its so sad

[Archimedes]

It's all about the people hired, not the store itself. I second that. Like I said, the Petco I got Magnus from had a wonderful reptile specialist and animal manager, but one day their Small Mammals section was understaffed and they brought someone over to help us from the Fish department. He was rude, unprofessional, and actually told us he was scared of mice. We had to get our new mice ourselves after he opened the terrarium. It varies person to person, experience to experience.

Another positive anecdote about the reptile specialist-- my partner and I were in the market for a new leopard gecko, and after listening to what we were looking for, he actually went into the back and retrieved a leo who'd been separated from the others for its own safety. It was a bit bigger and the other babies felt threatened by it, so they were agressive toward it. Tommy (the rep specialist) remembered us coming in for Magnus and for other supplies and thought we'd make a good home for this rejected baby; sure enough, it was love at first sight.

When places hire people who both know what they're doing and give wonderful customer service, that's someone they shouldn't let go.