Prehistoric Pets Reptile Zoo disappointed

So after brousing the website we decided to shoot up to the "reptile zoo" to kill a day...once we got there we paid the entrance fee and walked through the gate and I was in shock...the first thing I noticed was a tortise with a tumor growing out of his neck...we started walking down the first isle and most of the snakes had stuck shed on them, they were cramped into cages that were way way too small for them...they had exposed lightbulbs in the tanks with the wires stapled to the sides. They had multiple tegus in cages that were 3x2. Most of the lizards had severe nose rub and swollen mouths. I saw mouth rot on a few monitors again cramped into small cages. They had a larger enclosure with 2 or 3 yellow anacondas in it and in the same enclosure was a red tail boa. There were two savs in a 4 foot cage with a little substrate (bottom of the cage was showing) we saw roaches crawling inside the snake cages. The carpert was peeled up with white moldy looking spots all over...then we came to the petting section. They had a blue tongue skink and I asked them what species it was to which I was told "its a blue tongue skink they are all the same species and all from Australia". I told the employee thst was incorrect and he just shrugged. They also had a crested gecko out thst had a stubbed tail. One of the kids asked him about it and he said they all drop their tails before they reach adulthood. There was soo many issues I saw that just shocked me...husbandry was terrible in every cage, there was poop all over the enclosures, there were ants crawling all over the cages...there was just so many issues that I could keep going. I was not only disappointed, but left there completely pissed off. I thought that maybe since they were big into breeding and well known in the community we would see animals being properly cared for but instead I felt like we had just paid to walk through the equivalent of a reptile pound.

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

So after brousing the website we decided to shoot up to the "reptile zoo" to kill a day...once we got there we paid the entrance fee and walked through the gate and I was in shock...the first thing I noticed was a tortise with a tumor growing out of his neck...we started walking down the first isle and most of the snakes had stuck shed on them, they were cramped into cages that were way way too small for them...they had exposed lightbulbs in the tanks with the wires stapled to the sides. They had multiple tegus in cages that were 3x2. Most of the lizards had severe nose rub and swollen mouths. I saw mouth rot on a few monitors again cramped into small cages. They had a larger enclosure with 2 or 3 yellow anacondas in it and in the same enclosure was a red tail boa. There were two savs in a 4 foot cage with a little substrate (bottom of the cage was showing) we saw roaches crawling inside the snake cages. The carpert was peeled up with white moldy looking spots all over...then we came to the petting section. They had a blue tongue skink and I asked them what species it was to which I was told "its a blue tongue skink they are all the same species and all from Australia". I told the employee thst was incorrect and he just shrugged. They also had a crested gecko out thst had a stubbed tail. One of the kids asked him about it and he said they all drop their tails before they reach adulthood. There was soo many issues I saw that just shocked me...husbandry was terrible in every cage, there was poop all over the enclosures, there were ants crawling all over the cages...there was just so many issues that I could keep going. I was not only disappointed, but left there completely pissed off. I thought that maybe since they were big into breeding and well known in the community we would see animals being properly cared for but instead I felt like we had just paid to walk through the equivalent of a reptile pound.

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oh my god where is this place located sorry I have never heard of it did you contact anyone about what you saw report them that is awful how could someone treat these animals like that

We've only been to their store once, but never to their back room 'zoo'. While we didn't have a negative experience, it wasn't positive either....
I've heard terrible and shady stories of Prehistoric Pets.
They also have youtube videos of them pulling out hatchings out of eggs prematurely with their bare hands then shoving them back in.

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Originally Posted by akskeeper

oh my god where is this place located sorry I have never heard of it did you contact anyone about what you saw report them that is awful how could someone treat these animals like that

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Originally Posted by satomi325

We've only been to their store once, but never to their back room 'zoo'. While we didn't have a negative experience, it wasn't positive either....
I've heard terrible and shady stories of Prehistoric Pets.
They also have youtube videos of them pulling out hatchings out of eggs prematurely with their bare hands then shoving them back in.

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It really made me sick to my stomach. Even my son who is 5 was saying "Daddy this isn't right, why are their cages so small? Why do they look sick?" As an after thought when we left I told my wife I wish i would have taken pictures, so I had some proof, but I just wanted to get out of there. On the way out we saw an employee spraying windex into a lizard cage with the animal inside and wiping the glass down. I don't understand how a place like this can stay in business, we looked into leaving a complaint with the SPCALA, but not sure how that works with a business, especially one that is operating as a pet shop, breeding center, zoo, and birthday party place. If anyone has any input or advice on who to reach out to I will gladly start the complaint process.

One of the things you learn being in this hobby awhile is the number of "reputable" people who keep their animals in appalling conditions.

It's one of the best reasons to buy from someone you know, someone you trust or someone who maintains scrupulous records.

We went to Prehistoric Pets a couple months ago for the first (and last time). The OP's report of conditions is almost exactly what we found. After paying $5.00 each we were very disappointed and left feeling bad for most of the animals.

Safe to say we won't be going back and will remember our visit next time we see Jay and his group all smiles at one of the reptile shows or on a YouTube video.

This is the same guy that let a ball python "eat" his finger then pull his finger out of the ball python. I bet that felt fantastic for the snake... After watching those videos I'd never buy anything from them. I was sad to see a breeder that I was thinking of buying from promoting them after their last visit with photos. That's what happens when so much money is involved.

I would start with a report to local animal control, though unfortunately most are woefully inadequate when evaluating reptiles and their husbandry.

If you can stomach it, go back, take lots of pictures, upload them to their own directory in a picture-hosting site like photobucket, and throw a link to that directory along with a negative review on all their youtube videos. I would also leave bad reviews on yelp, manta, merchantcircle, google, yahoo, etc.

Boi.......

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I would start with a report to local animal control, though unfortunately most are woefully inadequate when evaluating reptiles and their husbandry.

If you can stomach it, go back, take lots of pictures, upload them to their own directory in a picture-hosting site like photobucket, and throw a link to that directory along with a negative review on all their youtube videos. I would also leave bad reviews on yelp, manta, merchantcircle, google, yahoo, etc.

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I have some local numbers to contact today, to at least file a report as a starting point. If I have to go back and take pics I will. I really don't want to, but if it will help, then I will.

This thread should probably be moved to the feedback section but....

Yeah same here, not going to lie, we purchased our retic from them on our trip out to San Diego from Virginia. Conditions were pretty bad, we also got a behind the scenes tour, which was cool to see the morphs they have underwraps in retics but not so cool to see how they house the animals behind the scenes. 300g Retics in the same size cages i bring my sandwhich to work in. Nose rub to the point where many retics had half a face. We were told it was a genetic thing with tigers. Nothing to do with a small cage + wire mesh on a part of the cage which acted as a cheese grater. Water Monitor with blood all over the floor in a cleaning room with loose 8ft retics on the ground.

I wouldnt purchase from them again.

I contacted the SPCA and was prompted to leave a voicemail on their hotline which I did, however I am a fan of actually talking with people and not relying on messages so I contacted Animal Control and they put me in contact with their business liscencing department. They knew the buisness and its location as soon as I said the name and took my report. They asked for as much detail as I could give them and said they will be sending an officer out to inspect today. Now if that amounts to anything we will see, but hopefully it at least raises some red flags. I just can't for the life of me understand how ANYONE would think this is ok.

I commend you for speaking up, and not staying silent. A lot of people are intimidated or apprehensive to speak up when it comes to 'big name' people or places. I hate that fact. Wrong is wrong, I don't care who you are.

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

I contacted the SPCA and was prompted to leave a voicemail on their hotline which I did, however I am a fan of actually talking with people and not relying on messages so I contacted Animal Control and they put me in contact with their business liscencing department. They knew the buisness and its location as soon as I said the name and took my report. They asked for as much detail as I could give them and said they will be sending an officer out to inspect today. Now if that amounts to anything we will see, but hopefully it at least raises some red flags. I just can't for the life of me understand how ANYONE would think this is ok.

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any recent news on what happened?

Jclairborne, thank you for posting your experiences there. I've watched a number of their videos, and not always cared for how they handle their snakes on camera.

Please talk to your 5-year old, and get him out to see a good zoo. That stuff IS traumatic for a kid that age - I have my own memories from a bad zoo trip when I was five years old...a lone elephant in a dirty white room, chained to the floor...
That one STILL makes me cry.

jclailborne thanks for posting this. I have never been to their facility but I have seen some of their youtube videos where they cut eggs and pull the babies out before they are ready to hatch. I saw you live in S.D, have you been to the S.D Zoo recently? I agree with distaff, take your son to the S.D Zoo it never disappoints. Amazing zoo. Thanks again

Sad to hear they haven't improved since I used to go in there in the late 90's. They've been reported on back then as well and nothing seems to ever change. It's a shame because that store has so much potential. They didn't have the 'pay to see zoo' set up when I was going in there but you could pay to feed the torts.

Post some pictures on here. Then email them a link. He seems like such a idiot on those videos.

This is really horrifying to read all of this. All the animals shown on camera are healthy, although I did see one video with a large snapping turtle and I didn't think anything of the size of the tank.

I almost gagged watching him rip baby snakes from the eggs, I know it probably sounds wimpy but I just can't handle stuff like that, stuff where I think babies are gonna die. I thought I could handle it but wow, it was terrible, is it possible for them to survive that?? :(

So I called them out on one of their videos posted on Facebook. I got pounded by other people viewing the video and told that these guys "know what they're doing, since they've hatched 100s of eggs" and more recently someone posted a picture of a baby and a meme about how I rode the short bus.

I'm really, really dissapointed that all people want to do is troll about a legitimate issue I brought up. And the owners of Prehistoric Pets who posted the video in the first place? Absolutely no response.

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Originally Posted by PhoenixGate

So I called them out on one of their videos posted on Facebook. I got pounded by other people viewing the video and told that these guys "know what they're doing, since they've hatched 100s of eggs" and more recently someone posted a picture of a baby and a meme about how I rode the short bus.

I'm really, really dissapointed that all people want to do is troll about a legitimate issue I brought up. And the owners of Prehistoric Pets who posted the video in the first place? Absolutely no response.

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Youtube comments are the salt of the internet. I saw a video of a bearded dragon eating a live adult mouse and the majority of comments were supporting the guy saying that anyone who was against it didn't know anything about beardies and some very other incredibly rude/cruel things. Facts are facts and youtube trolls don't care about that, try not to let them get to you.