Thrown out of petsmart

So I got thrown out of a petsmart the other day. They had four ball pythons in the same crappy little 15 ( TOPS ) enclosure. And it was clear one of them had a bad bad skin infection, possibly mites. ( Huge long bumps all over its little body) And the others all had bad sheds. When I asked management to do something about the shedding they gave me some bs about not interfearing. I got another associate later who opened the tank and I asked to see each one and slowly began to peel the snakes with bad sheds. ( I felt terrible ). Management staff refuses the one with mites to get care. I told them id buy the snake even knowing the costs. They refused saying they cant sell an obviously sick animal. Soon after I was getting tossed out because I was causing an unnessecary distraction, I saw them take it into the back.

Honestly, dont go to that store chain. Dont even buy snakes from them out of pity like I almost did and do, you're just going to help keep them in the buisiness of mistreating their animals. Buy from a legitimate breeder who makes his/her money producing and caring for quality animals and support honest herpetology.

Ya one of my previous girlfrinds worked at petco so i was always making her take care of the snakes they way they really should have been cared for. Otherwise i get the same type of crap that you got so i just don't go in those places anymore because it makes me really angry. I wish there was something more that we could do for these guys because their conditions are ridiculous!

I am in no way defending your Petsmart - but not all locations are created equally.

The one that I frequent, the staff know my name when I walk in the door. They often tug me over to the reptile section to sex the ball pythons (never more than 2), check out a new king, answer questions they've been asked, but not known the answer to, and even paged me when they knew I was shopping in the store when a customer was in the store who they'd told about me (they give out my number to reptile customers).

When they first started carrying ball pythons a group of employees gathered around while they asked me about the care of ball pythons and why they may not eat for them, and good advice to give to customers, etc.

There's a second one I've been to, and the gal that runs the reptile department has snakes of her own and LOVES it when I come in there so she can talk snakes, and plans to buy a ball python from me this season.

So, there are stores where the staff "gets it" and recognizes their limitations.

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Originally Posted by PythonJiuJitsu

Honestly, dont go to that store chain. Dont even buy snakes from them out of pity like I almost did and do, you're just going to help keep them in the buisiness of mistreating their animals. Buy from a legitimate breeder who makes his/her money producing and caring for quality animals and support honest herpetology.

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Our you could contact their corporate office and relay your experiences, instead of telling us here. Tell them what they are doing wrong. They need the feedback.

And not all locations and not all employees are bad. With what you are saying, all 20,000+ employess are bad.

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Originally Posted by stormwulf133

Our you could contact their corporate office and relay your experiences, instead of telling us here. Tell them what they are doing wrong. They need the feedback.

And not all locations and not all employees are bad. With what you are saying, all 20,000+ employess are bad.

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Been done. Its not all associates who are bad as they just do what they are told, but as is typical with places, Its piss poor management, and from my experiences, the stores with good cares are the exception, although they do exist.

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Originally Posted by PythonJiuJitsu

Been done. Its not all associates who are bad as they just do what they are told, but as is typical with places, Its piss poor management, and from my experiences, the stores with good cares are the exception, although they do exist.

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Just out of curiosity... how many of these stores have you experienced to know which are the exception?

I actually make it a habit to visit as many pet stores of each variety that I can. From my time living on the Westcoast, Midwest and now on the East Coast id say quite a few.

Im not looking for you to agree with me, im conveying my experience. When I see something wrong, I speak up and do something about it. A trait far too lacking in our society.

well I'd have to agree that not all pet stores are created equal...I've been to some mom and pop stores where the conditions were horrible!...and I've seen a petco where the animals were verry well taken cared of. but there is this one pet store that i go to that is the best...they know more about reptiles than I do...and one employee has a bp collection to die for! and I always see 3/4 of the employees at the reptile show in manchester every year!

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Originally Posted by 250rider

I always see 3/4 of the employees at the reptile show in manchester every year!

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See now thats awesome about the employees learning and going to expos. I dont know, I guess I take it very serious. When I dont know about something im into, I try to ask and learn to do the best job I can at anything. Does not matter what it is. Like when I first got into Boas, I asked alot, learned alot. And when I first got into balls, I bought a ton of books, came to this forum and learned and made my changes.

SPEAKING of the Manchester Expo. My Wife, and Brother and I will be going tommorrow. I cannot wait to see what people have there. And if the wife is willing, I may end up with another Herp.

We went to our local Petco this past Thursday and they had 1 Ball Python and 6 Red Tail Boas as well as the normal run of Leopard Geckos and other herps. I spoke with the manager regarding the snakes they had and he informed me that what they currently had was the last they were going to get in for that particular store. He voiced his frustration at his staff being reluctant to learn about Herps and snakes specifically. He also expressed alot of concern over the proposed 669 Legislation and did not want to get caught in a legal quagmire over stocking reptiles and exotic animals in his store. For the most part the Herps were well taken care of. The only two major complaints I had was stakcing 6 Red tails in one of those small vivs and leaving a dead Leopard Gecko in the tank and trying to pass it off as "sleeping". The manager addressed my concerns immediately and split the Boas up into 3 different tanks and he admonished the employee for not removing the deal gecko from the viv with the others. I have to say it was one of the better experiences I've had with one of the larger chain pet stores. As was said previously, not all stores are the same. Unfortunately, alot of the employees stores like this hire are high school kids and young adults who are more interested in the dogs and cats and pretty fish more than the herps. It's the nature of the business in a minimum wage world.

I hate chain pet stores that sell reptiles. MOST not ALL have no bussines doing so. MY local petsmat does only keep one ball per tank and anytime I'ne been in there it looked ok to me. PetCo is the WORST! I went there to get some feeders and they had 2 tanks with balls. 3 or 4 in a 20 long, all with stuck sheds and looking unhealthy. I walked around to the other side of the display case and theres anoth 20 long with 4 red tail boas in it. They looked better then the balls but I'm willing to bet that they were only in the store for a few days.

Petsmart has no idea what their doing, they tried to sell me a normal bp that they didnt know the sex of and the guy wouldnt take it out of the cage because he was scared of it, for $175.That make me wonder how they care for it. I also brought my two pitbull puppies there when I first got them that had mange, and they told me to just give them baths and nothing else! Lucky for me my friend is a vet and gave me some meds for them. So when It comes to needing something pet related, petsmart is a LAST resort!!

$175????? The Ball Python at our local Petsmart was $69.95. Somebody's smoking something to be charging that much for a Normal...

Yea thats what I was thinking! It was still a baby but thats crazy for a normal that they wont even touch!

One time when I was in Petco, I went over to the leopard gecko tank...there was this TINY little baby just laying there, totally and completely emaciated. His entire tail; HIS TAIL! Was skin and bones. I wanted so badly to try and save him from the horrible conditions he was in, and I told the employee about the gecko. It was quickly removed and I was told I couldn't buy it because it was sick. NOW if I hadn't said it was sick I would have been able to buy it??? What kind of store is it that you have to tell the people if their stock is sick.

That poor gecko though, he was so tiny I feel so bad for letting him stay there, he probably never got to live the proper life he deserved. :(

contact the aspca! i would of called the police and filed a report for animal neglict

I like petsmart, of course you wont catch me at the reptile displays, but i buy dogfood and other dog related items there. Just wanted to throw that out there!

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Originally Posted by LeoNik

Petsmart has no idea what their doing, they tried to sell me a normal bp that they didnt know the sex of and the guy wouldnt take it out of the cage because he was scared of it, for $175.

That make me wonder how they care for it. I also brought my two pitbull puppies there when I first got them that had mange, and they told me to just give them baths and nothing else! Lucky for me my friend is a vet and gave me some meds for them. So when It comes to needing something pet related, petsmart is a LAST resort!!

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Price is 89.99 for a normal. 175 is for a fancy iirc, they probably put the wrong upc on it.

As for the mange, thats all they are allowed to tell you. They are not allowed to give medical advice (technically) though the associate should have told you to see a vet.

This big chain stores are always a problem, i have had and have the same issues over here in good ol europe, in my town they do not sell "big" snakes like ball pythons in shops like this, because they are that "dangerous", but I found more then once dead or half dead geckos or lizards in their vivs and one time a whole aquarium was filled up with dead catfish (fresh imported from brazil, I purchased one of them (25 €), which died 36 hours later) and I had to tell these guys " Hmm, you have a problem...!"...:mad: (That much about quarantine!)
Some of these guys and gals in these shops care, but some just see the dollar or €...:(:(

the petco by my house is always running a 30 dollar ball python special. Kinda makes it less special since its basically 24/7 365

Maybe you could go to the stores in question(or contact headquarters to discuss the idea) and do a "reps as pets" day? You could print up several flier style sheets and have a table. Educating them is the best idea, especially once they figure out that keeping healthy snakes won't take THAT much more time, or money.
If they keep them well, they might make sales, and that's what they care about.

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Originally Posted by grim reaper in NY

$175????? The Ball Python at our local Petsmart was $69.95. Somebody's smoking something to be charging that much for a Normal...

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theres a well known store in hamilton, ontario that sells normals for $225 plus tax...13% for us.

that is where i went before i bought my bp and i figured they were all pricey. came home and went on kijiji and found a 1 year old female with great setup for $125 or $150.

if i werent such a cheap bastard i would have been suckered into paying $200 more than the snake was worth at the pet shop...

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Originally Posted by ch312

theres a well known store in hamilton, ontario that sells normals for $225 plus tax...13% for us.

that is where i went before i bought my bp and i figured they were all pricey. came home and went on kijiji and found a 1 year old female with great setup for $125 or $150.

if i werent such a cheap bastard i would have been suckered into paying $200 more than the snake was worth at the pet shop...

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Petsmart here in Burlington had a normal for $249+tx for 8months. They finally marked it down to $90 and it sold. I think I may know the store in Hamilton you're talking about.

london ontario, $150 + tax, i popped the one when iw as in there and they raised the price $75 bux and label'd it a female. guess i shoulda kept my mouth shut.

I managed a PetSmart store here in CT back in 2002 (for a short run of six months, I couldn't deal with the "politics"). I was the PetCare area manager. Meaning all live animal sales, orders and "problems" were on my shoulders.
The first thing I did (because I was told by headquarters that it was my call) was stopped the sale of RES, Iguanas, any other water turtle and no torts. I would basically allow the sale of pacman frogs, green anoles, and green tree frogs. Of course the General manager was not to happy. Also the fact that every hamster with wet tail went to an outside veterinarian on PetSmart’s dime. At that time the store chain did not sell snakes or "anything that would eat a mammal". Also they did not have an in house veterinary office (Banfield) at that time, they do now. Sadly I'm unaware of the DVM's that are there or there experience, but I can only imagine.
I had fallouts with not only management above me, but sadly there was also an employee who knew everything. (Apparently he was trying to get my job before I ever came around). He always had expertise on wettail, feather plucking etc etc.
Now I started out managing mom and pop pet shops. I get was business is. I've been there. But there has to come a point as we all learn and understand the need of our pets, that we have to stop supporting the bigger corps. And maybe support the smaller guys. Not even the ones who sell animals.
The rescue buys feeders / supplies etc. online. But for our cat food and litter we go to our local Agway (like a farm supply store).
Not to be very preachy, and sorry for the long post. Just have experience in the pet trade .
I know how frustrating it is. Every chain pet store around here calls on us to help them out “when the going gets tough”. Meaning they get a sickly animal in to begin with and then an employee decides to provide vet care in house. It’s very frustrating.
Rusty

so what happens to those sickly reptiles or animals? They wont sell them and they take them to the back room, yet they dont know how to care for them so they dont really expect to nurse them back to health on their own. Vets cost money which eats into their bottom line, so... Does it depend on the manager whether to nurse, send to vet or euthenize? Or is there a standard protocall for the sicklys?

I went to the Petco this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find out the employee who works with the reptiles has dozens of reptiles himself, from iguanas to snakes to geckos and bearded dragons. We talked for over an hour and it was obvious he knew what he was talking about when it came to reptiles. There were quite a few customers who asked him alot of questions and just in the time I was there he sold 3 snakes, 4 leopard geckos and a couple anoles. The prices weren't bad either. $49.99 for Balls and $69.99 for "red tail" Boas. It was refreshing to see an employee who not only cared about what he was doing, but also had the knowledge needed to steer potential customers in the right direction.
Not all chain pet stores are doomed...at least not yet! ;)