Purchased From Petsmart

[MitsuMike]

Hopefully this time around you have decided to be a positive contributer to this site though the way you are making your come back surely does not indicate it.

I'll leave it at that!

I always strive to make a good comeback, hope you enjoy
And positive is such a relative term.......=)

[rabernet]

Your just soooo darn cute.........attacking someone who has been banned. Aww but don't worry, I'm back. I do find in entertaining though that if I were to say something as you posted I would get an infraction, odd don't you think?
I'll leave it at that, I don't want to hurt any feelings again. hahahaha

Glad to see that you're off to a great start again!

[gardenfiend138]

So I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd share my experiences (direct and indirect) with large pet chains.
After going 10 years wanting a snake and not being able to house one, I saw an ad for 30$ ball pythons from Petco. I jumped on the chance, and got him home healthy and happy. Almost 3 years, I have had no problems with him. He was very underfed when I got him though, which I've heard they do to keep the babies small = more likely to sell. I was much more naive at this time, so I liked his price-tag. This being said, I feel I was extremely lucky. Never had mites, never had an issue feeding.
Now for the local SC petsmart... the local pet shop I frequent and get feeders from has horror stories about them... telling people that their BP doesn't need lights/ heat, hides, doesn't drink water etc. Told one person that their red-footed tortoise could live outside year round, and that it too didn't have any special heat/ humidity requirements. They also frequently tell customers who have gone past their warranty period that they should go to said pet shop because they'll rescue ANYTHING, etc. They seem to (at least in my area) lack any sort of reptile specific knowledge. I have already talked with my pet shop about documenting all cases related to petsmart; they even have a vet who can attest to multiple sick animals coming from petsmart. They worry that local animal control will dismiss their claims, though, and regard them as a local pet shop trying to get the large chain out of town. Any advice on bringing case against a local chain?

[TheWinWizard]

I got a ball from a petsmart and haven't had a problem with it at all.

[maverickgtr]

So I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd share my experiences (direct and indirect) with large pet chains.
After going 10 years wanting a snake and not being able to house one, I saw an ad for 30$ ball pythons from Petco. I jumped on the chance, and got him home healthy and happy. Almost 3 years, I have had no problems with him. He was very underfed when I got him though, which I've heard they do to keep the babies small = more likely to sell. I was much more naive at this time, so I liked his price-tag. This being said, I feel I was extremely lucky. Never had mites, never had an issue feeding.
Now for the local SC petsmart... the local pet shop I frequent and get feeders from has horror stories about them... telling people that their BP doesn't need lights/ heat, hides, doesn't drink water etc. Told one person that their red-footed tortoise could live outside year round, and that it too didn't have any special heat/ humidity requirements. They also frequently tell customers who have gone past their warranty period that they should go to said pet shop because they'll rescue ANYTHING, etc. They seem to (at least in my area) lack any sort of reptile specific knowledge. I have already talked with my pet shop about documenting all cases related to petsmart; they even have a vet who can attest to multiple sick animals coming from petsmart. They worry that local animal control will dismiss their claims, though, and regard them as a local pet shop trying to get the large chain out of town. Any advice on bringing case against a local chain?

Talk to the manager of the Petsmart. Print off caresheets from here or somewhere else with good caresheets, and give them to him/her. Give specific examples. Then give them a certain amount of time to change, a week, two weeks, however long you feel it should take them to shape up based on how much is wrong. After that time has elapsed go back and check on the animals. If it's still bad contact the police, it's animal abuse. If there's an ASPCA police force in your area they're the ones to call. If not, the police department should address the case with the appropriate department or direct you to the right one to contact. And if you hear them give information you know to be wrong, go up to the employee and the customer and tell them what's correct and where to go for more information. Here's the California Penal Code about pet shops not giving animals the proper habitats. It pertains to all animals including reptiles. Print it out and give that to them too. The ASPCA has information on it's website for all states' laws on animal abuse.

[Pyrosnake]

I had to return a dead corn snake to Petco. They were feeding it crickets.
And when I told the manager (who takes care of the reptiles) that corn snakes do not eat crickets because it's bad for their digestive system and has no nutritional value, he completely ignored me and said "you got your money back didn't you?"

Petland on the other hand is where I got my very healthy corn. Other than cohabbing they seemed pretty knowledgeable about the reptiles. The thing with pet stores though, even if they can sell you a healthy animal they won't know crap about it. They have no clue how old it is, what gender it is, what morph, etc.

From now on I will stick to breeders. There's also a reptile expo every 2 weeks where I live which is very convenient if I ever wanted another animal.

[Byrdie]

there is a Petco and a Petsmart less than 2 minutes from each other where i live and i refuse to go back to petsmart (not saying all stores) but this particular store was horrible... horrible knowledge and downright rude and way over priced 4 medium mice for 10.99 (with taxes came to 11.92) where as at petco i could get 4 medium rats for 6.99!.
As for petco friendly workers clean store healthy animals (animals cost a little more but in far better condition than the local petsmart) and the F/T are at a price i can live with only reason i chose petsmart this time around is because Petco was out of F/T >.> but as i said before i will avoid that particular petsmart this time around
(Again it was that store I'm not bashing ALL Petsmarts)
but from all the posts i have read both chains have bad stores

[gardenfiend138]

Talk to the manager of the Petsmart. Print off caresheets from here or somewhere else with good caresheets, and give them to him/her. Give specific examples. Then give them a certain amount of time to change, a week, two weeks, however long you feel it should take them to shape up based on how much is wrong. After that time has elapsed go back and check on the animals. If it's still bad contact the police, it's animal abuse. If there's an ASPCA police force in your area they're the ones to call. If not, the police department should address the case with the appropriate department or direct you to the right one to contact. And if you hear them give information you know to be wrong, go up to the employee and the customer and tell them what's correct and where to go for more information. Here's the California Penal Code about pet shops not giving animals the proper habitats. It pertains to all animals including reptiles. Print it out and give that to them too. The ASPCA has information on it's website for all states' laws on animal abuse.

Thank you very much for this information! I will give updates if and when the pet shop n I take action. Thank you!

[maverickgtr]

Thank you very much for this information! I will give updates if and when the pet shop n I take action. Thank you!

Thank you for taking action and not sitting idly by, watching it happen, just complaining that they should change.