Stupid petland employees!

[Blu Mongoose]

I like looking at snakes, I don't really like petland and their business ethics though. I sometimes go just to look at snakes since there are no other local places to look. Today I go in and they have about a 3 1/2 ft Af rock in withabout a 2-3 ft ball python. When I mentioned to the store employee that it wasn't wise to house them together, explaining the reasons. Then I mentioned the harm in housing a hatchling ball with one at least 8 mo. old He went off about how he has bred snakes over 10 yrs. and had bred every variety the store was carrying. Did I mention there was burmese, rat snakes, corn snakes,af rock, ball pythons, just to name a few. He said there was no chance of cannibalism. He should know since he has bred them over 10 yrs. Did I also mention he was about 25 yrs. old. I'm not saying young people could not have been doing it that long, but give me a break. He kept carrying on like he was father time himself. I thought he was going to blow a fuse when I said, "You may breed snakes, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW SNAKES" I usually don't lose my cool, but I hate it when someone without a clue runs off at the mouth. I am not real knowledgable, but I will admit if I don't know something. Did I mention this is the Petland in Cherryvale Mall in Rockford Il.

[rabernet]

Sounds like the kid at my local pet store. The one where I found the pastel that mxrider got. He's the same kid that told him that they had a pied that they sold for $75. This kid believes anything anyone tells him and then swears it's the truth afterwards.


I mentioned the so-called pied they had and the owner said "say what???" and the kid goes - "yeah, the guy that brought it in swore it was a pied, but I couldn't tell, but he said it was, so I said ok." The owner then says "that guy called me, it was a HET pied, with no papers - so it was essentially a normal".

This is the same kid that wanted to bet me "$100 that teacups are made by starving the puppies their first six months of life to stunt their growth" after I overheard him tell a customer that and said "NO they are NOT made that way!" He got all flustered and wanted to bet me that he was right and I was wrong. I just shook my head and walked away in disgust.

[Blu Mongoose]

Yes, it upset him so much when I told him he didn't know snakes, I think I ruined his whole day!!

[darkangel]

It sucks that sometimes you just have to bite your tongue. At the local store where I got my boa, I felt comfortable buying from them because they only sold from their single breeding pair, but their, ahem, "knowledge" was... well it's most of the things that turn out to be myths. I had to pretty much nod my head through all the bull crap just so I could purchase the snake. I wanted to unload but it wasn't worth it.

[randomdaydream]

I think I work at one of the only stores where the employees actually know the do's and don'ts of the animals. It's privately owned and I usually encourage people - if you are going to buy pets from a store, go to the privately owned places. That is just my experience. I think all stores have the good ones and the bad ones.

However, I have to admit, at the store that I work at, we have dumb kids (I have nothing against teenagers, but these are brats) that tell our customers ridiculous myths! I want to choke them.

[liam]

hopefully you did mongoose...i h8 jerks like tht.

[Argentra]

Oh boy, can I relate to this stuff. I actually left a fairly good job last year cause I got offered (begged to accept is more like it) a job at Petsmart...which is something I had always wanted to do. Oh how disillusioned I was!
Aside from the nice manager who hired me leaving a week later to be replaced by the witch from he**, the company policies on animals are awful! They're just merchandise to them! I was one of only two employees in the pet care department who knew ANYTHING about reptiles, let alone about how to care for and house them. It's really horrible to think about what happens to those poor dear lizards and frogs that go out with the myth-laden, just plain wrong advice those clueless kid employees give. I did my best, but when you're only one person, and you're always being yelled at for trying to handle and house the animals properly instead of as they are...well, I only stayed there about 8 months.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but yes, the best place to buy ANY pet, after checking with rescue groups of course, is from a specialty place where they breed them and have the know-how.

Ok, off my

[Sausage]

Yeah, some of those pet shop employees need frontal lobotomies. Luckily, my local PetCo's reptile dude breeds cresties and actually knows how to take care of the animals there. When I bought my baby corn there he like quized me about the husbandry(the good kind, not petco printouts) before he'd sell the snake to me.

[Blu Mongoose]

When I bought my baby corn there he like quized me about the husbandry(the good kind, not petco printouts) before he'd sell the snake to me.

The sad part is, some employees have been fired for quizzing costomers, rather than just selling the animal and as many supplies as they can push.

[Argentra]

Yeah, that's one of the things I would get chewed out over. That, and spending 'too much time' with a single customer helping them get all the right supplies and info.