Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I went in my local petstore the other day to get crickets, and I went in the reptile room, and they had a 10 gallon tank with 4 baby leopard geckos in it, but to my horror, 3 of them were SiCKLY thin! I mean, their tails look like toothpicks!! I bought the one that looked healthy, but I want to get the rest out of there..Any Ideas on how to go about that? I mean, would "Hey your geckos look sick, want me to take them off your hands?" Work? I don't really want to pay $40 a piece for them if they might not make it, but i want to at least give them a chance..I know that they dont feed their reptiles, I go in there different days each week at different times and not ONCE have a even seen a Dead Cricket in a cage.. Someone please give me some advice on what to do, i dont want these poor babies to die I'm going out there tonight so please answer ASAP.. Thanks
KriS*

Yes, tell them that they look horribly sick and you can take them off their hands. Just to prove to them that they are unhealthy(if they think you are trying to scam them)by bringing in your most healthy gecko.

Thank you so much! Should I take in my healthiest baby gecko? My healthiest gecko is about 10 inches long lol she's huge the baby is probably the same age as the sick ones :-/ Thanks again! i'll do that later!

Sadly, I have to tell you NOT to get those babies. You could risk infecting your current leos with some disease like crypto or something else. I would go back to the store and tell them that those babies are deathly ill. Show an employee everything that is wrong with the babies and then point out the things wrong with their setup. Ask to see what temps the babies are kept at and when they were last fed. Bring a pic of your own baby leo (or print one out from here) to show them what a HEALTHY baby should look like. Ask to see the manager and if you get "well, the manager is not available right now" ask for a phone number or e-mail address where you can contact him/her. If you know for a fact they aren't feeding their animals, and the store doesn't change its ways in a week, then you can go to the SPCA and file a complaint regarding neglect and they will send someone out to survey the situation.
Don't get the babies, most likely if they are that bad off, they are knocking on Death's door and you don't want to risk your other animals' health.

Cleo
1:1 leos (4 eggs cooking)

You could try to negoitate with them and see if they would let you take them all for 40 bucks. But yet you have to think also that if they are that thin that its really hard to make them better again. They might also have a disease and so forth. You cant just think that they are not eating. Other things could be at factor. But there is no harm in trying either.
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1 male HY(Winky), 1 Tang female(Sunshine), and 1 Tremper Albino female(Serenity)

If they give you the geckos then take them, but whatever you do don't buy them. I'm surprised you bought the "healthy" looking one bc if its tank mates are sick then chances are high that yours is too. Plus when you buy or take them away, they will get more and more in so even if you save these 4, you may end up sentencing another 4 or more geckos to death which will be brought in to replace those you took away. Not to mention you are financially supporting the store/supplier who are the reasons the geckos are sickly in the 1st place. Think about this before going back. If you do get them, make sure to have them all vet checked asap, and keep them all in separate enclosures (especially the healthy one).
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~Andrea

2.8.1 Leopard geckos
0.0.1 Bearded dragon
0.0.2 Viper geckos
0.1.0 Rescued anole
2 dogs
hamsters

Check out my new website: DreamGecko.com

Thanks I'll go talk to them and tell them they look sick, also I'll take in my big baby gecko, Rayne She should be about the same age as those in the petstore but is about 3 times their size..Wish me luck guys, and I will put them in separate cages as I have plenty lol I hope to breed someday Thanks again guys.. I'll keep ya posted

I would suggest NOT taking your own leo. Like Cleopatra said, just take a pic. If you take the leo itself in, you run the chance of it getting infected with the other geckos illness. I also would NOT buy them. Like the person above said, it is just supporting this store and they will just buy more to kill basically. If you do get them, make sure you quarintine in a completely different room, until you are positive that these geckos are just underfed, and not sick with a deadly disease. Wear the spandex gloves when handling the sick geckos as well, becuase soap doesnt always remove crypto. Good luck and I hope it works out for the best!
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Josh
My Email

Thanks, I won't take in any of my leos then, I don't want them sick I'll just talk to him then, or print out a pic ..Thanks again, and I will keep you updated

KriS*

Yeah, just talk to the guy there, don't take the sick leos home with you. You may not be able to save these 4 babies but you may be able to help the next batch that comes into the store by talking to the people now. And you won't run the risk of getting your leos sick. Even leos in quarantine can easily spread sickness to other healthy leos. It is best just to leave them where they are, for your own leos' sakes. Good luck, I hope you are able to talk some sense into those people!!!

Cleo
1:1 leos (4 eggs cooking)

There's not much you can do unless you want to buy all three and pay fr every one of them to get treated at a vet. And if they do look pretty far gone that is a lot of work.

I would try to take the best care possible for the little one that you did save. Make an appointment at a qualified herp vet because most likely...the little one that you have has what the others does.