Talked to Petco today...

[TanyaL]

I didn't make it to the store tonight but hopefully tomorrow. I appreciate all the comments and I think I will print the caresheets from here and give it to he bp 'EXPERT'. I talked to him for a few minutes and he sounded like he cared about them, it was just that he was working off the wrong information. I mentioned this forum to him and he said he would check it out but we'll see. I warned him that most pet store owners were not favored here but to at least read, read, read. I can't believe that he said I was feeding too often at 7 days.

[cinderbird]

Heh... someone probably made a big fuss about it enough to get them to do it. That, or they hired someone recently who actually KNOWS about reptiles...it's rare, but possible - I was one of them.

The only thing is, people who really do know about their care often can't stand it and leave after a short time because corporate policies and such are SERIOUSLY outdated and they don't care about upgrading them. Heck, most managers don't care about the animals, as they're just more merchandise to sell.

It all depends on the people at each store if anything gets done. Some places will actually have caring people who will really try to do things right... most will just toss the caresheets you give them in the trash and keep right on doing what they do.
The Petsmart I worked at now carries snakes and it's all I can do to keep from lecturing them every time I'm there...or from grabbing that price card - the one with the 'basic care info' on it - and writing in the PROPER information! SIGH.

Oh, and a note on feeders from Petco or Petsmart: DO NOT buy the prepacked frozen feeders they sell! They're filthy and smelly and WAY undersized and overpriced. If you get live from either store, and most Petsmarts won't sell rodents to snake people or those who come back too often, look very closely at them before you accept. Most animals that come to those stores, especially the rodents, are not really healthy.

Ok, rant over.

I asked them about their feeders thinking maybe i could get them in bulk. I was horrified at what i saw when i asked for the frozen feeders for my girl.

I went up to the guy, and he brought out a PLASTIC BOWL with TWO crawlers in it (rats, frozen) that were "about" the size of what i was feeding my girl and was like, what are they, 2-2.50 each? he was like "no, they're 15.00 for the two" and i was like..."you're kidding me, right? you'll NEVER sell them." and i told him how great of a price i got on my feeders but i just had to drive slightly further away for them. I get bulk discounts when i buy because I have my own freezer where i store them. 40.00 gets me 2 months worth of food for one female BP. I couldnt believe they had the nads to ask for 7.00 (plus tax) for a SINGLE small feeder.

[Mike Schultz]

I work in pet care at Petsmart... And I can tell you that giving them "correct" care sheets won't do any good

Anyways, at least at the petsmart i work at, we care for the animals correctly. We don't follow the "corporate" guidelines tbh... Maybe I just have a cool manager for pet care (by cool, read: actually cares about animals rather than sales?), but whatev. We look down on petco anyways, they take poor care of their animals compared to us

Although i'm sure there are better petco's and worse petsmarts than the ones where i live

[rabernet]

They dropped the price down to $29 (from 79) so I think they're having a hard time selling them...

Nope, they have this sale every summer about this time. Be prepared for a lot of new members joining after this sale. It lasts about a month, I think.

[ViciousBliss]

i'm moving to manchester NH so obviously last time i was there i froliced in and out of the Petsmart and the Petco.

the petsmart didn't anger me one bit. friendly staff, not too many animals crammed together (only 2 bps in an enclosure). took one of them out, very lovely reduced pattern. you could tell it was handled once in a while. nice calm lil baby, healthy looking size and belly was clean. i put it back and thanked the dude, and went on my way.

petco. oh petco. i hate you so.

their snakes were reduced to 30 dollars a piece. they were all in shed. all 20 something of them in the one enclosure. they were all hissy pissy. striking, angry, dry. no humidity in sight. one very small thin baby in back was so crusty from it's shed i thought it was dead, till the dude poked it with his pen "no look, she's alive"

i almost threw up.

i will more than likely get a job at one of these places (and i'm thinking i'd rather it be petco than petsmart, seeing as the dude who worked there kind of acted like he knew wtf he was doooingggg) so i can make a difference, even if it's misting these poor things with a spray bottle while no one is looking and doing some sneaky move like handing out care sheets or making cards with BP.net on it to hand out to customers who purchase a snake. something has to be done....

what a nightmare. if a regular joe had that many BPs in a tank and kept them like that on a regular basis they would get in trouble for hoarding and be forced to change their ways. because it's a petstore they get to hoard animals and treat them like garbage. it's appauling.

[ViciousBliss]

I work in pet care at Petsmart... And I can tell you that giving them "correct" care sheets won't do any good

Anyways, at least at the petsmart i work at, we care for the animals correctly. We don't follow the "corporate" guidelines tbh... Maybe I just have a cool manager for pet care (by cool, read: actually cares about animals rather than sales?), but whatev. We look down on petco anyways, they take poor care of their animals compared to us

Although i'm sure there are better petco's and worse petsmarts than the ones where i live

no i think you're absolutely right on. petco is a dang joke and really made me irate.

petsmart, the animals look cared for. good job petsmart.

[TanyaL]

While I was 'out of town' yesterday we stopped in a little mom and pop petstore to see if they had f/t rats and of course I went to check on their reptiles. It made me SICK! Size wise they looked like they were healthy, meaning they were not skinny for their size, they looks like they had pretty good sheds, etc. but the poor things (2 in one tank) didn't have a single hide! The only thing they had in there was a water dish and with it being as high as it was I couldn't even tell if it had water in it. I mentioned something to the girl that they needed a hide and that they looked stressed and her reply was 'Well, look how active they are...they look happy and healthy to me!'. These two poor BPs were trying to get out of the tank and just all over one another. When I told her they needed something she gave me every impression that she didn't care! I did get the owners name and business card but with the way the rest of the store looked, I doubt he will be any different than Petco! But, I could be wrong. I just feel so bad for the snakes..I dont think there was a single snake with anything but a water dish.

[littleindiangirl]

While I was 'out of town' yesterday we stopped in a little mom and pop petstore to see if they had f/t rats and of course I went to check on their reptiles. It made me SICK! Size wise they looked like they were healthy, meaning they were not skinny for their size, they looks like they had pretty good sheds, etc. but the poor things (2 in one tank) didn't have a single hide! The only thing they had in there was a water dish and with it being as high as it was I couldn't even tell if it had water in it. I mentioned something to the girl that they needed a hide and that they looked stressed and her reply was 'Well, look how active they are...they look happy and healthy to me!'. These two poor BPs were trying to get out of the tank and just all over one another. When I told her they needed something she gave me every impression that she didn't care! I did get the owners name and business card but with the way the rest of the store looked, I doubt he will be any different than Petco! But, I could be wrong. I just feel so bad for the snakes..I dont think there was a single snake with anything but a water dish.

I have a local store like this as well, Pet Paradise. Last year they had about 15-20 baby snakes, in a 10 gallon, one small log hide and a huge ceramic lamp on top. Bone dry water dish and what looked to be about 2 or 3 dead baby bp's on the bottom of the dog pile. Not to mention there was a hopper mouse running around in the tank with them.

Very sad, their husbandry sucked, I don't even go into the store anymore. After I saw that setup, I told Chris we would never go back.

They must think their special because someone sells them a few morph bp's and other unusual snakes now and then, but overall I'm surprised they make any profit.

Even their small animal section is horrible. I hate that petstore, and tell everyone I can to not purchase from there at all costs.

Not to mention, they MUST buy from puppy mills, because they seriously have all those silly "designer dogs" or aka MUTT puppies. They usually have 7 or 8 on hand all the time. Sell one, they replace it the next day. It always smells like dog pee and diarrhea when you walk in.

Be careful with small pet shops, in my experience around here, they are really shady and disgusting.

[Mindibun]

I got into a fight with the manager of the local Petco last night. I stopped in to kill time, and asked to speak with her. The tanks were clean and had water and all, but one baby bp was curled up as tightly as possible while another, larger one roamed around on top of it.

Knowing about all the corporate bull they have going on, I was just going to suggest adding at least one more hide. Yeah, it had to be a half-log hide, but at least it's better than nothing. Well, I presented it to her like, "Y'know, everything looks really nice and all but I noticed this little guy was having trouble shedding. If you give them another hide it might help to ease his stress." And she said to me, in a VERY snooty voice, "Oh, all he needs is a soak. I appreciate your opinion but we have it under control. I think we'd KNOW how to take care of our animals." She was not interested in the one tiny suggestion I had made that would help out her animals. I won't ever do business with them again. Not that I really did to begin with.

Really, though I was just appalled. I expected her to take note of a VERY simple suggestion like that - one which would probably help her to sell the animal.

[Mike Schultz]

OK, its settled. Petco really DOES suck, its not just my petsmart employee bias

But to be honest I havent even been inside one in years :p No need because petsmart is closer, and since i was hired I also have 15% off