General Discussion

My leopard gecko, Toby was euthanized today, April 2nd, 2016.

He had been sick for a very long time, having bought him from Petsmart, which is known for having animals that get sick and die quickly.

He was one of the last of four geckos that I have had.

My first gecko was Tawanda. She was a store-bought leopard gecko and had not suffered health issues until introduced to Toby.

Toby and Christina were two geckos that I had purchased from Petsmart. Christina passed away months into having her.

Tawanda survived six years on her own and had died suddenly. To this day, I am unsure what had caused her to pass so quickly.

Belle was my fourth gecko and still is surviving perfectly healthy today, and was bought from a well-experienced breeder.

Toby, today, had been saved from his suffering. He had lived the majority of his life as a blind gecko and I have done everything that I could to keep him alive and happy. Up until the point where he had stopped eating, he was still and energetic and sweet gecko, despite his sickness.

For others who plan on purchasing a reptile or other animal from Petsmart or Petco, please look into other options, such as those of breeder. Animals from large stores tend to be results of incest or poorly paired parents. Although this does not happen all the time, it does happen less with those under experienced conditions.

I am happy that my Toby will end his suffering and step into his place in the Sun with Tawanda and Christina. Rest in peace, my little angel.


I wanted to share this to everyone who plans on purchasing reptiles or other exotics in the future. If you would like to give your condolences or own experiences, feel free to. Take this as a thread to share the love and memory of your own pets. :' ) I'm sure Toby would be proud.

@Envelin

I'm sorry that happened, but I completely agree. There are breeders and even rescues for reptiles who are all far better to their animals than chain stores. While those stores are convenient for buying toys, pet equipment, and visiting when animal rescues have adoption days they are not good about reptiles, birds, and fish.

I am very interested by fish, aquarium fish especially, so I know enough about them to realize that the chain stores consistently over stock their fish tanks and place the wrong species together. They have mixed aggressive fish in with other fish that they absolutely will attack at some point, and place fish together who like different pH levels and water temperatures. Because of this they sell a lot of sick and wounded fish that die quickly after being bought. :(

@teiraa

So true. : ( I've bought a lot of saltwater fish that were starving because they weren't being properly fed and then those who are sick and end up contaminating everyone in the tank.

Then there are the places that throw out pets in dumpsters when they're sick or not bought. I've seen baby iguanas tucked in nylon bags thrown out and being fully healthy too. It's so terrible how places like that are so popular for their convenience but who are just in it for the money. u-u Not for the love and welfare of the critters that keep us happy.

@Envelin

I like to think they started out for the right reasons, but when stores get big, their management gets saturated with people who aren't in it for the right reasons, people who are too involved with business structure, and a general addiction to making a grander net profit than the year before you're not left with a lot of what it once was.

I like shopping locally anyway, just getting to know the store owners who are usually very nice people. I have a wonderful aquarium store in my town with incredibly knowledgable employees who help anyone who comes through and knows how to advise people on what to place in their tanks. Their fish are all healthy and monitored carefully, it's really wonderful.

@teiraa

As sad as it is, you're most likely right on that. Although, it does make me more hopeful on the smaller places.

And that's really awesome! I actually no longer have any aquarium stores where I live but reptile stores are plentiful. The tanks and enclosures are always so neatly kept and natural. The animals look so comfortable and happy in those enclosures. >v<

I am really curious though. Do you have a saltwater or freshwater aquarium? I am particularly geeky about saltwater tanks but freshwater is also interesting! I am eager to know about what types of aquatic animals you have! : )

I've worked at both locations (currently at Petco) and I'd agree with this. Not only are the animals of questionable quality and lineage, they tend to be extremely overpriced too.
I always try to get customers to go to shows and find breeders if they are interested in herp keeping. Of the 8 leos I've had, only one was petstore bought and she was a really rare coloring. All my others have been from reptile shows. Now, I'ma be that person and mention that just because the company forces stores to house animals a certain way doesn't mean that the employees aren't knowledgable when it comes to animal husbandry. Yes, some are, but not all of us :)

@Envelin
Fresh! Salt is really expensive to start up, and then the fish are also super pricey, so I went with fresh. I have two Madagascar rainbow fish from when I established the tank, but that was also before I was knowledgeable about fish. That species needs to school, but I couldn't find anymore Madagascar rainbow fish. The aquarium store we have helped me pick out six danios of similar size and shape that the rainbow fish would feel comfortable schooling with so now I have a school of eight fish. I also have an upside down catfish which swims upside down, a plecostomus catfish, two blue gouramis, a corydoras paleatus, two geophagus surinamensis, and a pictus catfish (who angrily poked holes in his bag on his way home causing a frantic panic to get him in the tank before he died only to find he had gotten his fins stuck in the bag so I had to pluck him out very gently but the breed hums and vibrates when they're angry and he freaked me out so heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh....)

I had to be really careful with the geophagus suris because they are a type of cichlid. Even though they are a more docile cichlid I had to make sure they wouldn't swim in the same region as the other fish and had to make sure that they matched the size of any fish that did swim in their level. Since the gouramis are the same size and none of the fish are tiny to begin with the geos don't mess with their neighbors.

I had a twig catfish for four years, but he died when I moved. They don't do well in moves, you see, and it broke my heart to do it to him. I couldn't leave him behind in the apartment, obviously, so I just had to hope all was well. All was not well. It made me so sad.

*hugs* I'm so sorry for the loss of your gecko.

I had no idea about commercial reptile sales, as I've never bought them but thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will certainly never do it!

Do your research with breeders though! There are plenty out there who breed animals that have just as questionable lineages as store-bought animals. Especially some of the 'fancy' reptile morphs out there - frequently the easiest, or sometimes the ONLY, way to achieve those colors and patterns is by inbreeding the lines until those recessive traits or mutations occur. And sometimes those recessive traits or mutations carry other problems with them, which less scrupulous breeders either won't disclose or will try to make it sound not so bad.

Just know what you're getting yourself into, as much as you can.