Pet Smart

[dreshany]

I am not sure if this is ok to post and I am not really trying to slam Pet Smart but from reading a lot of posts about bearded dragons, both here and on other boards, I am beginning to see a common trend. SO many new beardie owners are getting really poor advice while purchasing their new babies from there. I have heard poor advice ranging from proper substrates (they recommend calci-sand) to advising owners to feed their babies meal worms, to saying that beardies do not need a UVB bulb or calcium supplement. I worry that this advice is bad enough, but how are they caring for the dragons they sell?
Just my thoughts, but it seems so many new BD owners who buy from Pet Smart end up crying for help in the Beardie ER section. Any thoughts?

 

[dobiegil2000]

Ive noticed this too, and at my local petsmart, the poor beardies temps. were at 60. :shock: When I told the worker, she checked him and said he appeared to be fine, and was eating, but she would turn up the heat????? So sad, it seems money comes first for them. I was also at a local pet shop today, and couldn't believe the poor beardies. They looked so sick, and I just wanted to scream at the workers. I wanted to buy all of them and give them a good home. I don't know what the answer is, but wish there was a solution.

 

[mattxwtfxisthat]

one thing that i have notices about PETS MART is that they sell there dragons way to young.
your not supposed to sell you BD until he/she is atleast 6 inches long.
petsmart sell them at any age.
i was there today and there was one for sale that was barley 4 inches.
right out of the egg i suspected.

 

[CalBears]

Some of you guys just go on meaningless rants on this message board and beat dead horses.

It is my turn to go on a rant. I have a degree in animal biology and I had a discussion with some of my colleagues not too long ago. It's not only PETsMART and PETCO that try and sell pets that they have limited knowledge. We all agreed that most pet stores know little about the pets they sell. The best way to go is from breeders directly. In defense of those two stores [PETsMART and PETCO], they sell a ton of other pets (fish, small animals, reptiles) and it is very difficult for all the employees to learn every single detail about every pet. Also, they get pets from breeders, so if they are getting beardies that are less than 6 inches, that is because the breeder sent them those. It is very difficult for a pet store to hold a pet in the back until it reaches a certain size, unless they only specialize in that one pet (this is because of a lack of supplies and space).

To put all this in some sort of perspective, I went to TWO pet stores here in Florida before I bought my bearded dragon. One of them is a reptile specialty store. I asked the employee about their bearded dragons and what I needed to buy. She told me all I needed was a basking bulb, 10 gallon aquarium, screen lid, sand and a hide. She mentioned nothing about UVB nor did she mention anything about dusting crickets or veggies for the beardie. The second store I went to, the guy told me that the temp had to be over 110F and that putting a beardie near a window with direct sunlight is enough for "natural" UVB. Really high temperatures for an extended period of time could give your bearded dragon brain damage.

Funny thing is that this thread is bashing PETsMART, but I was able to get the most accurate information from the employees from the PETsMART here in town. They told me to get reptile carpet, to buy a tank that is 20L for a small one (then to upgrade to a HUGE tank), dust crickets, use a multi-vitamin once a week, feed veggies (they even gave me a copy of the Beautiful Dragons list of veggies), to mist the dragon to help shedding or to give him baths, they told me to stay away from temperature gauges and use the digital ones or a temp gun, and so much more.

So, if I were to buy a pet again, I'd get it from PETsMART and save myself the money from ordering one online. It just depends on the location that you go to. Don't generalize about PETsMART, PETCO, et al, as a whole. I remember reading the "The Bearded Dragon Manual" and the author said that he's been using calcium sand for over 15 plus years with multiple dragons and he has never had any problem with impactions. I read the product reviews on this site and some of the posters here just went on and on about how calcium sand causes impactions, but I don't recall any of the people who wrote that ever saying that it happened to them. The same goes for some of the people on this site and the corporate pet stores. You will say that they mistreat their pets and all this stuff, but you've probably never seen it first hand. This does not apply to everyone of this board, but the majority.

 

[dragons1222]

i totally agree calbears 100% (where are you from?)

i used to give out websites but i got in trouble b/c the company didnt want to be held liable if someone told someone info that was incorrect and ended up hurting their animals

plus it is the owners responsibility to do their own research and they would never have a problem

petsmart does not keep theirs on sand (they recomend reptile carpet until they are older)

we sell alot of animals and there is NO WAY every employee can can know everything about all of their care

ans yes we get them from the breeders we have no control over the size they are

 

[CalBears]

I used to live in California, but moved to Gainesville, Florida.

 

[dragons1222]

oh just wondering if you lived near my store
lol

i do feel sad that i probably have more knowlwge about the animals than all 29 of the other emloyees in the store put together lol

but oh well

 

[MissingBello]

We purchaesed both of our dragons from Petco. Our male was just a baby and our female, which we bought 3 months later was 8 inches long. We knew we would over pay for her but we did it anyways to get her out of there. Most people suggest buying from a reputable exotic pet store, which is a good idea. We are thankful that our babies are growing to be healthy...I guess we got lucky. When people ask where we got them, we tell them that they were "rescued" from Petco. So to those who read this and are thinking about getting a beardie, please consider rescuing one from Petco or Petsmart. It's a gamble but the life you give them will be far better than the suffering they endure in the care of those *****s. Petco & Petsmart people only know about cats & dogs. When it comes to reptiles, they're ****** and should not carry reptiles.

Just be sure what to check for before you buy. If they look healthy then they probably are. If you do buy one from one of these places, take them to a herp vet and have them checked out. Spend the money...the change you make in the beardie's life will be worth it the long run and you will love them even more knowing that you saved them from a life of misery.

 

[MissingBello]

I just posted a reply on this subject and just wanted to add that I am not claiming that every Petco/Petsmart employee is stupid. One guy at our Petco is actually pretty good but most of the employees that we had spoke to simply "do not know". Granted, you should do your research before purchasing but if they're going to sell reptiles then they should also do the research and train their employees in the care of these animals. Ethically, it's wrong to sell any animal that's in poor health.

Sorry if my previous post offended anyone. It was not my intention. Guess it just comes down to "buyer beware".
But I do still believe in "rescue" aspect of what I said.

 

[dragons1222]

yes i understand and think they should be more acurate on their care and the info they have in there care sheets

it does annoy me what i hate is that when people some on and complain that they are now mad that everything was wrong with their setup when if they had done their research in the first place they would not have had to worry about getting wrong info b/c they would already know the correct stuff


i guess i can take a more clear approach b/c i work at a petsmart people come in and no absolutly NOTHING about the animal they are buying

it is like they just walk buy a cage see an animal and are like "oo i thing i want one! now in 5 minutes tell me everything about their care and i dont want to spend more than 30 bucks on their entire set up"

honestly that is pretty much how everyone is

i have been working there for almost 1 1/2 years and i dont thinki have had ONE person that had done extensive research and had knowlege about whatever it was they were wanting to buy

there was always at least one major impotant thing that knew nothing about

 

[CalBears]

I just posted a reply on this subject and just wanted to add that I am not claiming that every Petco/Petsmart employee is stupid. One guy at our Petco is actually pretty good but most of the employees that we had spoke to simply "do not know". Granted, you should do your research before purchasing but if they're going to sell reptiles then they should also do the research and train their employees in the care of these animals. Ethically, it's wrong to sell any animal that's in poor health.

Sorry if my previous post offended anyone. It was not my intention. Guess it just comes down to "buyer beware".
But I do still believe in "rescue" aspect of what I said.

You also have to consider that PETCO and PETsMART are retail stores, so you might be asking the wrong people for information. If you ask a cashier, they probably will not know about any of the pets. If you ask a dog trainer, chances are that they will only know about dogs. Same goes for the other departments. Do not generalize and say that people at those stores "only know about cats and dogs" because, if you read my post, I have had great experiences with my local PETsMART. The staff there knows their stuff. I'm not saying that this is true for every store, but you shouldn't say the same thing based on YOUR experiences. So, I disagree with your comment about PETCO and PETsMART employees. The stores that I have been to here in Florida and in California, the employees who work with the reptiles do know their stuff.

I don't agree with everything that PETCO and PETsMART do, but when it comes to reptiles, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone buying any sick or ill reptiles from them. If they were selling sick or ill reptiles, I doubt they would give you the 14 day leeway to return them.

Also, I am pretty sure that the employees at those stores do get information about the reptiles they sell since the store has those care guides of the pets that they sell.

Again, I'm not a huge fan of PETCO or PETsMART, but I am sick of everyone bashing them and claiming that non-corporate pet stores are better. Some of the non-corporate pet stores even have their pets in some of the worst conditions. I'm more than sure that the corporate pet stores have certain requirements for their pets (like changing the bedding and cages every so often). Smaller pet stores don't do this, which in the long run, is worst than having an employee not know 100% about the stuff being sold. Hell, some of the people on this board own beardies and don't know everything about them.

This all just falls into the "to each, his own" category. I've had my experiences with PETCO and PETsMART and you've had yours. The only problem is, as I have stated before, is that not everyone on this site has experienced what everyone says about PETCO or PETsMART, but still run their mouths and bash them.

 

[dragons1222]

there are caresheets but they are not that accurate

and yes you are correct the other workers dont know anything but even some of the managers know nothing

and i agree one of the "localy owned" petstores near us is awful

they are always dirty and have absolutly everything wrong as far as husbandry goes

now petco seems worse for animal care than petsmart but it all depends where you live and how much the managers care about following protacol(sp?)

a girl transferred to our store from another one and they were doing EVERYTHING wrong they were not following any of the "rules"

 

[CalBears]

yes i understand and think they should be more acurate on their care and the info they have in there care sheets

it does annoy me what i hate is that when people some on and complain that they are now mad that everything was wrong with their setup when if they had done their research in the first place they would not have had to worry about getting wrong info b/c they would already know the correct stuff


i guess i can take a more clear approach b/c i work at a petsmart people come in and no absolutly NOTHING about the animal they are buying

it is like they just walk buy a cage see an animal and are like "oo i thing i want one! now in 5 minutes tell me everything about their care and i dont want to spend more than 30 bucks on their entire set up"

honestly that is pretty much how everyone is

i have been working there for almost 1 1/2 years and i dont thinki have had ONE person that had done extensive research and had knowlege about whatever it was they were wanting to buy

there was always at least one major impotant thing that knew nothing about

I'm sure that happens a lot that people just wake up one day and want a new pet because it looks cool. I'm sure a lot of the people who post here did the same thing and I am sure that most found this board because they needed help with something that they did not know about after they bought their beardie. I don't know what the big fuss is that the employee at PETsMART or PETCO didn't tell you X, Y, or Z about the pet. You should do your part and research about the pet you are buying.

 

[MissingBello]

Bottom line is there are more and more complaints. Petitions being signed. People going to these stores and not getting accurate info. Poor care seems to be the protocal with these stores. If you look through this forum, you'll find a lot of complaints. But out of all the posting I have read including yours, you seem to be the only one in defense of these stores. An employee of one these stores has spoken of the bad conditions. Sorry you're tired of the "bashing" but seems to me a lot of people have a lot to "bash" about.

 

[Colin]

Pet stores can be ok if they have at least one employee who knows what they are doing. I got my beardie from a Petsmart and the guy there knew everything about them. Any one of you could talk to him for hours (If you could stand the smell) and would probably agree with most of the stuff he said. So I got lucky, and I am aware that other stores don't have those kinds of knowledgable people, heck at the same store, one of the workers looked shocked when I said that I can feed my beardie over 20 crickets in a feeding. She said something like it will die of over eating.

I know when I can work I am going to apply to Petsmart and see if I can get a job there to help with their reptiles. (The nice guy who was smart doesn't work there anymore)