just sent a letter to a local reptile store...

[cyndi0502]

we have a new reptile store by house, and i have been there twice. you would think since they specialize in selling reptiles they would know how to take care of them. they have worse care than the chain stores around here. they had them all housed on sand with no hides, and just one water dish in the middle. some were very skinny and i could tell they were sick. i dont know if they had any heat, and im sure they didnt get calcium either. they had two inch hatchlings on sand and some of them just looked awful.

this is what i said: i tried to be polite, and i hope i get a response from them

Hello, my name is Cyndi Francois and I have been to your store a couple of times. I am an owner of 3 leopard geckos, and I am very saddened by the condition you keep your geckos in. The times I have been there, I have seen sick geckos, with very thin tails and stuck shed on their toes and tails. Right now, you have very small babies housed on sand. Do you know leopard geckos suffer impaction? Leopard geckos should not be housed on sand because they lick to sense their surrondings. The sand gets clogged in their intestines and they die.

Also, when I went in there today, most of these geckos did not have the proper cage set up. Leopard geckos need at least 3 hides-- one warm hide, one cool hide, and a moist hide to aid in shedding so it does not get stuck on their toes. Their toes can fall off from this. I haven't seen any calcium in their cages, either. They need calcium to reduce the chance of MBD, which is a bone disorder. I belong to a good amount of reptile forums and I know a few breeders. I would really like to see the condition of your leopard geckos improve. I am very sad that the one local (not chain) petstore we have in Plainfield does not keep their animals in the best shape possible. Please look into fixing your housing issues, because those geckos will just keep dying or you will sell them sickly to customers.

Thank you for reading this.

it said it went right to the store owner, so hopefully something is done

 

[Obsidian Tears]

Good for you for speaking up Hopefully they take your letter into consideration.

 

[Alusdra]

And add "if these things do not change, I will no longer shop at your store" otherwise they could care less (unfortunately).

 

[gitrdone0420]

That is sad that they keep their geckos in those conditions. We see that a lot throughout the pet stores. Unfortunately, I have to keep reminding myself and my bf that we cant save them all, because of course that is what I want to do! But, good job for speaking up! I really hope it gets through.

 

[Gregg M]

This is all good but this statement is not 100% truthful..

Do you know leopard geckos suffer impaction? Leopard geckos should not be housed on sand because they lick to sense their surrondings. The sand gets clogged in their intestines and they die.

The fact is, poor husbandry causes impaction, NOT sand...

Also, pet stores have animals in their shop to sell, not to keep as pets... You kinda have to understand the business end of things... It sucks but it is how it is... This is why I buy from breeders who care for their animals and I only deal with pet stores who care for their animals the way I would..

 

[justindh1]

The fact is, poor husbandry causes impaction, NOT sand...

Please explain this a little more! I have never heard this befor and would like to understand this concept! How does poor husbandry affect sand impaction?

 

[SDahmer]

I think what he means is that sand isn't directly at fault for impaction. By bad husbandry he means using sand. So it's the keepers fault for using sand in the first place. It's kinda like, guns don't kill people, people kill people.

 

[cyndi0502]

poor husbandry does mean impaction if using sand...but even just using sand there is a risk of impaction, even if you have good husbandry. this man did NOT have good husbandry, no hides, feeding on the sand, keeping tiny babies on sand, etc.

i did get a reply to my message and i was very pleased he at least took the babies off:

----------------------------

Thanks for your concern. I agree with some of your thoughts, I will take
them under consideration for our future setups.

As far as calcium, I can add this to each enclosure, but we dust all their
food so I feel this is sufficient since we are not breeding any of these
geckos. I also know many breeders, and as far as impaction, that is an
opinion that differs with every person I speak with. I am going to take
your advice and switch the smaller geckos to a different substrate, but in
my opinion, adults do not have any issues being kept on Calcium sand.

As far as all our geckos dying, I have not had anyone in the time I have
been here complaining of deaths or issues with any of our geckos. I try to
sell the best animals I can, and would never sell something I thought was
sickly to anyone.

Any of the smaller thin geckos you may have seen could be ones I have taken
in lately as there are many people trying to get rid of their pets. I
always take these in; it sometimes takes weeks to get them back to health.
I do not keep them in the back since I don't always have the room back
there. Also, there are times when we get geckos in they are not always as
large as I would like, but they are in no way unhealthy.

I am in the process
of changing a lot of things here that I did wrong in the beginning.
Unfortunately I cannot always afford to replace what I need to but it is
happening slowly.

I am changing the babies over this afternoon, and maybe figuring a way to
label items I am just caring for. I am guilty of just placing animals in
empty cages then feeding them and not relabeling. I know what everything is
in the store, others do not.


Like I stated earlier, I will make some changes in the next few weeks, and
in the future, please if you have concerns stop in and talk with me I would
be glad to discuss them.

--------------------------

i feel like i at least did something =)

 

[little98dime]

That is great! I did the same thing with a chain store here a while back and they finally switched their stock (all juveniles) to carpet.

 

[SDahmer]

Awesome!

 

[geckofreak24]

Please explain this a little more! I have never heard this befor and would like to understand this concept! How does poor husbandry affect sand impaction?

sand impactation is when leos injest sand and it clogs up in there intestines, there is a lot of controversy surronding this subject, but my personal opinion is that if you provide your leos with enough water then it will flush the sand out of there system, i talked with many breeders, and they say that leos can be kept on sand if they have water and calcium, but hatchlings should always be kept on paper towel, hope this helps, although impaction happens, i think the chances are greatly over exaderated, my friend produces 700 hatchlings in his breeding years and never had any issues

 

[JordanAng420]

The fact is, poor husbandry causes impaction, NOT sand...

Please explain this a little more! I have never heard this befor and would like to understand this concept! How does poor husbandry affect sand impaction?

sand impactation is when leos injest sand and it clogs up in there intestines, there is a lot of controversy surronding this subject, but my personal opinion is that if you provide your leos with enough water then it will flush the sand out of there system, i talked with many breeders, and they say that leos can be kept on sand if they have water and calcium, but hatchlings should always be kept on paper towel, hope this helps, although impaction happens, i think the chances are greatly over exaderated, my friend produces 700 hatchlings in his breeding years and never had any issues

LOL. I really hate touching on this subject...but just to clarify a few things here...let's see if I can do this without "taking sides"

GI Impaction has many potential causes. Husbandry issues include inappropriate temperatures, inappropriate or insufficient water source, lack of activity from a too-small cage, inappropriate food items such as long haired or large rodent prey and hard shelled insect prey and ingestion of indigestible cage substrates such as gravel, rocks, sand and bark.

Diseases that cause impaction include parasitism and deyhydration. Intussusception and cloacitis can cause physical obstruction of the GI tract. Other causes of impaction include kidney disease with renal enlargement, uroliths (stones) the presence of eggs, abcesses, liver disease, and a narrowed pelvic canal from MBD or trauma.

So basically, 90% of the things I mentioned can be easily fixed by simple husbandry adjustments...this is where the argument comes from that impaction can be prevented with appropriate husbandry...on the other hand, there ARE some things (like kidney or liver disease) that just cannot be prevented in most cases and unfortunately most of those cases just don't survive... It all really boils down to personal preference.

To the OP: Great letter, and good for you for speaking up!

 

[darkridder]

The fact is in order to change and make the setups healthier for them, it would cost far less then trying to use the sand. Paper towels, cheap. Old food storage containers for moist hide, cheap. I even use things like the plastic container mushrooms come in, clean them then cut a hole in them for a hide. I mean come on, its not that hard. But at least they can admit they need to make a few changes and are going to try and fix it.