Corrected my Manager about BP Morphs

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Originally Posted by faulkan

I'm starting to wonder if these big box pet stores think of reptiles as lesser creatures that they are forced to deal with. There's no other logical reason for not getting your employees the proper training in dealing with these little guys.

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From what I understand, it's difficult to really make money off the animals. At least the kind of money these chain stores are expecting to make... The real money comes from selling the equipment. The animals just draw the kids in and have the "I want that" effect, which of course means they can sell equipment to people to go with the animal.

It's pretty unethical to have stores set up that sell animals the same way you'd sell produce. Especially when there's so many breeders offering better quality at better prices... Some stores manage it better than others, but all around I'm sometimes surprised it's legal.

^ I agree here. Most of the balls at my local pet store are so underfed, it's sad. I asked to hold the Pastel that they had there, and the guy was freaking out about how nippy she was. And I was just like. "Look, I'll get her, good Lord." He seemed confused when I stuck my hand in and pulled her out, no issues.

Friends of mine have found dead beardies, and leopards. I buy my mice from them, but I probably wouldn't ever buy a reptile from them.

I guess that I'm the lucky one in this group. The PetSmart in my town has a lot of knowledgeable people working in their reptile/small animal sections. Most of them have various types of reptiles that they own themselves, and will go into detail to help you learn about what you want to get. Very impressive, in my opinion. Unlike the PetCo that's a town over. They are complete morons. They had a display setup with pastels and I asked did they sell them all. They told me that they were currently being fed. My first question was why would they take them off display in the middle of the day to feed them instead of at night before closing. I then said I'd like to buy one, and they said I'd have to wait for some guy to come off break because they were afraid to mess with any of them. Needless to say, I left without a snake. Poor creature.

It's not just the chains. I went to a local reptile shop and saw a baby Columbian Rainbow Boa. When I asked to see him the guy working there said he was aggressive and told me I could get him out because he always got bit. I reached in and picked him up with no problem. The guy said he was shocked not only that it didn't bite me, but that I let my kids hold it.

One of my local Petco's had a baby Brazilian Rainbow this summer. Same story, except the employees were all interested in watching, but took a couple steps back from the tank while I searched in the substrate to find it. When I bumped it, it came out of the substrate and struck my finger. I even heard a couple gasps. It was all of 12 inches long! LOL

I've worked in a chain store for nearly a year and after being "corrected" by cooperate for feeding our snakes too much/ too large prey a coworker & myself decided to decipher why they would want us to feed minimal / small prey. I believe not only does it keep the cost down, but it keeps the product small enough to house in the small display habitats & keeps the product "cute" & baby like. Everything is more appealing when it's small and cute with "awe" potential unfortunately. Both chain & small mom and pop shops have a long way to go in herp care, but the more we educate the better it will be!