its so sad

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

yes, you are right, maybe i need to make myself more clear.


You should only buy from people or places or companies where you can see that husbandry is good for all reptiles, amphibians, and spiders. If i see any animal not properly cared for, i wont buy anything.


But with big chains and big box stores, there is another problem: Their management and their hiring policies are known to TIME AND TIME AGAIN lead to unmotivated, unqualified and inexperienced employees. And these are nationwide or even global policies. I wont buy from big chains because hiring people that know how to properly care for the animals IS NOT PART OF THEIR POLICY, specifically THEY WONT PAY FOR IT. The business model is to hire at lowest possibe wage, and to HOPE that such knowledge automatically goes from employee to employee.

With small breeders and big breeders and dealers and individual stores, every one has the potential to do a really excellent job when it comes to husbandry. Every one can also screw up. And if they want to stay in business, there is an incentive to consistently do a good job.

With the big chains, if one of the stores does a very good job, this is merely a coincidence. The big chains are not aiming for it. If they _by chance_ hire a veterinary student, husbandry in that store will be excellent until that vet student gets a REAL job, but that veterinary student will not see a single cent more for his knowledge. With the high turnover rates, the low fixed wages, and good husbandry just not being part of the business plan, if you support ANY of these big chains you also support the worst shops in that chain. If the underlying philosophy is screwed up, one person can make one petco/phis. etsmart really nice for as long as that one person is present, but noone can improve the overall situation in the hundreds of shops in the larger system - not unless we bring some consumer power to bear against the whole system and force them to change their whole strategy.

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There's a lot to be said for this. I wonder if a letter campaign was put together, or even something like a BOI for chain stores (or even local places, although they tend to be more stalwart in their strategies)-- keepers and hobbyists logging on to give reviews of particular stores or particular regions. It could be effective, it could not. Perhaps it's something to work on. Feedback?

Because we all know that regardless of location or staff, the quality of these animals' lives could be improved without much more out-of-pocket expenses for these chains. They've got enough profit to put a little back into their husbandry.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

It's all about the people hired, not the store itself. I second that.

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Third it! I know the manager at my local big-box will buy live feeders elsewhere and work late one night a week... ;)

OTOH I can name two private shops I would never set foot in, and a few others I would buy from without question. It's all about the people, not the store name.

There's a private shop I've been in local to me, and I've tried so hard to get hired as their herp specialist because I know for a fact I can give them better conditions than what they've got... but I have a feeling the place isn't hiring me for the fact that my changes would cost them more money. =/ there are definitely some unreliable places. Which is a shame, because now I HAVE to buy from the big box companies, as the local one is just so awful with their husbandry.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

It's all about the people hired, not the store itself.

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Yes and no. A lot of the bad policies they have come from higher up the chain. I do agree that educated staff is extremely important to the care of the animals. I know on here some employees have said they can't put adequate hides in because store policy says the animals need to be viewable rather than having people request to see them.

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Originally Posted by Cortland V.

I got a ball from petsmart a couple months ago. He was obviously starving and I was going to try to save him. I got him home and he just wouldn't eat. Poor guy was so skinny. He died within two weeks. I'm glad that I could give him a good home during his final days, though... I got a refund and got another from the same petsmart. I figured I may as well try and save another. He is doing good so far, a bit aggressive, but healthy. These places shouldn't even carry reptiles in my opinion.

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You aren't SAVING these animals. You are supporting that store by giving them MONEY, which allows uncounted MORE animals to be abused in this fashion. If people would stop paying for these animals, the stores would stop carrying them.