Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For one of my Christmas presents, I'm going to be getting another leo that I saw at Petco. I was just wondering if anyone has had any problems with getting any pets from there. The last gecko I had was purchased through the internet and was a nightmare to get shipped to my home.

I got Kalypso from PetCo.

Although I'm sure different people who work in the departments treat the animals differently.

When I got her she was probably about 20 grams at the max. I got her in August of 2003. Now she's 75 grams and a complete pig. She's even got fat reserves behind her arms now!

I say go through a checklist to make sure the reptiles healthy and if he/she is then go ahead and get them. If you want to ensure your pets health then take it to a vet.

Here's her now:

Old picture, you can't see the fat reserves on her then cause that was about 3 months ago. Now she's getting some. It really depends on how well the animal adapts to it's new home. Also I give waxworms as treats every couple days and that really helped her gain weight.
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1.1 mali uro's-Ares and Apollo
1.saharan uro- Iris
1.2 bearded dragon-Hades and Draco
0.2 leo gecko-Kalypso
0.3 tokaye gecko-Sid Vicious
1.0 tarantula-Peter Parker
0.2 dog-cheeka
0.2 zebra finch-beeps
0.2 african gray parrot-keya
1.0 red headed parrot-pancho
0.3 Fish (sorry no names for them)

For questions, comments or updates email is: uromastyx101@yahoo.com

There are 3 petstores within driving distance that sell reptiles by my home. Petco, Petsmart and a family owned exotic pet store which specializes in reptiles, but unfortunately won't have any leos for quite a while. I usually buy my fish from Petco and never had any problems, and when I was there last I saw a very cute little leo, which seemed to be very healthy. A very fat tail. I had lost 2 geckos within the past 2 months trying to get one from a dealer online, and I figured a petstore was probably going to be my best bet.
(The first gecko I had shipped to me was DOA because the dealer put down the wrong address. Even though I was on the phone with the delivery company all that day, they made me wait an additional day before the gecko arrived to my home. The dealer then sent a 2nd gecko to me through the same delivery company, and we had problems again with them, and the gecko arrived alive but died shortly after.)

I got all my Leos from Petco. The first two that I got (Within a week of each other) were just diagnosed with Pinworms. I'm not sure if pinworms will cause a decrease in appitite, but the first two sub adults I got never really had any type of appitite and hardly eat. Now they're on meds to help them out. The second two leos I got, juvies, are really healthy and eat like little pigs. The vet I just saw told me that getting leos from a retail pet store is a gamble becuse they arn't dewormed or checked for anything, so it's up to the new owner to take care of that all.

From what I've been told, Pinworms come from crickettes. I have bought all of my feeder crickettes from petco, so that must be where the pinworms came from. Seeing as the Petco near me puts all the juvies in the same tank, 15 at my petco, and they feed the leos the same crickettes that they sell, the spread of pinworms will be quite easy in their environment. I recommend getting a checklist before bying any new leos. I looked for the biggest leos with the fattest tails. That tells me that they are getting enough food.

Just my two cents.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Let me state that there are different petco's out there... but most i've seen were horrid. I got Maliyum my 4 year Asian box Turtle ( that was wild caught and sold it to me for over half to price they got it from) from there. Which was the worst decison i had ever made. She was a lovely turtle but she had severe shell rot, eye infection. (URP) Uppertory Resp. Infection. Internal parasites and hard time using the bathroom. she only ate certain things. I refuse to buy any reptile from there because it aids in helping them breed and sell any more animals like that to people.

This petco "seemed nice and right" but it wasn't. Like is said different petco's are different they aren't all the same.

I'm in the leopard gecko forum, because hopefully I am going to get a leoapard gecko sometime in my life.

Anyways i hope that you make the right choice for you.

-Maliyum

Yea, I have heard horror stories about Petco. That's why I asked. My biggest problem though is going to a pet store and bringing something home. I have a cat that could've almost lost her eye if I didn't buy her from one of the local pet stores. She had a really bad eye infection when I first saw her, and I bought her on the spot and rushed her to the vet. Best cat I've ever had though. Then, since I just lost the baby leo I had for the past month, and I saw the gecko at Petco, I was kinda drawn to buying it, but didn't have enough money on me. I've wanted a leopard gecko for close to 15 years, and when mine just died, I was crushed. Maybe is there a dealer close to Buffalo, NY whom doesn't have problems shipping animals?

I hate to burst your bubble, but pets from Petco arn't always your best bet. My brother got one, and it died within 2 months from what we suspect to be worms. We then went to a different store, SuperPet, which is like Petco, to get his new one, a blizard, and it seems fine and healthy, and has a voracious apetite. (sometimes a dozen a night!)

It all depends on the store. Look him over very well, and ask if your could see him eat.

I hate to burst your bubble, but pets from Petco arn't always your best bet. My brother got one, and it died within 2 months from what we suspect to be worms. We then went to a different store, SuperPet, which is like Petco, to get his new one, a blizard, and it seems fine and healthy, and has a voracious apetite. (sometimes a dozen a night!)

It all depends on the store. Look him over very well, and ask if your could see him eat.

I've bought two Leos from my Pecto before, and both are doing great. One is a patternless, the other is a Super Hypo Baldy Carrot Tail, which if you didn't know is a very popular morph of Leos. I bought her for $20, when I've seen some as nice as her for sale online for well over $100. I would recommend getting one from Petco as long as it looks healthy. Buying any animal can be risky. Anyone can lie about the health of a Leo. I've had that happen with a breeder. I bought the Leo online from someone who said they were a vet and their Leos always very healthy. Well it turns out that this Leo had pinworms. So my point is, getting a Leo from anywhere can be risky. You just have to trust that they been cared for properly. Just make sure to take it to the vet shortly after you get it. Even if it is a little sick, the overall price still might be less then you'd pay a breeder. Hope you get that Leo and it turns out healthy. Good luck. Merry Christmas!!!

i would not hesitate buying geckos from petco.. alot of my breeders are from petco.. and are awesome.. good chance to get tang. hypos and some superhypos.. find out when geckos come in and go that day they do will have best pickings.. look at the overall conditions of your petco.. some are really good some are really bad, you'll have this in any pet store.. just keep your eyes open petco does have awesome deals.. just have to be in right place at right time.. good luck with your gecko.

If you buy it live food, they will make you fill out a care sheet for the food. They will make you take a care sheet for the food. They will not ring up your purchase unless you have the care sheet and sign a paper. They will do this even if you make it clear you are going home, killing the animal and feeding it to another. They will not honor their guarantee on mice if you kill them yourself though.
Ball pythons and boa constrictors don't eat crickets, at least from what I have heard, read, and seen, and every other person I ask, but they put them in the cage with the BPs and BCC anyway.
Other than that stuff, you can get a nice looking leo from there, but will probably have to get it treated for parasites, impaction, or whatever. They cram 12 in a 10 gallon aquarium with sand, and it is filthy at the one near me. Hold out and get one from a better place. No good to get one and have it die on you.
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Tim W.
http://tsw.f2g.net

I've purchased three leos over the last eight years from Petco. the first was the youngest and smallest in the lot (My first ever and I didn't noe what I was doing) and he went at least a couple years with out any problems. Now he's almost six and fat and happy and a daddy to multiples offspring. The second was a high yellow female that died a month after I bought her from worms or something. The third was an adult patterness that came with a free cronic infection that cost a good few hundred dollars for meds alone. He lived but barely. so it's pretty much hit and miss, just make sure you take a really good look and that there are no signs of bad health! Good luck and merry Christmas!
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Emily

3.5.3 leopard geckos (Nelson, Zander, Zoe, Baby, Houdini, Munch, Gizmo, Zig-Zag, Beau, Daisy & Gus)
1.1 ferrets (Oliver and Delilah)
1. budgie (Max)
0.0.1 Ring neck Parakeet (Kiwi)
1.1 German Shepards (Jake and Abigail)

The Spotted Gecko
**Updated 11-09-04**

if you do get one from petco make sure it is a little older and you can tell the sex. i got most of my geckos from petco all are healthy but i got them before i could tell the sex and now i have a few more males than i wanted. i got big bill from there and he is a pig. out of all the major petshops they seem to take the best care of there geckos