Petition for petsmart and pet co!!!

[Dragonair]

There are many cases of beardies coming from petstores that have issues, as there are many cases where they don't have issues. It really depends on the specific store and how well informed their employees are about beardies.

The staff at the pet store I got Bowser from had no idea how to take care of beardies. They had sand substate for baby dragons and when I asked them whether I could feed my dragon mealworms as a substitute for crickets they said yes (I was seeing how much they knew, and apparently they knew very little). I picked up some small crickets that day and a few days later came back for more crickets. This time some other employee was there. I asked for small crickets and they said they were all out. The lady told me I should get medium ones even after I mentioned my dragon is only a month old... I did as she said. So I brought them home, put one in Bowser's cage and she certainly didn't seem very pleased. She didn't eat and I was worried it would bite her because it jumped on her head several times. Needless to say the lady was of no help. After reading the 'Closing eyes' thread here I thought I'd go to the pet store and ask for the opinion of one of the employees there. They said "Oh, they probably do that when they're young". I took out the UV yesterday morning (I bought a temporary UV because I couldn't find the ReptiSun around) and suddenly her eyes started getting better. I bought the ReptiSun today and so far so good. I'm starting to think that pet store is full of lies. Oh, they also told me that a full grown beardie can be in a 20 gallon tank. I'm just happy I have Bowser safe with me and not with them.. but whenever I go in there I really want to buy all of the baby beardies there.

 

[kevindeeley12]

I agree, some petstores are down right dumb. Where I live, PetSmart and PetLand are the ONLY places that actually know how to take care of reptiles, everywhere else doesn't (A1 Aquariums, Pat's Pets, Cow Town, etc).

 

[justwondering]

I live in canada. I'm down for a letter sending if its not to late. And I live in a pretty rual area lotsa pets store including petsmart...the only reason I go in there is I gootta friend that hooks me up with lotsa crickets lol. But I agree completely un knowlegdable. Its like they will stick anyone in that section for min. Wage . I ask for meal worms and she started counting out supers..when I asked what she was doing she was like ohhh these are meal worms just big ones...I laughed and walked out...stella only being maybe 2 months oldher eating a super worm.....doubtit..I always went by the rule if its bigger then your thumbnail don't feed it to ur dragon

 

[TheBellyBionic]

I was just in Petco today (had my dog with me and didn't want to go all the way across town to the PetSmart, which is actually a lot better here). Went by the reptile section and found a baby beardie, maybe 4" long, laying flat on his belly in the sand substrate, eyes closed, not moving. I had to stare at him for several seconds to figure out if he was breathing. He was, but just barely. He was in a tiny cage with a much larger beardie (at least 4 times his size), a bowl full of mealworms, and several crickets that were bigger than his entire head. No idea if it was an impaction from the sand or if he was starving to death because all the food in there was way too big for him to possibly eat, or if he'd been injured by the much larger dragon. I alerted an employee, who seemed concerned, but I expect when I stop in tomorrow evening to check I'll find out that he's dead. After I check tomorrow, I expect I'll never be setting foot in a Petco again.

 

[Dragonair]

I was just in Petco today (had my dog with me and didn't want to go all the way across town to the PetSmart, which is actually a lot better here). Went by the reptile section and found a baby beardie, maybe 4" long, laying flat on his belly in the sand substrate, eyes closed, not moving. I had to stare at him for several seconds to figure out if he was breathing. He was, but just barely. He was in a tiny cage with a much larger beardie (at least 4 times his size), a bowl full of mealworms, and several crickets that were bigger than his entire head. No idea if it was an impaction from the sand or if he was starving to death because all the food in there was way too big for him to possibly eat, or if he'd been injured by the much larger dragon. I alerted an employee, who seemed concerned, but I expect when I stop in tomorrow evening to check I'll find out that he's dead. After I check tomorrow, I expect I'll never be setting foot in a Petco again.

Wow, that is really alarming! Please keep us posted as to what happens next. I really hope the little guy makes it through the night. Sounds like impaction will lead to his demise if he doesn't get out of there soon though.

 

[TheBellyBionic]

I can't say I'm surprised. It's taken me a few days to find time to post again, but I went to check in on the little beardie the next day. He wasn't in the cage, I asked for the manager, and he told me that they appreciated my concern but the little baby had just been "sleeping" when I told the cashier he was nearly dead, and he'd "been sold" earlier that day. I told him I wasn't stupid, I know when I'm being lied to, and I won't be setting foot in a Petco store ever again. That little baby was splayed out in the center of the cage and couldn't even open his eyes or lift his head. There's no way he was sleeping.

 

[dolcedragon]

Lance, have you sent the letters off yet? If not I'll throw one in. This is a good idea. Just about every pet store around here makes me ill to visit.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Soon, we still need more people

 

[Beardiemommy137]

our local petco isn't that bad. i feel that if you are going to hire someone then you need to hire someone who knows what they are talking about. but we got Link from Petco and he's fine. I'm on board with all of you only because i believe that there are some places out there that have NO idea what they are doing!! Not too long ago we were out at the store and one of the beardies was having a hard time moving around...he couldn't use his right front leg. thankfully i was there to see him try to move and i got the salesman and he got him out of there right away. now, 1 thing i will say is that they do get some awefully small beardies in and even some leopard geckos that are way to small to be on sale. but anywho, count me in on this thing and we'll hopefully get things taken care of!!!!

 

[Saccharidicule]

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.

 

[zizzee]

I hope they listen to what you have to say. Good luck with your petition!

 

[techdave]

I think I might be a little late for this one. How did it go? If you're still doing it, I'm on board

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Still looking.

 

[spikerocks]

After the heartache of what happened to our little Spike, I'm in. I have to look back for the info on where to send my letter. My hubby n I went back to Petsmart (with all of our vet bills) just to kindly explain to them our situation n how it could have been prevented. The manager was unmoved n could not have cared less. They had babies for sale that couldn't have been more than 1 week old.

 

[darkwinddragons]

An employee at the local petsmart here told me that "cb" captive bred meant my bearded dragon would not burmate!!!!!
funny huh??