Local Petco Now Endorsing Everything Zilla?

[EllenD]

I went into my local Petco this past Sunday morning to pick up some superworms, as my regular dude was delayed, and I saw something new and disturbing, and I'm wondering if this is a corporate-wide thing...

Since I can remember my local Petco has kept their beardies and leopard geckos on carpeting, and they used long, tube UVB lights over each row of tanks...On Sunday I immediately noticed that they had redone their entire lives reptile tanks, and now they have both their tiny, new hatchling bearded dragon babies and tiny leopard geckos on bright white Calcium sand...Then I see these new stickers everywhere, all over the top and under each individual tank, that say "Petco endorses and recommends only Zilla brand reptlie lighting and accessories"...

Did they make a deal or something? The lights are now obviously not tubes, but a single, compact light over each tank. And Zilla doesn't make an MVB light...It was really upsetting about the Calcium sand, because at least my local Petco sells baby beardies under a month old! The animal manager told me that their current vendor ships them babies as soon as they are 4" long, which most are when they are hatched! They literally look like they just hatched the day before, no exaggeration. That's nothing new. But the damn Calcium sand and the single, compact lights are, along with Zilla crap everywhere. And I didn't look at each tank to know what was what, but they had that white Calcium sand in almost every tank!

 

[Savora]

I haven't noticed this at my local PetCo. But now I want to go check it out. I have seen that my local PetCo has recently switched from using a carpet liner to sand... I noticed this change about a week or a week and a half ago.

Maybe Zilla has upped their UVB bulb game? I know they make a fluorescent tube bulb, but I don't have a fancy Solarmeter to measure UVB rays. Maybe they switched manufacturers or are using better quality parts in their lights?... (A girl can dream.) In any case, it's awful they're using coil UVB lights.

PetCo needs reputable reptile experts in charge of that stuff... Just like they should have reputable aquarium experts for their fish department, and etc.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I haven't noticed this at my local PetCo. But now I want to go check it out. I have seen that my local PetCo has recently switched from using a carpet liner to sand... I noticed this change about a week or a week and a half ago.

Maybe Zilla has upped their UVB bulb game? I know they make a fluorescent tube bulb, but I don't have a fancy Solarmeter to measure UVB rays. Maybe they switched manufacturers or are using better quality parts in their lights?... (A girl can dream.) In any case, it's awful they're using coil UVB lights.

PetCo needs reputable reptile experts in charge of that stuff... Just like they should have reputable aquarium experts for their fish department, and etc.

Zilla don't make squat, they are simply a reseller who reboxes stuff made on the cheap, Zilla is Petco's shop brand , their Zilla brand UV are repacked cheap nasty Chinese UV lights .

 

[Akire]

More reason for me not to shop at Petco. I stopped when I went into a local store one day and saw them selling a hamster with obvious deformities. His face was pushed in and he had no teeth. I was looking at him for a while then went home and decided I was going to rescue him because I knew he needed special care. I went back to the store to find he was gone.

I asked the manager and she said he was in the back. I asked why and said I wanted to buy him. She got quiet, looked at the other employee next to her and then told me he had been sold. Yeah right. It's a small town and I was gone an hour. I asked her straight up if she was really just going to return him to the supplier for a refund due to his deformity. She just repeated he was sold and started getting a rude tone despite me being totally polite. I got pissed by her attitude and made a scene, haha. Haven't gone to a Petco since.

If they are using calcium sand now and endorsing Zilla then I definitely won't be shopping at their stores. Not to mention their Betta fish and Leopard Geckos are always in nasty conditions and ill looking. That's my experience with the local stores anyway.

 

[Savora]

More reason for me not to shop at Petco. I stopped when I went into a local store one day and saw them selling a hamster with obvious deformities. His face was pushed in and he had no teeth. I was looking at him for a while then went home and decided I was going to rescue him because I knew he needed special care. I went back to the store to find he was gone.

I asked the manager and she said he was in the back. I asked why and said I wanted to buy him. She got quiet, looked at the other employee next to her and then told me he had been sold. Yeah right. It's a small town and I was gone an hour. I asked her straight up if she was really just going to return him to the supplier for a refund due to his deformity. She just repeated he was sold and started getting a rude tone despite me being totally polite. I got pissed by her attitude and made a scene, haha. Haven't gone to a Petco since.

If they are using calcium sand now and endorsing Zilla then I definitely won't be shopping at their stores. Not to mention their Betta fish and Leopard Geckos are always in nasty conditions and ill looking. That's my experience with the local stores anyway.

Oh my god, that hamster story makes me so sad. There's so much suffering we put animals through...needlessly. Poor soul...

 

[Reptilelady]

WOW! The more i hear about these local petstores really are starting to dig under my skin!
Heres some pics of my recent local petco trip:

I found one beardie active out of all of them. This guy or girl was def not camera shy. The two beardies in the back have their eyes closed.

Look closely on this one, very cute but what do you see wrong here?

I didnt see any coil bulbs in this local petstore yet but from what im seeing and hearing hate petco!

 

[Reptilelady]

Also not to mention, dried up mealworms :x :shock:

 

[Drache613]

Hello Ellen,

That is severely appaling.
I knew there was a reason why I didn't shop there, my heart can't take it.


Tracie

 

[Reptilelady]

I just went back to check which brand name that my chameleon that past away before I got my beardie and it was the Zilla brand. Beware make your pet go blind and then death even worse it was both coil and their fluorescent tubes.

 

[kingofnobbys]

WOW! The more i hear about these local petstores really are starting to dig under my skin!
Heres some pics of my recent local petco trip:

I found one beardie active out of all of them. This guy or girl was def not camera shy. The two beardies in the back have their eyes closed.

<<<< he's begging you to " pick me ! pick me ! , it's horrible here."

Look closely on this one, very cute but what do you see wrong here?

I didnt see any coil bulbs in this local petstore yet but from what im seeing and hearing hate petco!

 

[EllenD]

WOW! The more i hear about these local petstores really are starting to dig under my skin!
Heres some pics of my recent local petco trip:

I found one beardie active out of all of them. This guy or girl was def not camera shy. The two beardies in the back have their eyes closed.

Look closely on this one, very cute but what do you see wrong here?

I didnt see any coil bulbs in this local petstore yet but from what im seeing and hearing hate petco!

This is exactly what my local Petco beardie tanks USED to look like, except for whatever reason their babies are half the size of the ones in your photos (they told me their vendor ships them as soon as they're 4", but they hatch at 4", so take that how you will). So now picture babies HALF THIS SIZE on an inch of white Calcium sand and under Zilla coil bulbs, with large mealworms in their dishes. Baby leopard geckos are now in EXACTLY the same environment. I'm going to stop buy later and take photos, you guys need to see how small these guys are, it's insane...

 

[Reptilelady]

WOW! 4 inches is really small
When I got my beardie from petsmart, he was the smallest of the group. One bearded dragon was a juvie stepping onto the baby beardie, it was just horrible. I just cant imagine even smaller to be selling :shock:

Let alone when housing bearded dragons together, this might happen. It was on my IG feed and i was like really!?? OMG that is just terrible.

So Petco/Petsmart are being good role models exposing to the public its okay to house the beardies together... NOT! Even worse, providing crappy UVB's, lets hope that someone comes in time to pick it up before they develop MBD or eye problems. Then from there lets hope that person has done enough RESEARCH to even know what they are buying and not get sucked into "All living things" or " Zilla" products.

 

[Akire]

Let alone when housing bearded dragons together, this might happen. It was on my IG feed and i was like really!?? OMG that is just terrible.

That really is terrible! Apparently their first priority was to get a camera and snap a picture instead of rushing in and rescuing the little beardie.

 

[Reptilelady]

I know right?! Their priority is "I hope i get a good shot". If it were me, I would be rushing quickly as i can to get them separated. Some peoples priority *SMH* I am also curious to see Ellen's photos from Petco as well.