Why you don't trust petco... and their merchandise.

[Gooseman]

My friend bought himself a bp about a month ago and had bought everything that petco told him he needed. A 10 gal vivarium, a 150watt heat lamp, a 10-20 gal size UTH a small water bowl and a large log hide and a dial hygrometer and stick-on glass thermometer. I hadn't seen his set-up till just now when he called me over for advice on why his snake looked like a thin bag of bones... Before I left I grabbed a few things to take over, namely my spare acurite thermometer/hygrometer.

Let me start by saying that when I put the probe underneath his snakes only hide, which was located directly under the sunbeam heatlamp, my acurite max'd out at 120 degrees when the stick-on glass thermometer said 95. All I can say is damn, I knew those things were inaccurate and those logs hold alot of temp inside them, but a 30+ degree difference was astounding. That was the snakes only hide so of course his bp had spent the last month in that scorching heat. The cool side of the tank was a whopping 109.4 in the open.

you see, he had done what the petco emplyee told him. he got everything the petco guy could sell him, and then did a few minutes of research and decided to foil & ducttape the screen mesh top to keep humidity in... He knew he needed to buy a thermostat, but b/c his cruddy thermometer was giving him temps within normal range he never did.

I did everything I could tonight with what I had to rectify the situation, and he's takin his bp by the vet tomorrow for fluids at the very least. he's in horrible shape and as much of an optimist as I am, I have my doubts about this poor little fellow. Stuff like this makes me wonder why petco doesnt carry decent thermometers and hygrometers. Petstop does, but they are twice the price of what walmart has to offer; not to mention when helping a customer decide what his snake needs petco needs to atleast have the slightest clue as to what the finished product of the animals habitat will be when you put everything together. I am just completely beside myself at the moment. This has not been a good month for me and herps....

[dr del]

OMG!


My heart goes out for the little guy, I hope you manage to get him back on the right track. Hopefully you got to him in time.


dr del

[lord jackel]

I am just glad he called you to come over and check on the snake...and that he is willing to take him to the vet. Just think about how many unfortunate snakes die without the owner ever knowing why or asking for help.

Please keep us posted.

[Freakie_frog]

Oh see this what we say all the time pet stores are there to sell you crap not educate you on you pet.

Keep working with the little guy.. I hope he makes it through.

[SnakeEyes]

Luckily the reptile store here has really knowledgeable people, they even sexed my snake for me till we found a female. Ashame most pet stores have no idea what they are doing. Good luck with the little guy, our thoughts are with him.

[Gooseman]

The snake was put down a few hours ago. If my friend was to pursue treatment it would have been several hundred dollars in vet bills and only given 30% chance recovery. I am not a happy camper right now but I feel it was the best decision given the situation. I have a hard time faulting my friend because he went off the advise that someone who's supposed to know what they're doing told him with absolute certainty. If anything I feel a little guilty b/c I knew petco does some stupid things, and I spend an excessive amount of time on some website filled with knowledgeable herpers yet I didn't ask about his set-up...

[MATT FISHER REPTILES]

the reason i dont trust them is the last time i was at one. the warmest reptile cage was 63 degs. and that was in the afternoon. i can only imahing how cold it gets at night.

[SnakeEyes]

we dont have petcos around here, but we have a petsmart, their BP cage is at about 95 degrees and about 72% humidity everytime I am in there. The only thing I can fault them with is not enough hides and no cool side in the tank. But at least its better then half the other stores out there.


I was a bit disturbed by one BP I saw at my herp store, which really surprised me considering they know what they are doing. But it was a mid grown female BP, no hides, 1 water bowl, and it was really hot in there. She was in shed, and it was flaking off in itty bitty peices, she looked like hell. Felt so bad for her...wanted to buy her just to get her out of there.....yet ALL the other snake cages are setup the way they should be...some reason she got the shaft.

[Sausage]

Wow, some of you guys have horror stories about your local PetCos! :eek: I've lucked out; mine is very tidy and the snakes, aside from the teeny baby corns, are kept separately and in good temps with *gasp* DIGITAL thermometers. :eek:

Poor snakey, I hope everything works out for him. PetCo seriously needs some guidance in the way of info given to new owners. Maybe we could write a nice letter with lots of signatures(like a petition almost) to the head honchos and see if anything becomes of it?

[SnakeEyes]

Wow, some of you guys have horror stories about your local PetCos! :eek: I've lucked out; mine is very tidy and the snakes, aside from the teeny baby corns, are kept separately and in good temps with *gasp* DIGITAL thermometers. :eek:

Poor snakey, I hope everything works out for him. PetCo seriously needs some guidance in the way of info given to new owners. Maybe we could write a nice letter with lots of signatures(like a petition almost) to the head honchos and see if anything becomes of it?

Good luck, one member here was sold a BP that had IBD and other snakes in the store were infected and petco didnt give two ***** about it. even when the snake the person purchased died all they offered was a discount, showed no signs of sympathy or anything. doubt a letter for this would mean anything to them...