Are there any good petstores?

To date, I have been going to this petstore that deals just with reptiles. The only complaint I have had was the substrate that the beardies were kept in. They were kept in dirt or wood chips, but always had a nice salad and I would see butterworms in the tank. But today my opinion of them changed drastically. I went there to get superworms and hornworms for my girls, and whenever I walk in I immediately go to the beardies. That's when I saw two sub adult-adult beardies in a 30 gallon tank (if that). I have no idea their gender..but it kind of threw me off. So I go and pick out my supers, and go to the counter to pay and get some hornworms...and thats when I saw THREE beardies (I would say close to adult 10+ mos) together in a 30 gallon tank. One had half it's tail nipped off, and they were basking on top of eachother. It seriously broke my heart. All this time this reptile shop has been so good, and then they start putting adult beardies together. Makes me wonder what they were thinking

Was it a big retail chain of some sort? Or just any company at all that you could find out if they had a store website? If so, you could always leave a complain with their customer service reps...Even go as far as to say if they didnt house their animals properly that you would tip certain animal walefare groups about the husbandry conditions they have there at their store. Im sure a threat like that would reach some higher position holders...

Yikes, how sad. I have a good one near me actually, can’t say anything terrible about them. They keep it extremely clean, feed well, etc. They do house an adult male/female beardy pair that they are selling together, but in the pet stores defense they are at least in a 75 gallon tank. They are both in very good condition too.

My biggest gripe, they offer babies at a discount if you buy 2. Then again, it is up to the individual to do the research in advance. They also incubate for mostly females, not that it makes it much better, but better 2 females than 2 males. Not to say I advocate more than 1 per tank, because I don’t. I had asked the shop about males and they say never house them together. So overall I think the one near me is pretty darn good. They also referred me to my exotics vet who is wonderful. In short yes, there are some good pet stores out there, they are just far and few between.

I’m sorry for your bad experience though, I know how that just tears your heart out. That is exactly why I boycott Petsmart, Petco and every single local store close to me besides 2 that I have deemed acceptable. Even saying that, the 2 that I visit are not perfect either, they just set a higher standard than the rest.

MarianaL87":38dfb said:

Was it a big retail chain of some sort? Or just any company at all that you could find out if they had a store website? If so, you could always leave a complain with their customer service reps...Even go as far as to say if they didnt house their animals properly that you would tip certain animal walefare groups about the husbandry conditions they have there at their store. Im sure a threat like that would reach some higher position holders...

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It was just a small, local reptile store... I will look and see if they have any type of website. I just didn't feel right about those poor beardies..if worse comes to worse I will call the SPCA. Although I did that for another local store whose conditions were HORRIBLE and they are still open and ready for business. So I don't even think the SPCA here knows anything about reptiles :roll:

There are horrible pet stores, there are bad pets stores, there are decent pet stores and there are wonderful pet stores. Sadly, the wonderful ones seem to be few and far between.

If it will restore your faith, any, I was in this one pet store and wandered to the reptile section (magnetic pull by the beardies) They had 3 beardies I would guess about 5-8 weeks old. They were in 2 15 gal, reptile carpet (I've never seen a pet store dragon cage so clean) one was by himself, 2 were together. They were all perky and on their toes, no nips, scraps, stress, good tights, good temps and a sign between the cages in big red letted DO NOT HOUSE ON SAND. It made me happy.

I don't think so. Every pet store I have seen, including the little guys and the chains mainly focuses on short term housing regardless of the time they will be there and they skimp on things that Beardies need to live a good healthy quality life. It just isn't right. Also, anyone who will sell the little guys to whatever random person happens to have enough money at that moment in time (impulse buys, presents for unsuspecting kids, etc.) for the animal isn't good or right IMO. Beardies are a lot of work to own and maintain properly.

We've been fortunate with petstores. The only chain store I go to is PJ's Pets. They treat their reptiles well, they're all in well lit tanks with MVBs, lots of food and the poop is picked up right away. Most of the reptiles are on butcher paper, easy to clean and change. They had 2 juvenile beardies together in a 40 gallon and they were in good shape, well fed, looked healthy and had lots to climb and hide in. They were on sand, though not calci-sand, looked like play sand.

My husband, who's retired, went looking to different pet shops to find a 40 gal breeder for Lonzo, our adopted 4 yr old male. While he was there he talked to the manager about some reptiles that he'd seen going in. This is at Big Al's Aquarium in Burbaby, close to Vancouver, in BC Canada. So he ended up talking himself into a job as "reptile maintenance guy" and he works 30 hrs a week, even though he got hired for 10 hours/week. We consider the other two as volunteer work and to save his sanity. We printed off all the different care sheets we found for the different types of reptiles; a lot of geckos and 3 Cuban Knight Anoles. There are 11 beardie babies for sale, 3 of which are at our house having bites treated. When we find a baby that's not thriving, he comes home here to our 30 gallon and gets treated. Fed chicken babyfood between cricket feeding. We make sure they get good calcium and they're under a Power Sun 100W. We had one baby, that we're keeping, we've named her Issy; she started having spasms, her head would jerk left or right when she tried to eat. We had the wrong light, even temporarily it hurt her. We were lucky enough to find a Power Sun and brought that home, she was back to normal in a week. So my husband is using the best husbandry methods for the reptiles he's in charge of. He's been educating the manager and the owner to make sure the UVB is correct and each species gets the light, food and space they need to thrive and sell. Because, no matter what, selling is the prime directive. I'm hoping to make up care sheets for any buyers of the reptiles, just copies of the care sheet we found on the net. And Roger talks to alot of people as he's working and he explains what each type of reptile needs. So it's nice to know that some pet shops actually take responsibility for their stock and make sure everything gets what it needs to thrive. Hopefully Roger can stay there, he's passionate about his job and he relies on what I find on this site for all the good advice, which he passes along to customers.

I guess I'm fortunate to not have to go to pet shops that may not have the best practices. Hopefully more people like my husband can find work in these shops and educate the future owners as well as the store owners.

Deborah and Roger, Sweetie, 2 1/2; Lonzo 4 1/2; Issy 2 mo and 3 babies from the petshop being treated for bites. '

P.S. My husband finally caught the baby that was biting everyone and he's now in his own cage, so can't hurt any baby beardies anymore. What a relief!

i think there is a lot of ignorance when it comes to beardies. i know of a good one in maryland. they are reptile specific. i say good cuz they tried to talk us out of our 75 gallon tank. the owner said it wasn't necessary. but all the beardies were healthy and he helped us out a lot those first months...

The store that I got my beardie is a small, local store that carries a great variety of items and has a small room of pets for sale. They take great care of all of the animals (no loose substrate, etc.). The name is Benson's Pet Center in Albany, NY and I now go out of my way to buy all my pet supplies there.

I just bothers me because this is a store that deals with JUST reptiles. It's not like they have dogs and cats to look after. They have always had the smaller beardies in the same cage (about 3/cage or something), but I draw the line at having adult beardies together; nevermind 3 in a 30 gallon tank. I guess all I can do is not support the store..which sucks because they are really nice and take great care of their snakes (they have a HUGE BP)...but I dont know what to do. Seriously breaks my heart to know that beardies are put in situations where they fight eachother just because the owner wont bust out a few other tanks. I honestly dont know if I can stand to go back in there and see that

Honestly, I would write the store a letter telling them exactly how you feel and that you are dissapointed because they do specialize in reptiles and you would expect them to know better. Let them know all of the things you liked about their store. Also let them know that ethically you don't feel that you can support their store by shopping there anymore.

If you just walk away and say nothing, then the loss of your business will never make a difference. I know it is hard to speak in person to some of these petstores about care, so a polite but firm letter would be perfect. I think these stores need to know what they are doing wrong, especially if it causes them to lose a customer. It may not matter to a Petco or a Petsmart, but these small mom and pop shops rely more on their customers to stay in business.