pet stores: friend or foe?

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Southern States and Tractor Supply don't seem to be hurting for business, and they don't sell cows, horses, pigs, sheep...

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They sell chicks, ducks, doves and some rodent pets here.

I will play the devils advocate here. I do not believe it is the stores job to give people advise on how to care for what they buy. If I own a store and you are giving me $$ that you worked to earn I assume that you are not a complete idiot and have some idea what you are doing.

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Originally Posted by KING JAMES

I will play the devils advocate here. I do not believe it is the stores job to give people advise on how to care for what they buy. If I own a store and you are giving me $$ that you worked to earn I assume that you are not a complete idiot and have some idea what you are doing.

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We sell and repair firearms and we've had people here who are so stupid that they should have been washed out of the gene pool several generations ago, but at least they only hurt themselves or the gun. They also learn that stupidity is expensive.

A friend of mine sells motorcycles and he's seen buyers drop brand new bikes seconds after they leave his parking lot, though to talk to the buyers they sound experienced. At least they are only hurting themselves or the bike.

With a live animal I would have a real problem making a sale to someone who I know wouldn't keep it properly.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

We sell and repair firearms and we've had people here who are so stupid that they should have been washed out of the gene pool several generations ago, but at least they only hurt themselves or the gun. They also learn that stupidity is expensive.

A friend of mine sells motorcycles and he's seen buyers drop brand new bikes seconds after they leave his parking lot, though to talk to the buyers they sound experienced. At least they are only hurting themselves or the bike.

With a live animal I would have a real problem making a sale to someone who I know wouldn't keep it properly.

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Yeah, but if that brand new bike owner drops his bike on a highway, he's got even odds of hurting himself AND some innocent party. Somebody too stupid to own a gun might just hurt themselves - or they might hurt somebody else.

Not saying that it's the same as purchasing something which feels the harm ITSELF of the ignorance of the purchaser, but 'only hurts themselves' ..motor vehicles and fire arms might not've been your best bet for examples.

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Originally Posted by CptJack

Yeah, but if that brand new bike owner drops his bike on a highway, he's got even odds of hurting himself AND some innocent party. Somebody too stupid to own a gun might just hurt themselves - or they might hurt somebody else.

Not saying that it's the same as purchasing something which feels the harm ITSELF of the ignorance of the purchaser, but 'only hurts themselves' ..motor vehicles and fire arms might not've been your best bet for examples.

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No kidding, I was going to say. Definitely some pretty bad examples, there.


I do absolutely think that it is the stores/breeders responsibility to inform someone of how to care for an animal, but not only theirs. They should be prepared to learn how to tell if the prospective buyer has done their research or not, and ask questions to make sure the buyer has the proper equipment to give the animal a good home.

We screen prospective owners at rescues and breeders for mammals, why should it have to stop there?

The selling of reptiles isnt what i have a problem with. Its the lack of knowledge that gets me mad. They have their husbandry all wrong and then thats the misinformation they spread. They sell these animals and know nothing about them. Wrong information is worst than no information

Big business pet stores are almost always bad. But I've been going to this small pet store and they take very good care of their animals. I got a leopard gecko from them a while ago and he is very healthy

I think pet stores are okay for getting people into the reptile hobby. Have a few beginner snakes/reptiles that are pretty easy to care for and get people successful on keeping those. If they are interested in long term, most people will find the means to get more advanced snakes/reptiles.

My fiancé works for a big chain pet store. He got the job because they needed someone with experience with herps. I do agree that there are a lot of pet store employees that don't have a clue what they are doing. I get mad when I see more advanced snakes being sold, like BRB and they are being kept in a tank with a mesh top with humidity gage that reads at most 40%. I have told quite a few pet stores my opinion on it (including the managers at my fiancé's store).

There are plenty of good pet stores that I shop at. If I don't think they're very good at keeping their animals, I don't give them my money. It's as simple as that. I think there are far too many CUSTOMERS who will go buy their supplies at the nearest store despite them having poor husbandry simply because it's convenient. This is how poor pet stores stay in business AND this is how good pet stores go out of business. If people were more discerning about where their money went, the poor stores would be out of business and the good stores would be doing well.

I don't have a problem with "pet stores" per say either. For many there is no other source of supplies or animals near them and when you first get into the hobby, i.e. when you get your first gecko, snake, etc. you may not even know that shipping is possible. I know that I started out with a couple crested geckos from petco. Were they from a big box store? Yes, but they were also well-cared for due to the store having an experienced herp person working there.

I think that saying stores should not sell reptiles would greatly decrease access to the hobby and would probably lead to less people becoming keepers.

I'm not defending bad husbandry, however, and yes it is best to buy from a local shop that has good conditions. But there too, I've seen many mom and pop stores with worse conditions than the big box stores.