Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well......

I took a trip to the local Petsmart and guess what I found? One Crested gecko and one Gargoyle for sale. The posted care info for the gargoyle was correct but the care info for the crested recommended day temps of 85 degrees with a 90 degree basking spot!

The head of the "specialty department" was not around so I spoke with the worker there and told him those temps were a bit too high. He said he would tell his manager, but I will be following up today on it.

Other than the misprint on the care info both the crested and gargoyle looked in good condition and it didn't appear that the cresteds cage was actually that hot. (it didn't have a heat light on it).

Just a heads up...

They tell us something like that on our care sheets at Petco too. We don't keep out crested habitat anywhere near what our caresheet says. We actually go by the Rhacodactylus book that Philippe de Vosjoli, Frank Fast and Allen Repashy wrote. We've taken quite a bit of flak from our DM and our regional animal guy, but it's not their job to care for these animals, so we've said screw them. For the most part we don't even use the care sheets our "qualified" vet put together. I wish all our stores did that, but they don't. You just don't know how much that bothers me, but that's a whole different subject.

Idiotshot

Yeah I hear ya!

It's hard to make even little changes when the whole thing is controlled at the large-scale corporate level, handed down by the 'big guys'.

In my experience also, there are a lot of vets who know only the 'general reptile' formula (as far as temps, feeding etc) and are not well versed in the care of some of the rarer herps, such as Rhacodactylus.

>>Yeah I hear ya!
>>
>>It's hard to make even little changes when the whole thing is controlled at the large-scale corporate level, handed down by the 'big guys'.
>>
>>In my experience also, there are a lot of vets who know only the 'general reptile' formula (as far as temps, feeding etc) and are not well versed in the care of some of the rarer herps, such as Rhacodactylus.

Since rhacs (at least Cresteds) are fairly common now, it's a shame that corporations like Petco can't provide a better care sheet, especially since care is so simple. Thanks for keeping an eye on your Petco. The ones near me are pretty decent, and usually willing to listen to my suggestions, though I never have (and probably never will) bought a herp there, just supplies.

We should all try to keep these guys on their toes as much as we can.

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Chris

1.0.1 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
1.0.0 Eublepharis macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

well i agree with you guys on the fact that its crazy to think that the place where most people go to get their pets and pet supplies cant even offer the proper care info. but when it comes down to the care in the long run, we all recognize that it is in large part the responsibility of the owner to make sure he/she has the proper care info, and thankfully for places like this, that becomes abundantly clear as long as people have enough heart to research the proper care on their pets.

How much $$$ were they?
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2.0.0 Cresteds
1.1.0 Afican Fat Tail
1.1.0 Viper Tail
0.1.0 Oedura Castelnaui
.0.0.1 Marble/Auric

I think around $80 for the gargoyle, not sure on the crested. Oh and it was Petsmart not Petco.