chains. i will say even though it's not perfect the petlands around me have really cleaned up there act husbandry wise.. i can actually go in there & not totally want to grab all the reps & run for the door..lol hope i helped...just let it go in the end it will probably be worth it to have passed on that gecko