Thrown out of petsmart

[PythonJiuJitsu]

So I got thrown out of a petsmart the other day. They had four ball pythons in the same crappy little 15 ( TOPS ) enclosure. And it was clear one of them had a bad bad skin infection, possibly mites. ( Huge long bumps all over its little body) And the others all had bad sheds. When I asked management to do something about the shedding they gave me some bs about not interfearing. I got another associate later who opened the tank and I asked to see each one and slowly began to peel the snakes with bad sheds. ( I felt terrible ). Management staff refuses the one with mites to get care. I told them id buy the snake even knowing the costs. They refused saying they cant sell an obviously sick animal. Soon after I was getting tossed out because I was causing an unnessecary distraction, I saw them take it into the back.

Honestly, dont go to that store chain. Dont even buy snakes from them out of pity like I almost did and do, you're just going to help keep them in the buisiness of mistreating their animals. Buy from a legitimate breeder who makes his/her money producing and caring for quality animals and support honest herpetology.

[DrEwTiMe]

Ya one of my previous girlfrinds worked at petco so i was always making her take care of the snakes they way they really should have been cared for. Otherwise i get the same type of crap that you got so i just don't go in those places anymore because it makes me really angry. I wish there was something more that we could do for these guys because their conditions are ridiculous!

[rabernet]

I am in no way defending your Petsmart - but not all locations are created equally.

The one that I frequent, the staff know my name when I walk in the door. They often tug me over to the reptile section to sex the ball pythons (never more than 2), check out a new king, answer questions they've been asked, but not known the answer to, and even paged me when they knew I was shopping in the store when a customer was in the store who they'd told about me (they give out my number to reptile customers).

When they first started carrying ball pythons a group of employees gathered around while they asked me about the care of ball pythons and why they may not eat for them, and good advice to give to customers, etc.

There's a second one I've been to, and the gal that runs the reptile department has snakes of her own and LOVES it when I come in there so she can talk snakes, and plans to buy a ball python from me this season.

So, there are stores where the staff "gets it" and recognizes their limitations.

[stormwulf133]

Honestly, dont go to that store chain. Dont even buy snakes from them out of pity like I almost did and do, you're just going to help keep them in the buisiness of mistreating their animals. Buy from a legitimate breeder who makes his/her money producing and caring for quality animals and support honest herpetology.

Our you could contact their corporate office and relay your experiences, instead of telling us here. Tell them what they are doing wrong. They need the feedback.

And not all locations and not all employees are bad. With what you are saying, all 20,000+ employess are bad.

[PythonJiuJitsu]

Our you could contact their corporate office and relay your experiences, instead of telling us here. Tell them what they are doing wrong. They need the feedback.

And not all locations and not all employees are bad. With what you are saying, all 20,000+ employess are bad.

Been done. Its not all associates who are bad as they just do what they are told, but as is typical with places, Its piss poor management, and from my experiences, the stores with good cares are the exception, although they do exist.

[m00kfu]

Been done. Its not all associates who are bad as they just do what they are told, but as is typical with places, Its piss poor management, and from my experiences, the stores with good cares are the exception, although they do exist.

Just out of curiosity... how many of these stores have you experienced to know which are the exception?

[PythonJiuJitsu]

I actually make it a habit to visit as many pet stores of each variety that I can. From my time living on the Westcoast, Midwest and now on the East Coast id say quite a few.

Im not looking for you to agree with me, im conveying my experience. When I see something wrong, I speak up and do something about it. A trait far too lacking in our society.

[250rider]

well I'd have to agree that not all pet stores are created equal...I've been to some mom and pop stores where the conditions were horrible!...and I've seen a petco where the animals were verry well taken cared of. but there is this one pet store that i go to that is the best...they know more about reptiles than I do...and one employee has a bp collection to die for! and I always see 3/4 of the employees at the reptile show in manchester every year!

[PythonJiuJitsu]

I always see 3/4 of the employees at the reptile show in manchester every year!

See now thats awesome about the employees learning and going to expos. I dont know, I guess I take it very serious. When I dont know about something im into, I try to ask and learn to do the best job I can at anything. Does not matter what it is. Like when I first got into Boas, I asked alot, learned alot. And when I first got into balls, I bought a ton of books, came to this forum and learned and made my changes.

SPEAKING of the Manchester Expo. My Wife, and Brother and I will be going tommorrow. I cannot wait to see what people have there. And if the wife is willing, I may end up with another Herp.

[grim reaper in NY]

We went to our local Petco this past Thursday and they had 1 Ball Python and 6 Red Tail Boas as well as the normal run of Leopard Geckos and other herps. I spoke with the manager regarding the snakes they had and he informed me that what they currently had was the last they were going to get in for that particular store. He voiced his frustration at his staff being reluctant to learn about Herps and snakes specifically. He also expressed alot of concern over the proposed 669 Legislation and did not want to get caught in a legal quagmire over stocking reptiles and exotic animals in his store. For the most part the Herps were well taken care of. The only two major complaints I had was stakcing 6 Red tails in one of those small vivs and leaving a dead Leopard Gecko in the tank and trying to pass it off as "sleeping". The manager addressed my concerns immediately and split the Boas up into 3 different tanks and he admonished the employee for not removing the deal gecko from the viv with the others. I have to say it was one of the better experiences I've had with one of the larger chain pet stores. As was said previously, not all stores are the same. Unfortunately, alot of the employees stores like this hire are high school kids and young adults who are more interested in the dogs and cats and pretty fish more than the herps. It's the nature of the business in a minimum wage world.