Petco treatment of Leos

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1476/...fdf812b7_h.jpg
Absolutely unexceptable

Shouldn't come as a surprise. PETCO cares about Andrew Jackson, and Ben Franklin, not your next pet...

Still don't get the point of the continual bash, I understand the frustration but they will still continue to be the gateway to the hobby we all love.

Cage seems clean at least, so what's the issue? It's not practical for the store or fair of us to expect them to house them separately. Just doesn't work that way in the retail world. A lot more important to me is whether the animals are healthy and what the store employees tell prospective buyers, which is usually what determines the long term health of the animals. As stated already, most people would never see or even know of such animals if not for a retail pet store somewhere.

For those of us who do not keep leos, can you explain what is wrong?

Well to me it appears as though that leo is really skinny, perhaps the larger ones to the right are getting to the food before that guy can get much.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

He's in the brink of death

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Still don't get the point of the continual bash

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Because gateway or not, mistreatment is wrong. Period...Dot...

And what they do is especially dangerous when you consider the casual strip mall shopper who thinks the "PETCO Way" is the right way.

It's not like those people run home and Google proper husbandry, otherwise the company that makes all those half log hides would have gone out of business years ago.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Because gateway or not, mistreatment is wrong. Period...Dot....

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More time put into educating people than bashing goes a long way.
The chain stores in my area are not the greatest but they do make changes when needed.
All you have to do is let them know, also I tend to stop and talk to random people about husbandry.

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Originally Posted by Slim

It's not like those people run home and Google proper husbandry, otherwise the company that makes all those half log hides would have gone out of business years ago.

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What's wrong with half log hides...? I use them for many of my animals, and they are quite favored....

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Originally Posted by stickyalvinroll

He's in the brink of death

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I got my albino leo from PetCo about two months ago. She looked like that one. He doesn't have stick tail-- he's just a baby who is putting most of his food into growing longer and bigger, and not storing it in his tail as fat. Mine is getting bigger and eats like a champ, and her tail basically looks a lot like that. As long as it's not stick tail, I don't consider it to be too skinny.

Why didn't I buy a leo from a breeder? Because I like simple morphs, and very few breeders offer plain-Jane albino leos anymore, especially for the $15 sale price I got her for.

Here is my female.
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/99443/1...DnDYrE7aHA.jpg

Also to give some perspective... here is my baby from a well known local breeder.

When I first got him (~2 months of age)
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90173/4...TuvUyxp385.jpg

Around 6-7 months of age, same as my Cloud in the above post.
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90173/4...X8F2v75dsG.jpg

So breeder, or PetCo, most baby leos go through that stage.

I see where that sight may have been alarming. I have a tendency to look into enclosures and if I see something wrong I request to talk to a Small Animals/Reptiles associate. I explain to them I know this or that and if there would be a possibility I could recommend a few things. I have never met an associate at any of the bigger chain stores(here in the states) that shrugged me off. It's how you approach them and how you simply want to educate them. We all want the perfect environments for these animals but giving persistent recommendations or ideas per store really goes a long way. I managed to convince some store managers to change a few things and a few very cheap ideas to better the life of the animal.