I've finally come to understand the hatred of Petsmart...

So, I was at petsmart picking up some rats to carry me over until I get an online order. While I was in there, I walked by the BP's to check them out.

This little snake had bits of stuck shed, nothing serious, but still not a good sign. The big issue was according to the dial temperature thing they had... THE TEMP WAS 110!

I pointed this out since right below the tank they had a sign that said 80-90 for the temperature. They just said, well the dials aren't exactly accurate. That's true, but then how do you know what the temp is???? How do you know it's not 110?

I feel bad for the little BP...

They drive me nuts ... always have. Even before I was into snakes, seeing any and most animals in those stores you wonder how they are still alive sometimes! I want to buy them all and give them good homes but I know that would do nothing but make them happy with money.

Yeah, that is sad for the animal. I do think that if you don't like a place you should avoid giving them business. The pet smart near me isn't great but not horrible like some I read about

I admit to a couple of impulse pet store buys, but I try to buy my animals from breeders because I feel more confidant about the animal and supporting them financially. I do know a few independent store that have an awesome selection and great care for their animals. I know of a couple of petcos who have herp people running that section that do everything they can to keep it nice and educate people. They are really good about helping people even if the advice is against store policy (like fresh killed food and stunning pray). I think we've all seen those 'other' stores though. The ones that make you shudder and cringe. As much as I'd like to help the animals out it wouldn't stop the neglect over bottom line and I won't risk my animals at home.

Anyhow- sorry to ramble. :P

i was in a petsmart a few years ago. i asked the guy (teenager) who was feeding the geckos crickets why there were crickets in with the ball pythons. he said that he just fed them. i laughed thinking he was kidding. i figured he opened the wrong tank and dumped them in before he realized his mistake. nope! he told me that they eat crickets. then he started to explain to me how to care for one. heat lamp, one with a uvb bulb because they need it to digest their food, dial thermometer "dont waste your money on the digital ones, its not that important anyway."

i walked away and asked someone else if i could see the manager. well wouldnt you know it? he told me i was wrong and that his employee was absolutely correct. so i sent an email to their corporate office. i got a form letter back saying that they have the utmost confidence in their store managers to maintain proper and healthy animals.

i havent been inside a petsmart or pet supplies plus or petco since.

I went yesterday, and held one of the BP's. There was absolutely no humidity going on in there. I asked the girl about this, and she was pretty knowledgeable about BP's. She explained to me, that there was only so much that they could do, in the little time they had, what with having to help customer's out and other animals as well. She told me they misted his thing everyday, but it doesn't really help.

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Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

i was in a petsmart a few years ago. i asked the guy (teenager) who was feeding the geckos crickets why there were crickets in with the ball pythons. he said that he just fed them. i laughed thinking he was kidding. i figured he opened the wrong tank and dumped them in before he realized his mistake. nope! he told me that they eat crickets. then he started to explain to me how to care for one. heat lamp, one with a uvb bulb because they need it to digest their food, dial thermometer "dont waste your money on the digital ones, its not that important anyway."

i walked away and asked someone else if i could see the manager. well wouldnt you know it? he told me i was wrong and that his employee was absolutely correct. so i sent an email to their corporate office. i got a form letter back saying that they have the utmost confidence in their store managers to maintain proper and healthy animals.

i havent been inside a petsmart or pet supplies plus or petco since.

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:O Thats insane! I woulda punched that kid in the face, grabbed his keys and unlocked the cage flapper deal and stole the poor little BP!

I used to work at a petsmart, for a short time, about 3 months. I didnt have a job at the time, and needed one.
I was hired by the petcare managner because she knew I actually knew about animals and wouldnt just get info from their "training books" which let me tell you, they are about a 20 page childrens book with lots of pictures!
The girls i worked with were actually really good about their knowledge. (for a dept. pet store) Except birds and reptiles. Which happened to be my specialty. they would always tell me to suggest a UVB light with a snake owner, or sand with the bearded dragons and i would dissagree. As long as pet care could show higher sales in that dept. it didnt matter.
The part that made me very upset, is the back room.
Most people dont know about this but there is a little back room with all the animals that are too sick to be on the floor.
After shipping the animals, and remember Im talking about a North Dakota store, most of the animals came from florida companies, and in winter or hot summer, thats a long way to travel for the animals. So if they are visually sick they stay in that back room. They are treated with an elctrolyte powder in their water until they are better, or until they die. If the illness is VERY serious, they convince their manager to let them take it to a vet.
This is turning into a long post but I also hated Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow who came in with their son or daughter looking for an impulse buy. I was even TOLD by my manager that the reason they have hamsters and mice is so that parents will have a cheap, cute impulse buy for when they bring their kids. The reason the animals cages are displayed at the end of the isles right in peoples way is no accident either. But I hated when the customers came and asked for my help, I gave it to them, and they turn around and completly go with the cheaper option. Most people just want the cheaper way to care for their pet. Its sad, but true.

I won't step foot in a Petsmart for several reasons, but the primary reason is the first time I was in one.

I asked an employee where I could find feeder mice. He looked at me like I had just called his mother a witch with a b and said in the most condescending tone I have ever heard "We don't sell FEEDER mice here!" and just walked away.

First time I ever sent an email to a corporate office, informing them of what happened and that I would never spend a dime in their store.

I got some holier-than-thou response about how mice are our friends and that selling feeder mice would anger those who keep mice as companion animals.

-rolls eyes-

That's why our local owned pet store keeps ALL their mice/rats in the back room..feeder or pet, nobody except the buyer sees anything except a little box that they use for pets as well, so it doesn't really bother anyone..

But yeah, I was told to leave once from a petsmart when I mentioned I had a ball python. :O She told me I would make the rodent owners like herself uncomfortable with my presence and that she would never sell me any small animals any time I walked into the store. :O :O Someone was very touchy. I wasn't even asking for feeder mice, we were buying stuff to get rid of tics when we first got Maru. :confused: Haven't stepped into that store again.

I try not to buy stuff from petstores, sometimes there are emergencies that call for it though, but when we do we try to buy from local stores rather than big chains. But the rest of our supplies are bought online, which is just easier anyway so it's a win-win!

There is only one pet store that I will buy from, and that is a locally owned store up the road. They have snakes that are in much better condition than those at PetSmart, and the people that run the store are willing to listen to complaints and advice. The rodents they sell, both frozen and live, are pretty good quality as well. Like purplemuffin's example, they keep all their rats and mice in the back room.

Off topic but awesome, I wanted to share a little story with yall. My girlfriend's sister is a 'born again hippie', or so everyone calls her. We were at the pet store showing her the snakes, and we had taken the 5.5' RTB out that they have. My girlfriend had been holding the boa until the owner was ready to feed her. Apparently, when he was bringing the boa into the back for dinner time, he looked at Kelli (GF's sister) and said "Let's go, you're coming with me." And fed the snake while she was watching. She acted like it was no big thing, but I think that she was secretly fascinated. I'm just really surprised she didn't rant and rave to us all the way home about how it should've been kept as a pet, haha.

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Originally Posted by mues155

But I hated when the customers came and asked for my help, I gave it to them, and they turn around and completly go with the cheaper option. Most people just want the cheaper way to care for their pet. Its sad, but true.

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Dont kill me for saying something like this but I don't blame people for taking a slightly cheaper option. Some people are just starting out or are less financially able so may not be able to or willing to invest as much as some of us do. I believe that as long as they've got the basics right and everything works, the cheaper option is fine.

I think that it is when something is clearly not good, healthy or beneficial for the animal, or worse still, harmful to it, and they still take the easy way out that is the problem. Take buying huge cheap packs of pine shavings for substrate, or heaters without thermostats. Or even no heating at all. And no humidity control. Just to make things convenient. This would usually be due to total ignorance, another thing which pisses me off. Especially if they still act smart and not take advice. The best thing I've heard: "Snakes are cold blooded, why do you need heating?" Geez what so hard about looking up a caresheet spending 10minutes reading it? Of course I'm not saying that just reading 1 caresheet is enough and youre all ready to have a whole collection, but at least you would have the basics - cage set up, temperatures, humidity, Do's and Do Not's, etc.

i've owned birds, fish, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a hamster, 2 dogs and several cats (not all at once though haha).
the ONLY animals out of all those that were ever bought at a large chain pet store were some of the fish & the 2 dogs (these were "adopted" from rescues using the store as base camp). all the other animals (except the cat) were purchased from a small pet store near our home. the cats were all rescued kittens abandoned by feral moms.
i visited a petsmart the other day to get a bag of bark to use in the mean time while i scrape up the funds for my usual stuff. i wanted to go see the reptiles there so bad but forced myself not to. i bought what i was there for and booked :bolt: before i was pulled towards the animals.
i wont even look at the reptiles in the store i buy my feeder rats from. :colbert:

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Originally Posted by ogdentrece

Dont kill me for saying something like this but I don't blame people for taking a slightly cheaper option. Some people are just starting out or are less financially able so may not be able to or willing to invest as much as some of us do. I believe that as long as they've got the basics right and everything works, the cheaper option is fine.

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Yes I agree and thats why I should have worded that better, it was turning into such a long post I just kinda summed up the last part. What i mean by the cheaper option is when a person would come in saying they got a 4ft BP from a friend and they want to get something to put it in and I suggest something like a 40 gal long and they go with a 10 because its cheaper. Not the best thing of the animal but its CHEAPER.
Or if a bearded dragon needs a mercury vapor bulb that costs $40 and I would show that to customers they would say "well ill get that next time" and they would buy the cheaper bulb with a beardie pictured on it and think its just fine. And that poor beardie will never benefit from its lighting his whole life.
Thats what im talking about with going with the cheaper option. And thats why I dont like it and I believe if your going to take on the responsiblitly of a pet, he should get the best care available. If your going to go half-assed on the care of a pet thats just wrong and cruel. I feel bad for these animals that go to impulse buy homes and have poor care then end up on craigslist a month later. Im just saying...some people arent even qualified to own a betta fish with the way they care for animals.

See in my area all we have is Petco, a crappy store that sells puppy mill puppies and kittens, and a fish store (the woman who runs it knows her stuff, but is kind of a fish nazi. Hand picks ALL her fish, will refuse to sell to you if she doesn't like your setup etc.)

So Petco it is. Luckily mine isn't TERRIBLE...but it's not the best either.

I'd love to open a reptile and small critter store...

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Originally Posted by Kingofspades

See in my area all we have is Petco, a crappy store that sells puppy mill puppies and kittens, and a fish store (the woman who runs it knows her stuff, but is kind of a fish nazi. Hand picks ALL her fish, will refuse to sell to you if she doesn't like your setup etc.)

So Petco it is. Luckily mine isn't TERRIBLE...but it's not the best either.

I'd love to open a reptile and small critter store...

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there is a small town pet shop for sale in warren pa. ;)