Petco

[lilwill8929]

About a week ago I was in Petco and they were not doing very good with the bearded dragons. They had sand with the babies, and they didn't have a basking light. They also had way too many beardies in a small tank. I didn't say anything about it as I didn't think they would do anything about it. Well today I went in to pick up some crickets and I went over to look at the reptiles. The bearded dragons now have carpet, and a basking light! They have also divided them into two separate tanks. They now have space to roam around. They aren't crammed anymore. I just thought I would share this as I thought it was a huge improvement on Petco's part.

 

[katieerin]

I work at Petco and we recently made these changes too! (I bugged my boss a bit haha.) They are doing so much better and it makes me so happy whenever I work. I also make sure everyone who buys one has a piece of paper that I largely wrote 'beardeddragon.org'

 

[Beardiemommy137]

Haven't been in my Petco recently, but we're going this week to get some crickets. The living conditions aren't bad for Petco's beardies here, but it could use some changes, i'll admit. i'll be sure to check it all out when we go and if it's changed i'll let you know. i really think that with everyone complaining to managers and higher about things, it's started to shape up and get better for the little guys....if only they didn't get them so small, now....

 

[EllenRae]

I got my little guy from petco. The few that I have been to around my area are actually pretty good. After reading about the problems on here I went and check out the different pet smarts and petcos and was completely appauled by the conditions in the petSMART. The tanks were so humid you couldn't see inside. They had tiny normal light bulbs, and the cages were tiny, for all of the reptiles, not just the bearded dragons. I'll never go back there.

 

[EzzieM]

That's definitely NOT an ALL pet smart thing.
The vivs in the petsmart I work in are good now, regulations were even changed for ALL pet smarts. (There are no franchise pet smarts and ALL of them are required to follow the rules) (Granted it took a bit of work, but I upkeep all the beardies at "my" pet smart myself So I know they're all well cared for.)

The babies we order now are at least 6 inches long, rept carpet, they eat well, they have basking and cool side lamps/temps, and the humidity is between 20 and 30% (Which is amazing considering I live in a state that is ridiculously humid)

Can you tell me where the petsmart is that has bad conditions (address is best- PM?)? If I can find out where they are, I can make sure that someone with some good pull gives them a talking to. If they are not in regulation, (which they are obviously not) they can get into some HUGE trouble.


Beardies being mistreated do NOT make me happy.

 

[keschete]

That's definitely NOT an ALL pet smart thing.
The vivs in the petsmart I work in are good now, regulations were even changed for ALL pet smarts. (There are no franchise pet smarts and ALL of them are required to follow the rules) (Granted it took a bit of work, but I upkeep all the beardies at "my" pet smart myself So I know they're all well cared for.)

The babies we order now are at least 6 inches long, rept carpet, they eat well, they have basking and cool side lamps/temps, and the humidity is between 20 and 30% (Which is amazing considering I live in a state that is ridiculously humid)

Can you tell me where the petsmart is that has bad conditions (address is best- PM?)? If I can find out where they are, I can make sure that someone with some good pull gives them a talking to. If they are not in regulation, (which they are obviously not) they can get into some HUGE trouble.


Beardies being mistreated do NOT make me happy.

Houma, Louisiana 70360 the Petsmart is on Martin Luther King Dr. Last week they had three baby beardies that were about 3 inches each in a 5 gallon viv. One of the babies was dead and the others were walking on it. One spot light and one red bulb, no UVB bulb visible. They had wet spaghnum moss stuffed inside the the plastic basking platform.

I complained at the store. I called corporate on Thursday 6/ 18/09 and made a complaint. I was told in 48 hours a supervisor would contact me. They have my work and home numbers and I have an answering service and an answering machine at home. No one has called yet. I plan to call back this week.

My next step is to go an photograph conditions and write a formal letter. I am going to the store this week.

So feel free to pass this info along! I wanted to

Before I had beardies, I didn't realize how bad the conditions were. The other animals are well cared for. The reptiles are a mess! They are all stuffed into one small endcap display and there are 3 vivs per level and the levels are only about 2 1/2 feet wide.......

 

[EzzieM]

THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!!!!

petsmart corporate determines and provides for each store to operate as follows:
the uva, uvb, and heat lamps are built into the displays, and in most cases only the basking and heat lamps are visible because of the lip on the top of the cage prevents the UVB from being seen unless you are lying on the floor and 3 feet below it. but the UVB bulbs could have been out. (each small tank is a 10 gallon tank that is a temporary location for the beardies. the part that the customer actually sees is the "end" for viewing purposes only, there are larger cages in the new arrival rooms that they are actually kept in, and the ones on the floor are rotated out of the smaller cage. there should be two or three beardies on the floor at any given time. (They usually sell within days at my store, but that's because I love all of them so they're all friendly after some TLC ) ) any beardie sent to pet smart should be 6 in or longer, and the ones that are not, get sent back. Until they can be sent back though, they stay a couple of days as not to be stressed but they are not to be sold. Either that or they can be raised in the quiet room by the specialist. (if one is available in that location.

There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that the customers don't know about that are for the benefit of the animals.

Petsmart as a company is a fantastic company for animal care and protocol. Unfortunately, there are employees who give the entire corporation a bad name by being ignorant.

I am confident that the necessary facilities are PRESENT in the location because pet smart corporate supplies everything for every store. however: the way they are set up in that location is WRONG and all the bulbs should be checked daily. the specialist who works in pet care has to sign a form every single day that states that they have done a huge list of things and they have to sign on every single item (that's some hundred or so signatures in one day... every single day for morning, then mid day then closing.)

I am ashames on behalf of that store
I will get the region manager on the phone tomorrow. We are fortunate to have him in our store I am so grateful that i work in a store with people that actually care for the animals.

 

[keschete]

I think most of the employees do care, but some just are not as well informed. I sent you a PM. Thanks for trying to be a positive influence!!!!

 

[Nikki1292]

No offense to anyone who works at petco, but I would never by a reptile there, or at least from the one in town. Every time I go there one or more reptiles have mites and ticks! I bring this up with the manager every two weeks (I buy mice for my snake and its the closest petstore) but she always says they are fine and don't worry. The mites are more noticeable on the bearded dragons and ball pythons. While it is ok to use certain types of sand you have to keep it clean for the dragon but there was poop left and right in that tank and it was so small, less than a 10 gal or so. My mom and I have to some things from there to today and see how they are doing and if they are still in poor condition are going to be making some actually written complaints.

 

[bad2dbone]

About a week ago I was in Petco and they were not doing very good with the bearded dragons. They had sand with the babies, and they didn't have a basking light. They also had way too many beardies in a small tank. I didn't say anything about it as I didn't think they would do anything about it. Well today I went in to pick up some crickets and I went over to look at the reptiles. The bearded dragons now have carpet, and a basking light! They have also divided them into two separate tanks. They now have space to roam around. They aren't crammed anymore. I just thought I would share this as I thought it was a huge improvement on Petco's part.

Well i was at petco once and they only had about 2 beardied but they had carpet. The guy told me that sand will do find because it was digestable.=[ About 3 months later my beardie died because he got impacted.

 

[EllenRae]

Today I went to look at the petsmart I mentioned in the above post to see if any of the care had changed. I was glad to see the bearded dragons seemed fairly well cared for, but then I found a tank that had a frilled dragon in the same tank with a chinese water dragon. Both dragons were roughly a foot long and the tank was only maybe 2 X 1 X 1 feet. It made me sad to see.

 

[ViciousCharmander]

I also work at a petsmart, and we are fortunate enough to have half of our pet care associates owned by reptiles. Even our pet care manager breeds certin species of reptiles. We don't even put our beardeds on the floor they all stay in the quiet room in a 40 gal breeder and we only get about 3-5 in at any given time. uvb bulbs brought in by the manager becuase all we sell is reptiglo, Heat lamps, basking, veggies daily, Im very happy and when Im upset about something i let it be known, and its either fixed or compromised.

as far as petco goes... I dont really go in ours... because of the smell, but ill go in tomorrow to check the beardies out. last I saw they were on sand with mealies in there. When i brought this to the attention of one of the managers they told me, "well thats what our researchers decided to do" and I almost told him that their researchers are idoits...

 

[Nikki1292]

About a week ago I was in Petco and they were not doing very good with the bearded dragons. They had sand with the babies, and they didn't have a basking light. They also had way too many beardies in a small tank. I didn't say anything about it as I didn't think they would do anything about it. Well today I went in to pick up some crickets and I went over to look at the reptiles. The bearded dragons now have carpet, and a basking light! They have also divided them into two separate tanks. They now have space to roam around. They aren't crammed anymore. I just thought I would share this as I thought it was a huge improvement on Petco's part.

Well i was at petco once and they only had about 2 beardied but they had carpet. The guy told me that sand will do find because it was digestable.=[ About 3 months later my beardie died because he got impacted.

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that
I'd had my little Gizmo on sand but changed him immediately after I saw some graphic impaction pics.

 

[ThyDemise]

the petco here has also changed the beardies and leopard geckos to carpet. the petsmart here is also really good, theyre all well taken care of and the employees are very knowledgeable. theyre quite a bit more expensive, but for proper care its worth the extra few bucks.