"Snakes don't eat crickets?"

I just finished typing up a post for a separate thread and decided I would share it here as well, since the original is in a lower traffic section.

The thread the OP had posted was about a corn snake found in Petco that had been left with a tipped and empty water dish, and with no hides whatsoever. After the person had brought this to the employee's attention, the employee either clearly had no idea the snake was still in there, or was playing dumb. This sparked an idea in me:


Honestly, to end this silliness, there should be government action and some regulations put in place when it comes to being employed at ANY pet store, pet supply retailers, or any such places.

It should be mandatory to take either a course of some sort (with a subliminal fee of about $20-$30 bucks, and you would be given a certificate upon passing) or a written test that the company or business (giants and mom & pops alike) are required to compile (this would ensure the person had some knowledge of the species they carry) if an employee is to be eligible to work there. It may slow the process down, but it would at least SHOW that the people applying actually have the knowledge, or took the time to learn and better themselves for the job.

I'm sure this idea will have tons of loopholes and whatnot (the course being the more sensible of the two) but this is the best I can come up with. Some kind of steps have to be taken to prevent animal cruelty, neglect AND false information given in these stores. I'm not naming or pinning ANY store in particular - this method should be applied to EVERY store. Yes, some DO take proper care and it is rare to hear of such extreme neglect, but the bottom line is, it still exists. It still happens. And that's a good enough reason.

In my opinion, pet retailers need to be kept on a "tighter leash" as to animal care and those they employ.


Please, let me know what all of you think. Thank you. :)

Why not? While I was working at Subway, they made us take online courses on how to deal with customers and how to make sandwiches. Two of the easiest things to do and we had to take online courses on them! Granted, we were paid for our time while we were taking the tests... But, if we did them in our spare time it gave incentive for a raise!

I don't think it would be a bad idea. It probly won't be ran by the government though. Most likely just by the Corp. I'm not sure how something like that would be enforced by the government.

That would be great. I work at a petsmart and they actually discourage some animal care (they would prefer that you are cleaning or selling). I have been fighting for months about animal care (just throwing new snakes in with old ones, multiple species per cage, making sure animals actually get fed watered daily even knowing selling snakes with mites even though I pulled them from the floor repeatedly). About a month ago I finally got fed up fighting with the petcare manager about this and went over her head. Things finally changed. Now, different species have to be housed separately in semi-appropriately sized cages. The result, animals are doing better and my hours were cut from about 30 hours to 0-3 per week.

I would love to see what the stomach contents of wild corn snakes are, specifically the 2 week to 3 month old snakes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mainbutter

I would love to see what the stomach contents of wild corn snakes are, specifically the 2 week to 3 month old snakes.

---

"As litters of infant mice are difficult to find in nature, many neonate Corn Snakes are known to eat small lizards as their first meals, and anoles are the preferred choice."

Take it from Wikipedia, if you wish. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aalomon

That would be great. I work at a petsmart and they actually discourage some animal care (they would prefer that you are cleaning or selling). I have been fighting for months about animal care (just throwing new snakes in with old ones, multiple species per cage, making sure animals actually get fed watered daily even knowing selling snakes with mites even though I pulled them from the floor repeatedly). About a month ago I finally got fed up fighting with the petcare manager about this and went over her head. Things finally changed. Now, different species have to be housed separately in semi-appropriately sized cages. The result, animals are doing better and my hours were cut from about 30 hours to 0-3 per week.

---

That was completely and utterly childish of them. Sigh. They probably see you as a "liability" now. They'll blame anybody but themselves...

Sorry to the OP but I have to be completely against this. I hate animal cruelty and pet stores that mistreat there animals. But government intervention causes more problems than it fixes and is almost never the answer.


We as consumers need to punish them by denying them buisness, and raise awareness to other shopper and potential shoppers about there fowl buisness practices. Use the free market to stop them, it works, and more importantly you don't need braindead government putting another roadblock in the way of buisness.

Because yes some stores are awful, but why punish the good ones for the bad ones? Something to think about.

The sad thing is it's not always that some of these bad employees are just lazy or don't care, sometimes it's ignorance, or tied hands by bad corporate rules.

I was looking at some Colubrids at Petsmart yesterday, A few caught my eye, and I struck up a conversation with the employee while I handled a potential new addition. We discussed the ball pythons they had and she mentioned how aggressive the male was. I told her they high half log they had in the cage gave the guy no place to hide. I told how secretive they were and that they need that darkness and tight comfort. And a lack of it would promote striking.

She said she wanted to get it a better one, but the cages were mandated by corporate, Which gave me a shock.

You can't judege ever large market pet store with the stores that have problems. I also would never want government intervention. If this were to occur, how long do you think it would be before YOU would have to take an exam, just to buy a snake or any other animal for that matter.

What needs to occur is the companies make the store managers responsible for the proper care of their animals. More complaints to the parent company's home office will turn this around more than anything else. Complaining to the store manager will get you nothing but lip service.

Just my opinion!
Jim Smith

Hey I am the original poster of the thread you mentioned. The water dish wasn't just knocked over and empty, they purposely flipped the water dish over onto the other side. At Petco they do this to all of the "empty" tanks. But sadly this tank wasn't empty.

It had no hides, no fake plants, nothing. Just an emptied and flipped over water dish, and a little aspen. It was like they were getting ready to switch the tank to another animal and they forgot they had a corn snake left alive in there.

But I agree with your post. Good post :gj:

Actually, I think if you are going to use the logic that the government should regulate pet stores for the well-being of the animals, then I say screw that - regulate ownership.

I'm willing to bet you more animals die due to maltreatment from their owners than do those in pet stores. So why use a big hammer on a small nail? Use that big ol' g-hammer on a BIG nail - idiots who buy animals they can't afford and have no idea how to care for.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aalomon

That would be great. I work at a petsmart and they actually discourage some animal care (they would prefer that you are cleaning or selling). I have been fighting for months about animal care (just throwing new snakes in with old ones, multiple species per cage, making sure animals actually get fed watered daily even knowing selling snakes with mites even though I pulled them from the floor repeatedly). About a month ago I finally got fed up fighting with the petcare manager about this and went over her head. Things finally changed. Now, different species have to be housed separately in semi-appropriately sized cages. The result, animals are doing better and my hours were cut from about 30 hours to 0-3 per week.

---

That sux. It seems to be a growing trend in the pet stores around here......the best, most knowledgeable employees have been "dissappearing". But I guess there's some gratification in knowing you made a difference.

The issue is really with management. There are two managers in my store that know anything about animals...the rest have to ask (even basic questions). If management doesnt care, they arent going to hire people who care. They are going to hire people who sell. One day, my manager wrote on our communication board that for every one thing someone buys, suggest 3 other things whether they need it or not. :taz:

The pet store I used to work for actually did implement something like this for a while though it certainly wasn't federally mandated or anything like that. They started doing it shortly after I resigned so I have no idea what it's like there nowadays. There are certificates on the wall with photos of employess alongside a certificate of sorts that shows they passed a test on basic care of a specific area of knowledge (reptiles, birds, small animals, fish). I believe the management just saw it as an oppurtunity to snub competing pet stores but it did mean that their employees did have to take an interest in the information in order to obtain their certificates. If more stores did this maybe it would help..

The problem is what the information is. Did you know all petsmart employees have to pass tests on petcare? The problem is the material is either wrong or they just forget it the next day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aalomon

The problem is what the information is. Did you know all petsmart employees have to pass tests on petcare? The problem is the material is either wrong or they just forget it the next day.

---

Hmm. That's true. :colbert:

I found out yesterday that Georgia will examine claims made about petstores given to the Animal Control. I will probably start making some calls in the future.

Found out by being at a Pet Supplies Plus last night getting some crickets and taking a look at a new carpet python they got in. Carpet pythons are awesome by the way! Anyway, while I was there, animal control came in to make sure they handled a situation that was called in by a customer about a ferret who was sickly. The officer thought I had a love for all animals and said if I wanted to help, I could donate some time to a farret rescue group. I took the information but I have no passion to help take care of sick ferrets.

I wasn't the one that called on the ferret, but I do remember seeing it and I had a hard time believing they would even keep it with the other ferrets. They no longer sell ferrets anymore.

Just thought I would pass this information along. Not sure if I commented in that thread, but they are not hired to be animal experts. It's not up to the government to do anything. The chain should take the initiative. If you want to make a difference, don't look towards the government. Write something up and send it to the store manager of every petstore in your area. Send it to the regional manager and send it to the home office for the chain. Don't use threats, play a numbers game.

How many threads on this forum bash PetCo/PetSmart/PetLand/etc... That's lost business to them. And when you HAVE pets, people talk to you about them and if they decide to get a pet you will probably tell them not to get them from one of those pet stores. I know how to go about change in a corporate environment. I just don't have the drive or time to do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aalomon

The issue is really with management. There are two managers in my store that know anything about animals...the rest have to ask (even basic questions). If management doesnt care, they arent going to hire people who care. They are going to hire people who sell. One day, my manager wrote on our communication board that for every one thing someone buys, suggest 3 other things whether they need it or not. :taz:

---

It was the same at the pet store I worked at, only I resisted their policies and gave people honest info on what they needed and what they didn't. But it was really hard because people often don't do the research themselves and the animals suffer for it. Even when I gave the best info on care people would come back to say their lizard/snake was not doing well, or had died.:(:mad: But on a bright note costumers came back to me again and again for help, and I was able to help educate people and better animal's lives. I geuss that's why I stayed there so long, despite all the negative things happening on a daily basis.

I don't think we need any more government involvement.