I don't like our Petco that much. Their crickets are either way too big, or way too small. I refuse to buy fish there anymore, even if they are cheaper than Petsmart because I swear they're all ill. They had an entire goldfish enclosure covered with ick. Those poor fishies.
However, the beardies are well taken care of because at least two of the employees are, or had been previously, bearded dragon owners.
I love our Petsmart. They always have really small greens chopped up in a bowl for a few beardies, and they never put more than three in a tank together. They even gutload the crickets before they feed them. I know this because almost all of the people there are reptile owners/lovers. There's one lady there who fell in love with Ezra when I brought him in the other week. She had a hard time giving him back. I went back earlier this week, and she was all "WHERE IS EZRA?!" and I had to apologize for not bringing him, because I had to run errands and store owners frown upon dragons in their stores.
The cashier who was working when I bought Ezra was so happy, yet sad, to see him go. He was the smallest, and the clingiest, and she said she would take him out and walk around with him every now and then because he was always so excited when people walked by. When I brought him in the other week, she gasped and didn't believe he was the same dragon because he's gotten so big.
And I occasionally get a few crickets free because college boys work the cricket section, and will give me 55 instead of 50 because they don't want to pour the five out and count them again. Although, my being a bit of a flirt naturally (I prefer bubbly) could also lend to this... *shrugs*
Also, Petco charges $.14 per large cricket, and Petsmart is only $.11.
We also have a Pet Supermarket literally ten stores from Petsmart. I find this hilarious since it's still in business. Actually, I'd like to go there tomorrow to price their crickets, and see if they have a hammock for Ez. I remember my aunt saying that one of the pet stores here, the owner has a bearded dragon that he brings to work with him, and it sits on his shoulder all day. I think that may be the store, since I can only think of four pet stores in the Tampa area.
There's a store here called Budget Pets that takes AWFUL care of their animals now that the old owner is gone. The original owner was so sweet, and she ended up not being able to sell a red macaw because it grew so attached to her, that if somebody tried to take her home, she would freak out. She also knew tricks. One day last year, my aunt went there to buy crickets for her frogs (by the way, they sold me bad crickets once, and my frogs died. It was devastating), and the new owner was smashing in baby mice's skulls with a hammer because they were too small, the snakes wouldn't eat them, and they couldn't sell them. My aunt got there in time to save one of them, and he gave it to her for free. Let me just say that that is one very loved mouse.
The point of this long, rambling post (I make a lot of these), is to say that I like the people who work at Petco pretty well, but their animals aren't very well taken care of. The Petsmart here takes amazing care of their animals, and they always remember the names of the pets owners bring in. It's pretty adorable, actually.
I apologize for the length of this post. Chalk it up to 52 hours of no sleep, and the upping of the dosages of my medications. Ezra quite enjoys it, though, because I've been cuddling him a lot the past two days.
