Post your weird experiences with Petsmart/Petco!

Hey, I recently went to brand new Petsmart that just opened up where I live, and I had a weird convo with the reptile 'expert' there, here it is:

Me: Hey, cool ball python, dude.
Him: Yeah, he's awesome, do you have one?
Me: Yup, but mine is just a baby.
Him: What do you feed him?
Me: Fuzzies.
Him: That's cool, we feed ours crickets.
Me: :O
(I feel pretty bad for the snake, if he was serious.)

There's my story, do any of you have any wacky Petsmart/Petco stories of your own?

... really? Crickets? Not that I want to feed my snake crickets, but I'm curious if she would even bother with them. Thats a pretty odd conversation...

I went into a petsmart and a guy who owned a ball python told me that humidity is the last thing you want in a cage for a ball python. I understand you dont want to creat a rainforest in there, but I asked about reptibark as a substrate and he said no way its aweful cause it holds too much humidity. He said he has never even monitored humidity and he has had the snake for 5 years

I remember at Petco one time when my snake was eating live mice I would tell them I want the colored ones because he has a better feeding response and then they would say" don't give them the nice colored mice, give them the white ones!" And then I would say "We are going to keep them as pets, we love mice, we hate those snake owners!" I lied.:)

I try to stay away from places like that. We only have a Petsmart, no Petco as of yet. Usually if I do go in there its to look for something for our dog. Ours doesn't carry live feeder mice at all, and all they sell as far as rodents are concerned are overpriced males in everything. The feeders they do have are prepackaged frozen and much higher priced compared to the smaller shops in town. So it doesn't surprise me at all that they have no idea what to feed a ball python.

My only weird story is that I went in there about a month ago, and when I asked if they carried a particular item I didn't get a blank stare for once.

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Originally Posted by guambomb832

I would tell them I want the colored ones because he has a better feeding response

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The pet store I get my feeders from used to look at me like I was crazy when I told them that about one of my pastels. For a while there he'd only take the darker ones. I'd put in a white mouse and he'd check it out but not take it, switch it with a dark one and he'd be all over it in a second. Thankfully he's not so picky now and will eat anything that scurries past the door to his hide.

The olny thing that bugs me is that the creepy guy that gets me my crickets for the geckos always feels the need to hit on my wife..

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

The olny thing that bugs me is that the creepy guy that gets me my crickets for the geckos always feels the need to hit on my wife..

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Thats when you feel the need to hit on his face. :cool:

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Originally Posted by specialk01510

Thats when you feel the need to hit on his face. :cool:

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LOL naa If I had to worry about a tool like that I'd have never married her. Kind of flattering to think he thinks she's hot..

I got into a 3rd grade level argument with an employee and then the manager over Leopard geckos and salad. They had a big bowl of salad in the Leo tank, no crickets or worms, just salad. I asked the employee about that and she said that is what they eat. I, politely, said not really, they don't eat salad they eat bugs. She was happy to tell me I was misinformed and it was written in their care sheet. I asked who wrote the care sheet and was she sure it was for Leo's and not Beardies or Uro's or tortoises or rabbits. Again, in her happy voice, she said the corporate vets wrote it so it must be right and I was, of course, wrong. I asked to see the manager. We went through the same conversation, almost word for word!! I was getting nowhere with him and he made the mistake of copping a condescending tone...not a good idea! I walked over to the book area and grabbed the Leo care book off the shelf and told him to read it. Oh, that was wrong too...old, outdated information in that book and their vet was up on the latest care and Leo's eat salad. Well it went downhill from there and ended up being a "yes they do" "no they don't" "yes they do" "no they don't" heated discussion, I called him an idiot and said the corporate vet was a moron. I was told I could leave the store on my own or wait for the po-po to show and escort me out. He also suggested I not come back.
I did go back a month or so later only to discover a new manager on duty and crickets in the Leo tanks.

I went in to buy some mice feeders. They said they wouldn't sell them as feeders... I'm like, O.K. so I will go to another store to spend my money.

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Originally Posted by Clementine_3

I got into a 3rd grade level argument with an employee and then the manager over Leopard geckos and salad. They had a big bowl of salad in the Leo tank, no crickets or worms, just salad. I asked the employee about that and she said that is what they eat. I, politely, said not really, they don't eat salad they eat bugs. She was happy to tell me I was misinformed and it was written in their care sheet. I asked who wrote the care sheet and was she sure it was for Leo's and not Beardies or Uro's or tortoises or rabbits. Again, in her happy voice, she said the corporate vets wrote it so it must be right and I was, of course, wrong. I asked to see the manager. We went through the same conversation, almost word for word!! I was getting nowhere with him and he made the mistake of copping a condescending tone...not a good idea! I walked over to the book area and grabbed the Leo care book off the shelf and told him to read it. Oh, that was wrong too...old, outdated information in that book and their vet was up on the latest care and Leo's eat salad. Well it went downhill from there and ended up being a "yes they do" "no they don't" "yes they do" "no they don't" heated discussion, I called him an idiot and said the corporate vet was a moron. I was told I could leave the store on my own or wait for the po-po to show and escort me out. He also suggested I not come back.
I did go back a month or so later only to discover a new manager on duty and crickets in the Leo tanks.

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Good job:gj:

I haven't been to one since I've learned almost everything on this website, but when I went there the last time (that's what actually got me interested in snakes) I saw they had about 5 BPs in one cage, no hides, and one was cruising like crazy. This guy that was standing next to us told us that he could sex the snakes just by looking at their tails. -_-

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Originally Posted by Elise.m

This guy that was standing next to us told us that he could sex the snakes just by looking at their tails. -_-

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Wow, if he has a gift like that then what is he doing working in a pet store? :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Elise.m

I haven't been to one since I've learned almost everything on this website, but when I went there the last time (that's what actually got me interested in snakes) I saw they had about 5 BPs in one cage, no hides, and one was cruising like crazy. This guy that was standing next to us told us that he could sex the snakes just by looking at their tails. -_-

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I had a similar experience at petco. One of their employees told me that a snake was a female just by looking at the tail. He ended up being correct about the sex of the BP though. I'm sure it was just luck though...

One important thing to remember--both PetCo and PetSmart TRY. They do not succeed all the time, so don't expect miracles. But a lot of the problems here are the result of employees who can't even listen to what the Corp says, whether right or wrong--those employees need to be corrected. When you see something wrong, open your mouth, and complain--do not just complain at the store--if the store manager does not listen, go to the corporate site and complain there. Specify the location of the store, and what the problem was. Be polite. You may be surprised and see results.

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Originally Posted by b4r705z

Hey, I recently went to brand new Petsmart that just opened up where I live, and I had a weird convo with the reptile 'expert' there, here it is:

Me: Hey, cool ball python, dude.
Him: Yeah, he's awesome, do you have one?
Me: Yup, but mine is just a baby.
Him: What do you feed him?
Me: Fuzzies.
Him: That's cool, we feed ours crickets.
Me: :O
(I feel pretty bad for the snake, if he was serious.)

There's my story, do any of you have any wacky Petsmart/Petco stories of your own?

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Ok, after doing some quick research, here is what I got:
1) Link to Petco's care sheets. NO WHERE in the BP care sheet does it say feed crickets. There are, however, some other inaccuracies in their sheets.

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/snak...ython_Ball.pdf


2) Their care sheet for Garter snakes DOES recommend feeding crickets, so possibly a little employee confusion...

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/snak...erandWater.pdf

Quote:

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Originally Posted by b4r705z

Hey, I recently went to brand new Petsmart that just opened up where I live, and I had a weird convo with the reptile 'expert' there, here it is:

Me: Hey, cool ball python, dude.
Him: Yeah, he's awesome, do you have one?
Me: Yup, but mine is just a baby.
Him: What do you feed him?
Me: Fuzzies.
Him: That's cool, we feed ours crickets.
Me: :O
(I feel pretty bad for the snake, if he was serious.)

There's my story, do any of you have any wacky Petsmart/Petco stories of your own?

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Similar problem with my friend. Here we are at petsmart, the only place around me with blue rats, and we are holding and examining the reptiles. So first when my friend goes into the ball python tank to hold him(with permission), keep in mind he was in a maybe...... 5"x6" tank. She says "be careful pythons are evil little guys" me and my friend just kind of laughed. Then out of curiosity he says "what you guys feed him?" the employee says " we feed them pinkies but this particular guy is picky so sometimes we have to feed him crickets. HE LOVES THEM!" So me and my friend are pretty much on the floor laughing and she asked "is something funny?" Then came the typical petsmart employee vs. reptile enthusiast argument. Sorry if this was hard to follow.

My Petsmart story doesn't have to do with snakes, it has to do with birds. I have several parrots, I do know a bit about them, and I can read, which clearly put me ahead of one of the employees I ran into. They used to carry larger birds and in this case there was a Goffin's cockatoo in a cage. It had a large sign on the cage saying that is was a Goffin cockatoo, and the price. I was waiting for this woman to get my crickets when some other lady walked up, pointed at the bird and asked what it was. My jaw dropped when I heard the employee tell her clearly that is was a white amazon parrot. (there is no such thing as a white amazon, not to mention the sign under it stating what it really was)

I guess my story is not "weird" but pretty typical for a chain pet store. I got a bearded dragon from a breeder, and I had researched TONS so I knew what I was doing, even though I had no hands-on experience.

I needed some crickets to hold me over until my first shipment came in so I went into a Petsmart and bought 100 small (1/2" maybe) crickets, planning on that being a 2 or 3 day supply.

"What are you feeding them to?" I am asked.

"A bearded dragon about 4 months old."

I get a shocked look. "Why are you getting so many?"

"It will be a couple days until my order for 1000 crickets gets here."

An even more shocked look. Then they proceed to tell me that the dragon will only eat about 10 crickets a day and I should get the bigger ones. :rolleyes:

(For those of you with no BD experience, babies can eat 50-100 crix a day and the crix should be no bigger than the space between their eyes)

But this is typical pet store drivel and I was prepared for it. I just shook my head at them and took my 100 crickets and never went back.

[QUOTE=Mina;1119940 My jaw dropped when I heard the employee tell her clearly that is was a white amazon parrot. (there is no such thing as a white amazon, not to mention the sign under it stating what it really was)[/QUOTE]

Are you sure they didn't say amazin' parrot...LOL


Anywayhere is a question for those with insect knowledge. I just assumed that insects were generally cold blooooded since they are way less active as temps drop. So would a cricket even give off a heat signature that a BP could track?? or would they just strike at something moving in front of them and if they get lucky the get a bug in the mouth?

I also assume that since garter snakes are diurnal that they would have better eyesight for hunting insects and not hunt by heat signature...


Rob

A BP would have no problem seeing a cricket with its heat pits. They can detect like .01 degree temp diferences. So I'm sure even a cricket couldn't slip past their heat sensing pits.

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Originally Posted by b4r705z

Hey, I recently went to brand new Petsmart that just opened up where I live, and I had a weird convo with the reptile 'expert' there, here it is:

Me: Hey, cool ball python, dude.
Him: Yeah, he's awesome, do you have one?
Me: Yup, but mine is just a baby.
Him: What do you feed him?
Me: Fuzzies.
Him: That's cool, we feed ours crickets.
Me: :O
(I feel pretty bad for the snake, if he was serious.)

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I'm sure he was serious. I had a similar experience at SuperPetz. I just ran in to get aspen, but of course, had to stop to ogle the reptiles. There was a Pueblan milksnake who looked like skin was hanging off him. There were crickets in the tank. I told the attendant to lay off the crickets and feed him a mouse pink before he dies. He told me that crickets were standard snake food. You obviously know what I told him.

Three months later, I ran in for something and had to ogle the snakes again, and found a dead, emaciated, ball python in a tank. I stormed over to ask the attendant WTH? He said that some employees can't stomach feeding mice, so the standard snake food is crickets. I complained to the manager, and she said that they can't feed ball pythons mice because it makes them grow too fast. So, the standard is crickets--which as you know, they don't eat. So I caused a scene.

I called the district manager for the Southeast Coast, and he said he would set them straight right away. I haven't gone back since, so I don't know whether or not HE was serious.

I have yet to find a pet store that sells professional heating items (like Flexwatt and Helix thermostats..) I think that the whole gang of us here, should join together and make a professional herpetology retail chain. We wold doa much better job than those out there now. :(

I don't even buy my cat supplies/litter from these stores.

I have a couple, and some are kind of funny :]

So I took my female BP, Candice, to Petsmart. My mom and I were getting mice and some meal worms for the gecko. I wanted to handle some of their snakes, and I handed my BP over to my friend who came along with us. This employee comes over, and he says, "Nice Ball python!" He also asked to handle her, so he looks at the tail and he says, "Is it a male?" I said no, it's a female. I think that made him feel weird lol.

I took my King snake to Petco over a year ago to show one of the employees that really enjoyed looking at my reptiles. I was also getting mice for the snakes. So I'm walking down the aisle and this girl and her husband take one look at my snake and the girl made this gasping-ish noise and ran away and the husband started laughing. He's a dark snake, almost black looking so he seems kind of intimidating. So my mom sees the girl running down the aisle holding her nose and covering her face and she sees her husband laughing. My mom though, "Oh she must have seen Tiffany's snake." And she tried not to laugh. After she did that I went into the dog food aisle and was like, "Umm.. I don't think I should go back out there..."

Every single time I've purchased a reptile from Petco (I've purchased 3 snakes and a leo from there, not all at once though) has died. All of them except this one King snake I have, whose as mean as can be. Also, he's only a little over 2 feet and he's 3-4 years old. My other King whose 4 feet is 3 years old. So.. I don't know what's wrong with my smaller King..

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

Ok, after doing some quick research, here is what I got:
1) Link to Petco's care sheets. NO WHERE in the BP care sheet does it say feed crickets. There are, however, some other inaccuracies in their sheets.

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/snak...ython_Ball.pdf


2) Their care sheet for Garter snakes DOES recommend feeding crickets, so possibly a little employee confusion...

http://www.petco.com/caresheets/snak...erandWater.pdf

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Yeah, but three of my snakes are garters, and believe me when I say they will cuss you up an down if you try and feed then crickets... that is like feeding them wax worms.... they will not eat them!:taz:

Mine would be that they never have the snakes label right... How hard is it to tell that a ribbon snake is not a checkered garter snake.... and a normal ball python, is not a "fancy ball python" yeah the BP was dark and kind of attractive, but not enough to warrant $80 for the snake....

I went to a Petco to buy the finishing touches to my tank for my BP (who i brought home yesterday!) and was looking for substrates. I was told by a vet that the best things to use are newspaper and Carefresh. So I went and got a big block of Carefresh and then went back to the reptile section to finish picking things out for the tank and asked the "reptile guy" if i picked the right things and he suggested pine bedding and was surprised that the vet didn't suggest pine. Now I have read and been told by other reptile lovers to avoid pine like the plague because of the toxic oils that it contains. I just thought that was a little odd.

Like most of you, I always stop by the reptile isle for a few minutes when picking up supplies at Petco/Petsmart for any of our pets. Most of the time they don't even have any snakes in stock (if they do it's just a few baby corns), but if they do, there's a 99% chance some little kid is going "Mommy, mommy, ewwww!!" or acting otherwise dramatically.

Last time I was there, an employee was showing a hatchling normal BP to a little boy and his mother. The employee was spouting out all the usual bogus facts like "The bigger tank, the better" and "If you feed in the enclosure it'll become very aggressive!!" and acting all pompous about it. He then tried to tell them that male ball pythons usually get larger than females, "up to 6 feet." I snorted a bit. He heard it, and must have realized he messed up, since he added a little "...or so I've heard..." at the end. Probably should've said something, but eh. Didn't feel like being kicked out for harassment.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

Wow, if he has a gift like that then what is he doing working in a pet store? :rofl:

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Probably the community service required for his release from the psych ward.

Where to start with this one. I was buying rodent bedding in an emergency and as we all prolly do I went buy the Reptile area. Just in time to hear the employee talking about how Balls dont constrict thats Boa's then he went on to say how his Ball was almost 7 feet long and loved to hang out on his curtains above his windows. He was explaining how he would only ever feed live becuase Balls love the thrill of the hunt. BY this time my son and I were laughing pretty hard and the couple looking for a snake for thier son asked what was so funny we explained how the gentleman must be mistaken and gave them some info and asked them to check out this forum. I also told them a Ball would be a great gift for thier son but they really needed to check out a good caresheet and get an enclosure set up before they purchased a snake. I think the Petsmart employee wanted us to leave so he could jsut sell a snake :rofl: :rofl:

Holy Zombie tread, Batman...This thing seriously rose from the dead! :eyepoppin

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Originally Posted by Slim

Holy Zombie tread, Batman...This thing seriously rose from the dead! :eyepoppin

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lol only 3 years old...
Everytime i got to a Petco is... an experience we'll all it. ;)

The worst thing I have seen in a chain petstore was in petco in Jackson TN, they had a 1 1/2 foot redtail boa that was severely malnourished, every one of that snakes ribs were showing and its skin was loose. Made me very mad, I about asked an employee if they knew of it's condition but decided to leave since I knew I would not be able to keep my cool.

And on a funny note:
I had a lady (costumer, not employee) in petco tell me one time that she used to own a thirteen foot BP and that she always slept with it. I just smiled and nodded....

Again at petco, I got into an argument with one of the employees that I made friends with about weather or not they used to sell day geckos (they did, unles they used to have some other green lizard with reddish spots labeled "Day Gecko! ). I think she thought they were green anoles!

Well I have a few bad experiences with petco and one other huge but local pet store. First quite a few years ago I went into the store and fell in love with a uromastyx. Big boy. They told me he was only two years old. At this time I did not know anything about them but bought him anyways. Turns out he was a retired breeder full grown and close to the end on life. Don't regret buying him just was stupid for not independently researching him outside the pet store venue. Never made that mistake again. Then I impulse bought a corn snake. Tiny thing course it wouldn't eat and died after many many attempts even left in with my local herp expert but even they couldn't save it.:( And lastly was in looking at reptiles and saw a adult male Leo missing his tale getting the crap beat out of him. The were being kept on sand. He had multiple wounds all were impacted with sand and looked horrid. The lost tail and wounds were all fresh and needed care immediately . when questioned the girl told me they didn't have a tank they could put him in. And were gonna leave him in there. I asked the store manager to sell him to me discounted price which they took. Probably paid to much but couldn't let that little dude suffer in there. Maybe I am a sucker but ok. BTW he is doing awesome now after some intensive care.

My irritating (not weird) Petco experience was when we called in for the 15 day guarentee on our pet rats, which had respiratory infections. The manager told us to "bring them in a few days because the vet wouldn't be available until Monday." Having heard of this crap previously, I had my partner ask if we could accompany them to the vet. The manager stammered and said, "Well, we don't really know when they would be going...um um um um."

I was like, BS! and now I take my 13 pet's business elsewhere. :mad: They probably would have taken my babies, killed them, and said they couldn't do anything about it. My ratties are worth the $80 all their medication and visits cost. [Also, we found a great exotic pet vet. :gj: YEAYA!]

The rats at Petsmart might be sick too, but they have tubes, toys, and chews. Also, they never overcrowd. Better selection, too.

Well one thing I noticed at a Petco was THIS :confused:

http://www.atom-computer.com/snakehook.jpg

Apparently the packaging designers couldn't spell "Rattlesnake" right :rofl:

My only other story is pretty funny:

So... Wandered by the reptiles as always. There was an elderly couple there that were looking to buy a BP. They asked two things:

1. Can I keep it in the same cage with my hamsters? They'll get along, right? After all, snakes only like prepared meat.

:banana: YUM :banana:

It gets even weirder...

2. (Associate ENDORSED THIS :O)

Will Albert (Named before they bought it...) enjoy slithering through the tubes? We can make a maze with his food bowl at the other end so that he can get exercise before he eats the sausage. That way he won't get fat.

SAUSAGE??? Really?

At least the snake won't go hungry. It has all the tasty hamsters it would ever need :P

My last Petsmart visit made me very sad. I was checking out an emaciated hatchling BP with stuck shed from "his" neck to the tail tip, frantically trying to scrape the skin off along the edge of rocks. Humidity read 25%. I normally just walk out shaking my head, but this particular employee seemed nice, so I mentioned that his humidity should really be closer to 3x that during a shed cycle, and 2x on a normal day. Although she was willing to listen and even asked questions (I think I convinced her to bump him up from mouse pinkies, too), I learned that corporate policy forbids them from misting cages during the day. Apparently, making sure the glass isn't smudged is more important than the animal's health. The point of this long story is that, even though some employees are doofuses, some really do care but are prevented from treating the animals properly (or even getting good information) by the chain's corporate policy. When you run across one of the good ones, give the easiest version you can of tips to fix the biggest errors. A laundry list will be hard to remember, but most of them would be willing to cover part of the lid with press n' seal, run a BP with stuck shed through a damp towel, and feed bigger prey, if they are approached with the animal in mind instead of being attacked for being careless morons.

Mine wasn't at a Petco or Petsmart, but at a small, local pet store one of the employees was trying to convince me that you can feed a Ball Python a prey item twice the size of the largest part of the snake. I told her I always heard NO BIGGER THAN the largest part of the snake, but she was quiet adamant about it. I just internally shook my head and asked for a small feeder mouse, please (they don't carry young feeder rats so I have to get mice).

I was downgrading my 2 crested geckos from sharing a 20g tall to individual critter keepers (they were 3-4 grams each) so they would be able to find their food and wouldn't nip each other's tails off. This know-it-all Petco employee asks me what they're for and when I say crested geckos her jaw just drops. Even after I explain it's to help them put on weight and be safe from one another she enters into a very rude tone and tells me that I shouldn't have pets if I keep them in such horribly small cages and terrible conditions. Then she reluctantly says that I should AT LEAST make sure that my heat source won't melt the keepers. Again, I informed her that crested geckos don't need a heat source and I keep them in my snake room at 76 degrees. I even let her know that the Petco should probably switch the heat bulb for a flourescent because temps as high as 85 degrees for even a short time can kill them. SHE TELLS ME THAT MY GECKOS ARE GOING TO DIE! and then she says she can't talk to me any more or she's going to get herself in trouble. Well, I definitely complained to the manager and got her in trouble. As for the cresteds, every time I go back they have different ones in there and I have a feeling it's not because they're the new hot selling pet :(

EDIT: The BP and feeding crickets thing is the most ridiculous nonsense.....

This store has really gone downhill the past few years too. The last two guys that both kept reptiles but were either let go or quit. I've even brought it to the attention to them that both ball pythons and the boas needed soaked instead of this spray the vet told them to use. I heard a rumor that they could care less of the quality of care their animals and was all about sales.

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Originally Posted by bamagecko76

The worst thing I have seen in a chain petstore was in petco in Jackson TN, they had a 1 1/2 foot redtail boa that was severely malnourished, every one of that snakes ribs were showing and its skin was loose. Made me very mad, I about asked an employee if they knew of it's condition but decided to leave since I knew I would not be able to keep my cool.

And on a funny note:
I had a lady (costumer, not employee) in petco tell me one time that she used to own a thirteen foot BP and that she always slept with it. I just smiled and nodded....

Again at petco, I got into an argument with one of the employees that I made friends with about weather or not they used to sell day geckos (they did, unles they used to have some other green lizard with reddish spots labeled "Day Gecko! ). I think she thought they were green anoles!

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I have a funny Petsmart story. I went in to one a few years ago and saw they had a batch of bearded dragons in. I've never seen a morph beardie at any chain store before and was really really surprised to see one with bright red coloring all over it!

I called an employee over and asked her about the dragon and its red coloring. I was absolutely floored to hear, "Nah, they only come in brown. Someone must have taken a red marker and drawn on it."

She then took it out and tried to rub the red off (which of course didn't come off). My repeated advice that it's part of the dragon's coloring went unheeded (some further muttering on her part about an ink spill or highlighter) so I thanked her for her time and went about my business. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Originally Posted by apple2

Well one thing I noticed at a Petco was THIS :confused:

http://www.atom-computer.com/snakehook.jpg

Apparently the packaging designers couldn't spell "Rattlesnake" right :rofl:

My only other story is pretty funny:

So... Wandered by the reptiles as always. There was an elderly couple there that were looking to buy a BP. They asked two things:

1. Can I keep it in the same cage with my hamsters? They'll get along, right? After all, snakes only like prepared meat.

:banana: YUM :banana:

It gets even weirder...

2. (Associate ENDORSED THIS :O)

Will Albert (Named before they bought it...) enjoy slithering through the tubes? We can make a maze with his food bowl at the other end so that he can get exercise before he eats the sausage. That way he won't get fat.

SAUSAGE??? Really?

At least the snake won't go hungry. It has all the tasty hamsters it would ever need :P

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COBRAS?!! I wouldnt get NEAR a cobra with that thing! Ive always had really good experiences at my local Petsmart and Petco to be honest, but we used to have a Pets Supplys Plus store near my house. Everything we ever bought (fish, guinea pigs, hampsters, etc) never lasted very long. I was about 12 years old when I bought my first snake, a texas racer from Pets Supply. They insisted that it only ate crickets and didnt need any kind of heat source or anything like that and me being young and dumb did not research it or anything. My parents are deathly afraid of mice so the only snake I could get couldnt eat mice. I am not afraid of anything but large, mean dogs, heck i even had a pet black widow for awhile that i caught in our bathroom! Needless to say, the snake didnt last very long. When I got my BP a few months ago I researched every website and book I could get a hold of before getting my snake since I live on my own now and could have what I wanted. I lurked her a long time before joining. Now I believe I know what happened to that poor snake.

No worries, my BP lives in a sterilite tub and everything from that old snake was tossed a long time ago.

I don't really have any "horror" stories about the local Petco because the one by my house actually has knowledgable employees who I have known for quite some time, BUT I do have a somewhat funny story about the Petco I used to go to when I was in college. They had an employ there whose title was reptile specialist. Over time I became friends with the guy and he was a hobby breeder of several different species of reptiles. Well as you all know, the chain pet stores get their guidelines from corporate and God forbid they differ what what their "experts" say lol. Well he cared more about the animals well being than he did about what they told him to do so he changed everything the best he could to make sure the animals were as comfortable possible with what he had to work with. He was fired for breaking protocol and then called about 3 weeks later with an offer to take his job back because their reptiles were dying. The funniest part about the whole thing is, he was fired 3 times for doing this, and every time they would call him back 2 to 3 weeks later offering his job back lol.

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Originally Posted by jtomb1510

He was fired for breaking protocol and then called about 3 weeks later with an offer to take his job back because their reptiles were dying. The funniest part about the whole thing is, he was fired 3 times for doing this, and every time they would call him back 2 to 3 weeks later offering his job back lol.

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:rofl:

I know Petco/Petsmart both have a really bad rap for their pet care but I have actually had fairly positive experiences there. My first snake I got (a normal female BP) is literally the best pet I could imagine. She always has perfect sheds, never missed a meal, eats F/T, went from mice to rats with a breeze, and never bites. I will admit I paid way too much for her ($40 because she was half off) but I couldn't be happier with her. I also recently got a crested gecko from Petco and she has also been a great pet. I have actually been really happy with their animals. A few negatives about them though.... When I went to buy my BP who was a hatchling, they REFUSED to sell me a BP if I didn't have a 20 gallon tank as a minimum... I had done some research and I planned on doing a tub setup but the manager told me the only way she would sell me it is if I had the tank. I really wanted the snake so I bought everything she said. I returned everything she sold me 2 days later. :D Then when I went to buy my crested everything went fine until I asked for CGD. I didn't notice it on the shelf and the girl working told me that they use Leopard gecko calcium supplement. (used for dusting crickets) so I bought the gecko and went to a different store for food. I would say other than their poor information they usually have good animals and they take really good care of them. (at my Petco at least) Last time I was in there they had Kenyan sand boas, a Pastel or "Fancy ball python", and a wide variety of colubrids.

-Alex

Ok so I was in my local petsmart picking up 20 gallon tank for my bearded dragon and I stopped to look at the reptiles. I noticed that the ball pythons were is what looked like a desert habitat and instantly knew something was wrong. they actually had a dial thermometer and hydrometer in the tank (not great but better than nothing) It was 110 on the hot side with 0% humidity. I instantly asked someone if they knew that their ball pythons were being housed incorrectly and this lady told me that I was wrong, that ball pythons are native to the MOJAVE DESERT and need such temperatures and humidity levels. I was stunned at this statement and instantly pulled out my iPhone and showed her the care sheet here on BP.net. About a week later I was driving past the petsmart and decided to check if they had actuallty done anything about the ball pythons husbandry. I went in prepared for the worst knowing that if nothing had been changes that there likely was a BBQ'd BP sitting in the tank. When I looked in the cage I was stunned the BP was dead but not because the enclosure was too hot... they had stopped using ANY heat sources at all. I had made it very clear that BP's needed a thermal gradiant of 78-82 on the cool side and 88-92 on the hot side. The thermometer was reading 60 degrees. (It is the coldest petstore I have ever been in) I got the same lady over and asked why there wasn't any heat being provided and if she knew that their snake was dead. At this point she starts freaking out at me and gets the manager involved. I show him the care sheet from this site and explained how I had showed this lady the exact same thing.

HE FIRED HER ON THE SPOT.

I don't want anyone to lose their jobs especially in these hard economic times but she really shouldn't have been working there in the first place. while this defiantly wasn't a shining moment for Petsmart I have to give it to the manager, he was very professional and was willing to listen to me once I proved to him that I really did in fact know what I was talking about (Which I find to be very reasonable I would be worried if he listened to anybody who approached him). After he fired the lady he had me print out the BP.net BP care sheet and had me fix the issues with the setup.

So... I work at one of the aforementioned stores (which I probably shouldn't be specific on just in case lol), however I groom dogs :) As much as I wanna jump in and say, "don't hate on us! You just have a bad store!" I can't because.. well, I know better. We aren't allowed to feed live, and quite honestly I'm glad because we hire the general public, not specialists, and I can't imagine the damage we'd see if there were live feeders. I got my normal from work, and she was a super picky eater. Turns out, all she wanted was live. Now, she's big and healthy.

Fast forward to now... we have a tiny BP who won't take f/t, and there's nothing we can do but try and offer it. I really wanna sneak in a hopper and feed it, but I'd lose my job. One of my favorite petcare coworkers said they had one in a similar situation, and one of her friends bought it so they could feed it live, and then took it back to return it. Admittedly, not the best idea, but at least it ate.

We have a chain puppy mill pet store out here too called Petland that also sells reptiles. I've never been in one (although I'll have to shortly because my reg stores don't have any hoppers), but my friend's cousin bought a BP there. They told her it didn't need a heat source and to feed it once a month. It died in December... makes me want to punch them.

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Originally Posted by moonlightgdess

So... I work at one of the aforementioned stores (which I probably shouldn't be specific on just in case lol), however I groom dogs :) As much as I wanna jump in and say, "don't hate on us! You just have a bad store!" I can't because.. well, I know better. We aren't allowed to feed live, and quite honestly I'm glad because we hire the general public, not specialists, and I can't imagine the damage we'd see if there were live feeders. I got my normal from work, and she was a super picky eater. Turns out, all she wanted was live. Now, she's big and healthy.

Fast forward to now... we have a tiny BP who won't take f/t, and there's nothing we can do but try and offer it. I really wanna sneak in a hopper and feed it, but I'd lose my job. One of my favorite petcare coworkers said they had one in a similar situation, and one of her friends bought it so they could feed it live, and then took it back to return it. Admittedly, not the best idea, but at least it ate.

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Would it be possible for you to explain the situation to the store manager and see if you can make an exception to the policy?

i went into petco to purchace my pacman frog couse i had 50% off coupon on any live reptile :banana: so i ask the girl for the pacman frog she puts him in a plastic bag with tissue realy just let the dry tissue absorb the last bit of moister left on him so i tell her can u put some of the substrate in there she goes whats that so i slide the draw out and grab a handfull of moist dirt like a kid on halloween lol then she goes but :colbert:and i cut her off and say i dont want my pacman frog to die now!!!thheeeennnnn i go to get superworms and there was a load of worms that turned into pupae so i tell the guy and he said "wow they send us cacoons" lmfao