Talked to Petco today...

[TanyaL]

Yeah, yeah I know...Petco isn't the best place to shop but there isn't much around where I live. While Foster is still growing, I don't want to buy a bug package of F/T until she has reached her final prey size. The only other petshop in our area is nasty, dirty, funky and I believe that they freeze their own prey which look just horrible. The ones that I saw even looked like it has ice crystals on it...stored in thin plastic bags.

Anyhow, I was talking to the BP 'expert' at Petco about the size prey available and while talking to him, they mentioned that they offer buyers a caresheet to prepare them for owning a BP.

Curious, I checked on their website to see if the caresheet was available online and to my surprise, it was. Has anybody looked at it? If you are interested, here is the link: http://www.petco.com/caresheets/snak...ython_Ball.pdf

My question is this...should I mention anything about the poor caresheet to them? Should I print out the BP.net caresheet and point out the difference? Or, should I not waste my time? If you think I should mention something to them, any suggestions on how I should go about it? It may not make a difference but if there is a chance that this employee will take a second look at the care being provided then I'm willing to make the effort.

I will be going either tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks!

[sjsexotics]

well my hubby worked at petco when I first met him and just to let you know they are told by there corperate how to care for all animals ie food to give tank to put them in everything. My hubby was so pissed about this he finally quit but he was a manager and still had no say on how to feed animals. he was only aloud to feed crickets to baby beardies once a week and had to keep meal worms in the tank at all times which is really totally wrong for beardies and it is just not good bast thing to do is email corperate I have a few times with no luck but the more the better

[TanyaL]

Well then....doesn't that just bite the big one!

Maybe I'll just print out the caresheets and quietly hand them over.

[spix14]

You can talk their ear off but I can tell you from experience it won't do a bit of good. I worked there three years and never got a thing changed. The only thing that kept me sane was that my manager knew that I knew what I was doing, so she pretty much just let me do as I saw fit, and I'd only have to switch things around on the days corporate would come in to inspect us. Otherwise I had free rein.

[Crazydude]

It does suck, ive heard of people from every animal aspect on different forums saying they have talked to petco, it doesnt seem to help, I wish that all those would finally add up, the amount of people ive heard of it seems we'd have all the petcos covered, and if every one complained, then things would change, but thats a dream sadly.

Like the beardie thing, its scary. The calci-sand thing, them underfed, and the mealworms, and the tiny tank it bites.

Iguanas there also get me angry, a couple was in there buying one, they had no clue how to care for it, and Petco employee told them it can get to 4' if it lives that long...if it does just get a ferret cage... And they sold them a 20L for a 1.5ft iguana and the wrong lights. I had to bite my tounge because i knew this couple didnt care, and petco employees usually cant do squat.

Anyway, i understand the frustration, But handing a caresheet could help, its worth the try, Maybe the employee will read up on all the animals, and at least sell the right supplies to the perspective owner, Even if they are housed wrong at petco, an educated employee may make the difference for the animals housing situation out of the store.

Ben

[Nate]

To be totally honest, I don't think the care sheet is wrong in many aspects, just different from the care sheet that we offer here at BP.net. I think it's outdated, yes, but I think for a novice that has no idea what they're getting into, it's at least SOMETHING to get them going in the right direction and an understanding of what they're actually getting themselves into.

There's a lot of advice in that care sheet that I wouldn't personally follow, but a lot of people do follow that advice and are successful in keeping their ball python.

You have to remember, there's no one single way to keep your bp happy. there are many ways...some recommended over others, but those others certainly aren't "wrong"...

So, no...don't waste your time

[Koiscale451]

Seems like whatever you do, still nobody listens. They say they don't sell sick animals but you have to point out to them which animal is sick! Stupid...

[JenH]

I buy some things at Petco/PetsMart and when we went in the other day we checked out the balls (like we usually do). They had 3 or so babies in one cage, but there was a few handfuls of spagnum moss in there (damp) to keep humidity up. That is a first, never seen that before.....

[Argentra]

Heh... someone probably made a big fuss about it enough to get them to do it. That, or they hired someone recently who actually KNOWS about reptiles...it's rare, but possible - I was one of them.

The only thing is, people who really do know about their care often can't stand it and leave after a short time because corporate policies and such are SERIOUSLY outdated and they don't care about upgrading them. Heck, most managers don't care about the animals, as they're just more merchandise to sell.

It all depends on the people at each store if anything gets done. Some places will actually have caring people who will really try to do things right... most will just toss the caresheets you give them in the trash and keep right on doing what they do.
The Petsmart I worked at now carries snakes and it's all I can do to keep from lecturing them every time I'm there...or from grabbing that price card - the one with the 'basic care info' on it - and writing in the PROPER information! SIGH.

Oh, and a note on feeders from Petco or Petsmart: DO NOT buy the prepacked frozen feeders they sell! They're filthy and smelly and WAY undersized and overpriced. If you get live from either store, and most Petsmarts won't sell rodents to snake people or those who come back too often, look very closely at them before you accept. Most animals that come to those stores, especially the rodents, are not really healthy.

Ok, rant over.

[spix14]

Yea, the rats especially had a huge problem with coming in with respiratory infections I noticed. And they (and the hamsters) dropped like flies. Their animals vendors are bottom of the barrel.