pet store employee

...had no idea what i was talking about. i called petsmart yesterday to see if they had a zoo med repti temp thermostat in the store. i was trying to find out if it was there or if it was something i had to order online. the guy had no clue...he "tried" to talk me into getting a rheostat & sounded like he didnt even know what THAT was. lol, i just said "nope thats not what i need." & kindly thanked him before getting off.
[shakes head]
i was so disappointed when i got off the phone, not because i have to order the thermostat online, but because of the guy's total cluelessness.
even though i see it all the time...it never fails to disappoint me.
all pet stores should have educational classes for their employees about their products & the basic needs of the animals in their care.
i hate seeing people who only care about making sales then the well-being of the animals or the quality of their products.:mad:
anyways thanks for reading this & sorry for the slight rant in the end...

People at my petstore told me that it is impossible to put a ball python on frozen, even if the snake is CB.. the idiots..

i wonder how the managers sleep at night knowing the animals in their store are so poorly cared for...i wonder if they go to sleep thinking "did i make my quota today?"

There was a thread where a guy at a petstore said they fed the bps crickets :rolleyes:

Hrm, that one I can kinda see, I know chain petstores here in Canada don't sell thermostats at all, you have to order them from a few select online supply shops, and even then the selection is very limited. (I had to buy mine from the US.) So I kinda understand why he wouldn't know what it was. The rheostat is actually a step up from what we have in our stores: nothing.

When I bought my bp, The people at pet smart told me to buy her a 40 gal reptile tank, being a total newbie at this i spent like 600 bucks on a bunch of crap i didnt need cause the store clerk told me I needed all this stuff, worst part about it was she was a hatchling so the enclosure was way too big. They told me to buy a uth and didnt say anything about a thermostat. The welfare of these animals that they sell doesnt mean anything to these people, I was also told that she only ate f/t, and was told to buy 3 boxes of those,lol. fact is they told me she ate on the previous Thursday. I assumed THEY fed her because thats how the clerk made it seem, until I looked at her care sheet and found out they got her on the previous friday, so when was the last time she ate? On top of that I had her to the vet the day after I brought her home because she had a really bad R/I. It was a very stressful situation for her for a while till i got rid of the ri, and got her husbandry issues fixed thanks to the help of the good people on this forum. If your a newb at this, try to do a lot of research on bps and there husbandry, it will save you heartache on a possible dead snake and save you a lot of money. And dont listen to the people at petsmart cause its obvious there worried about making money and not the pets they sell or what situations they put them in. They also like to bug you to donate to the humane society, I dont know about you, but I have a problem with anyone who euthanize perfectly healthy animals just to make room for more.

When I was a young lad (once upon a time) I worked for a chain pet store I thought it would be a fun job I like all animals. I tried to learn about all the different ones that we had and what they needed to be kept healthy. When I pointed out that X needed this and that needed y. I was told it cost too much and shut up and do my job. I got in a bit heated argument about ethics with the chain owner, store owner, and sales director (from the head office) as well as my manager. I quite before they could fire me. It isn't surprising that this happens some floor people will know and be good that animals in their care will be well looked after. So it is a job that is easy and don't care at all. The real problem is with managers and or owners. Some care about health and have ethics and some care about money and if it costs profit margins to keep animals healthy or to treat sick ones well the dollar wins. I often go in a check store before I buy ask basic questions like temps for this and that. See if animals have clean enclosures ect. Then I'll check back and get a new clerk and start again if I don't like what I see I will NEVER buy from them. I often will send a letter to owner telling them my feelings and why. It doesn't change anything (or hasn't yet) but I feel better.

You want be in this hobby long before pet stores are on your no-no list. I haven't stepped foot in a petstore for years...til last week. Looking for somewhere to kill some time last weekend and stumbled across a pet store about 3 hours from my home, it looked clean so we went in. One of my main reasons for not going is MITES, I still didn't touch anything. Hatchling, normal, ball pythons....$129.99!!! Baby boas....$179.99!!!! I watched a young girl buy a boa. I wanted so bad to hand her a business card! If you need anything for your snake start at Reptile Basics, Rich is very helpful and if he don't have what you want he will tell you where to go to get it.
Just remember, pet store....BAD :mad:...Reptile Basics....GOOD :gj:

The ZooMeds may get the job done, but I (and I think a lot of others on here) would recommend spending a little more for a Johnson Controls, Ranco, Spyder Robotics Herpstat, or a Helix.

I second Fatboy's recommendation of Reptilesupplies. I've ordered a Johnson 419 and a Helix from them and Rich was really cool when I had to call him up to ask a couple of quick questions. He sells the Johnsons prewired with a powerstrip so you can plug in multiple UTH'S, you know, in case you are thinking of expanding someday.

don't feel bad I heard of people being conned into buying the uv lights, special rodent food( which was rebagged catfood ) and other horror stories as most pet shops only there to make a profit not proper animal care. they know if you but the animal and it lives you will keep coming back once it dyes no matter what caused it .