Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Where do you guys sell your normals or extra geckos other than conventions or online? Does anybody sell to Pets mart or Pet co? What prices? Thanks

Personally I would never sell my babies to petco or any of the chain stores. Its not that I doubt these company's good intentions, its just that their stores often have a very limited space to work with, and you'll often find seven or eight young geckos in a tank thats a bit smaller than 10gal. And as we've all seen, overcrowded conditions breed disease and stress in reptiles. If your interested in selling your babies, look for smaller more local stores where the reptiles look well taken care of. Normal baby leopards normally only go for about $20 each, but it might be a good idea to keep them till they are at least a few weeks old and are feeding regularly before you sell them. This will make it easier on the geckos, and the buyers, when it comes time for them to move into their new homes.

You won't be able to sell any geckos to pets mart or petco. They buy bulk and have them delivered from a hub. I think they are using gourmet rodent. I was at one and they had eggs laying in one of the cages so i asked the manager why they didn't incubate the eggs. He said they get them so cheap it isn't worth the time it would take to fill out the paperwork on breeding for themselves. He told me i could have the eggs if i wanted them for free. (Too bad they were dented.) Anyway, i sell my end of year specials to local pet stores and people with kids as christmas gifts. I sell them for around $20 to $25 despite colors or size. Good luck.
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

based on your earlier post, you are counting leos before they hatch! or are laid for that matter. I would have thought you had this planned before breeding.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper (het stripe))
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~25

The pets mart by me has quality stock, i go there and i see albinos and once a rainwater for 50$ and the yseemed perfectly healthy. Im probably going to as kthem where they got them from.

While you are there look at the amount of feces in the cage. Then watch the crickets they eat consume the feces. Overcrowding, malnurished, lost tails,poor geckos. Everytime someone says the store by my house isn't that bad it makes me want go HULK!!! Why would you support a bussiness that neglects animals. I've seen as many as ten in a 10 by 10 cage. ON CALCIUM SAND!! That is why i breed affordable geckos so people don't use the excuse that they can't afford one from a breeder. I sell some at cost just for the people who can't or don't want to pay alot for a lizard. I'm not trying to make a sale. I'm trying to wake up some of the people in here. I do this as a hobby, not for money.
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

Hey thanks for crap talking my store. BTW I just want you to know that I changed all that when I came into my "chain" store. Geckos are three max to a cage and no males are housed together and they are on carpet. Thanks for the support though... And FYI I went into our competitor store and I told them they needed to change the way they were keeping theirs and they said "we can't change it, its in our plannogram." That means that the health issue means nothing to them, and they need to stick with the best "looking" substrate, not the safest. At least my store moves the reptiles to better, more well-suited enviroments, because someone gave them the right arguments for it. If you haven't talked to them, they don't know. Most stores are for business, and are in it to make money. I talked to people concerning this issue and how the goal of TLC was not being met in our store for our animals. Take charge, you can't wait for someone else to step up, go and let someone know that you're not happy. Trying never hurts, you just might make a difference. Good luck all.
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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

I don't think he meant your store specifically, and I have been into Petco's and Petsmart's which do a good job with their reptiles. Our nearest Petsmart's reptile manager is a leo and dart frog breeder. His cages ware immaculate. However, I have been into other stores both chain and local 'mom and pop' type that have been awful. Our local petstore is a hellhole and I have given up on trying to educate them on proper husbandry proceedures. I now just hope they go out of business. Yet caging aside many stores are just trying to make money (they are a business afterall) and this can lead to overcrowding and poor quality animals. Dealing with a small breeder you usually get good quality, well cared for animals. I am not saying all chain store animals are bad. It has just been my experience that they tend to be of a lesser quality.
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2.0 Leos (Spot - Normal but oh, so sexy; Jessie - hypotang)
3.2.4 Fattails (Henri, Suwannee, Valencio, Dixie, Isis, Zipper, Pheonix, Hissy, and Snickerdoodle)
0.0.1 redfoot tortoise (Sherman)
0.0.1 sulcatta tortoise (Tinacious aka Tiny)
1.1 Dogs (Zubin and Brenda)
0.1 cat (Mimi)

I'm glad to hear you handled everything in your store. But from my experience this is not the norm. I do alot of traveling and have been to at least 30 different petco aand petsmart. Also, yes EVERYTIME i see a problem i talk to the person working there and the manager. Petsmart have been average from what I've seen, but Petco has been a horror show. I've talked to everyone up to meeting with district managers. The first one quit his job shortly after.The next one actually said " Sorry we are in the process of changing our staff." i told them so what. I can teach a child how to care for them in a half hour.
Also that line about being a bussiness is the worst reason i have heard why they are neglected. If you can't care for them correctly don't sell them!!!!!!
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

I have been to many chain stores too and found very crowed cages, with very sickly geckos and/or all herps.

However near me there are two big chain stores that I will go to and buy from every once in a while, if they have a special morph I'm looking for. The first one is a Petsmart, they keep only two or three geckos in one cage and are on carpet not sand. The other is Petland, they keep one adult per cage, and buy from small breeders locally, not thru a hub. Not one of the geckos I've bought from either of these two stores has ever had a problem. The employees and managers know what they are talking about and practice what the preach when it comes to care of their herps. If they didn't I wouldn't buy.
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www.LeopardGeckoBreeder.com

7.12 Leos
1.0 Peach Fronted Conure
0.0.2 Red Ear Sliders
1.0 Pembroke Corgi
0.2 Cats
8 fish

WinyO, I live i nthe sout hsuburbs of Chicage, have yo ubeen to the petsmart at Matteson? I saw one albino in a cage like 2.5 feet by 1 foor by 1 and a half feet. Ill check the substrate. I havent seen petcos though. Have you been to Chicago reptile house? They have skinny geckos.

Cool, maybe we can get together sometime and do a show and tell. Now about the southside store, no i haven't been to every store in america. You seem to be missing the point. I also wasn't defending the private pet stores. I was going to sell to the chicago reptile house until i got to the store. All i was saying is if a couple of stores in the chain are BAD, would you support any of them. I wont and DONT.
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

I'm sorry if i am ragging on your breeding lineage. But you guys can't be serious. Is it April 1st already or are all of you defending PETCO? Or just ( the one by my house, DE DE DE.)
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Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

I sell some to a local 'mom and pop' pet shop... they give me $10 cash or $15 in store credit per gecko. I definately think the internet is your best tool though.

I've heard of some people selling them in the local newspaper as well