WTF at petco

I had an interesting experience earlier today when I was visiting a petco in Union NJ. I was walking around with a friend looking for something for a new puppy she was getting and told her I was going over to look at the reptiles. It took an assosicate a little hile to get the keys for the ball python tank and he didn't seem comfortable or knowledgable about the ball pythons so I offered to take them out myself. He said there were quite a few in there So as I was gently removing them from one another I was just checking their overall appearence until I came across the last one which was at the bottom of the pile. The thing was not much thicker than my thumb and looked like it had extra skin just laying around. The thickest part of its body could not be thicker than a nickel and the problem with that is that the guy said they got them all in at the same time. The others I would say were around 150 grams because they looked about the same size of my BP now. This thing could not have weighed more than 50g or so. He said oh we should probably try and feed it or something and he seems like he had no clue how to take care of the situation. Now I am planning on calling corporate tomorrow to see if they can do anything to fix the situation, or should I just call the store and try and talk to the store manager about the lack or care being shown to one of their animals?

Yeah this is sad to say the least. The petco by me is pretty good with their reptiles but the petsmart is horrible. They dont even carry ball pythons anymore as far as I can tell. I only go there if it is absolutely needed. Im boycotting petsmart for their contributions to the HSUS. Petco on the other hand, I will go to for certain things for my dogs and cat that I cant find anywhere else. I have also seen pretty bad conditions at my local petland. There is not much we can do about this other than let our friend know. Personal friends and those here at bp.net.

It is almost always a dead end to try to educate someone working there when you are simply a lowly customer. When I see things like this I shake my head and walk on just hoping that someday soon they will get a proper clue as to how to care for these animals.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

Yeah this is sad to say the least. The petco by me is pretty good with their reptiles but the petsmart is horrible. They dont even carry ball pythons anymore as far as I can tell. I only go there if it is absolutely needed. Im boycotting petsmart for their contributions to the HSUS. Petco on the other hand, I will go to for certain things for my dogs and cat that I cant find anywhere else. I have also seen pretty bad conditions at my local petland. There is not much we can do about this other than let our friend know. Personal friends and those here at bp.net.

It is almost always a dead end to try to educate someone working there when you are simply a lowly customer. When I see things like this I shake my head and walk on just hoping that someday soon they will get a proper clue as to how to care for these animals.

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Your statement makes me sad, it makes me feel like I just have to sit back and let what may happen, happen. I wish there was a way to help the little guy or get him out of there somehow, I just feel horrible seeing him like that. I mean I am new to BPs and everything but even I can tell that he looked extremely sickly. Should I not even make an effort to tell someone who works there or corporate?

thats why i dont buy anything at any of the chain stores. i use a mom and pop store. i made friends with the guy that runs the shop so if i need anything he will order it for me so i dont have to buy from the chain stores. my advice to everyone is to find a small pet store and hang out in there make friends and then you can avoid the bigger stores.

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

Your statement makes me sad, it makes me feel like I just have to sit back and let what may happen, happen. I wish there was a way to help the little guy or get him out of there somehow, I just feel horrible seeing him like that. I mean I am new to BPs and everything but even I can tell that he looked extremely sickly. Should I not even make an effort to tell someone who works there or corporate?

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That is very understandable and I feel the same way BUT... I have learned that we cant "rescue" all the animals we see in pet stores like this or it only gives them a reason to keep these animals in stock. They will continue this treatment as long as people are buying the animals. It takes self control but you need to remember that you are saving many more snakes by not buying that one or two that you see in bad conditions. Thats why we need to let our friends and family know and recommend that no one buy animals from these places. In the end this is the best thing for these animals. Of the 30 something reptiles I now have, only 1 is from a pet store and she was purchased 7 yrs ago from a well known reptile store. She was still very sick when I got her despite the stores reputation. Stores like these break my heart but all we can do is continue to educate so more and more people will care for these animals the right way.

~Monica..

My wife works at Petco. Just because one employee didn't know about them, doesn't mean they don't have anyone knowledgeable on staff. They feed once a week and don't always keep a feeding record because it's just too hard to tell different snakes apart that cohabitate.

Your best bet is to inform the stores manager. He's the one that cares if it dies (store will lose money). Also, all Petco's have vets for their region which doesn't cost the store anything. They would much rather have the snake make it, so they can sell it and make a 50%+ profit. Letting corporate know probably won't do anything.

I work at Petsmart in NY and we still sell ball pythons. It depends on the store. I do not agree with the contributions to HSUS by Petsmart either, but I REFUSE to go to Petco for reptiles. Always bad conditions for the animals. At least at Petsmart it is a company policy to have them in adequate (not perfect) conditions. I have never once in my 2 years working at a few Petsmart's, seen a snake come in malnourished and the store try to sell it.

It's a shame. Utter shame.

It can't hurt to try and talk to the store manager. You can't blame them if they don't know they are doing wrong! We need to educate so they can be better in the future. At least you can sleep at night knowing you did your part!

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Originally Posted by spitfireashlea

but I REFUSE to go to Petco for reptiles. Always bad conditions for the animals. At least at Petsmart it is a company policy to have them in adequate (not perfect) conditions. I have never once in my 2 years working at a few Petsmart's, seen a snake come in malnourished and the store try to sell it.

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You obviously must work closer to PetSmart headquarters or something. The PetSmarts around Atlanta are horrible for reptiles. They keep them in MUCH smaller quarters, they all have the same temperature and I have never seen a care sheet there. I'd also venture a guess that your local PetCo and PetSmart get their animals from the same breeders.

PetSmart is a good place for tank decorations and tank accessories. They also have the cheapest digital thermometers out of all the stores.
Pet Supplies Plus is a good place for feeders, just make sure you gut load them first. They suck with their husbandry.
Pet Supermarket is good only for their sales. You can get UTHs for cheap during the two big sales a year that they have. You can also get custom reptile enclosures for cheap...though they are cheaply made.
PetCo is only really good for frozen mice/rats and their $1 a gallon tank sales.
PetLand everything and I mean everything is overpriced. $75 for a neonate king snake....no thanks. $250 for a yearling ball....no thanks.

Well first speak with your dollar. Don't buy from bad stores ever. Not anything.


I wish there was a training program in place to teach these employees about reptiles. I mean Part of me can't imagine it's cruelty..though part of me can knowing how some people irrationally hate snakes. Still I think alot of these care problems at big box pet stores are ignorance based.

Some are just lazyness. I know about working retail, and it can be hard to make yourself care. Still if your working with animals you need to be on the spot because there little lives are in your hands.


Honestly I wish big stores like petsmart and petco wouldn't sell reptiles if they can't do it right. Because I know I will never buy from them. I'd much rather deal with breeders.

I called the Ohio Dept of fish & game on a local petstore after not getting a satisfactory response from management about the conditions of their reptiles. There was a bearded dragon that was fried in front of a heat lamp..he had obviously been there for some time. The poor iguanas that were in the same tank were all huddled together at the other end, it was a very small enclosure. This place also had a variety of snakes, all together in a 55 gallon tank..with just a CHE on top. When I took a closer look at one of the balls in their, the little guy was literally gasping for air..his whole body was heaving something awful. I advised the clerk on my way out, but it fell on deaf ears. I also noticed the store sold cayman, which I believed was illegal in my state. Contacted the manager who seemed very nonchalant about the situation, he advised they ended up euthing the ball. When I contacted fish & game, they told me they've gotten numerous complaints about this store before, but unfortunately due to the crappy lenient laws here in Ohio, there isn't much they can do. Your best bet is to definitely contact corporate, then have an outside party such as your local animal warden's office or wildlife to look into it as well.

I agree it's awful to see things like this, but truthfully we can't save them all.

I would at the very lest speak to the manager. Try to be calm and collected and state your concerns as valid points, not by arguing. You might begin by saying this animal seems unhealthy to you, and ask if he's noticed it. Inquire about feeding habits, or ask if this particular animal might possibly be housed separately for a short time.

If this falls on deaf ears, then the next step is to stop shopping that store. Sometimes your local newspaper can be persuaded to run a short column about neglect seen in a particular store.

In a last ditch, all-or-nothing, to **ll with what anyone thinks move, you can try to get enough friends together to picket the store, where you will be sure to end up on the news, and possibly in jail if you aren't careful. I have seen that happen once here, the store in question stayed in business, but no longer sells snakes or reptiles of any kind.

Gale

Does anybody live near a Debbie's Petland? I'm not sure if it's a local chain or personally owned store, but it has relocated itself around my area a handful of times, all due to complaints and the lack of care shown to its animals. They opened up (again) in the mall near my area, and at the beginning I had heard that they'd "really turned the place around!" or that "the animals seem way healthier!" so I decided to check it out myself.

Big mistake.

I marched past the dogs and cats - at first glance I could tell that they were as sickly as always - and went on to the reptile section. I was appaled to say the least. It's like watching a car crash, you want to look away but you can't. There was not a single reptile there that didn't look sickly. I moved on to the ball pythons, and almost cried. How the poor little guys were still alive was beyond me. I almost wanted to put them down myself, just to end their suffering because there was no way those animals could have survived the stresses of being moved to a new home without dying.

How do places get away with this bullsh*t? Especially when they are major chains, like petsmart or petco or any other pet anything that are open to the public, the majority of which having eyes. How can an average person not know that an animal that's lethargic and has fluid coming out of its nostrils is a sick one? I refuse to shop at places like that anymore. It only succeeds in making me want to punch whoever's in charge of taking care of the animals.

as unfortunate as it is, its all too common for pet stores to not have healthy animals. my take on it is one of (& ive told a few employees this)
" if you dont know a thing about these animals in here, then why do you work here?!"
& every time, they go "uh...well...um...i needed a job"
& i give a louf huff, roll my eyes & walk away with a wrenching heart for the animals i'm leaving behind as i do so.

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Originally Posted by kasmir

I called the Ohio Dept of fish & game on a local petstore after not getting a satisfactory response from management about the conditions of their reptiles. There was a bearded dragon that was fried in front of a heat lamp..he had obviously been there for some time. The poor iguanas that were in the same tank were all huddled together at the other end, it was a very small enclosure. This place also had a variety of snakes, all together in a 55 gallon tank..with just a CHE on top. When I took a closer look at one of the balls in their, the little guy was literally gasping for air..his whole body was heaving something awful. I advised the clerk on my way out, but it fell on deaf ears. I also noticed the store sold cayman, which I believed was illegal in my state. Contacted the manager who seemed very nonchalant about the situation, he advised they ended up euthing the ball. When I contacted fish & game, they told me they've gotten numerous complaints about this store before, but unfortunately due to the crappy lenient laws here in Ohio, there isn't much they can do. Your best bet is to definitely contact corporate, then have an outside party such as your local animal warden's office or wildlife to look into it as well.

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Would your local news, TV and print, like to do a story on them? Things that crawl under rocks seldom like having that rock lifted. Remember there is the internet too. Make a site on them and then mail them the info anonymously so they know it's there. Also there is a huge complaints board you can post on also.
http://www.complaintsboard.com/

In other words Run Your Mouth Loud And Long. Bad people hate that. It does make a difference.

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

I Now I am planning on calling corporate tomorrow to see if they can do anything to fix the situation, or should I just call the store and try and talk to the store manager about the lack or care being shown to one of their animals?

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Don't bother with the store manager. Calling corporate will get better results. Customer complaints reflect very badly on the store, it's why when I get the receipt with the customer feedback coupon, they tell me to give all 5's, anything less is considered a failure. You can use the phone number on the receipt or you can use the feedback form on the website.

petland and petco are jokes. petsmart is the only "mainstream" pet store around where I live that has a clue what they are doing.

I have called corporate on Petland, but I havnt been back in there to see if conditions for their ball pythons improved. I refuse to go back.. thats how bad it is.

I would call the store manager and let him/her know the problem, and also tell the store manager that you want the number to corporate so that you can talk to corporate about it also. TRUST ME, if you tell the manager that you are calling corporate, something WILL be done.

Sure, we can't save all of these poor animals. It is impossible. But that dosn't mean we should just sit back and do nothing and give up trying to help them. If I have to call corporate 100 times, and it only saved 1 animal, that would be worth it to me.