New Reptile Store near me made me mad!

[Fal]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to vent and ask advice on you think I should do/is there anything I can do?

A new store opened up near me a month or so ago. I saw it cleverly advertised in the local rag (through a story about a lizard and it's owner, that lead on to the owners new store). I thought 'cool, I'll go check it out' and so I did.

When I got there, I thought the new fancy sign looked great, as did the window display. Inside was a different matter!

First of all it was cold! The door was open, a wind was blowing through and I had my motorbike jacket on which is thinsulate and I was still chilly.

Second of all, there was a hastily set up counter with deck chairs for the staff (a mother and child - mid afternoon on a school day?). This all looked a little thrown together and cheap!

Thirdly, the first tank I came to had beardied in 'YAY' I would have thought, if it hadn't have seemed over crowded, with sand as a substrate (young beardies no more than four months old?) and right by the windy, cold, open door! I forget whether it was this tank or the next crowded young beardie tank I came to, but one of them at least had NO basking light (or none on at any rate) and NO UV lamp (again, or none on)!!! I was horrified, all the lil beardies looked lethergic and were just lazing around in the sand - I don't recall seeing any greens in there for them either!

I then saw a Chinese Water Dragon tank with three (young adults I think) in. There was a small plastic tub half filled with water (not a lot at all for a water dragon even if you've never read up on them like I have). They were also on sand, and had one branch (or branch wannabe) in there to climb (and I do believe they are arboreal [spell?]). All three were lying on the sand looking thoroughly sorry for themselves and I don't blame them. I can't remember if they had heat lamps either, but I do remember that as well as one of the beardie tanks, there were others with either heat or UV missing!

They had a largish enclosure for a 6foot green Iguana, which was sparsly decorated with a kids plastic paddling pool, what looked like a dog kennel that it was sat on and a ramp up to it. It was a mesh enclosure and must have been freezing with the wind that was blowing in through it.

They also had rabbits etc.. and two barn owels in a not so big avery. They had Chams in small terrariums (can't remember if mesh, but if they were, again they would have been cold burrr....) and plenty of snakes and spiders.

All in all, the place made me want to adopt everything (bar the spiders... sorry) and made me really mad. I stormed out and rode my bike back home in a silly way, then went up to my regular store to bitch about the new one, much to the agreement of the lad there who said he'd been to say hello, good luck with your venture, and swiftly had left upon seeing the water dragon (desert) setup tank.

Sorry folks but wanted to vent and see what you all thought? I'm not sure if trading standards would do anything about it or not? There's plenty of horrid little pet stores with cramped up kittens etc.. so why would they act on this?? Also, could the Royal Society for the Prevention of Crewelty to Animals (RSPCA) do anything about it?

Cheers for listening!

Fal

 

[GoFast]

I have a shop near me that is quite similar. They have been forever and to most people, they are the "go to experts" on exotics and fish. BS in my opinion. They have a beardie in there whos has to be at least 1 year old with sand, a flourescent UVB tube about 18inches away at the closest spot, obvious MBD, a tail nip and a few dead crickets. I so badly want to "rescue" it but I know that all I would be doing is making room for another beardie to suffer the same exact fate.

 

[Fal]

Glad it's not just me, although sad there are more of these stores out there

I know what you mean with the rescue, the thought of 'saving' them is great, but that would mean giving the shop money for a bad job and putting other beardies through the same hell

I feel like this:

 

[GoFast]

yep...you are damned if you do and damned if you don't...

 

[Valex]

Have you all ever noticed how when we walk in a bad pet store, the prices are higher, and you want to "rescue" the animals more than when the animals are being properly taken care of? Could this possibly be a sales technique( a terrible one at that, but it seems to be working)? Some pet stores look like they genuinly do not know what they are doing, but others... It's like they do know what they SHOULD be doing but don't. Something to chew over...

I know I personally always want to but from those pet stores whose care makes me sick. while the animals that are taken care of do not quite intrigue me as much.

JMO :|

 

[Fal]

Good point!!! I hadn't thought about it like that, and if any do that, then it's worse than being ignorant

 

[Dessar]

• 
  Agh! Really, how irresponsible can some pet stores be, to hardly meet the basic requirements of the animals they're selling? I'm sure a lot of you here already know this, but those people probably won't sell much if all of their reptiles look malnourished and lethargic (of course, maybe that's for the best; one more reptile who won't have to be put through that) - even before I researched Beardies, I would of been able to tell the difference between a healthy one and, well, one that has not been properly cared for. :x
  
  Valex, I know what you mean. If I can see the animals are being properly cared for, I feel comparably less compelled to 'rescue' them than if I walk into somewhere unworthy to carry an sort of animal. Although, proper care or not, a nice, loving home with someone who knows what they're doing (like most of us here on BD.org) is always better, I believe.
  
  Mrrr, I sincerely hope something gets done; those poor, poor animals. Godspeed to you and whoever else in your community who wants that place shut down, Fal~

 

[Fal]

Thanks Dessar!

I have a friend in Trading Standards, it's not quite what he deals with and I haven't seen him for a while, but I might get in touch and see if he knows if there is anything that can be done, or whether he can have someone from work 'lean' on them to sort their act out or close!

 

[sara24354]

Within 20 miles of my house there are 2 pet stores now. One I just found a couple of months ago is GREAT,the ladies and gentlemen that work there are very knowledgeable about all of the animals that they sell. They will even give up a sale if the person does not want to learn the proper care or doesn't want to buy the equipment that they need for the care of the animal. The owner says she would rahter lose a sale than see an animal mistreated,her crickets are $1.00 per dozen. Her shop doesn't even smell like a pet store and has it's own reptile room that is kept really warm and they do their best to help you when you go on there.

The other store doesn't always smell real good,small, tiny cramped cages for whatever they have from monitor lizards to fish,doors are left open sometimes and most times the animals don't look good. They don't have very good customer relations either. I went in there several months ago to order a larger tank for my Alf,she was in a 29 gal tank and I wanted to get her a bigger tank with screen lid. The lady there didn't have any bigger tank in stock,but quoted me a price and said she had something loading on her computer,as soon as she was done she was supposed to find the best price on the size tank I wanted and get in touch with me. She had both my home number and cell number,and 6 months later I still haven't heard from her. My husband (this is funny) had gone to a swap meet to look for car parts with a buddy of his. He called me while I was out and said he found a bigger tank and wanted to know if I wanted him to check on it, I said of course,please do. My hubby came home with around a 55 gal tank for $20.00.

 

[Ethelia]

HI Fal,

I live in the UK too and am undergoing a long battle with a reptile store in my city.

The RSPCA can and do help, but only as to some matters.
If you call the national RSPCA helpline and speak to an operator they will take down all the details of the store and ask in detail the issues with the store.
Be ready with all your information. Dont say "its not really good" say "this is what it has to be"
Offer to email or fax information on the reptiles in question to back up your claim. They never want you to, but it helps to offer.
They will then arrange for an officer suprise visit.

The RSPCA visit at my local store made the owners change their lights and basking distances (they had scaldingly hot basking bulbs ONE inch off the ground for full grown Uro's and beardies!!!!).


However because there are no laws or regulations for reptile keeping in the UK some things are just viewed as "an opinion".
Its been my experience that they will not deal with complaints in regards to:
- substrate
- lighting brand
- enclosure size
- amount of reps to one viv

They will however deal with issues such as:
- hygiene (lots of visable poop, unclean dishes etc)
- visably unwell reptiles
- need for UVB
- need for appropriate heat

Id give the RSPCA a try. They might not get everything changed, but they can help on some issues. Ive seen the results, and although it wasnt enough in my eyes, it was something.

Holly

 

[Fal]

OK cool Holly thanks! I'll be sure to do that on my next day off (I imagine the call will take a while and their lines will only be open 9-5).

I'll let you know the outcome! I can't seem to get through to my trading standards mate, but doubt he'd be able to help anyway. There's too many other dodgy dealings in Blackpool as it is :wink:

Good on you for making a stand against that store though!

Jonathan