Pets at home Help required asap!!!!

[Leo123]

I recently started a topic on Pets at home to see how people were finding them as a supplier of live food, i found that a few people were not impressed with the way they looked after the reptiles, the Pets at home near me have recently started stocking live food which so far they seem to be doing a good job.

I was in today picking up Crix/Locusts for Leo, i asked when they will be getting the reptiles in store, the counter assistant said it would be 1-2 weeks but said they have all the lighting equipment in stock already, i went up to the back of the store to have a look and as usual they have Repti-Glo uvb tubes and Coils, straight away i expressed my disapointment to the assistant but she didn't seem to interested and seemed confused.

Im planning on sending a letter to the manager of the store and would like as much input from yourselfs as possible doesn't matter what you have to say anything will help, i will also be printing off care sheets from this site and insist they make sure each buyer is provided with a care sheet, the correct information and not just push as much goods from the store, i see they have sand as a substrate and calci-sand which i will also need to mention in the letter, i am determined to make a difference in the store and make them aware of what they are taking on before the reptiles arrive. If they can take half an hour to question someone on taking a £3.00 goldfish they can take the time to make sure these reptiles are cared for.

They will be stocking Bearded dragons and Gecko's so anyone that knows a good site on Gecko's that i can print care sheets from if you can give me a link it will be appreciated.

Thanks for your help in advance

 

[Livey]

leopard geckos forums UK is a good place,
GREAT IDEA! i love it... i might write a letter also if we all write letters they could change. i have lots to complain with!

 

[Livey]

here this is what i thought of for a good letter, i have just covered what i feel is wrong with my pets at home,

Dear Manager,
After visiting your pet store I was deeply saddened by care of your reptiles. I have reptiles of my own so I do understand what I am taking about. Firstly loose substrate, it is widely stated that loose substrate is bad for any reptile. This is due to the sand particles harbouring bacteria and causing health problems such as impactation. You are selling books that state sand is bad and I think you’re giving inexperienced owners a bad start.

Secondly vivariums, I think your vivariums are unclean and far too small. Holding more than 2 bearded dragons is cruel. Bearded dragons are solitary creatures and prefer to be alone. An adult bearded dragon needs at least a 4ft viv. Also I have noticed adult and baby bearded dragons are all placed in the same vivaruim. This is extremely dangerous, then can fight and often bite. The larger adult will always dominate the smaller dragon.

Thirdly live food, the live food you feed to your dragons is far too big. They should only be feed food the space between the eyes, going back to the previous paragraph you will struggle to get the right size when adults and babies are housed together.


I hope you take my complaint on board and do something to alleviate this problem for the sake of your reptile department.

I might acctaully send it in
i never thought of writing a letter and i think if they get enough complaints we might get somewhere!

 

[techdave]

When you send the letter and care sheets etc., just make sure that everything has evidence to back up what you write. Not to say anything bad about the people on here, as they are very knowledgeable and know what they're talking about, if the letters sound like opinion and don't enough fact in them, the manager may disregard it. I'm assuming that they have books in their store for reptiles, if you find a good one in there, may help in backing up your letters. Good luck

 

[Leo123]

Thanks Livey your letter is very good, i will change a few things as it may not tie in with our pets at home plus they don't even have the reptiles in yet so i think they would find it strange when they notice ive mentioned that theyr'e set up are unclean lol Thanks again,

Tech Dave, i will be taking photo's of the enclosures e.t.c. when they have the set up done, i know they will be using either the coil repti-glo or tube uvb which is already a problem.

Thanks for your input

 

[Zeromus]

apparently some of their staff have been put through a course to sell these reps, a course that seems to have been giving them wrong info? Also I have heard that untrained staff in that area cant sell live foods... WTH?? lmao

I've not paid a visit yet to my local P@H as they said last time i was in they're getting reps in in Feb... when i'm out that way i might have to go take a looky and see how bad it really is.

 

[Livey]

not all are bad i think.. i mean on the website it shows a very done-up shop with water dragons and day geckos...
but the one in huddersfield is just 2 tanks... and they charge quite alot for them..

 

[Zeromus]

i just think it's cos they don't have a clue. They probably are trying, just don't have the correct info they need and at the same time trying to make a profit out of it :-/

 

[CROCadoodledoo]

Although I do agree with most of the things that have been said here I do know this:

- The tank sizes for the reptiles they stock are perfect by law. Maybe we don't agree but I do not think they would change it due to the cost. The reptiles are in a TEMPORARY home and by law it is fine for them to be in small tanks. I do not agree with multiple reptiles in tanks at all but for pet shops it is too much space taken up to provide lots of vivariums.

- Exo Terra products are sold in near enough every store because they sell their products in bulk very cheap to store owners ( I know this because my boyfriend is in this business ). Arcadia products are expensive to buy in bulk and Repti-suns are quite hard to get hold of. Although Exo Terras are thought of to cause eye problems (thought to be a bad batch) and they do not give out as much UVB as other tubes they are still cheap and major companys like cheap.

- Playsand is actually fine as a substrate PROVIDING the dragon is over 150g-200g and is accurate when catching live food. Many of our big breeders over here in UK and a few in other countries use this. I personally hate it because it looks awful and smells. Calci-sand is still a no no as it does actually clump when wet.. fine sifted playsand does not, or not in the extremeitys of Calci-sand. The bacteria can be stopped by carrying out good cleaning routines.

- The livefood that wasn't allowed to be sold without a reptile specialist in is quite understandable. If you are a new owner or ask for advice on it no one would be there to give it.. therefore they won't sell it.

- They do actually go on a week training course as I applied for a weekend job and when they got back to me they stated they are no longer taking on as the training has begun.

I am in no way to sound harsh as I do agree with most of what you say it is just as a business most people think about the money as owning a pet shop is not a very good income in most places. I do hope you can make a difference but unfortunatly I really don't think you will. Pets at home is a big company and obviously have their own way of doing things. I do wish you lots of luck though and really hope you get what you want when you do come to confronting the manager.

 

[Leo123]

I took the first steps yesterday Pets at Home, i went to my local pets at home and advised them about the sand being in the juveniles enclosure causin impaction (she said i wasn't the first person to mention it!) which they assured me they were changing to reptile carpet, there was also no no thermometer on the basking log, as far as i could tell they seemed interested in what i had to say, i got the usual sales pitch that sand if fine as long is its sand for Bearded Dragons lol which i laughed off.

I then went to the store 20miles away where they have the reptiles in already to find the juvies were on sand and no thermometer on the basking log, they had two maybe 6-8month old Beardies which were on sand and also had no thermometer on the basking log, i also noticed one of the beardes kept his eyes shut most of the time i was in and the other dragons eye's were sunken in and his skin seemed very loose, as the shop was very busy i left it until i got home to phone and speak to the person who dealed with the reptiles who again was very pleased i gave them my input and mentioned they were taking the Gecko's off sand as they are only 4-5" long i also thought this was a good idea, when i mentioned about the thermometer on the basking spot she was very impressed lol

I will give them a week or two to see if they have made any changes, if not im going down the line of sending letters to each store to express my concern.

 

[Livey]

well if it helps, i did send the letter...
AND I GOT A REPLY!!!!!!!!
they said they were takiong it very sroiusly and wish to contact me in person,
sooo crossing them fingers!

 

[franklin19185]

apparently some of their staff have been put through a course to sell these reps, a course that seems to have been giving them wrong info? Also I have heard that untrained staff in that area cant sell live foods... WTH?? lmao

I've not paid a visit yet to my local P@H as they said last time i was in they're getting reps in in Feb... when i'm out that way i might have to go take a looky and see how bad it really is.

Hello,
This is nice. But I think in the way you define the topic, it is good but not in the way it should be.. You start it good and cover all the things but in the middle you leave the actual topic and did not focus on the specific topic you started.. But over all its good. And I am a student and did different ……………. These are good but taught as well. Hope more topics will be discuss from your side. Have a good day.
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