Damn Petco

[S.I.R.]

Our local Petco has had some very sick looking reptiles. Many look malnourished and or dehydrated! It is very frustrating to see reptiles(or any animal) look this way. Fortunately not all Petco's are like this, I have actually seen a couple of decent ones.

[Cupid]

If an animal doesnt look fit for sale, complain to the manger and have them take it off the floor until the problem is fixed. Stuck shed, at least in my store, calls for the animal to be put in the back room and soaked (or whatever) until the animal looks better.

Really, find a person working in the pet area and ask who it is that normally deals with the reptiles, and talk to them about it.

[Gene Collins]

My bad. In the future I will do just that. Again, I just didn't feel I was knowledgeable enough to say anything. I prefer to back up my complaints. Now I know better.

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[Riv]

I guess that would depend on the specific petstore. At mine I avoid putting them in the back room at all costs. The enclosures on the floor are small, but the enclosures used for the bad room are half THAT size, usually have generic heating and lighting to try and meet the needs of any and all reptiles carried, and because of the improper husbandry, and small enclosures most if not all of the reptiles put there to "recover" wind up not eating and slowly wasting away. If I can get them in good shape without changing their location or adding any additional stress I prefer that option every time. That is of course a case by case and store by store scenario though.

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I guess that would depend on the specific petstore. At mine I avoid putting them in the back room at all costs. The enclosures on the floor are small, but the enclosures used for the bad room are half THAT size, usually have generic heating and lighting to try and meet the needs of any and all reptiles carried, and because of the improper husbandry, and small enclosures most if not all of the reptiles put there to "recover" wind up not eating and slowly wasting away. If I can get them in good shape without changing their location or adding any additional stress I prefer that option every time. That is of course a case by case and store by store scenario though.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Much respect Riv. Glad to see someone else ensuring proper care. My petsmart remains a shining star of happy healthy herps because we all care and we all check on then hourly. And feedings are documented in 3 places so everyone knows what's going on. Props to your team.

[Aaron_S]

Stopped into Petco tonight on my way home to pick up some ceramic water dishes and saw this BP....

I know I'm new here but you shouldn't do this either. Any kind of money going into a store like this just keeps them going. Besides you can find cheaper bowls online. Try some of the big suppliers websites as well as try amazon.com.

[Riv]

I hate to say it man, boycotting the store will not solve the issue. The reptile community is already pretty small. The number of people within the reptile community that GO to petstores is even smaller. Therefore not buying your ceramic waterbowls at that petstore isnt making any type of statement whatsoever. They have animal boarding food, toys, grooming, cat adoptions, dog training, small animal supplies etc. 98% of their sales are not coming from us already. So if they arent even noticing your absence, why not buy your dishes there? And as I said before, they wont crack down on their team and truly do the best they can for the animals they carry unless we go in and bring it to the head guys attention. So boycotting the store does damage to the reptiles as well. You might as well be signing off of their deaths. Non action is the same as killing them yourself.

[Kaorte]

My bad. In the future I will do just that. Again, I just didn't feel I was knowledgeable enough to say anything. I prefer to back up my complaints. Now I know better.

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Clearly you are knowledgeable enough! You noticed that the snake was not in good condition and needed attention to deal with the stuck shed. That's all you need to say! Ball pythons should shed in one piece. If they don't the likely culprit is low humidity. Which doesn't surprise me.


The petsmart that I go to frequently is actually really great. I always stop by and look at their animals and everything is always clean and the animals look to be in pretty good shape. I never see any sad or sickly looking animals and if I did I would definitely say something since I know most of the employees. I've even stopped by while customers are looking at the reptiles and corrected them on some terrible advice they were giving people about crested geckos. Any little help is better than no help!