Hello everyone, This morning I went to Pet Co. in order to get some insects for my leopard gecko, and while in the herp section I noticed two Red-footed tortoises for sale. Previously I have noticed Pet Co. selling tokay Geckos and green Tree Python. What are there justifications for selling rarer, more advanced reptiles for very low prices, the tokay were cheaper than Leopard geckos and the tortoise was only 250 dollars. What other exotics have people seen at Pet Co. or Pet Smart and what are people's opinion of these species easily obtainable. This is the same Pet Co. that has done 50% all reptiles as a Black Friday special.
None of those species listed are particularity rare in the private trade. I haven't looked into their care or anything, but it was my understanding that Tokays were relatively easy to care for?
I've worked with tokays before and their care definitely is nothing special. As long as t he re is enough vertical space and a high enough humidity, everything else is fairly simple. My big concern with tokays is that they bite. A lot. And it is not pleasant when a tokay gecko bites. In my opinion the only herps Pet Co. should be selling is first pets- leopard and crested geckos, bearded dragons, ball pythons, corn snakes, Russian tortoises, etc. If someone wants a tokay as a pet, I have no problem with them doing so, however it should be more difficult than just getting one from the normal pet store, in which an uneducated pet buyer may not realise the requirements are very different from Leopard geckos. Green tree pythons, while not rare, are an advanced snake to keep and are very aggressive. Red-footed tortoises are also not necessarily overly difficult to keep, just get very large. Imagine someone going in to get aTortoise, thinking they will get a russian, but seeing a similar size red foot and getting that one as it looks cooler, not realizing they easily get to the size that they will take up a room of your house.
I don't see any a major pet store chain should be stopped from selling species of easy to obtain reptiles just because their care is slightly more advanced than a Corn Snake. They can sell whatever species they wan't to sell. Sure, some people may not know how to care for them well, but all pet stores will have this issue, no matter what species they sell.
The only justification they need (I presume) is that it is captive bred and not on the endangered species list and not prohibited by local ordinance.
Late to this but i have seen petco selling discus, dogfaced puffers, silver arowana, savannah monitors, day geckos, posion dart frogs and several more uncommon finch species (was a year or two ago) Many of these fish and reptiles are not suitable for beginners
Petco has a way wider variety of herps, fish, & inverts than one may think. It depends on the store though and how it is ranked in animal sales among the rest. Most stores just order the default animals that you see at every store. Though you have the option to special order a variety of species - some are only available seasonally or for a short time. Though the vendors can be VERY sketchy because you do not know the source of the animal. Many herps and marine animals are wild caught. Any animal that comes from a large vendor can be from a farm/mill and risks disease. I've been on the inside, big box stores should def not have access to most exotics they sell.
Do other petcos still sell saltwater aquarium animals? I have seen these displays replaced with Glofish genetically modified fish in recent years - they must be much cheaper to carry and care for while having some superficial resemblance?
My local one still maintains a large variety of marine life. Additionally when I was last in they had a foot-long Prehensile-tailed Skink for $1,000.
I've never seen an exotic mammal in a Petco like that before (and I've been in a lot of Petcos, actually). That's honestly pretty cool.
