Emaciate BP baby at PetCo

I stopped in the local PetCo tonight just to have a peek. I like to look, though I will never buy another animal from them (unless it's frozen).

Normally, their animals look pretty good - it's a new PetCo, but what I saw tonight confirms that they seem to have hit their reputation low. There were about 6 or 7 baby BP's in a 20 L together. Some looked OK, and a few were curious about me and looking around But one had about 95% of a stuck shed and another was EMACIATED! It looked like snake skin on a skeleton. I could see he was still breathing, but I don't think he's long for this world. :(

WHAT SHOULD I DO? I thought of talking to the manager and offering to take it off her hands (I assume it refuses to eat). But on second thought, I had the heebie-geebies and thought that maybe I don't want it in my house (IBD scare). I plan to go back with a camera tomorrow.

Ideas? Thanks!

I hate to be devil's advocate, and I do not necessarily back up PetSmart or PetCo, ... but, if there were 6 or 7 babies, and only one was emaciated, then isn't it probable that he just refuses to eat?

Which, as we all know, ball pythons have a tendency to do, so it would not (necessarily) be the fault of the store. I know they are not being kept in the best of conditions, but pet stores are going to keep animals in cramped living quarters. It's business, as much as I hate it.

Employees there are given very little training on reptiles. I used to work at a PetSmart and knew next to nothing about snakes or lizards. The managers didn't know, either.

My advice would be to calmly, and nicely, explain, "Hey, I noticed one of your snakes has a stuck shed. That can be fixed by simply making the humidity higher, and giving him someplace to soak in." (The watered down version will be best, since I doubt they'll listen very closely) I wouldn't take the non-eater if I were you. I would just suggest to her that if they isolate it, and give it more places to hide, that it may eat better.

Don't be mean or rude, and offer simple solutions to their problems. More than likely, they'll be thankful for the tips which will keep their profit alive. :rolleyes:

Until people stop buying ANYTHING from Petco and other stores like it, there is nothing to be done. Hurting their profit margin is the only way to get them to change their reality.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Until people stop buying ANYTHING from Petco and other stores like it, there is nothing to be done. Hurting their profit margin is the only way to get them to change their reality.

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I disagree. I think it may very well be the case that the employees are just not knowledgeable. A little information can go a long way. Don't forget, that "profit" is also a life, so it can't hurt to try. I'd never buy an animal from them, and I hope others feel the same. That hurts profit margin. But I don't think she should keep quiet when an animal's life is on the line. Like I said, it can't hurt to try.

talk to the manager and tell him/her about the condition of one of their animals. Then suggest the idea of removing it to the wellness room if the idea doesn't seem to cometo them. If this is not done promptly, you can always call the petco pals hotline they have posted in the store. Their district managers and regional companion animal coordinator (RCAC) would love to make a trip to the store to go on a killing spree if they hear words that they violated policy by leaving an sick/injured animal on the sales floor, not to mention witholding taking it to the vet. Take note that according to policy, the animal in question is to be removed imediatly to the wellness room and the vet and RCAC have to be notified within 24 hours or they are in violation of several agreements corporate petco has made with humane society and animal rights groups nation wide. as bad as some stores may be... a few calls to their RCAC and hotline should clear most of it up. the RCAC is one of the few people who can fire an employee on the spot for misconduct with the animals.

I must have lucked out with my Petco. My local petco has a guy that just loves reptiles he keeps all the cages clean and in perfect conditions (and not overstocked with animals) when my local herp store does not have what I need, I am able to just go to petco and get it.
Two of my crested geckos came from Petco and they are and were very healthy (had them for about a year now)

I've spoken with the Petco manager for my area store. I've done unannounced checks to see if they've done what they assured they would do. Nope. Nothing is every done.
It is untrained workers and it is also untrained workers being paid minimum wage and having very little intention of making a career out of working at Petco.
I still see it as fairly hopeless and believe, at least for the vast majority of Petco's that I have heard stories of, the bottom line is get them out of business by doing no business with them.

petco, at least the West Coast ones, are phasing out most of the reptiles they carry. They are downsizing to about 25% of what they carry now.

They say, and I've heard this and seen the empty tanks at half a dozen or so stores, that they will keep beardies and leos, torties, corns, maybe kings and the cheaper lizards like anoles.

It will be interesting to see if this goes company wide and if it lasts.

i've heard the same... except, its not just a reptile thing. the aquatics departments are going to consolidate their types of freshwater fish so as to no longer carry several types of fish that look almost identical to each other. The shrinkening of the freshwater should be by about 20%+ which would allow a larger salt water system in high-demand stores. The small animals departments are going to be switched to most animals will only be offered in a specified gender, and birds selection is going even farther down. Moving more and more away from a pet store to a animal supply store. Which has it's ups and downs as far as I'm concerned.

I amuse myself that I shut down the Petco here in Midland. I didn't want them to leave, but I made several complaints on the condition of their BP's. Just by email, no phone calls. Within 2 months that I started writing these, Petco went out of business there. I bought a sweet cage for 1/2 off. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Gooseman

talk to the manager and tell him/her about the condition of one of their animals. Then suggest the idea of removing it to the wellness room if the idea doesn't seem to cometo them. If this is not done promptly, you can always call the petco pals hotline they have posted in the store. Their district managers and regional companion animal coordinator (RCAC) would love to make a trip to the store to go on a killing spree if they hear words that they violated policy by leaving an sick/injured animal on the sales floor, not to mention witholding taking it to the vet. Take note that according to policy, the animal in question is to be removed imediatly to the wellness room and the vet and RCAC have to be notified within 24 hours or they are in violation of several agreements corporate petco has made with humane society and animal rights groups nation wide. as bad as some stores may be... a few calls to their RCAC and hotline should clear most of it up. the RCAC is one of the few people who can fire an employee on the spot for misconduct with the animals.

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Thanks. All GREAT information and something to work with.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

petco, at least the West Coast ones, are phasing out most of the reptiles they carry. They are downsizing to about 25% of what they carry now.

They say, and I've heard this and seen the empty tanks at half a dozen or so stores, that they will keep beardies and leos, torties, corns, maybe kings and the cheaper lizards like anoles.

It will be interesting to see if this goes company wide and if it lasts.

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There are a bunch of empty reptile tanks there. Maybe that is the case here, too.

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Originally Posted by Gooseman

i've heard the same... except, its not just a reptile thing. the aquatics departments are going to consolidate their types of freshwater fish so as to no longer carry several types of fish that look almost identical to each other. The shrinkening of the freshwater should be by about 20%+ which would allow a larger salt water system in high-demand stores. The small animals departments are going to be switched to most animals will only be offered in a specified gender, and birds selection is going even farther down. Moving more and more away from a pet store to a animal supply store. Which has it's ups and downs as far as I'm concerned.

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I've seen salt water fish there. I was surprised b/c I never knew they carried anything other than fresh water aquatics. Must be true all over.

I would love to work there (if I had the time) and be a reptile specialist - but JUST reptiles. The problem is the animal attendents have to work ALL animals. I am allergic to mammals and birds, so it's out for me. Still thinking of opening my own pet shop...

I totally agree with everything that's being said, although I had bought my ball from a local Pet Supplies Plus store.

And i've had her for about a month now, and just got a full checkup done to confirm she's 100% healthy, and in great shape:) She also has been eating great and is very docile. I guess you could say it's maybe luck, or I actually have a place around here that knows what they're doing, to some extent. lol :snake:

my friend and I went to a petco over in jersey the other day. She really loves my ball, so she decided to buy one. They had 8 in a 10 gallon display on the wall. All were mean as hell except for one. My friend was asking them a bunch of questions

She asked the salesmen wat does it feel like to get bit, he said it feels like a bee sting and that if ur allergic to bee stings not to get bit b/c u woiuld get the same allergic rxn. I asked if they had thermostats, he said yea, and pointed at a stick on strip thermometer. i think he just loved lying to ppl, cause later he told me he had a pet alligator and crocodile names puppy and kitty. wtf? lol

I must be lucky, the Petco near me (>10 mins) is better than any of the small local stores near me. They don't seem to carry alot of reptiles and there's always empty cages, but the ones they do have look healthy and the cages are always clean. Also, every person I've talked to in the fish department seems to at least have some idea of how to care for fish and what's compatible, and several of them actually have their own tanks and seem passionate about the hobby. I haven't spoken to anybody about reptiles, as I ususally just go for my fish stuff.

Pet Quarters (10 mins. away) also has a good fish section (I think this is a chain store in just New England maybe?) although a bit messy because they're renovating. The only reptile in the store is a large healthy iguana which I don't think is for sale. Their fish department people are always helpful, and there's one that is very knowledgeable and jumps in to help the newer employees answer questions.

There is one small local store that used to have a nice fish department. They carry alot of decorations that other stores don't have, but they're always expensive. Last time I was there, I thought about buying some corydoras. The tanks were okay, but some of them had floaters in them. The killer was the teenage fish guy was unbagging a shipment of bettas while this girl (I'm assuming he knew her) stood there and asked about what kinds of pink fish could live a bowl (pointing to saltwater) and then complaining that they were too expensive and he should give them to her cheaper. He was clearly annoyed but wouldn't tell her to shut up, I got annoyed and left because he didn't even notice I was in the fish department. Their reptile department is probably the worst of any of the stores around here, it's always dirty and species are mixed. I thought about buying a large male leopard gecko from there a couple years ago. He had a regrown tail and was being housed with bearded dragons. They were asking $95 for him and when I asked to hold him nobody wanted to take him out and there are signs everywhere saying "If you lose it, you bought it!" I tried to tell them not to keep him with beardies, but he stayed that way for months until someone finally bought the poor thing.

Sorry for the long post, I just don't have a problem with Petco as long as they keep things healthy. I agree that most of it is staff that doesn't know or care to learn. I've just seen too many small shops that have worse conditions than any Petco I've been in. Petco is close to my house, convenient, and they have low prices. I'll continue to buy fish and supplies there. I'm also an avid Wal-Mart shopper.

I will however, start driving to NERD for some of my fish, they're an hour away and their fantastic fish department alone is with the trip :)