Bad Guy Kenner, LA Petco

[mxracer4life]

there are many other ways and things you can do, rather than pay them money for animals that they are not taking care of properly.

way too many people do that because they feel sorry for the animal (and we should), however, that gives the frame of mind to say, hey if we keep these animals sub-par, someone will eventually buy them.

Exactly. This would be why I don't anymore. It's rewarding them for bad behavior.

 

[volvotech]

as with any big corporation retail stores, there are gonna be "good ones" and bad ones".

here in AZ, we have both good stores and bad stores (of both petsmart and petco).

i rarely purchase anything reptile related from either of them. about the only thing i have and will get from them, is their heat bulbs (im old school and like heat lamps over belly heat), because they are A LOT cheaper than my local reptile shops.

there are many other ways and things you can do, rather than pay them money for animals that they are not taking care of properly.

way too many people do that because they feel sorry for the animal (and we should), however, that gives the frame of mind to say, hey if we keep these animals sub-par, someone will eventually buy them.

they are a business and the love/proper care for the animal comes further down on the list

I understand that logic, and wrestled with that problem quite a bit. In the end, I felt like the lives of the 2 Leopard Geckos were worth the $30 - a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money I've spent there on reptile, rabbit, and dog supplies. If I had to do it again, I'm not sure that I would make the same decision, but I'm going to stand behind my actions. I will never purchase anything from Petco/Petsmart again, regardless of convenience.

Now, Petco will pay for Vet visits up to 15 days after the animal(s) is purchased, but only if you go to a Vet of their choosing. I need an opinion here: am I better off pursuing "Petco's Vet" and making them pay for the visit or should I just go with the Herp Vet that I know will do a good job and pay out of pocket?

 

[volvotech]

I honestly feel that I have nothing to gain by keeping Petco incompetence in the loop at this point, but making them pay for their neglect is a nice notion.

P.Fisher

 

[reticguy76]

personally, i feel, you have already purchased them from petco, might as well make them pay for any and all vet bills.

that being said, you have to do some fine scrutinizing of the vet that they choose and make sure he/she is a competent and well practicing reptile/amphibian medicine vet.

at my clinic, we see so many exotics and reptiles with internal parasites, and i wouldnt be surprised if that is goin on with these animals.

where it gets tricky is that eventually even the strongest immune system (and reptiles have a strong immune system by nature) will give in and the paraste overgrowth eventually leads to dehydration and mal-nutrition (to the point of organ failure)

that animal looks pretty bad off, and i wouldnt be surprised if it has numerous species of internal parasites and other internal issues, both secondary to the internal parasites, and primary

 

[reticguy76]

and dont let them pull that, "well we only pay the vet visit" crap. that animal is obviously sick, even a full non-reptile person can see that. they need to pay for the visit, any diagnostics, and full treatment of that animal.

 

[Ophion]

It is too bad they were not purchased here. The vet used by our Petco is the best exotic and herp vet in the area. (probably just luck because the vet happens to be close) Certainly worth checking out who there vet is at least if you end going and thinking the vet is a bit off in the head the worst thing you've lost is a bit of time.

I cannot fault anyone for buying an animal to try and take it out of a bad condition. Sure in a sense it supports the store, but as big as Petco is, buying or not buying a $30 animal or even a $100 animal really makes no difference. Eventually someone will buy the cute smaller baby, or it will get big, go on sale and get sold, or get sick and die. Petco makes money from products, not animal sales, so they could care less if they were sold. They just bring interest to the store and drive more product sales. (buy an animal, you need more stuff)

So, in that long winded note, I would rather take the animal out of the bad situation since leaving it there isn't going to change anything anyway.

 

[volvotech]

Just left Petco after speaking with the general manager Mike. I've "returned" the two Leopard Geckos I purchased, and they will be going to "Petco's Vet" this afternoon at Petco's expense. I should be able to pick them up tomorrow afternoon (assuming they don't have Crypto). I'm pretty skeptical about being kept out of the loop like this, but I took several pictures of my Leopard Geckos this morning, and I'll also be requesting a report from the Vet regardless of the outcome of the visit.

On an equally important note, the Leopard Gecko that this thread was originally started about has also been moved to individual care and will also be receiving Veterinary care. Mike also assured me that the Bearded Dragon humidity gauge was broken (which I also regard with skepticism).

Am I right in assuming that any reputable Vet should be able to furnace a report confirming whatever diagnosis Petco reports?

 

[Michael Brown]

Just left Petco after speaking with the general manager Mike. I've "returned" the two Leopard Geckos I purchased, and they will be going to "Petco's Vet" this afternoon at Petco's expense. I should be able to pick them up tomorrow afternoon (assuming they don't have Crypto). I'm pretty skeptical about being kept out of the loop like this, but I took several pictures of my Leopard Geckos this morning, and I'll also be requesting a report from the Vet regardless of the outcome of the visit.

On an equally important note, the Leopard Gecko that this thread was originally started about has also been moved to individual care and will also be receiving Veterinary care. Mike also assured me that the Bearded Dragon humidity gauge was broken (which I also regard with skepticism).

Am I right in assuming that any reputable Vet should be able to furnace a report confirming whatever diagnosis Petco reports?

One would hope this is the case. From my experience the local petco's are night and day. It all depends on who runs it. If you get a report please post it.

And yes of course,

Am I right in assuming that any reputable Vet should be able to furnace a report confirming whatever diagnosis Petco reports?

You are entitled to that report. You payed for the animals already and they told you they would perform this service.... I personally would be pissed if I didnt get that report

 

[reticguy76]

if you didnt return the animals and get money refunded, they are still your animals and you are legally entitled to all veterinary reports and a detailed list of what was done

ive never heard of a reputable "seller" that would ask for the animal back so that they can take them.

ive been in veterinary medicine (reptile/amphibian and small animal emergency/critical care) for 15 years now, and everytime, we get a sick animal in that was recently purchased, the current owner brings the animal in, the seller (general manager in this case) will call and we will fax all records and itemized receipts and then offer any discounts we may have with that particular seller or store, and then they pay us.

ive never heard of or dealt with the seller bringing the animal in and keeping the actual owner as a third hand person

 

[volvotech]

My Leopard Geckos as of this morning:

P.Fisher

 

[ento890]

While your hatchlings looks rather healthy, PLEASE make sure you quarantine still. Crypto is a highly contagious disease that can ruin entire collections. Make sure to wash their dishes separately, use different tongs for feeding, and keep them far away from other reptiles. Wash your hands with anti bacterial soap, then with hand alcohol. Make sure that you get paper work and documentation of all veterinary work done to your geckos. They should have ran a fecal. FYI, my Petco's "vet" is a room in the back where the sick animals go. I've worked in corporation pet stores before and I will tell you that most of the time, the animal is not properly checked over.

I walk into all the Petco's in my area and see the same, sad scene as you have in the leopard gecko cages. I toy with the idea in my head of taking the skinny one home because I feel bad for it. But, I choose not to because:

1. I would only be supporting a business that does not and cannot care for their animals correctly. You say they were only 30$, but it was still money given to Petco. They can now replace your leopard gecko's cage with even more.

2. Bringing home the "skinny" leo, no matter how careful I am, can still infect my other 100+ reptiles. That is DEFINITELY not a risk I would take.

So while I feel sorry for sick leopard geckos, I choose to purchase from reputable breeders with healthy animals and correct husbandry. Good luck with your little guys though, and I hope they stay healthy for you.

 

[Buckeyebloods]

Due to old experiences with petco geckos and how that one looked.... I have a bad fear that you just brought Crypto in to your collection, I really hope you QT those guys and have one tested for it...

I think I bought crested geckos once from petco, they were alright, but I swore i remember filling out some sort of " I will be nice to my new animal" paper? IDK unfortunate as usual but it happens all to often.