petco (rant)

[californiakingsnake]

I don't know; I always thought petco was better than petsmart. guess not -_-

I hate both of them because neither of them know anything about reptiles. I went into a petsmart near my home and they had a poor little ball python that looked severely dehydrated and no water in the bowl. The employees are very rude as well. The petco I went into had some boa constrictors that looked very sickly and underfed. Thats why I would prefer local breeders, or small time businesses.

[satomi325]

I just went into a Petco today for an emergency bag of aspen (The usual place was on back order unfortunately).

The ball python babies, which looked to be about a month or two old, were infested with mites. I notified the manager and all he said was , "I know" then walked away.
They all must have been pretty uncomfortable since all of them were right up in front of the glass trying to escape.

The Petsmarts in my area are pretty good and knowledgeable to some extent. Their animals seem healthy and their cages are always clean and have food/water at least.

And surprisingly a local small private pet store is really horrifying. The store always smells like sewage. The birds are kept in dark tiny cages with one or no perch. The reptiles share enclosures with one another if possible (Like all the lizards are in one tank and all the snakes are in another). And they promote puppy mills by selling mill pups and jacking up the price of 'designer' mutts. The only animals in good condition are their rodents and rabbits.

[sharkrocket]

Wow, that's some messed up crap.

At our local pet store they have an adult ball python that has stuck shed all over his or her body. It's really sad, but I don't feel like I'm in a position to be telling them how to run their store. Would you folks say something about it?

The owner is not very approachable either...

[Slim]

Would you folks say something about it...

I regularly do say something when I see obviously sick animals or husbandry that looks dangerous. I try to be polite as possible (a work in progress for me) and explain what might be wrong.

If you chose to mention something like this to store employees, expectation management on your part is important. More often than not, the employee or manager you speak with will be polite but dismissive. They rarely jump right up and fix whatever you bring to their attention.

[MidSouthMorphs]

While everyone know how much most hate Petco and Petsmart, does this really surprise anyone at this point that they have it all wrong? I have applied at some hoping I could help the animals but it was a no go, hired a girl who thought Ball Pythons ate Crickets. Go figure.

[MSG-KB]

Well I guess it depends on staff. The Petco here in Olympia, WA is run very well. The Snakes where the best and the Man who was running them was and is a very knowledgeable and is a breeder. Thanks to him and the staff, we where just not sold a snake until we under stood what it takes and he felt that we could to the right thing for the snake. I would say 85% of the staff knows what they are doing but I am sure this is not the normal.

[John1982]

Diurnal - who wants a pet that will sleep all day that they'll never see?
Temperature: 72-85 - most homes fall within this range?

It seems they're trying to make them more appealing by flat out lying, this is far worse than just being misinformed. At least the latter is accidental and can be fixed. Fabricating false care information to make more sales is utterly disrespectful not only towards their customers but their stock as well. It is ultimately the animals who suffer, how can you call yourself a petstore while promoting animal suffering?

[MSG-KB]

I agree with you. The VP who is in charge of the care sheets needs to be let go. And someone who cares about the animals needs to put the right info there and not the bottom line and the cash flow of the company. They will make sales still just tell the truth and the new owner of the pet can have the right care sheet to take care of his or her new family member.

[melodyb1985]

i went into a petsuper market on saturday to get my baby some food..and there was this poor lizard..it looked so horrible the skin was sagging every were it was sitting on top of its food dish with some molded green leafs and had no water...i told the store employee the lizard looks like it was dying they needed to do something about it and he said we are thats why it says not for sale...but they have it on display and right next to it was a ball python the same one thats been there for weeks now..i know because i took a picture of its markings to see if it would still be there..now it looks realy sick too..and there was no water or hide in the enclosure...when my son and i went 3 weeks ago they were charging 69.99 for it..and now it no longer has a price and says not for sale