PetsMart Greek (Golden?)

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Rogue

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I was browsing Petsmart and ran into a new batch of greeks they has crammed into a glass tank. They said these were captive bred and have only been it the store for about a week.

Can anyone identify the region where these greeks came from? I was interested in the big one in the middle (was very perky and crawling over everything), but she felt very light for her size.

anyone knwo anything about PetsMarts' source for Greeks?
 

wellington

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Pet stores like petsmart and Petco etc. are a hit or miss. Their torts usually are WC. However, they do seem to say they are CB a lot. If it looks healthy, eating, bright eyes, no discharges, go for it. If you want to make sure it is CB, I would ask for the proof of where it was purchased from and go from there. i have no idea if they will be able to tell you that or show you proof. Good luck
 

Richard Gere's Ears

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Oh look, my post is CB. See, i just said so. "CB"


All smart-alecky-ness aside, its really easy to put CB on there to make the sale, and sometimes jack the price another notch. It is quite another thing to actually prove they are captive bred. I have no doubt they have farmed red eared sliders, painteds and occasional redfoots, but i know through a source that their south american woods, african muds, greeks, russians, and hermann's are all wild caught.
 

sibi

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I wasn't even aware that petsmart sold Greeks, black or gold. I'll tell you what, if they do, and there's any left, send me a PM; I may want to get one too. But, I'd trust Gere's source...he knows Tom, and I trust Tom, so tbere:D
 

Rogue

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I live on CO, and they had "golden" greeks at both. They said they got them in a week ago, so maybe your local Petsmart may have them too.

I called back and the manager gave the standard response of "we got them from Lasco/Lasko" (what is that?) and I have 14 days to return the tortoise if I take it to a vet and find something wrong with it. Not much reassurance.
 

Richard Gere's Ears

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I didnt want me response to come across as "Dont buy them", just saying dont believe the two magic letters. My friend put together a trio in an afternoon of visiting three PetSmarts, and they eat and sleep like normal Greeks
 

jmhoesch

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Rogue said:
I was browsing Petsmart and ran into a new batch of greeks they has crammed into a glass tank. They said these were captive bred and have only been it the store for about a week.

Can anyone identify the region where these greeks came from? I was interested in the big one in the middle (was very perky and crawling over everything), but she felt very light for her size.

anyone knwo anything about PetsMarts' source for Greeks?

We got our Greek from Petsmart a month ago. He's GREAT! He had just arrived when I got him. I wanted the smallest of the two that arrived. Here's a picture of Mr. Pickles
 
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Rogue

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Thanks for all the responses. They all seemed healthy and active, and I just might pick one of them up tomorrow morning.

There was a younger small male (about 4") with darker coloration and the larger golden female (about 6") - do the golden variety tend to stay smaller? I'd prefer something smaller given the enclosure space i have available (4 x 2).
 

jjuchems

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PetsMart primary supplier is Reptiles by Mack for many locations. Lasco Inc is the import/distribution/wholesale side of Ty Park. They are all WC greeks. I picked up a very young 1.1 pair in January from PetsMart and just picked up this giant girl:
F83E9D49-97AF-4809-B463-8D23034F40E8-1965-000000EBDC3ECC6F_zps134032ae.jpg
 

jjuchems

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A few things:

1. Lasco Inc is a importer/wholesaler/distributor of reptiles and amphibians ran by Ty Parks. They and Reptiles by Mack are suppliers to PetsMart. PetCo uses many regional distributors along with national such as Sandfire Dragon Ranch, Gourmet Rodent, and Lasco.

2. These are all imports. I have purchased a total of 4 from PetsMart since their import. I found a young, 1.1 pair in January and just walked in and found two huge females. Can someone point to to how to identify the subspecies?

3. Here is one of the large girls I just picked up:
F83E9D49-97AF-4809-B463-8D23034F40E8-1965-000000EBDC3ECC6F_zps134032ae.jpg


Here is the young pair I picked up in January:
34D6C617-E3AC-4798-BA0E-42A1221F1290-935-0000005D400054D2.jpg
 

theelectraco

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They are probably wild caught, if be almost sure of it. There must be a big boom of Greeks because my store just got two in today, we only usually carry Russians. We dont use reptiles by Mack at my location, sandfire is the vendor for our region, and they are always wild caught from that vendor, I know a lot of the old tags used to say captive bred but now all the new ones don't state that since they aren't.
 

Rogue

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We brought home this big girl (I think girl) yesterday, and she is doing well. Took some pics - she's about 5.5" long and not very shy at all. I'm guessing she's about 7-10 yrs old, but maybe other experts will have better guesses.
 

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jjuchems

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These are imported from Jordan and it is safe to say WC. Even farmed Russians are out mumbered by the wc permited to be exported.
Here are the two pairs I put together
From my local stores.

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jjuchems

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Rogue,

Sorry to hijack your post with my pictures. My females are 7-7.5 inches. Pretty good size for PetsMart. I can not wait for winter to end and to get them outside and hopefully breed.
 

jjuchems

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Sorry for any spelling errors, as I have been responding from my phone. :)
 

Rogue

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jjuchems said:
Rogue,

Sorry to hijack your post with my pictures. My females are 7-7.5 inches. Pretty good size for PetsMart. I can not wait for winter to end and to get them outside and hopefully breed.

No worries, my initial post was to get more info about the golden greeks at PetsMart, and you've provided good info. I guess my girl will be getting bigger, judging by the size of yours! She's a porker.

Can anyone provide a guess at age? I just read that WC jordanian greeks might have 2 growth cycles per year, which puts her at roughly about 7 yrs?
 

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jjuchems

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Rogue said:
No worries, my initial post was to get more info about the golden greeks at PetsMart, and you've provided good info. I guess my girl will be getting bigger, judging by the size of yours! She's a porker.

She has great color and is at a great size because you have relative knowledge to get a general idea on the age. Just watch to make sure she continues to eat and drink well. With being wc things can go down hill.

I will say my darker female has interesting shell growth. Scutes that miss-shaped, leading me to believe her nest was disrupted while a neonate. This could because of predator, urban development or possibly geological disruption man made or natural. So I found this in 2004: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/2004/2004_02_11.php
 
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