Beat up BTS at petshop...

[Rynxprs]

There is a very rough looking BTS forsale at a local petshop.

It's called House of Tropicals in Maryland.

It is missing almost half it's tail and the cage was really small it was in, but it looked like he had a hump in his back aswell.

It could of just been the way he was crawling ontop of the logs. It wouldn't go on a flat surface while I was there (even there there wasn't much flat surface in teh snall tank).

This was about a week ago when i was there.

I think they were asking about $95 for it. They sometimes take in unwanted animals and sell them. Atleast they offer that for fish, so I assume they do the same for reptiles, as they always do have larger size animals.

I really think this BTS is a take in, I have seen some very nice reptiles in this store, so I don't think it is the stores neglect.

Anyway...just thought i'd post this to see if anyone was in the area would be interested in picing it up and taking care of it. I personally can't or I would.

[SailleSkinklover]

Darn it, I'm so far away, otherwise I'd offer to foster the poor guy.
Were you able to take it out and handle it at all? I would maybe ask the pet store for more info, like where they got him, when, and what they plan to do for his health, bigger cage, etc. Is it possible to get pics?

[Rynxprs]

Darn it, I'm so far away, otherwise I'd offer to foster the poor guy.
Were you able to take it out and handle it at all? I would maybe ask the pet store for more info, like where they got him, when, and what they plan to do for his health, bigger cage, etc. Is it possible to get pics?

I'll try and go there today or tomorrow. I was in a hurry and was just looking at the animals on my way out and saw him.

I can take some cell phone pics when i go.

[mom22wins]

Hi Steve,

I live in Maryland and I posted about this guy a few weeks ago. He wasn't missing his tail at the time if it's the same one. I talked to the girl that was working in the reptile department. She couldn't tell me if it was a IJ or not but he had black back legs so I tend to think he was an Indonesian. Perhaps mixed. She said it was a female but couldn't tell me if he had been sexed. (I don't know if she knew what I meant.)

She didn't acknowledge that he had MBD until I mentioned it and then she went on to tell me he and another "hatchling" were given to them by an owner who didn't provide UVB but the other skink didn't make it. She said this one was in such bad shape that he couldn't walk and they nursed him back to health. She said he was over a year old but his growth was stunted so he wouldn't get any bigger. He wasn't more than 13 inches.

When I mentioned I had a 20 gallon and asked her if that would be big enough for a blue tongued skink, she said "Oh yeah, that would be fine" which leads me to wonder what else she said was true.

I held him and he seemed pretty nice. A little squirmy. He is very obviously sickly. I can't believe they are selling him and for the amount they are asking!

I thought about taking him home too but, like so many people have said on this forum, if I did that I would supporting the cause...

Poor baby. I felt for him...

[Rynxprs]

Sounds like they really don't know much.

He wasn't missing his entire tail, definitly part of it.

I wish I could do somethign for him/it...but i can't.

[SailleSkinklover]

OK, so how do the other animals at this pet store look? Are they housed OK too? Are the cages clean or dirty? Based on what little info I have, this pet store sounds pretty crooked, and like they have no clue, especially if they "lost" the other skink. Blueys are so tough, they can pull through just about anything, but these people sound like they don't give veterinary care, they sell sick/injured animals, and the conditions sound deplorable.
That poor skink! Infuriating!

[mom22wins]

Blueys are so tough, they can pull through just about anything, but these people sound like they don't give veterinary care, they sell sick/injured animals, and the conditions sound deplorable.
That poor skink! Infuriating!

My thoughts exactly...

[Lazyprsn]

I thought about taking him home too but, like so many people have said on this forum, if I did that I would supporting the cause...

Poor baby. I felt for him...

Supporting the cause? By that do you mean, encouraging mistreatment and things like that?
If so, I never really thought of it that way. Thanks for the insight.
Poor blueys having to suffer for no reason of there own, I feel for him without even seeing him...

[mom22wins]

Supporting the cause? By that do you mean, encouraging mistreatment and things like that?

Yeah, I mean think about it. If someone takes a sickly, mistreated bluey home from the pet store, that will just encourage the store to bring in another to replace that one since it sold.

Then they'll bring in another one and maybe not feed it right, not give it the ideal living conditions or vet check up for parasites or disease. And sell it to another unsuspecting person!

I am a firm believer of getting your bluey from a breeder. Then you know the true history. With pet shops, you don't know who is lying and/or making up a history to appease the customer.

[Zach]

I thought about taking him home too but, like so many people have said on this forum, if I did that I would supporting the cause...

Poor baby. I felt for him...

Supporting the cause? By that do you mean, encouraging mistreatment and things like that?
If so, I never really thought of it that way. Thanks for the insight.
Poor blueys having to suffer for no reason of there own, I feel for him without even seeing him...

Yep, you're actually giving business to an establishment and allowing it to stay open when it should be getting shut down!