Petco

[jadab123]

I hate that places like Petco and Petsmart obviously don't seem to know how to take care of reptiles . My husband and I went to Petco today to buy some more food for our dogs, and decided to swing by the reptile section. I was a bit alarmed at the humidity levels inside the enclosures (though the temperatures seemed OK). The ball python was in a tank with only 20% humidity! Poor thing. Then they had a red tail boa that was in blue, humidity was only at 40%. I know boas have to have higher humidity than our ball pythons, and I also know that if I had my bp's humidity at 40% when she was in shed, she would have a TERRIBLE shed!! Luckily the red tail boa was just hanging out in the water dish, so hopefully that will help him, but overall I know that humidity that low can be really detrimental to a boa's health! I really wanted to say something to one of the staff, but unfortunately I could not find anyone in the reptile section, and when I mentioned it to the cashier she was like "oh, ok, I'll mention it to someone." I doubt she will, because she was swamped with customers (and plus it's not really her job), but why don't they take better care of their reptiles at these stores?? I feel that I don't really have to make a huge effort to keep my ball python's humidity and temperatures where they need to be - out of all my pets, my ball python is the EASIEST to care for (and we have two dogs and two cats). I don't understand why the stores can't train their employees to monitor those things better and ensure the temps and humidities are where they need to be. I know they are just trying to make money, but these are live animals they are dealing with. Just makes me a little sick inside.

[Reed12321]

I hate that places like Petco and Petsmart obviously don't seem to know how to take care of reptiles . My husband and I went to Petco today to buy some more food for our dogs, and decided to swing by the reptile section. I was a bit alarmed at the humidity levels inside the enclosures (though the temperatures seemed OK). The ball python was in a tank with only 20% humidity! Poor thing. Then they had a red tail boa that was in blue, humidity was only at 40%. I know boas have to have higher humidity than our ball pythons, and I also know that if I had my bp's humidity at 40% when she was in shed, she would have a TERRIBLE shed!! Luckily the red tail boa was just hanging out in the water dish, so hopefully that will help him, but overall I know that humidity that low can be really detrimental to a boa's health! I really wanted to say something to one of the staff, but unfortunately I could not find anyone in the reptile section, and when I mentioned it to the cashier she was like "oh, ok, I'll mention it to someone." I doubt she will, because she was swamped with customers (and plus it's not really her job), but why don't they take better care of their reptiles at these stores?? I feel that I don't really have to make a huge effort to keep my ball python's humidity and temperatures where they need to be - out of all my pets, my ball python is the EASIEST to care for (and we have two dogs and two cats). I don't understand why the stores can't train their employees to monitor those things better and ensure the temps and humidities are where they need to be. I know they are just trying to make money, but these are live animals they are dealing with. Just makes me a little sick inside.

Check out what I found at the petco near my house: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...kes-from-PetCo

[mohawk]

There are a whole bunch of posts on this same subject ........... here are a couple :


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...light=petsmart

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...light=petsmart

[jadab123]

Check out what I found at the petco near my house: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...kes-from-PetCo

So sad and unacceptable . They really need better training! If they can't train their employees properly, then they shouldn't carry reptiles in their stores!

[Stormy]

Our local Petco actually has a wonderful reptile section. But every worker I've talked to owns snakes! One lady has a red tail boa, the other guy I've talked to has ball pythons, a red tail boa and a Burmese. All their reptiles look healthy and the husbandry is spot on.

[Sauzo]

Not all Petsmarts are horrible. The one by my house is where I bought my baby high white pied BP and she was actually checked out by one of the only vets in Washington state who is certified for reptiles. He is a very good vet with very good credentials. I guess he makes rounds to all the Petsmarts as he is independent now and does home/business calls vs running a clinic(although he did run multiple clinics). Anyways, other than being a bit thin, she was in good health and now she is fat and eats like a horse and has gained 80 grams in just under a month. Anyways, you gotta remember also, pet stores are in the business to make money and their set ups are for temporary as they don't intend to keep the animals long term. Now its true some of them are horrible, not all are. I have noticed in my area, the Petsmarts are pretty good about their reptiles but Petco is pretty bad with theirs. Of course this is going to apply anywhere. If the manager and crew care, then it will show in the animals. If they are just there for a paycheck, again it will show in the animals.

[bcr229]

So call the corporate office and complain, and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere until conditions improve.

Petco is a big business and all the people at the top understand is $$$$$. The only way to force changes is to reduce their profits.

This is why it's a bad idea to "save" animals in their stores by purchasing them - Petco gets the $ and uses that money to replace the animal with another one for sale. If Petco continually lost money on animals they would either fix their husbandry, or they would stop selling animals and dedicate that shelf space to dry goods with a better profit margin.

[jadab123]

So call the corporate office and complain, and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere until conditions improve.

Petco is a big business and all the people at the top understand is $$$$$. The only way to force changes is to reduce their profits.

This is why it's a bad idea to "save" animals in their stores by purchasing them - Petco gets the $ and uses that money to replace the animal with another one for sale. If Petco continually lost money on animals they would either fix their husbandry, or they would stop selling animals and dedicate that shelf space to dry goods with a better profit margin.

I plan on calling corporate and letting them know once the holidays are over. I have never bought reptiles from them, but we sometimes get supplies there (mostly things for my husband's leopard gecko, as I tend to order snake stuff online). Unfortunately we do have to buy our dog and cat food from either them or Petsmart, so I can't just stop buying from them, and we don't have any "boutique" pet stores near us that I know of that sell our dogs' food. And I agree, I wouldn't "save" one of these animals because I know that only encourages them. When I was still in high school, before I knew about puppy mills and their horrors, my mom and I bought a pekingese dog at Petland to give to my grandparents who had just lost their 17 year old cat. It was a wonderful dog and my grandfather loved the dog to death, but over the years it had many health issues, including breathing problems (common in the breed but worse than normal in this dog) as well as some back issues that my grandad spent $3k on surgery to fix, which didn't help much in the long run. In the end, the animal died at only 9 years of age, seemingly of heart issues, poor thing. While he loved the dog so much, had I known then what I know now, I would have looked into a rescue or a reputable breeder rather than bought it from a pet store. I think the same think kind of applies to snakes in these instances. My husband and I got our dogs and cats from breeders (we are not against rescues, it's just that he is military and most rescues are afraid that when we move, we will just dump our pets. We would never do that, of course, but I guess enough military families have, that it disqualifies us from adopting at most places). I'm pretty used to doing research into breeders and making sure they are reputable, and that philosophy has kind of transferred over to our reptile purchases as well.

[Jons2012pied]

I used to work at Petco. Calling will do nothing. They have monthy animal checks from a regional specialist but that does not mean it will be corrected. It has to start with the employees first and the manager. I no longer shop at petco for anything and only shop at Petsmart for dog food. I try to take my reptile business to local pet stores.

[jadab123]

I used to work at Petco. Calling will do nothing. They have monthy animal checks from a regional specialist but that does not mean it will be corrected. It has to start with the employees first and the manager. I no longer shop at petco for anything and only shop at Petsmart for dog food. I try to take my reptile business to local pet stores.

Yeah this is what I was thinking, too. I used to work in retail, though not a pet store, but I know that our managers had much more oversight on how the store ran than corporate did! Maybe if I keep bugging them about it every time I go in to buy dog food. Perhaps it is just a matter of education rather than neglect? They have so many rescued cats and dogs that DO seem to be well taken care of, so if they can spend the time taking care of those animals which require much more care and effort, then snakes, in theory, should be a piece of cake! I am almost tempted to apply for a job there just so, if I were to get hired, I could do my part to try and make a difference.