Petco

[Sangheili]

I was at Petco the other day and I was VERY worried about their bearded dragon babies since they are on calcium sand and they are being fed mealworms, they are also being fed iceburg lettuce what looks like they just got out of those salad packs you can buy at wal-mart. They have nearly constant stress-marks and I have yet to see an active baby.
What even worse is that they have HUGE bags of crushed walnut shells RECOMMENDED for new bearded dragon owners. I helped a girl figure out a set up for a bearded dragon she was buying after I saw her with the walnut shells in her basket. I told her that paper towels work easier, they are cheap, and will not impact her beardie. I was more help than the sales associates xD

I asked about this and told them that their babies are being fed an unsuitable diet and they could become impacted and die very easily from the calcium sand. One guy argued with me about it but the "reptile guy" at the store agreed with me, but he said they cannot change the cages due to "company policy". If they try to change the cages, they get in trouble with the corporate guys "up top" and they could get fired.
Then he told me to go to the site and complain directly to them and tell them HOW to take care of their bearded dragons better, since the company doesn't listen to them. He was literally begging me to shoot them an e-mail since he absolutely hates how the beardies are being treated.

I've got the idea that if we send in enough e-mails, explaining that they need to keep their baby bearded dragons off sand, throw away the walnut shell bedding since it can kill beardies of all ages, and give their babies a proper diet.
I'm sending in my complaint with a link to the nutrition content http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Here.
I'm not going to be like "OH. YOU PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE. CHANGE EVERYTHING NOW"
I'm going to calmly explain HOW these things they are doing can literally kill their income. If their bearded dragons were healthy, fed a staple diet of greens, crickets, and roaches, their dragons would be much more healthy looking and they would be more likely to sell more of them. [the corporate people only care about money, not the animals]
I'm recommending a substrate of paper towels or newspaper. It's cheap, easy to clean up, it keeps the animals healthy and safe from impaction, and it showcases their beautiful colors.

If you wish to help, you can send an e-mail here :3 http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[lewisres]

I agree, I went to Petco yesterday and took pictures with my phone of a Beardie they had it is very sad. The beardie was alive because after I took the pictures I told a associate and he picked the little one up and it was on its last leg. I will post the pictures on this thread but fair warning images are disturbing.

 

[lewisres]

I will gladly remove these photos, I was so sad when I saw this little guy.

 

[Pottsy929]

poor little guy. unfortunately there really is not much anyone can do about how the animals are kept while in the store (to include local employees). My fiancee is a manager at our petco here and despite having a few individuals who are quite knowledgable about reptiles, they can't provide the proper husbandry because of "corporate" rules and such. the best thing for animals like that one is to have someone that can properly take care of them come in and buy them. On a similar note, our store here has a couple beardies that are in similar condition, tiny and the larger ones not allowing them to eat, so we're bringing them home for rehab and some TLC. which i'm a little concerned with as I tend to get attached to animals lol.

Also I hope you do not look at this as me being upset with your post or that I'm offended, because that is not the case. sometimes people look at pet store employees as monsters even though it is not their fault. My fiancee actually refused to sell a beardie the other day because the customer refused to buy the proper size tank(he wanted to house it in a 20 gallon indefinately). I'm not sure about other store's but the animals in the store here actually receive vet care and medication when they're sick.

*edit* just wanted to apologize, I did not THOROUGHLY read the original post and didn't realize that it already stated corporate policies are at fault. Once again sorry if it appeared as if I was attacking you, (I was not)

 

[Atrax]

Poor little guy This breaks my heart.