Went to my local Petsmart today. Visited the reptile section, as I always do when I go in there, even though I know it'll only make me sad. There were two baby beardies in a tank; they were so small! They were only about 3 inches long and couldn't have been more than a week or two old. Their bellies were absolutely BLACK, and the temperature was only at 80 degrees in their habitat.
The reptiles were all being fed pellets for their greens, and these babies had crickets in there that were not only too big for them, but also too fast. The anoles' and geckos' tanks' humidity was so high that you couldn't even see in the glass because of the condensation. There was poop in every tank.
When I pointed out that the beardies were way too small to be out for sale (they need to be a minimum of 5 or 6 inches long) she told me that they arrived at the store like that and that they had no place to keep them (I have no idea if this is true or not) so I asked her where the store got their reptiles from. She told me it was from a place called "Lasco," but I can't find any information on them.
Help? I want to complain to the supplier directly. I can't stop thinking about the reptiles in that store, but particularly those babies. If they're still alive right now, I doubt they will be for much longer. If I'd had more money, I would have bought them both.
The same thing has happened there before with a chameleon.
An independent pet store that I usually prefer to visit does a better job in terms of habitat size and diet, but I do wish that they didn't keep their animals on bark chips.