Pet Supermarket...WOW!

[Myenia]

You have to keep in mind that many stores, pet and other alike, are incompetant and don't stand up to the normal standards they're asked to. In my hometown, Petsmart is in much better shape than Petco...partly because petco is so incredibly old there. Here, Petsmart is HORRIBLE, and our petco does pretty well with having animal specialists who know a ton about the animals in their department, and taking good care of them. I think for any store, it all depends on the individual location, because I've seen a ton of variance. It has alot to do with management and who they hire...some people care about animals and some are just in it to make money and get the opportunity to touch the animals.

[mikeamy2007]

When we were first looking into getting a snake we found a petshop in Ocala that seems to be pretty good and knowledgeable but found out shortly after that they closed down. In fact, that was the only pet shop I've been in since looking for a snake that had a dark room for their reptiles. It was too bad that they closed!

It wouldnt have happened to be next to a Staples and a dollar general by any chance, was it ?

[Mochelem]

Just an add to this.. most racks have airholes that are on the sides of the tubs and are usually right next to eachother. That part doesn't really make a difference because that's what it's like even at a breeder's rack.

Edit: According to that site most snakes do well at room temperature! Wait why did I buy all this equipment to stabilize heat then?

This wasnt a breeder rack, it was a rack of tanks, and it was thier entire reptile tank, think of it like this 15, 10 gallon tanks stacked 5 wide and 3 tall.... there were holes connecting each tank to each other. The other tanks had bearded dragons, water dragons, colubrids, scorpions, tarantulas, geckos.... I just saw that and I thought that all those animals could transfer things to each other very easily....

I have a rack this was not like a breeder rack...

[halfwaynowhere]

never heard of pet supermarket... guess there isn't one around here...
Anyways, chain stores have the same basic husbandry rules they have to follow, whether they are right or wrong. But each individual store does things a little bit differently. My job requires me to travel to many different petco stores. I cover about 20 of them on a regular basis, and occassionally a few others. Some know more than others, it depends on the individual employees... One store I was at let the ball pythons and red tail boas live together. I pointed out that they were mixed. There was a divider between the two enclosures, but it wasn't secure, and they kept pushing past it and ending up together. I was told that they do it all the time, and it was okay because in the store, the animals don't have enough space to establish their individual territory, so they don't fight. Um, okay. Even if that made sense, what if someone came into the store and saw them living together, and then tried to do the same at home? Big trouble.
Other stores I've been to do a pretty good job. That was the worst I've seen. Except for maybe the guy that tried telling me that bearded dragons were the perfect childrens pet, because if the kid forgot to feed it for a few weeks, it would be fine.

[Mochelem]

never heard of pet supermarket... guess there isn't one around here...
Anyways, chain stores have the same basic husbandry rules they have to follow, whether they are right or wrong. But each individual store does things a little bit differently. My job requires me to travel to many different petco stores. I cover about 20 of them on a regular basis, and occassionally a few others. Some know more than others, it depends on the individual employees... One store I was at let the ball pythons and red tail boas live together. I pointed out that they were mixed. There was a divider between the two enclosures, but it wasn't secure, and they kept pushing past it and ending up together. I was told that they do it all the time, and it was okay because in the store, the animals don't have enough space to establish their individual territory, so they don't fight. Um, okay. Even if that made sense, what if someone came into the store and saw them living together, and then tried to do the same at home? Big trouble.
Other stores I've been to do a pretty good job. That was the worst I've seen. Except for maybe the guy that tried telling me that bearded dragons were the perfect childrens pet, because if the kid forgot to feed it for a few weeks, it would be fine.

The things you have stated here are why most people on this site dont have much trust in pet stores. Most of the people that work in the stores dont really know what they are talking about. They are like the used car sales people of the reptile community. Im not saying everyone who works in a pet store doesnt know anything.

This is just an example, the first ball python I owned was back in 1996 and I was told by the person who sold it to me that it should only be fed once a month, and all i needed was a 20 gal tank and a uth. I didnt have a thermostat also nothing about humidity was ever told to me. After a year of owning that snake it was under 300 grams. I ended up moving to a place that didnt allow pets and a guy I knew who had many reptiles took it off my hands... But pet stores are not known for healthy animals or for advise on keeping them...

[Myenia]

[QUOTE=Mochelem;853596]The things you have stated here are why most people on this site dont have much trust in pet stores. Most of the people that work in the stores dont really know what they are talking about. [QUOTE]

I'll argue this statement, to a degree. At least with petco, many of the employees are specialists in certain areas...outside of that, they have a general/decent idea about the other pets. But most of them unfortunately wont admit it, and even with the pets they know less about, they will pretend to know what they're talking about when asked. A good employee should call on someone who can answer accurately...but unfortunately, its hard to find that many people who are completely competant. So, most employees know quite a bit about SOME animals. The stores I'd worry more about are those which take care of their animals poorly...because that is everyone's fault.

[stormwulf133]

What kind of help do you think you are going to get when you pay barely above minimum wage, and hire based on hours worked instead of knowledge?

What kind of help do you think you are going to keep with giving your employees 3.5 hours shifts for part time, and requiring full time to have 100% availability and other such nonesense?

Even if you get employees that want to help, and do things right... You have corporate policies which may be totally incorrect dictating how to keep the animals "Correctly." Then keep in mind you also have employees that are over worked, and simply can't take care of everything in their work day (without getting fired for not stocking a shelf) or because they have too many customers to help, but knowing the next employee coming in doesn't give a rats butt if things are done right or even know if they are or arent.

Then also keep in mind, at a management and district management level you have people that were hired because of their management skills not because they know a damned thing about pets, especially a lot of management at a corporate level.

[Mochelem]

[QUOTE=Myenia;853650][QUOTE=Mochelem;853596]The things you have stated here are why most people on this site dont have much trust in pet stores. Most of the people that work in the stores dont really know what they are talking about.

I'll argue this statement, to a degree. At least with petco, many of the employees are specialists in certain areas...outside of that, they have a general/decent idea about the other pets. But most of them unfortunately wont admit it, and even with the pets they know less about, they will pretend to know what they're talking about when asked. A good employee should call on someone who can answer accurately...but unfortunately, its hard to find that many people who are completely competant. So, most employees know quite a bit about SOME animals. The stores I'd worry more about are those which take care of their animals poorly...because that is everyone's fault.

Just do a search on this site for petco and take a look at all the nightmare stories about them and how they instuct new buyers on taking care of thier newly bought animals.

[pythontricker]

my petco seems to take great care of its animals too. the temps and humidity are all correct too. I ask the guy why the place has so many bp's in one cage, and he said, "you know, i completely hate the policies this place has! if it was up to me I would have them all in one individual tank" So I guess its just the employees that happen to work there. And they make sure is better than policy says it should be.

[aaramire]

I work at Petsmart and I absolutely hate the policies but I need the money and its helpful to get discounts on things I need. I am honestly the only person in the store who can get the snakes to eat and its just so dumb to me that they carry these animals and dont have the knowledge to take care of them properly. There are some policies the stores have which are just completely stupid to me. I realy feel like they shouldnt carry reptiles if they cant keep them alive and feeding....
I am happy however because I am transferring to a new store where they keep all the bps in individual tanks and they have these nice fancy bubblers for their tree frogs which keep the water moving and the humidity up. It seems like this store knows much more about reptiles, although I worry about the ones I am leaving behind....

On a seperate note I went to the Pet Supermarket here yesterday and it seems very nice, they only have small animals and fish which is probably for the best. They had very nice cheap feeders and a great supply of frozen as well. I also bought a lovely betta from them, and I was very pleased with the cleanliness of the store. Im sure like most chains it varies from store to store but I was surprised by this store.