Reptile abuse! Boycott all chain pet stores!!!

[Crazy4Herps]

Whenever I go to my local chain pet stores, such as PetCo or PetSmart, I am thouroughly disgusted by the condition of the reptiles there. Temperatures wrong, humidity wrong, too-small cages, dirty cages, etc. And, most of them are imported. It is absolutely revolting. Furthermore, the majority of the employees know little to nothing about basic care for these creatures.

This is why I am begging everybody not to support chain pet stores such as PetCo. Except for live rats, I order everything I need for my beloved girl online at reptilesupply.com, and I get my beloved girl and my soon-to-be pet bearded dragon from a vivarium that actually knows how to keep reptiles healthy.

I beg of you all, please avoid these pet stores as best you can!! I know, cricket/worm/mice/rat orders may not turn up in time, requiring a trip to your local pet store, which I'm sure has happened to all of us, but please do your best to avoid these vile places!

[wmanning]

i agree! I went to petsmart last night and wandered over to the reptiles. There were 4 BPs in a tiny enclosure, all of them having stuck shed EVERYWHERE. no shed whatsoever. I feel so bad everytime I walk in there and they sell them for like $90

[butters!]

ugh.anyone that belongs to this forum knows not to buy from a chain store.there are breeders looking to get rid of normal bps cheap.no reason to spend 80 at petco.as for accessories,who cares where you get them.the petco by my house treats there animals great.just because your local store treats there animals bad doesnt mean they all do.its ok to rant but to boycott all chains is silly.

[harfieldthethirsty]

Im in, hate em

[ev477]

ugh.anyone that belongs to this forum knows not to buy from a chain store.there are breeders looking to get rid of normal bps cheap.no reason to spend 80 at petco.as for accessories,who cares where you get them.the petco by my house treats there animals great.just because your local store treats there animals bad doesnt mean they all do.its ok to rant but to boycott all chains is silly.

I agree with this.

Besides, the feeders the Petsmart sells are actually of better quality than the small pet store. I have been continuing to support the smaller pet store, but I don't think I will anymore after the last time I went there. I had called ahead asking if they had frozen rats and frozen fuzzies in stock, and they said they did without checking and I drove 15 minutes to get there and see one frozen fuzzy mouse in their stock (though I got rats just fine).

I would even say that the animals in the petsmart look like they are in better living conditions than the ones in the smaller pet store. The conditions of chain stores are really not a universal constant.

[kitsunex]

meh i find it amusing whenever this comes up and people rant and rave to boycott the big chains. like other's have said not all are created equal. just like its silly to say that all private breeders are better than a petstore. i've met some pretty terrible backyard breeders honestly that were far worse than any chain store. i'd prefer to judge the stores on their own merits rather than all of them as a whole.

[mainbutter]

I'd have to agree about the conditions of chain stores not being constant. There is one petsmart I have gone to from time to time, the employees there are great, and they keep pretty darn good care of the reptiles from what I've seen. I've never seen stuck shed on the BPs, cages are always clean, and they even use digital therms/hygrometers.

A local PetCo doesn't use digital meters, but at least it provided a humid hide for the one BP they had for sale, and that's a rarity to see in those stores.

It all depends if they actually are able to hire someone who is willing and knowledgable to take care of the animals. It's too bad that the majority of big box pet stores I have been in do not take good care of any of their animals, but there are a few that stand out.

One more thing about PetSmart: the one that we go to has sold us some fish, none of which have died and we have had one for over 3 years now. That's pretty good for chain store fish imo.

Small stores aren't always better, and in fact most of the time they are the worst of all. Small pet stores, especially the ones in malls, are where you find the puppy mill dogs for sale. The one in the burnsville center mall just pisses me off. They keep the dogs in horrible conditions, the cages are never clean, there is always at least one animal that looks sick, and almost half the puppies are ridiculous poodle crosses.. GAH! At least petsmart and petco work with local adoption agencies and shelters rather than selling dogs and cats.

[MDB]

I'd have to agree about the conditions of chain stores not being constant. There is one petsmart I have gone to from time to time, the employees there are great, and they keep pretty darn good care of the reptiles from what I've seen. I've never seen stuck shed on the BPs, cages are always clean, and they even use digital therms/hygrometers.

A local PetCo doesn't use digital meters, but at least it provided a humid hide for the one BP they had for sale, and that's a rarity to see in those stores.

It all depends if they actually are able to hire someone who is willing and knowledgable to take care of the animals. It's too bad that the majority of big box pet stores I have been in do not take good care of any of their animals, but there are a few that stand out.

One more thing about PetSmart: the one that we go to has sold us some fish, none of which have died and we have had one for over 3 years now. That's pretty good for chain store fish imo.

Small stores aren't always better, and in fact most of the time they are the worst of all. Small pet stores, especially the ones in malls, are where you find the puppy mill dogs for sale. The one in the burnsville center mall just pisses me off. They keep the dogs in horrible conditions, the cages are never clean, there is always at least one animal that looks sick, and almost half the puppies are ridiculous poodle crosses.. GAH! At least petsmart and petco work with local adoption agencies and shelters rather than selling dogs and cats.

I strongly agree

[Mischke]

The thing is most people that are on forums, and actually know what they’re talking about won’t buy from pet stores. But, A LOT of people buy animals on impulse, and they’ll get them from Petco, and Petsmart. Which makes boycotting them unrealistic.

[MDB]

The thing is most people that are on forums, and actually know what they’re talking about won’t buy from pet stores. But, A LOT of people buy animals on impulse, and they’ll get them from Petco, and Petsmart. Which makes boycotting them unrealistic.

exactly unfortunately