conglomarte pet stores

I find one of the best places for supplies is at herp shows/events. Alot of the equipment i have is used and in good condition, from such events. :)

I'm repulsed by the care pet stores around here give to their animals. I'm almost positive the BPs I've seen are DYING not being sold. Because every time I check on them they get smaller and smaller and then their gone :confused: I highly doubt they are selling that many normal BPs for $80 all the sudden when they're half dead. :( In fact, I went into one of the big pet stores and there was a dead BP in the tank!

Once picked up a green rat snake at Petco, they didn't even know what it was, they had labeled it "Green tree snake," and didn't tell me about proper care (I was about 8 at the time), so I took it home, and in a few weeks it died. Probably mites.

Got my male from a pet store (Pet Supplies Plus), and I love it. Had him for 2 years.

I like them because around here they are the only place to get live food if you need them (my babies refuse to eat frozen, so I'll have to work on them later, right now I'm more concerned with them eating than what they eat). Not to mention the little non-big name stores are usually dingy and not clean.

Personally I'd rather find local breeders and get things off of them.

I've pretty much eliminated the need for shopping at chain pet stores for anything at all.
We have a pretty awesome reptile store around here that's good for supplies like bedding and such. ebay is good for finding better prices on heat mats and such. feeders we get from a local breeder. Other supplies (tubs, hides, bowls) come from walmart.

Even for our other pets- we buy our dog food from a local feed store. The same brand and size costs at least $12 more at petco than what we pay for it at the feed store. Even stuff for my rabbits comes from the feed store. The only time we need to go to a chain pet store is for our cat food, and that's only because one cat is sensitive to many brands, and the brand he does the best on is only available at petsmart.

Buying live animals from a chain pet store is not a good choice. Still, the responsibility is shared equally between the pet store and the buyer. Even if the pet store gives improper care information, its the responsibility of the buyer to do their research ahead of time, and know what they are getting into. Anything else is lazy, and can end up costing way too much money, and even the life of the animal.

I tried getting feeder mice at a non-chain store today and was denied service by one of them employees, he claimed they didn't have mice, then asked if I wanted them as pets or food, as if the answer would be different, when I said feeders he gave me a disgusted look and said no, then walked away.

Yeah, then I walked for 2 hours to a chain store and was given service. The only reason I had to walk was because of where I was I couldn't catch a bus there, but I could get one from there back home. So yeah I'm done shopping there. The other nearby non-chain store doesn't carry lives. And thanks to Pittsburgh being lame with their bus service I can't get out to Robinson which has like 4 pet stores. There are only a handful of buses during weekdays that go out there now-a-days, so yeah. I'm sorry but I really don't like the non-chain stores around here. The chain places are clean, their animals are always healthy and I've never seen any with problems. At the same non-chain place I went they have a ball python that has scars all over it's body, and they don't clean out the cages as often.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Ok, here's what it comes down to: the big chain stores are necessary for SUPPLIES, at least to allow people to pick up bedding or food quickly in emergencies and the like or for those poor people who can't afford the prices plus shipping of buying online supplies.

However, they should NOT be selling live animals. Period. Unless they were to update their policies, improve their sales enclosures/reduce the numbers of animals in stock at one time so each cage had ONE inhabitant, and train their employees with a Knowledgeable trainer in animal care. And of course, those thing will happen when pigs fly and the national deficit is paid off in one day.

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You took the words right out of my mouth!:O :evileye: mwahaha now I know you have psychic abilities and I'm going to share your secret with all of BP.net!:D:D:D;)

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Ok, here's what it comes down to: the big chain stores are necessary for SUPPLIES, at least to allow people to pick up bedding or food quickly in emergencies and the like or for those poor people who can't afford the prices plus shipping of buying online supplies.

However, they should NOT be selling live animals. Period. Unless they were to update their policies, improve their sales enclosures/reduce the numbers of animals in stock at one time so each cage had ONE inhabitant, and train their employees with a Knowledgeable trainer in animal care. And of course, those thing will happen when pigs fly and the national deficit is paid off in one day.

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I totally agree with this statement.