Here is the problem about petco and petsmart. They are no longer the stores they were in the 80s and 90s. They are corporate chains that only want to make profits. Animal sales are a minute amount of their profits directly but a huge amount in supplementary items such as cages, decor, etc. If you buy from them you are perpetuating their neglect as a company wide chain toward reptiles specifically. It does not matter if you find the unicorn store that treats their animals well, they are not a mom and pop shop, they are nationwide chains. When you buy an animal from any of their stores it proves to them that continuing the poor care and consideration they have for these animals over making money is profitable.

If you want to help end this problem, make sure to never buy a live animal from these chains and let everyone you know that they need to avoid doing so as well. This is the only way we can send a message to these stores to stop selling live animals.