STUPID PET STORE EMPLOYEES!!

[sweetiepie9]

There is a local aquarium store that decided to sell reptiles. My husband was hired part-time as a reptile keeper, read up on each gecko, then took care of them according to the care sheets we found on different forums. We already had 2 beardies, & had been members of this site for awhile, so had that husbandry down pat. Well Roger did a great job and all the reptiles were healthy fat and eating alot. Then he was laid off in Jan/09 and from then on the reptile handling was awful. To date I know of 3 baby beardies who have died of malnutrition. I was going to try to rescue them, but we already have 5 beardies and a gecko in a small apartment, so just didn't have the room. So sad & so unnecessary. I wanted to charge them with animal abuse, but because my husband worked there we decided not to, as the manager would know it was us. It's nasty when reptiles are in such bad shape and the owner/manager won't do a damn thing. As a result we don't go to that store & we've warned off alot of other people, too. I just wish we had a big house & lots of $ so we could open up a proper rescue, but that's not our situation. All five of our beardies are adopted or rescued, so our hands out full.

 

[beardiboy07]

hi
Im the same i started with my beardi (gabriel). he was the runt of the litter small and weak so wen i chose my beardi gabrial was the one, im also sick of pet stores that wont look after reptiles properly. someone should report these people and get them punished

 

[riceko]

Here in Bend Oregon we have both a Pet Smart and a Petco. It seems the people at Pet Smart are WAY more informed than the people at Petco. Yes, its probably not their faults they learned bad information from someone else... although it should never be too late to educate!

At least at the Pet Smart they had a bunch of "Take one" pamphlets in the reptile section which seemed to state correct information. Petco doesn't have a clue. I have a friend who went in there a few months back to buy a ball python and the girl was too scared to even put her hand in there. The reptiles never get handled and they are completely vicious.

Plus, the poor Bearded Dragons look soooo lethargic... one of them was just laying there with its eyes half open, not even interested. I noticed all they had to offer was food pellets. The bigger of the two dragons even had poop on its back! Like dried up crusty poop.

Terrible, terrible conditions.

I think someone should take a stand to better educate pet store employees and employers. It really does affect the health and well being of the animals they are selling!

So so sad

 

[tillywally]

Not all pet stores are like this. I got my little lady at a little petstore called Plano Pets in Dallas, TX and they keep their reptiles in the best conditions. They are actually known for having the biggest reptiles collections in North Texas. When I got my Puff, they actually told me NOT to get the coiled UVB even though they sold them, not get a heating pad, and NO sand.They even sell pinhead crickets and pointed me in the right direction when getting the the right size crickets for Puff. They also do rescue work and nurse reptiles back to health. They told me if Puff ever got sick call them not Petsmart/Petco and they will take care of her for free. Also they raise their little beardies instead of getting them shipped in. So don't be discouraged by pet stores there are some that do a great job!

 

[DragonMomSandy]

The problem with large retail pet stores like petsmart and petco is that they are really geared for dogs and cats. notice that 1/2 the store is for dogs, another 1/3 to cats and the rest is small furries,birds, reptiles/turtles and lots of fish. The reason is money. Dog and cat supplies bring in huge profit (the bulk of their profit) and the fish have a huge profit margin as well. The small furries and herps are just extra dollars on the books. They buy animals from the cheapest wholesalers they can find. Many of these animals are coming from breeding facilities (huge facilities) that sell them for $5 to $15 per animal. These facilities are often not much better than the horrible puppy mills you always hear about in the news. Because of the limited space in their stores for the "extra animals", they keep the cages as small as possible. They do tend to clean daily and feed daily, but they are only meeting the very minimum requirements for housing these animals.
I know this from personal experience as I worked for Petsmart for a few months several years ago. Lets just say they don't treat their employees very well, and I found myself really disappointed with how they run their business. I would agree with spyder79, they teach their employees the very basics of the animals they carry, and push them to sell as much as they can as each store has its own sales goals to meet. Also, don't go in "undercover" to prove the stupidity, go in knowing that you are a knowledgeable reptile owner, and if you do start a conversation with them, be polite and offer suggestions. Fellow customers who seem to be receiving the wrong info can be politely told, "hey, if your interested in beardies, check out the website beardeddragon.org, it's really a good website". Don't make it a point to make the employee look like a schmuck, this is what makes them defensive and it doesn't help educate others who are interested in joining the hobby. And if you find some really bad miss information, WRITE to their corporate office and let them know. The more of us who do, the more results for the bettr we are likely to see

 

[Freddiemom]

Yea! Thank you for re-enforcing what I was trying to say & wording it more intelligently, to boot. I learned way too quick that shooting your mouth off doesn't do any good. The big name stores have a place for buying food and such, but, I disagree about the selling of live animals. It seems like they are adding species to their roster all the time! When I lived in a big city I made the choice to shop only at stores that didn't sell live animals. Those that can should consider the choices they make when choosing a pet store to shop at. I wish I could more often!

 

[DragonMomSandy]

I shop at a small store that is owned and operated by a guy who is very knowledgeable, and yes he does carry live animals, but their care is far better than that of the large chain stores. I prefer to spend my money with the little guys rather than the money mongers! Yes, I do occasionally stop into petco to grab crickets when I can't get to my preferred store, but thats only here and there. Like I said, I only worked for Petsmart for a few months before I left them and went back to the company that I had been with for many years prior to that. I can however say one good thing about that store (and only one thing) that is where I bought my first dragon and found this facination/hobby/love for these creatures. Since then all my beardies have been purchased through private breeders because I know what I would be getting from one of these chain stores. I think the best thing we can all do is to NOT purchase animals from these stores. As Spyder79 said, it just brings more animals into a very poor environment. For those who are lucky enough to have found a small store with knowledgeable people running it, that is certainly preferrable. We all have the choice of whether or not to patronize the big stores and for the most part, I choose not too.

 

[riceko]

Sandy, that's the same here in Bend. We have two big chain pet stores and two littler ones.
Jeff at Tthe Reptile Zone is one of the most passionate and knowledgeable people I know when it comes to reptiles. He wont sell you an expensive product over a cheaper one to make a profit. He recommends only what he knows will work.
And he has done many, many animal rescues from abusive owners and pet stores alike.

I would buy from him any day over a chain pet store. The up side to that is that I get to call him (basically everyday, haha) when my new beardie is worrying me And he will give me an honest answer (such as switching to a household bulb for a while instead of purchasing one from him).

I hope the store near you is like that! Its a wonderful experience.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

Yes, this guy is just like that. He has a degree in animal husbandry and nutrition. He also rescues animals of all sorts and purchases them from owners who can no longer take care of them. He is really a good source of info for his customers. I have found too, that even some of the bigger stores will occasionally have one really knowledgeable person working for them, and one can only hope they are sharing that knowledge with others they work with.

 

[Freddiemom]

The key word is small owner operated pet store. We have one here in our little town & we go in there all the time to buy crikets & fishie stuff. Fred comes with, everyone knows him. She can order me stuff, too. Yes they are the more caring people to deal with. I'm greeted with "Hi Liz, the usual?" Of course they have an interest in their animals thriving. I love going there to shop & visit all the critters! Right now she has kittens from the humane society that are for adoption. I'm sure we all wish we could do more for little guys, but that price is problem, too. Pet stores are not the issue, the irresponsible ones are. Yes there are good people that work in bad places,too. Did you guys read my post in Beardie rescue about the sick or dead beardie at Petsmart?

 

[DragonMomSandy]

No I hadn't read that post about petsmart yet, I will now. That is horribly disturbing though and, sadly, not much of a surprise.

 

[riceko]

The key word is small owner operated pet store. We have one here in our little town & we go in there all the time to buy crikets & fishie stuff. Fred comes with, everyone knows him. She can order me stuff, too. Yes they are the more caring people to deal with. I'm greeted with "Hi Liz, the usual?" Of course they have an interest in their animals thriving. I love going there to shop & visit all the critters! Right now she has kittens from the humane society that are for adoption. I'm sure we all wish we could do more for little guys, but that price is problem, too. Pet stores are not the issue, the irresponsible ones are. Yes there are good people that work in bad places,too. Did you guys read my post in Beardie rescue about the sick or dead beardie at Petsmart?

Sick or DEAD? Man.. did you complain to them? I think ill go look at the post..

If it were me, I would've scolded them. And I'm soft spoken!
Its just SO SO SO wrong of people to neglect animals :\ they never deserve that kind of life... they deserve the best we can possibly give them. And there is no excuse for neglect

 

[newbiebeardie]

i totally agree dont even get me started. On occaision if I get caught short on feeders I have to venture into these awful places and I keeping bringing home rescuees hubby not impressed lol. I have successfully nursed a few back to health then rehomed them to responsible people printing off decent care sheets and pointing them in the direction of this forum.
I walked in there when I bought my monitor Vader who was in a right state to over hear a conversation of someone being told it was ok to keep a beardie in a fish tank with nothing as long as it was near a window to get sunlight. I live in the uk too by the way it gets huffing cold here in winter. I couldnt help myself but to march over let rip and get the manager out.
I cant speak for other countries but in the Uk pet stores are nto allowed to sell dogs and cats anymore without being properly regulated in the same way that kennels and reputable breeders are. Why not the same for reptiles. They are such a specialist animal surely its about time people had to pass some sort or training to sell these amazing creatures to people properly so people like me dont have to rescue poor little sick ones who arent being looked after properly by the store never mind the new ill informed owner.
All my pets except my first beardie yoda are rehomed rescuees. My dog, all 2 of my lizards (the youngest of my beardies and a monitor),2 rabbits, 2 hamsters, tropical fish and goodness knows how many that have been through and gone to other places.
Is there no where we can contact, not regulating bodies or something?

 

[jcurrie76]

How about when I went to petland and they said that is was ok and safe to put in aquarium gravel. Hello how stupid do you think I am. I just went in there to find a lid for the new tank that we bought for Colasis. And when we first got him it was all about the sand,and it was the vita-sand, me personally I like the carpet better. But thank the Beardie God that I found this site cause a lot of my questions have been answered here, AND THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE!

 

[DragonMomSandy]

To newbiebeardie in the UK

There are regulations here in the US for pet stores to operate, liscenseing, etc. The problem is they aren't monitored well. And as far as more laws, well, there are some states here trying to BAN many of herp hobbyists, breeders and pet stores from owning/breeding/selling some exotics. Florida State government for example is trying to ban the import/export, sales and ownership of large pythons. The problem with this is our government wants to take this too far a limit our rights to own ANY exotic, to even ban ownership. Yes, large exotics need to be regulated, but in a reasonable manner. Large chain petstores here are in it strictly for the money, and their aren't really adequate regulations/monitoring to keep them honest.