Petco: Who Breeds for them?

I know some of my state's leos are bred in Florida. Who supplies the leos to Petco there?

Wanda

I have asked a few of the Petcos around my area because I sometimes see some nice leos. 1 of the places said they order from somewhere in Flordia , another one said Gourmet Rodent and another one didnt know. So I would guess Gourmet Rodent as they are in Flordia I think.

Gourmet Rodent is the only supplier, unless local stores have a contract set up with a local breeder (highly unlikely, as they'd need to produce 50+ every month, year round).

Yes, I could not believe the leo I saw at one of our stores the other day. All white and gray! They also have some stunning jungles every now and then... And then trillions of albinos.

Like many other herp lovers, this is where we got our first animal. We got a tiny, young baby. So small he hid in crevases on decorative rocks in his tank. You could not see him anywhere. He turned out to grow healthy and as he sheded, turns out he has tangerine on his tail too!

So, for all the talk about Petco, it is worth the stop when you are in the area. They have rare colors every now and then, mixed in and selling for exactly the same low price the others sell for!

Wanda

The Petco I go to told me they get a lot of their babies from a local breeder. My two leos were bought when they were only a couple of weeks old. One is a male albino with one orange stripe around his tail. The girl is a high-yellow with some orange on her tail. they are both around 5 months old now and very healthy. I know a lot of people don't like Petco, but the stock I've seen has been pretty healthy. And they have sales all the time - $29.00 for a baby gecko - regardless of the color pattern.

Sue

There does not seem to be too many local breeders of reptiles in Connecticut, so that answer is quite interesting.

I have two stores nearby and they say they get their animals on Wednesdays. One told me they "don't know what they'll get" when they get shipments. Most times that is the story: it is a game of change to get a stunning gecko but they do get them, and sell them for the same price they sell normals and albinos!

I know some breeders bash Petco aggressively. They do have great prices on reptiles, and the occasional jewel they'll sell for the same low price! At least Petco allows buyers to see the animals' living conditions before they buy! I wish I read more statements in breeder pages guaranteeing the living environment of their animals is "(..*) State agency inspected and approved"...

It is worth at least just walking by every now and then to see what you may find...

Wanda

Our Petco had Greek tortoises and Russian tortoises. They were actually stacked on top of each other and some were tilted. They could not move or turn around. I brought this up to the manager and he said he didn't have anywhere else to put them. Duh, a tub in the back would be better than the conditions they were in. They had no room for a water dish or any food and no basking light.

Then the Mali uromastyx cage had a temperature of 74° and no basking light. I brought this up to the manager too. He said that the Malis were the same temp as the snakes. Again, duh, they're not snakes. Malis like high, high temperatures, over 100°.

They also had peachfaced and black masked lovebirds in with lovebirds that apparently weren't weaned because there were lovebirds begging the older ones and the older ones were tearing the young ones up. The peachfaced lovebirds were also picking on the black mased LBs and plucking out feathers. I brought this up to the manager and he said he couldn't separate the LBs because he didn't have any more cages. DUH, don't order so many. He said they were all weaned. I pointed out the ones begging and he tried to tell me that was how they played with each other. I have 30 breeding pairs of lovebirds and I know what a baby begging for food looks like.

I'm not fond of Petco at all. It could just be this store, however, as it is the only one I've been to. I do wish this store would go out of business. They don't know the first thing about most of the animals they carry.

Karen

Sad to hear. The ones I go to in my state are very good about displaying and keeping their animals.

But you have a resource, if you feel strongly about it: Locate their permit (on display somewhere) and ask the agency to do a surprise inspection. Follow up on your concerns.

Still think some breeders keeping their animals in worse conditions get away with such abuse by not being as regulated.

All petco and petsmarts use Ron Tremper and Bill Brant for there leopard geckos,ball pythons,crested geckos,corn snakes and king snakes. All there wild caught comes from mid american,and cal.zoo.
They do NOT buy from local breeders at all.

Petsmart also buys from Fluker Farms (mostly beardies) and from a few other breeders within the U.S. I can't think of the other names at this time, but I'll look it up again. Also, I know Petco does buy wildcaught (and some CB) animals from SEVERAL importers/wholesalers. I personally two seperate people that supply Petco in Texas myself, one based in Dallas/Fort Worth area, another in Houston. In 1999 I supplied Petco for a few months myself when I was still in the import/export business.