a bad petco experience

[VEXER19]

Just got home from petco but whil I was there I was looking at their snakes and see this albino corn that has been there for a while soaking and had mites all over it. Then I see he RTBs and there were 2 of them but one didn't look right and right next to it was urates and what looked like a tumor that had been passed or something of that sort. 1 of the RTBs looked good but really underweight and I was pretty sure the other one was dead. So I made the staff open up the tank and he did and then just looked at the RTB like I ain't touching it so my wife just reached in and grabbed it and handed it off to me. The boa was freezing cold and I told my wife and she said it was 65 degrees. I felt the bottom of the tank and it was cold as well. I then noticed mites crawling onto my hand from the boa. And told the guy that he needs to move them t a warmer tank and that the corn and boa can't be near other animals because the bins at petco are 3 tanks wide with dividers and mites could easily spread to the other animals. I was so mad and was just trying to warm this bao up with my body heat while the petco worker cleaned and removed the dead snake from the tank. Then made him call his boss who has good snake knowledge to make sure this problem gets fixed. I had to put the RTB back in that tank and it took me about a minute because it didn't want to leave my hand and kept going for the lid as I tried to place it down. Obviously wasn't happy. I just wish I could have like fostered it and taken it home to warm it up and feed the poor thing. Well sorry for the rant but I'm just irritated and wish I could have done more.

[Salamander Rising]

Just got home from petco but whil I was there I was looking at their snakes and see this albino corn that has been there for a while soaking and had mites all over it. Then I see he RTBs and there were 2 of them but one didn't look right and right next to it was urates and what looked like a tumor that had been passed or something of that sort. 1 of the RTBs looked good but really underweight and I was pretty sure the other one was dead. So I made the staff open up the tank and he did and then just looked at the RTB like I ain't touching it so my wife just reached in and grabbed it and handed it off to me. The boa was freezing cold and I told my wife and she said it was 65 degrees. I felt the bottom of the tank and it was cold as well. I then noticed mites crawling onto my hand from the boa. And told the guy that he needs to move them t a warmer tank and that the corn and boa can't be near other animals because the bins at petco are 3 tanks wide with dividers and mites could easily spread to the other animals. I was so mad and was just trying to warm this bao up with my body heat while the petco worker cleaned and removed the dead snake from the tank. Then made him call his boss who has good snake knowledge to make sure this problem gets fixed. I had to put the RTB back in that tank and it took me about a minute because it didn't want to leave my hand and kept going for the lid as I tried to place it down. Obviously wasn't happy. I just wish I could have like fostered it and taken it home to warm it up and feed the poor thing. Well sorry for the rant but I'm just irritated and wish I could have done more.

The idiots who work the herp section of my local PetCo dread seeing me come into the store because they know hell's coming with me.

[the store manager adores me so I don't worry about getting "banned"]

Last time I went in, the BP tank had a whopping 23% humidity level and the shedding snakes looked like shredded snakes.

I went looking for the twit who was working that night but he seemed to have 'disappeared'.

As I was driving out of the lot, I saw him walking around the back of the store.

I have to find out where he hides while I'm there.

[VEXER19]

The idiots who work the herp section of my local PetCo dread seeing me come into the store because they know hell's coming with me.

[the store manager adores me so I don't worry about getting "banned"]

Last time I went in, the BP tank had a whopping 23% humidity level and the shedding snakes looked like shredded snakes.

I went looking for the twit who was working that night but he seemed to have 'disappeared'.

As I was driving out of the lot, I saw him walking around the back of the store.

I have to find out where he hides while I'm there.

I bet they do hide. Its just a shame because my stores mamager who I made the guy call is the snake guy and I've never seen the snakes look that bad before not to mention 1 being dead and the rest frozen. I will definately be having. Talk with him about educating his staff on the keeping of herps. I mea the temp and humidity levels are right here in the cage. There is no excuse. But just seeing the dead boa and mites crawling on me really set me off. Well made me more sad than anything.

[decensored]

The worst part is I have applied over and over as a part time reptile care specialist at my local petsmart (the petco of canada) LOL, and every time the response I get is, "sorry, but we do not have a position for you based on your experience and qualifications. We will keep your resume in case a position comes up that we feel you would be suited for." Which every time I am contacted it is for security or stocking..

I don't understand how almost every pet store can have the dumbest "experts," in their reptile sections.. When I've applied, I've even explained to the manager that I own, breed, and care for reptiles. I work full time (I make over 60 grand/year) and although I don't need a part time job I love animals, and want to work with them and to help provide a better environment for them.. But because I don't have any experience in sales they are not interested in me.. I don't understand it.. (Sorry I went on my own little rant there LOL)

[Slashmaster]

The worst part is I have applied over and over as a part time reptile care specialist at my local petsmart (the petco of canada) LOL, and every time the response I get is, "sorry, but we do not have a position for you based on your experience and qualifications. We will keep your resume in case a position comes up that we feel you would be suited for." Which every time I am contacted it is for security or stocking..

I don't understand how almost every pet store can have the dumbest "experts," in their reptile sections.. When I've applied, I've even explained to the manager that I own, breed, and care for reptiles. I work full time (I make over 60 grand/year) and although I don't need a part time job I love animals, and want to work with them and to help provide a better environment for them.. But because I don't have any experience in sales they are not interested in me.. I don't understand it.. (Sorry I went on my own little rant there LOL)

The bottom line, is my guess. Because you're experienced with herps, they might fear you wouldn't sell a herp to someone who didn't seem intelligent/educated/mature enough for one. "Experts" in herps, on the other hand, will sell to whoever's interested, thus the bottom line gets blacker.

[Missy King]

I have seen, and heard terrible things about PetCo, continuously. I occasionally hear bad things about PetSmart, as well. Well....i applied for EVERYTHING at petsmart, and finally got called in for "early morning stocker" but to be immodest, i have a great customer service kind of personality, and actually i am a GREAT interviewer..though that doesn't mean i'm great at the job *lol* anyway, i know i interview well. SO, now i'm a cashier at petsmart.

My first week there, i noticed right away the ball pythons were sick. One of them clearly had inclusion disease. I asked the banfield vet in the store, they said they didn't deal with reptiles. I told a manager, nothing happened. I told staff, nothing happened. Okay so actually i did that while i was coming in for interviews, and my first week there the only snake left was DEAD...or so i thought. I complained, and complained and made them go over there and take it away...in the back...which they just said it was sick. (for some reason the ID snake, and one of the others, were gone. it was just this last one left.) I later found out it died the next day.

Dehydrated, sick...it was pathetic. Okay so right after that, the "pet care manager" quit or got fired or something...i think it was something to do with disability.
Another girl took over, and she is actually doing a very respectable job. I check the animals every day that i work, and the humidity, and cleanliness is actually great for a chain petstore. I haven't seen mites, they all look good. I've helped feed the turtles and bearded dragons, and when one of the pet care people don't want to hold a snake *rolls eyes* i do it for them.

It actually took me a long time to get over that snake dying. It was horrible to see the poor thing lying there.
By now everyone knows that i WILL fuss if i see something wrong...but i haven't. They are actually taking good care of the animals, under this new management.

btw, you'd be surprised how many people work at a petstore who either don't like pets or don't have any. so weird!

[Whitney Scheib]

The Petco in my area isn't all that bad. They take all complaints very seriously, and handle them swiftly. I was in there one day, and they had a very finicky batch of BP's. The humidity was a bit low, and they all had stuck shed. So i went up to the manager and told him he needed to mist them. Within 5 minutes someone was there to remist the cage, and all the surrounding cages just in case. They are actually so good wtih reptiles, they have had quite a few new breeds in. They had GTP's for the first time tonight, and they looked very healthy! But, the staff who works in the reptile section, all have collections of there own. I actually received my first snakes from one of them, and the other girl who helps int hat section is going to have her boa female drop soon. They do really well in our area, but they do have there downfalls. They had mites in there boa enclosure 2 weeks ago I guess. Someone was telling me about it. They got them all taken out, sprayed down, and cleaned within a 2 week span. They really do an amazing job here. But I think it varies with area, and staff. Some people just see it as a job and don't care about the animals, but some do!

[VEXER19]

@ Decensored- I can't imagine how you couldn't get a job there. That just irritates me. God forbid you have someone take care of herps that actually knows what they are doing or if they don't know will go home and know the next day. I don't think non herp owners understand how much goes into caring for these animals and creating a positive habitat for them. Makes you wanna go to their house and set their ac to 10 degrees and see how they like it. You know just give them a little perspective is all.

[decensored]

@ Decensored- I can't imagine how you couldn't get a job there. That just irritates me. God forbid you have someone take care of herps that actually knows what they are doing or if they don't know will go home and know the next day. I don't think non herp owners understand how much goes into caring for these animals and creating a positive habitat for them. Makes you wanna go to their house and set their ac to 10 degrees and see how they like it. You know just give them a little perspective is all.

agreed

[VEXER19]

Just went by my petco again the other day and saw all four bps in the same tank all in shed with stuck shed and 35% humidity. The manager wasn't there but I still gave them a piece of my mind about how they don't notice these things. Its usually such a great petco. I don't know what is going on with them lately. Makes me sad for these poor animals. If I see this again then all hell is ging to break loose. I hve no tolerance for neglecting animals.