Considering a new redfoot from *gasp* Petco.

[Mgridgaway]

So I found out today that Petco will be having a 50% off sale on all reptiles this Friday. I called up the reptile department and they said they currently have "1 large and 1 small" redfoot at my closest store, and they're both normally $110, meaning I could buy one friday for $55.

I've heard that Petco pets typically aren't the healthiest animals, so I'd like to do a full inspection before I get invested in any animal. I know what to look for in a general sense, but welcome any pointers or tips you guys can offer

 

[Guggie]

Not all Petco / PetSmart are bad. The ones near me (north suburbs of Chicago) are very nice and have their torts in well set up - if a bit small - cages. If they look healthy, go for it!

 

[dmmj]

The russains are usually the ones who are in the worst shape. Personally I have only seen 1 RF at my local stores over the past 10 years, and it seemed to be in good health.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I picked up 3 Cherries from PetCo. They had shell rot on their plastrons, so they gave all three of them to me for $100. A little antifungal -treatment and they were fine ... Other than that, they were perfectly healthy.

 

[Mgridgaway]

Thanks for setting my mind at ease Of course you always hear the horror stories but you never hear the happy endings.

In the end it'll all come down to the inspection though. Hopefully they'll still be there by the time I get there. Then again, a tortoise doesn't exactly scream "buy me on black friday!"

 

[Jacqui]

Over the years I have bought quite a few tortoises from Petco. Among them Russians, Greek, Leopards, and Redfoot. I have not yet had a single one with any health problem. As with buying an animal from any where, be it a friend, a breeder, a dealer, or pet store, you need to look the animal and the place over carefully. There is no such thing as a "safe" place to buy a "healthy" animal. Each type of place, has there fair share of horror stories.

 

[Torty Mom]

Then there are those of us to go and get the unhealthy ones.........

 

[tortoise-kid]

I dont like to buy animals from any of the big stores like Petsmart and Petco. They get there animals from dealers who treat them like crap. I almost cried when I saw how the tortoises were treated. I got my Red Foot from a nice tortoise farm.