What's so bad about Petsmart?

[meganmartin159]

You guys have been so helpful! Thank you. And of course, if you're ever at a Petsmart and have ANY questions or worries about how the animals are being cared for, please speak to a manager or call 1 (888) 839-9638 for Petsmart customer service and report it.

 

[meganmartin159]

Also, @Taterbug I found out our supplier was SunPets.

 

[Taterbug]

Also, @Taterbug I found out our supplier was SunPets.

Wow, their facilities are (understandably) huge.
Thanks!

 

[JayceeBuddy67]

I'd say the improper UVB is what bothers me the most. I really wish they would use a ReptiSun 10.0 instead of the bulb they use. I don't know if all PetSmarts use these bulbs, but the dragons at the one near me always seem lethargic and have their eyes closed

I peeked up into one of the beardie cages, and saw a florescent tube, a small light bulb, and a red night light. The bulbs and tubes dont say the brand, so i have no idea.

 

[coffeebutt]

It does depend on the individual store but then corporate has its rules that you really can't escape from. I worked there for about a year and just seeing all the crap ppl were buying for their animals that was garbage was just so upsetting for me. I was really into bettas since I couldn't get anything other than a fish and their fish care for them is disgusting...of how they can live in just about anything and treat them as decor. that **** pisses me off.

most of my co-workers in the animal care dept were really great ppl who knew their stuff and the manager was really awesome and really cared about these animals. But again you can only do so much thanks to corporate. chameleons hardly ever last long in these stores as the conditions are just too tough for them to keep up with...i think our husbandry wasn't too bad in my store the beardies were on repti-carpet...

Actually I saw that the petco in my area recently changed their substrate from sand to repticarpet so that's a start..

then theres just the risk of illness in the animals you get there just because of where they are from and those gross breeding farms...

then you have the ****ty products on the shelves made by these companies ugh like the national geographic line is crap crap and crap. and those stupid pellets for beardies which are garbage food but ppl see them and think they are good. but that's from ppl not doing research on things.

i mean are they the worst ever, honestly i don't think so. again it depends on the store in your area and the ppl who work there but i'd rather not support them and buy my animals somewhere else...i'd rather give my money to a hard working breeder and support them.

 

[diamc]

megan, thanks for starting this thread.

I have to say that when I run out of crickets, I purchase them from Pet Smart which is actually quite often even though most of the feeders are purchased online. Every time I go, I look in on the beardies. They do have a UVB tube but it isn't within 6 to 8" of them and I have to say that I don't think they put a new UVB bulb in every 6 months either. There is always a round gauge (dial) thermometer which are very inaccurate and can be off 20 degrees or more. In their dish, they have carrots & lettuce, that's it. Neither of those really have any nutritional value. In case you haven't seen it, this is the site that most of us here refer to: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html In my local Pet Smart, it is obvious that they aren't giving the babies all the crickets they can eat in about 10 to 15 min at least twice a day. None of them have seemed to grow and aren't shedding like babies should be almost constantly.
There is also different sized beardies in together which is very dangerous.
These are just some of my observations.

 

[MrSpaceEcho]

It is definitely location by location basis. Some are awesome and some(most) are awful.
In my experience its mostly been the customer service. I'm a manager and sell guitars for a living, not that that has much to do with animals, but its still about finding the exact right things for the right person through conversation and knowledge, and being able to answer questions. You represent the products you're selling, you should be the go-to for them, and as someone said before..if they don't know, they should be referring you to someone who does.

Every time I've gone in, since I'm a new owner I have a lot of questions. I always start out with someone nearby and ask "Is there someone here I can ask questions to about bearded dragons?"
They always refer me to someone else, sometimes more than once..which as a customer that tends to aggravate me.
Finally when the brave soul stays and I ask a question, they just start reading the back of products with me, like I can't do that myself. Usually I just say "Nevermind" and take the items back, and do research on my phone while they just silently slip away..haha :lol:
Every now and then though someone will come up and ask if I need help which is always nice, and when I do..once in a great while you'll get someone extremely knowledgeable who will talk to you for days about the different bulbs, brands, foods, etc.

At this point I don't mind as much, I've come to know whats what and what I need through you guys here and other research, but its pretty disappointing most people there don't seem to know a thing about their own products, and even worse, about their own animals their selling with probably an extreme lack of useful information. Starting out with a brand new pet, you'd hope the people there who take care of them know a thing or two more than you do.
Then again, my last experience at Petco was being referred to an employee who owns 4 beardies. Now that's the help people need, and because there is personal experience, you couldn't ask for better help when you need it from someone more experienced than you. This is all obviously store by store basis though, but generally in my experience the people working there seem pretty unknowledgeable when it comes to anything besides fish.

 

[Zuzu]

i don't think i'll ever buy a reptile from a pet store again, but i did get my current beardie from a petsmart. this particular one seems to take good care of their reptiles (none on sand, good food, clean tanks, etc), if it weren't for that i probably would have waited longer to find a breeder.

I agree, the issues stem from many people experiencing problems after being sold improper equipment (sand, improper lighting, improper food/supplements, etc).

Unfortunately this is true not just for reptiles. Hamster balls, small hamster wheels, fish bowls, small betta tanks, small bird cages, hamster tubes and cages, rabbit/guinea pig cages and more are all bad/inhumane.

I don't think there is much they can do about removing the products (though many should be, like reptile sand), but employees can be educated to steer customers away from those products.

 

[jblair89]

I actually just purchased mine from a local Petsmart, and I approached the sales rep as if I knew nothing and never owned a reptile before. Most info was decent, including how they fed them and whatnot. The way I see it in the end is every animal deserves a good home, and if you buy one from a local store that needs love then great. If by you purchasing that beardie saves its life then its worth it. I carefully inspected the 4 they had, and picked mine, and he was readily eating and acting normal from the day i brought him home.

 

[SukiLove]

I actually just purchased mine from a local Petsmart, and I approached the sales rep as if I knew nothing and never owned a reptile before. Most info was decent, including how they fed them and whatnot. The way I see it in the end is every animal deserves a good home, and if you buy one from a local store that needs love then great. If by you purchasing that beardie saves its life then its worth it. I carefully inspected the 4 they had, and picked mine, and he was readily eating and acting normal from the day i brought him home.

I really think some stores are better than others, and I did work at Petsmart for awhile back when I was in college. I was in the small animal area, and I will say that a lot of the problems stem from the corporate level. They set standards and rules to be followed that are not always in the best interests of every animal. We were lucky at my location because my manager let us care for the animals in their best interests, but I don't see that happening at every store.

I think the problem with the "I'm saving them" logic is that that only encourages the stores to bring in more animals to meet the demand. I'm not saying we should ignore the animals there, but I think it would be better to probably write the company. It's definitely not a fun situation for any involved, especially the animals.