London's Story

[hello.gecko]

That's great that you rescued her! Unfortunately, places like PETCO are a hell for animals. A handful of animals die in the stores back room everyday. The vet they recommend is an actual vet. But the vet they take them to after return, is a PETCO employee they have working in the back room. They don't have a license, and they don't use anesthesia or pain killers. Most of the time animals are just killed right after a return to avoid another return. Unfortunately, animals like mice, rats and reptiles have no real rights, so it's legal for humans to be so cruel.
I worked at PETCO for no longer than a month, and I was horrified. Constantly pulling out dead bodies in enclosures.
Consider London very lucky, if she would have stayed there a week or so more, some employee would be taking her out to toss her in the trash.
I always love hearing rescue stories, but it saddens me that no PETCO or PetSmart has ever changed.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

hello.gecko ~

Sometimes we can make a little difference. A couple years back I was in my local PetCo. Saw the leos on sand and with temperatures too low. I was told that their heat system had malfunctioned. Corporate phoned back. They told me adjustments would be made.

Soon thereafter the leos were placed on carpet and the temperatures were much better.

Today I checked out the leos there. They seemed alright and weren't especially overcrowded. Repti carpet still lined the enclosure; temperatures were roughly 92*F.

 

[hello.gecko]

Elizabeth,
Thankfully your local Petco agreed there was something they need to do. If everyone tried then they could all help save them, at least how they are housed. Some managers though, won't budge. Mine didn't, and they're still on sand in an overcrowded environment.

 

[lindsay1126]

I have just read this whole thread, and I am so happy he found such a good home with you. I am just a newbie and just got our first (what I think is a female), she has similar patterns to your new addition. I can see myself doing this once I know enough to help, I hate seeing animals mistreated. When I kept fish I would end up adopting the ones that were being bullied or in bad shape (due to over stocking and poor conditions), bc I knew no one else would take them until they looked better and the store would just throw them out or they would die. My DH would sometimes say, you know you can't save them all, and I just shrugged and would say yeah but I can help that one. Luckily my DH has a big heart too, and wouldn't get too mad when I would come home with a new pet. When I was a child I found a puppy (full of fleas and very malnourished) in a box (with marker sign saying FREE) and brought her home. My grandmother would just smile and get the supplies to help get the puppy cleaned up and ready to see a vet (I did that with a 2 cats before her).

 

[hmarie186]

Tidus has been VERY hormonal lately and destroying his cage. We just ignore him when he gets like that. He throws his warm hide across the cage, digs up all his paper towels and shreds them in his moist hide. Sometimes he kicks the pieces in his food dish. It looks like a tornado went thru when he's done. After half an hour he wears himself out and goes to sleep.

 

[hmarie186]

Well good news everyone still reading his thread- Tidus is getting his new cage FINALLY!! We got ripped off by a cage company (strung along for 3 mos and then he just disappeared with my money) so I went back to contacting different companies and found Cold Blooded Enclosures. I told him what happened, I needed a specific size because my tiles were a certain size and everything was already bought for both cages. He told me he would do them for me on his own time and within 10 days from payment he sent me tracking info for the first, and second cage is shipping out Monday. We're so grateful to him and Tidus can now move from his baby tank into a spacious 36x18x12 stackable ABS plastic cage! I'll be posting pics up after he moves in. I'm so dang excited!

Also, this is him being Spider-Gecko

106g now