New Petco--not a horror story!

[Seneschal]

A new Petco is having the grand opening today and this weekend, so since I was out at a store near it anyways, I decided to drop by and see what it was like, just out of curiosity.

I was stunned.

Not only was the setup completely different from any petstore I've ever been into, it was visually appealing, easy to navigate, well-organized, well-lit, it didn't smell at all, they even had a dog training class going on. There was a fish area in the center and a completely separate reptile area, VERY well-labeled and separate from the fish (which made me happy) which had a lot of actual herping items in it; not fish-tanks, but those nice side opening double door terrariums and such. But what was most impressive of all--and I have NEVER been impressed by a Petco before this--all of the reptiles and the few spiders they had were almost PERFECTLY cared for. EVERY reptile had at least one hide and things to climb on, the substrate was clean, new, deep, and you could tell it had been recently misted; the water bowls were full and clean, the reptiles were healthy looking and alert, and I was excited to see that they only had two Balls in a 30-35 gal enclosure, and they had plenty of space to get away from each other. No stuck sheds, no skinny, just-out-of-the-egg babies that didn't look to have fed--they even had caresheets listed that said Balls need hides and listed humidity and temps, AND they reccomended feeding frozen/thawed, AND they kept a fridge with f/t prey items available! Not only that, the medium f/t rat I got (this will be my first f/t feeding) was ACTUALLY the same size as the live medium rats I get at the local pet store!

Anyways, I just wanted to report this since it's the first NICE Petco I've ever gone to, and I don't think I've seen any posts about good ones before... I figure we all get enough bad news about badly-kept animals in petstores, and we need good stories occasionally!!

And on a side note, I sooooo want one of the little baby Balls they had, it's tiny and cute, and really bright orangey color with pretty little markings...^-^ It was really active, too, kept going all over the enclosure and climbing the little tree they had set up and drinking the water... >.>;; But it's $79 and I'm spending something like $250 in the next two weeks on a little pastel, so I couldn't buy it. *siiigh*

If I think about it I'll try getting my camera and taking pictures for everyone, next time I go. Wish me luck at f/t, I've only ever fed my adult girl live! Prescenting and thawing right now.



EDIT: Oh, haha, forgot to mention--I find it highly amusing that on the bag the rat's in it says in big bold letter, "DO NOT MICROWAVE" and then at the way bottom, "NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION"

[darkangel]

Stores usually have it together for the grand opening. Don't wanna sound like a downer, I genuinely hope the trend continues at this store

[jessie_k_pythons]

my pet co has really cleaned up there act. I went to go pick up some fish stuff and they totaly re-did the place. they ay they have the snakes set up is impressive they get alot of bps in and each baby is now in it's own 10 gal tank with 2 hides, a digital temp and humidity guage and the snake are happly sleeping. not roaming around all srtessed. The now have a Jackson chem. doing very well and is not for sale. (must be a show-case animal) The Iggs are looking great, no skin problems at all. looks like they got a good reptile person now.

[Nate]

Where in Florida are you? I wanna see this!

[Kagez28]

the petco by me was going down hill until i had a nice conversation with one of the managers. it was amazing that she admitted that she didn't know much about reptiles, but shocked me even more that she asked for my help. i set her up with a couple of books and even directed her to this site. she tries to teach the employees, but with such a turn around (like employees come a go monthly) it's hard to find ones that will stick with the reptiles. most of them are teenage girls that want to play with the "puppies and kitties".

it is a lot better then when i first started going there.

[Seneschal]

It's in Fleming Island, south of Jacksonville on SR 220, right near Kohls and Michaels, Nathan.


And, darkangel, yeah, I thought that, too, so I'm planning on going regularly, and already spoke with one of the reptile people to tell them I'm glad they're taking better care of their reptiles than others, and told him that usually I go up and get onto the managers of places that don't keep them well...I've also applied there since I need a job anyways and if I got to work in the reptile dept. it'd be a pretty good job during college. I definitely won't be one of the "teenage girls looking to pet kittens and puppies"!!

Yeah, the only problems I had with this place were the way the green anoles were shedding, but I don't own any, so I'm probably freaking out over what is probably a normal looking shed!

The manager I spoke to said they weren't hiring people who "know the pet store business", because that's usually what happens (bad care for animals) and they're trying to educate all their workers really well. I wanted to compliment him on it though, just to show people appreciates their efforts...I mean, the hides were mostly half-log type, which isn't the BEST--but it's MUCH better than 10+ snakes in one small aquarium, dried up water, no hides, and feces and sheds everywhere. At least they seemed to be putting effort into making sure the animals were comfortable while at the same time making it possible for people to see what animals they have for sale, so I can understand them using a half-log hide for the display tanks.

Overall--MUCH better than any other petco I've been to!!!

[wolfy-hound]

I heard the ads on the radio about this PetCo opening, so I'm glad to hear it's set up well for the most overlooked pets, the reptiles.
I might have to drive out to see it. Do you have an address for the Petco store? I could mapquest it.
Wolfy

[Seneschal]

1995 East-West Pkwy Orange Park, FL 32003, US

That's the closest I could get--it's in the same parking lot, but mapquest is outdated so it only shows the Kohls building and address, which was there before the Petco. The petco is on the far right when you pull in off of 220.

Here's a map view of it...it didn't show up as Petco so I did the Kohls instead.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...tment%20Stores

[juddb]

Oh i live pretty close, i might go check it out myself, i have never had a problem with petco before i guess because i never ask for advice from them and i understand that they keep numerous animals in one cage because they actually sell, so each one will have a home pretty soon. However if i seen something that is excruciating to see then i might say something to someone, or complain about on a thread

[frankykeno]

Our big PetCo here in Toledo is quite well run and I'm always impressed with their committment to proper care for each species they sell. It's rare to see sheds or feces in the tanks and they aren't overcrowded. They do keep multiple baby bps per tank but not overcrowded and in a pet store, well that sort of thing is going to happen. They do provide appropriate hides for any animal that needs them, fresh water, etc. Their rodents, bunnies, ferrets are always clean and not in stinky caging.