Asking Petsmart to change their ways

[PrincessCleo]

In my defense, I do work at a petsmart, and I try my best to help people. I do realize that most of their employees are uncaring, but there ARE a few that do care! It's just SO frustrating when people are told the wrong thing, and I have to tell them NO, that you DO need the ReptiSUN, not the ReptiGLO and they look at me like I'm insane and say "Well the other employee said it was ok!" and don't listen! YOU CANT SPEND $5 MORE ON A BULB?! I also NEVER recommend any of the "starter kits" we have. Saturday I worked and someone actually YELLED at me because I said they didn't need the "desert starter kit" which doesn't even have a basking bulb in it.

I think most Petsmart customers only hear what they want to hear. Atleast that's the case with my petsmart. And it's so frustrating! Our employees are the same way. I've TRIED to educate them. No one listens to me. My boss was flabbergasted when I told him not to sell ReptiGlo's. He just looked at me like I was insane and said "Why?!" and laughed.

I want to quit. However, I need money, so I need my job.

VENT OVER!

 

[hossenburg]

i got one for ya. went to petsmart in gilroy california to get my dragon. i was told that the girl who was helping me was a bearded dragon expert. she told me to get the 10 gal. starter tank that has everything he will need. came with white light black light carpet and thermomater with a humidity gauge. didnt even have a uvb bulb. and said he will be fine in there for up to a year. told me to feed him pellets instead of crickets cause hes to small. she was supposed to be an expert and after just a little bit of research i can see she was not. by the way dragon wont touch those stupid pellets. also they said they dont feed there dragons in the store crickets just the pellets. dont know if thats bad or not just thought id throw it in there.

 

[randommonks]

i got one for ya. went to petsmart in gilroy california to get my dragon. i was told that the girl who was helping me was a bearded dragon expert. she told me to get the 10 gal. starter tank that has everything he will need. came with white light black light carpet and thermomater with a humidity gauge. didnt even have a uvb bulb. and said he will be fine in there for up to a year. told me to feed him pellets instead of crickets cause hes to small. she was supposed to be an expert and after just a little bit of research i can see she was not. by the way dragon wont touch those stupid pellets. also they said they dont feed there dragons in the store crickets just the pellets. dont know if thats bad or not just thought id throw it in there.

Not to hijack or anything, but just wanted to let you know that if you want to return the pellets you bought, they're usually pretty reasonable about that. I had wanted to feed pellets in the morning, since it would be easier for me instead of watching for when he's done with crickets before I leave for work, but he wouldn't touch them. I was able to exchange them for the same amount's worth of crickets.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

thank you for the replies so far. Please keep the locations coming!

 

[BeardieGrandma]

If they don't take the pellets back, feed the pellets to the crickets and the roaches.

 

[hossenburg]

Thanks Im taking em back tomorrow. Can't get reaches. Still live with my mom and she can't stand them

 

[Sierra1167]

Well, my Petsmart is better than most, and they do have a few associates that know something about reptiles including Beardies. However, the pellets they have in the enclosure are too big for the babies. They are the medium sized green ones. I know they feed them crickets, but there are absolutely no greens at all. The kicker was today though. I had to get some crickets to tide my babies over until the shipment comes in tomorrow. They had new care sheets out so I grabbed one. Some of it looks good....40 gallon long tank, temps, veggies. But it recommends calcium sand for adults(at least it said no sand for babies), only feeding live feeders once a day for babies, misting every other day...no mention of baths, and mealworms are the second feeder listed. I assume these caresheets went out to all the stores.

 

[hossenburg]

The one I got was similar ill post it tonight after work.

 

[GeckoGarden]

Please keep in mind not all PetSmarts are the same..

I work at one, and I personally make sure all out pet care people know how to take care of the reptiles,

They have all been given this site and have read the care guide on the bearded dragons,

I have been to some though where I do admit their info the employs give out are completely wrong and harmful to the dragons.

 

[MomOf2Kiddos]

When I went to PetSmart to get supplies for Zil (before we got her) I didn't know how big she was or anything so I got some small crickets until I knew what size was appropriate for her. My thought was that it's better to get small crickets I know she can eat, than get big ones and end up having to cut them in half The lady who got the crickets for me sounded impressed that I was talking about getting a variety of greens, because she said that most people don't do that, even though the beardies need them. The lady at the register wasn't nearly as nice but asked what kind of animal I was feeding. I said we were rescuing a bearded dragon and she pretty much snapped at me that I needed large crickets, not small. I just said "well, I know where to buy more". :roll:

 

[MeganKacey]

Petsmart of Hamilton, NJ

Ok, so I go into Petsmart quite frequently whether it be for my small animals, or beardie. Normally they have great advice and do take care of their animals...Well today, I walked past the reptiles(bad idea) and 1. I see about 7 beardies in a ten gallon, all of them were dark and stressed out. 2. I noticed most of the smaller dragons had tail nips(don't know if it was from the bigger one or not), but the ones tail was chomped in two places and about to break off. 3. I see a larger beardie with a smaller ones foot in his mouth pulling him across the "viv" and shaking him. Immediately I called a manager over and told him that the big guy needed to be moved and the little guy needed help. His reply, "theres nothing I can do about it." Mind you, there were 2 empty cages that a beardie could be put in. Then I talked the "pet care" manager and he has a bearded dragon of his own, he actually did move the big guy to a cage by himself. But I saw nothing being done with the little guy. ugh. And apparently 25 crickets for 7 beardeds are enough. If they only knew. I sure would like to show them some pictures of what healthy babies and adults look like. :evil:

 

[Fuzzyviper]

etsmart of Hamilton, NJ

Ok, so I go into Petsmart quite frequently whether it be for my small animals, or beardie. Normally they have great advice and do take care of their animals...Well today, I walked past the reptiles(bad idea) and 1. I see about 7 beardies in a ten gallon, all of them were dark and stressed out. 2. I noticed most of the smaller dragons had tail nips(don't know if it was from the bigger one or not), but the ones tail was chomped in two places and about to break off. 3. I see a larger beardie with a smaller ones foot in his mouth pulling him across the "viv" and shaking him. Immediately I called a manager over and told him that the big guy needed to be moved and the little guy needed help. His reply, "theres nothing I can do about it." Mind you, there were 2 empty cages that a beardie could be put in. Then I talked the "pet care" manager and he has a bearded dragon of his own, he actually did move the big guy to a cage by himself. But I saw nothing being done with the little guy. ugh. And apparently 25 crickets for 7 beardeds are enough. If they only knew. I sure would like to show them some pictures of what healthy babies and adults look like. :evil:

We can't really move them into the other cages in the front, unfortunately so the big one would have to be moved to the back. My store's got a beardie that's been there 1-2 months on top of being about a month old when we got him so he's quite a bit larger than the others but he keeps to himself(herself? I should check it sometime). He's got a small piece of the tip of his tail missing (2-3mm) but it's quite a pretty beardie, sandy yellow with orange highlights, and very mellow.

I'm surprised they have 7 of them together. I'm pretty sure 4 is the max amount we're allowed per cage. As for the one with the tail nip, we usually keep all the beardies in the front and give medical attention there. It's just too difficult to both walk the sales floor/habitat areas and go to the back often enough to check on the temps/humidity of a reptile (I was barely able to put our two new turtles out on the floor yesterday morning without customers glaring at me for not instantly being available). We've had a couple lethargic little beardies in the past 6 months and really, we just keep an eye on the worrisome ones and feed them in a separate tank. I do think they should have taken him out for some medical attention if his tail was that bad; at least a little antibiotic would have helped prevent infection though it probably wouldn't have saved his tail.

Oh, and always ask for the pet care manager if they're in. The other managers/employees outside of pet care don't work with the animals and won't do any of the tasks in the department except bag crickets and sometimes bag fish. We're the only ones with the (basic) training of handling the animal tasks so everyone else has no idea what they're doing. :roll:

 

[Spiketheleucistic]

i dont know the number but the petsmart in cary nc is notoriously bad with beardies. there were 3 or 4 in a 10 gallon tank that had black knobs on the ends of their tails and they were stepping all over each other. also they were 2 or 3 inches long :?:. come on people! how hard is it to learn the proper care?

 

[cmh3988]

I don't have any personal experience with actually getting a beardie or advice from Petsmart, but I'm so glad you're advocating for the beardies and trying to get a policy change at a major pet store chain. I've only had mine for 12 days and have been reading about them to death and making changes/making sure I've got things just right for my baby (I'll admit, I didn't research near enough before I got mine). Major props to you and all the responders on this post

 

[BeardieGrandma]

Hossenburg & Sierra - please post/email me the care sheets you found in the stores. I'd like to discuss them with the folks that are handling my 'complaint'

and, yes, thanks everyone for responding to this thread, please keep the locations coming. My point is, and yes, the comment was made, not all Petsmarts are the same, but when you have a significant number with less that appropriate conditions, consistent bad information given to prospective owners, and bundles that don't include appropriate gear (Petsmart sells MOST of the right stuff and would probably benefit from improving what they offer to what it needs to be), then it's a systemic problem, not an isolated one. Even small changes are a step in the right direction.