Petco Srikes Again...

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Posted by Diana on February 20, 2001 at 22:38:27:

I took a stool sample in to the vet today to see if the Petco iguana has parasites, and sure enough--he does. He's now on medication for it. (And now Habib is jealous because the medication is banana flavored and she loves bananas even though they're a no-no and only fed on really special occasions.)\

Oh, and when I was getting the sample in the baggie to take with me, I felt (with rubber gloves on, of course!) what felt like several pieces of repti-bark in his stool. (like 10 or so pieces!) His vent looked slightly ripped and sore when I bathed him after he went to the bathroom, so I'm wondering whether or not he must have been compacted from eating the bark when he lived at Petco. I'm just SO glad he's out of there--wwhich leads me to another story...

While I was in the waiting room waiting for the fecal results, a teenaged boy (17-18?) came in with a small cooler containing a dying baby ig. He pulled it out of the cooler and the doctor said, "Wow--this baby is ice cold!" They immediately put it in some warm water, and gave it something to bring up it's heart beat and pulse. All their effort didn't help; it died only moments later.
It's underside was covered with thermal burns, and it was really cold and malnurished. The boy kept saying "I killed my iguana" over and over. He felt REALLY bad.
I started talking to him, he bought the baby iguana at the same Petco where I just got my latest rescue! He said they told him to get a hot rock, and some collard greens (at least they got that part right!) and a reptile blue light bulb and he'd be set. He did what Petco told him to do, but his iguana still died--exactly one month and two days after he bought it.
I told him not to feel like he killed it or was a bad person (because he kept saying "I feel like an abusive parent or something.") but that he was just given bad information from the petstore. I really felt bad for the kid. Another needless death.

I gave him my number, the link to this website (Kingsnake), the addresses of other good iguana websites and told him to call me if he ever decides to get another one. I told him that I'd come over to his house and help him get the proper set up going.

He said he might take his receipt back to Petco and tell them that it had thermal burns from the hot rock they sold him, that he wasn't sold the right lighting for it, and as a result, it died. He said he thinks they should give him another one.

He said that his iguana came with a missing finger to start with, and when I was in the other day, one of the babies I held also was missing a finger. Why would this be? I wish that Petco would stop selling iguanas period. It was hard today, to sit and watch the baby iguana die, and then try to comfort the boy afterwards.
Disgusted and saddened,
Diana

Follow Ups:

Missing finger... Stephani 02/21/01 (0)
Re: Petco Srikes Again... Christy 02/21/01 (0)
Re: Petco Srikes Again... Kimberley 02/21/01 (0)
At least he ran into you.................... Samcin 02/21/01 (0)
So sad to hear the same stories over and over again. *sigh* If he .... Thumper 02/20/01 (0)
Re: Petco Srikes Again... Mr. D 02/20/01 (0)

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: I took a stool sample in to the vet today to see if the Petco iguana has parasites, and sure enough--he does. He's now on medication for it. (And now Habib is jealous because the medication is banana flavored and she loves bananas even though they're a no-no and only fed on really special occasions.)\ : Oh, and when I was getting the sample in the baggie to take with me, I felt (with rubber gloves on, of course!) what felt like several pieces of repti-bark in his stool. (like 10 or so pieces!) His vent looked slightly ripped and sore when I bathed him after he went to the bathroom, so I'm wondering whether or not he must have been compacted from eating the bark when he lived at Petco. I'm just SO glad he's out of there--wwhich leads me to another story... : While I was in the waiting room waiting for the fecal results, a teenaged boy (17-18?) came in with a small cooler containing a dying baby ig. He pulled it out of the cooler and the doctor said, "Wow--this baby is ice cold!" They immediately put it in some warm water, and gave it something to bring up it's heart beat and pulse. All their effort didn't help; it died only moments later. : It's underside was covered with thermal burns, and it was really cold and malnurished. The boy kept saying "I killed my iguana" over and over. He felt REALLY bad. : I started talking to him, he bought the baby iguana at the same Petco where I just got my latest rescue! He said they told him to get a hot rock, and some collard greens (at least they got that part right!) and a reptile blue light bulb and he'd be set. He did what Petco told him to do, but his iguana still died--exactly one month and two days after he bought it. : I told him not to feel like he killed it or was a bad person (because he kept saying "I feel like an abusive parent or something.") but that he was just given bad information from the petstore. I really felt bad for the kid. Another needless death. : I gave him my number, the link to this website (Kingsnake), the addresses of other good iguana websites and told him to call me if he ever decides to get another one. I told him that I'd come over to his house and help him get the proper set up going. : He said he might take his receipt back to Petco and tell them that it had thermal burns from the hot rock they sold him, that he wasn't sold the right lighting for it, and as a result, it died. He said he thinks they should give him another one. : He said that his iguana came with a missing finger to start with, and when I was in the other day, one of the babies I held also was missing a finger. Why would this be? I wish that Petco would stop selling iguanas period. It was hard today, to sit and watch the baby iguana die, and then try to comfort the boy afterwards. : Disgusted and saddened, : Diana

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