Question about pet stores

So, I wanted to ask is what everyone has against pet stores referring to stores like PetCo and Pet Smart only? Cause locally we have a few reptile specialty pet stores that house some very decent specimens. The owners that I have spoken to at the two pet stores I am thinking of have amazing setups, and their animals are well cared for. I bought my Blood Python from one of these stores, and I have had few problems that were not my fault, but they were at no point the fault of the pet store. I got a healthy animal that feeds well. yes his feeding response is not high, but he does eat, and honestly has the disposition of a puppy. I've just always been one to support my local pet store. I guess its because I worked for an exotic pet store for a few years when I was younger, but there are good pet stores. I'm just trying to understand everyone's hatred for pet stores


For Example the Pet store in Las Vegas I worked for. The Owner is a Herpetologist, and he bred everything from Iguanas to Burmese, Hognoses, rat snakes... Indigo snakes... You name it he bred it. Tortoises, turtles... everything. I learned so much from him. He taught me how to take care of snakes, and a multitude of reptiles/amphibians. Granted this was 20 years ago so I don't remember a whole lot, but it was an amazing experience. The only thing I have to say is after taking care of a Capuchin(SP) Monkey for a few years, I will never own one. Monkeys are dirty and nasty.


So, I guess it boils down to this. Just like everything else. There are bad Pet stores, and there are good ones. If you guys are saying that it is bad to buy a snake or reptile from one of those all in one pet stores that doesn't specialize in reptiles. Then I would be inclined to agree with everyone. But simply saying all pet stores suck, I think is way too much of a generalization.

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

So, I wanted to ask is what everyone has against pet stores referring to stores like PetCo and Pet Smart only? Cause locally we have a few reptile specialty pet stores that house some very decent specimens. The owners that I have spoken to at the two pet stores I am thinking of have amazing setups, and their animals are well cared for. I bought my Blood Python from one of these stores, and I have had few problems that were not my fault, but they were at no point the fault of the pet store. I got a healthy animal that feeds well. yes his feeding response is not high, but he does eat, and honestly has the disposition of a puppy. I've just always been one to support my local pet store. I guess its because I worked for an exotic pet store for a few years when I was younger, but there are good pet stores. I'm just trying to understand everyone's hatred for pet stores


For Example the Pet store in Las Vegas I worked for. The Owner is a Herpetologist, and he bred everything from Iguanas to Burmese, Hognoses, rat snakes... Indigo snakes... You name it he bred it. Tortoises, turtles... everything. I learned so much from him. He taught me how to take care of snakes, and a multitude of reptiles/amphibians. Granted this was 20 years ago so I don't remember a whole lot, but it was an amazing experience. The only thing I have to say is after taking care of a Capuchin(SP) Monkey for a few years, I will never own one. Monkeys are dirty and nasty.


So, I guess it boils down to this. Just like everything else. There are bad Pet stores, and there are good ones. If you guys are saying that it is bad to buy a snake or reptile from one of those all in one pet stores that doesn't specialize in reptiles. Then I would be inclined to agree with everyone. But simply saying all pet stores suck, I think is way too much of a generalization.

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generally speaking it’s referring to chain stores, but outside of that its to your discretion


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there's a difference between a mom-and-pop pet shop, and pet supply stores like PetCo, PetSmart, Pet Land and other giant corporations that profit on the sale of living beings.

PetSmart and PetCo might have a few decent stores — heck mine is one of them: i've been waiting for them to slip up since i joined the hobby but all their babies look great — but there's been way too many news stories, photos and anecdotes spanning YEARS and YEARS that we as a hobby just cannot ignore anymore. these corporations have a systemic issue in that they don't view their animals, specifically reptiles, as living beings, but dollar signs, and time and again it's proven.

this is why we say stop buying their pets: when you buy that sickly looking noodle in hopes of saving it, there's just another one waiting to be put in its place. at what point do we stop contributing to this machine, this cycle of abuse?

just stop spending your money there, because money is the only way to get their attention. any dollar spent at a PetCo or PetSmart is further allowing them to continue with their practices without repercussions, selling sick and under cared for animals.

all this said: i still buy the occasional rat or decor from there.

I've seen good petcos/petsmarts and terrible ones. I've seen good mom and pop reptile stores and ones that made me cry.
Generally, and especially 10+ years ago, MOST pet stores, chain stores or not, were not that great so a bias has been established.
I agree though, when you find as good one, try to support them if that's what you want to do. :)

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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

For Example the Pet store in Las Vegas I worked for. The Owner is a Herpetologist, and he bred everything

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Did you work at Exotic Pets with Ken Foose?

Agree with above comments-- we only use PetCo/Smart to buy feeder crickets because it's close to our home. For reptile stuff we have a favorite amazing reptile store that we try to support. I bought my Noodle there and all the animals are very well cared for and healthy.

Good pet stores are the minority.

In general you have poor quarantine, poor husbandry, mislabeling, poor advice, and zero background on the animal you purchased.

The main reason most pet stores have animals are impulse buys allowing them to sell the supply which is where money is.

There are a few good specialized reptile stores out there you just need to find them.

Yep, agreed. Generally "pet store" is equated to the big chain stores of which most are bad at keeping reptiles to the point that purchases from them are often rescue-type situations.

A new owner will often struggle with that animal and the store will not be able to give advice to help since their methods often caused the issues in the first place. (Stuck shed, refusing food, poor hides, low humidity and dehydration, etc.)

Some select locations are good, but all profit ends up at the same place and some is likely spent replacing continuously dying animals at their poor quality stores. I would avoid buying even a healthy animal as I would want that profit not to wind up getting spent replacing a dead one at a store the next city over.

Small pet shops or specialty stores can be bad as well, but there are also many great ones, so by no means is it intended to say to avoid these stores. Reward quality stores with your money, but don't waste it at a store that can't even be bothered to keep husbandry correct in what they sell.

Both kinds of store are often overpriced on the animals in my opinion compared to what you can get talking to a breeder yourself or checking expos, so I prefer supporting local breeders directly in that way. Sure, some sell to those specialty shops, but why pay markup I don't need to? I do stick to specialty reptile stores for dry goods where I can to support them that way instead.

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

I've seen good petcos/petsmarts and terrible ones. I've seen good mom and pop reptile stores and ones that made me cry.
Generally, and especially 10+ years ago, MOST pet stores, chain stores or not, were not that great so a bias has been established.
I agree though, when you find as good one, try to support them if that's what you want to do. :)



Did you work at Exotic Pets with Ken Foose?

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Yes I did. I worked with Ken and Janice.<SP>

I really wish we had a great local store, but we don't. Our chain stores are awful, and the one independent store in town is ok. I feel like a lot of their animals need bigger enclosures, and while they employ good kids who really care about animals, a lot of them are kids and as such don't always have the experience to hand out solid advice. They are overpriced as far as what you would pay from a breeder, even after you factor in shipping, but a lot of people want to see and hold the animal they are buying so they do ok business.

For example, my rosy boa was $185 shipped from the breeder. they want $299 for a similar animal.

yeah physical stores have tons of overhead (rent/lease space, utilities, more employees than average online seller) so their prices are almost always going to be much higher for animals.

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Originally Posted by reptilemom25

For example, my rosy boa was $185 shipped from the breeder. they want $299 for a similar animal.

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For my Blood python on MorpMart its $500 for a male T- and at the store I paid 500 for a male T-. And they were comparable specimens.

Pet stores are hit and miss. In that vein, so are breeders and online sellers. My one fight with mites came from an online seller. A more serious problem came from a "very reputable" large scale breeder. My best animals came from Ralph Davis and reptile shows. I haven't brought in any new animals in about two years. If I buy anything from anywhere ever again it is going to be from someone I have interacted with a lot. We made a decision not to chase the latest and greatest awhile back. We have enough bloodlines in our current stock to "keep things fresh" as well as produce things that have never been seen with what we have. What I will agree with as far as pet stores go is do not pay money to "rescue" an animal. It just perpetuates the problem.

I have a Petsmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus and Pet Supermarket within 10-20 min from my home. There are 2 reptile stores in my county that are about 10 min from my home.

I don't like ANY of these stores including reptile stores for selling wrong items and giving bad advice to new, concerned owners.

I don't like that the biggest hamster cage being offered for Golden is still too small, some so small that they can injure themselves. I don't like the biggest bunny cage recommended and sold is a crappy 3 x 16". Even dwarf bunnies need more space than that for their health and mental wellbeing. I don't like heat rocks are still being sold. I don't like none of the above chain stores and the 2 reptiles stores do not sell thermostats to reptile owners. I don't like that citronella collars and shock collars are being sold to anyone indiscriminately without being taught with the proper instructions, if they must be used. I don't like that calcium sands are used in their lizard tanks and sold to lizard owners, when it has been proven time and time again that this crap can impact and kill their lizards.

What I hate is having to correct the staff and teach their customer on how to care for the animal that they bought from them and what correct items to buy. So many times I had to step in and explain to the customer that their bearded dragon that is refusing to eat needs a stronger UVB bulb or get rid of the loose substrate at a reptile store; explain how they need to buy a thermostat for their ball python's heat mat ASAP and unplug it until then; and that a cat peeling outside its litterbox all of a sudden require a a vet check up, not avoid the issue by spraying air cans at its face to stop the behavior.

But what I hate the most are the customers/keepers who willfully ignore any advice, refuse veterinary care for their pets and refuse to change or try something different for the pet's safety, health and wellbeing. The ones who believe their animals are worth as much as they can out of it with the least amount of work.

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Originally Posted by Cheesenugget

I have a Petsmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus and Pet Supermarket within 10-20 min from my home. There are 2 reptile stores in my county that are about 10 min from my home.

I don't like ANY of these stores including reptile stores for selling wrong items and giving bad advice to new, concerned owners.

I don't like that the biggest hamster cage being offered for Golden is still too small, some so small that they can injure themselves. I don't like the biggest bunny cage recommended and sold is a crappy 3 x 16". Even dwarf bunnies need more space than that for their health and mental wellbeing. I don't like heat rocks are still being sold. I don't like none of the above chain stores and the 2 reptiles stores do not sell thermostats to reptile owners. I don't like that citronella collars and shock collars are being sold to anyone indiscriminately without being taught with the proper instructions, if they must be used. I don't like that calcium sands are used in their lizard tanks and sold to lizard owners, when it has been proven time and time again that this crap can impact and kill their lizards.

What I hate is having to correct the staff and teach their customer on how to care for the animal that they bought from them and what correct items to buy. So many times I had to step in and explain to the customer that their bearded dragon that is refusing to eat needs a stronger UVB bulb or get rid of the loose substrate at a reptile store; explain how they need to buy a thermostat for their ball python's heat mat ASAP and unplug it until then; and that a cat peeling outside its litterbox all of a sudden require a a vet check up, not avoid the issue by spraying air cans at its face to stop the behavior.

But what I hate the most are the customers/keepers who willfully ignore any advice, refuse veterinary care for their pets and refuse to change or try something different for the pet's safety, health and wellbeing. The ones who believe their animals are worth as much as they can out of it with the least amount of work.

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But how do you REALLY feel??? ;););) Seems like time goes on & these things never change...:(

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

But how do you REALLY feel??? ;););) Seems like time goes on & these things never change...:(

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Yes it is sad that most of the problems that existed 20 years ago still exist today. Like Heat Rocks. WTF How do they even sell those still? Then the Calci sand. This scan just came out when I started. Its sad to see that its just another item that kills our beloved pets.

OMG!!!! Exotic Pet in LV! I used to shop there 20 years ago. I picked up a normal BP from a local box store. I didn't know much at the time. it had mites and Ken turned me on to putting a fly strip on top the tank for a day or 2. All mites were killed and the bp was a happy camper. Needless to say all supplies were purchased from them there after. In fact I have not bought any animals from chains stores since.

Anyway I know this is not what the thread was for, but man thanks for the flashback for me :):)

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Originally Posted by cncmachineguy

OMG!!!! Exotic Pet in LV! I used to shop there 20 years ago. I picked up a normal BP from a local box store. I didn't know much at the time. it had mites and Ken turned me on to putting a fly strip on top the tank for a day or 2. All mites were killed and the bp was a happy camper. Needless to say all supplies were purchased from them there after. In fact I have not bought any animals from chains stores since.

Anyway I know this is not what the thread was for, but man thanks for the flashback for me :):)

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My pleasure. you probably saw me there, as I was there for about 3 years. I was the fat pimply faced 14 year old named Robert.

I wish I could say I do remember you, but sadly I barely remember the store. I was there around 97-99. (For all you youngens that would be 1997-1999) back when dinosaurs walked the earth AND we started the year with 19