Yet another Petco rant...

[MurderVictim]

Long story short: My mom and I went to get crickets yesturday, and had to go to Petco since Petsmart was out of small ones. While she got the crickets, I checked out the reptiles. And was thoroughly disgusted.

-- The beardie babies were smaller than I have ever seen there...But I'm not sure if that means anything, seeing that I rarely go there. And they looked pretty thin. One was just laying there with his eyes closed, barely reacting to me tapping on the glass. There was one under the hide log that seemed to be a very decent size, but I could only see his head and a part of his chest. Yet I could tell it was at least twice the size of the others (is that even safe to have that big guy in with the little ones? I doubt it is.)

But the most disgusting thing was the fact that, aside from being on Calci-sand, there was at least a week's worth of waste in there. At least. I know that must not be too incredibly shocking, but it broke my heart. I stress over making sure my baby's cage is clean, insuring that any poop is removed as soon as I can get to it. And...I can only imagine what those babies must be feeling living in such a filthy cage.

-- I looked around a little more, and spotted the Water Dragons. There were two...And one was at the back that I seriously thought was dead. It took several attempts at tapping on the glass to get it to even open its eyes and barely lift its head. Now, I know basically nothing about WD's, but I doubt that's at all normal. I had to focus on it's breathing and...It just didn't look good.

-- All the enclosuers looked like they hadn't been cleaned out for a while, considering that the water in all of them was extremely dirty. I mean, there was literal dirt in most of the bowl. And dead bugs. Plus some other stuff I couldn't identify...Mold, maybe?

-- And to make it even worse, there were these little flying bugs in most of the cages, especially in the WD's cage. They were obviously not food. Probably little bugs that were trapped or...*gag* breeding in there.

So...Yeah. I did not leave happy. I wanted to complain, but I saw no one there besides the one lady at the cash register, and I doubt she would've been of much help. I know this must be nothing new compared to other chain pet store rants on here, but I wanted to throw up. At least at the Petsmart near me the beardies are kept on carpet, look to be of decent size and weight, and the cages are kept relatively clean. And there are several employees walking around to help. It's a real shame, too...The Petco near me has such a fantastic selection of reptiles. Including Horned Mountain Dragons, Emerald Swifts and several different types of Geckos. They even have Tarantulas. And...I think they used to have Frilled Dragons, too. I would love to buy from them if they took better care of their animals. Though the birds and Ferrets I passed looked to be in much better shape, so obviously it's just the animals kept in the reptile section that are neglected.

Needless to say, as soon as I got home I was glad to see my chubby, happy Wolfgang awaiting his crickets.

 

[shattered11]

i feel your pain. i get upset every time I go into Petco. But I don't blame the workers there. A lot of them have no idea on how to care for the reptiles nor do they get the time or pay to care for them.

 

[brezofleur]

I only go to Petco to get the very basic stuff... and that's far and few between. I was just recently there to pick up a Halloween costume for my cat (they do have the best quality) but I have long since stopped going to their live pet section. The only place I go to is their bird area because it's so close to the cat area (ironic?) and my Ody (yes, I take him with me! ) loves to sit and watch the finches "finch" around, lol.

Every time I go to the reptile/fish area at other locations, there's always at least 2 dead creatures...whether fish or what not. It's horribly depressing and I just can't see it anymore, despite the complaints. I go to one Petco now that I have never seen that area so I like to think that this particular place is "good" since I'm giving them my money/their income but I really just don't know.

 

[MurderVictim]

@shattered11: I know there are things that the workers can do nothing about, like the lighting and cage set-up. But it takes less than five minutes to scoop out poop and change the water. I always figured that the workers that get there early when the store opens, or stay after closing, clean out the cages. But I guess that isn't the case there. It doesn't take much knowledge at all to know that waste can't pile up like that and every living thing needs clean water. I would understand if it was ridiculously busy and no one could get to it, but it was relatively quiet there. If those people don't want to clean out cages, then they shouldn't be working there. It's part of the job.

@brezofleur: That is depressing...I'm always terrified of going to a petstore and seeing a dead animal in with the live ones. I thought that fear was finally realized yesterday evening.

 

[tgolden]

The petco in my town reptile tanks look awful as well. Petsmart on the other takes pretty good care of there lizards this is because two of the workers there in the fish and reptile section are reptile owners.
I try not to use petco for anything myself. The last time i was in there i had to get some crix and the guy who was working that section was scared of them so i had to get there myself and the bin they where in had not been cleaned for a long time.
These people working in the big chain pet stores don't make much money and if you pay someone the min. wage you gonna get minimal work.

 

[MurderVictim]

I just wish the animals wouldn't have to suffer because of the incompetence of whoever is running the store and hiring/paying the workers. :/

 

[Monotov]

why on earth would you get crickets from petco, premiumcrickets is the way to go, the crickets from petsmart honestly aren't any better. if you're talking about reptile health i highly advise you to start ordering crickets from premiumcrickets, they are way cheaper and way healthier for your dragon, they actually pay attention to their crickets and take great care of them, petsmart crickets are horrible.

 

[MurderVictim]

I've never had an issue with the crickets at Petsmart. They're kept in a clean bin, are given plenty of food. Are all alive as far as I can tell. I'd rather not go out of my way when what I'm doing now is perfectly fine.

 

[Monotov]

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong, I'm just suggesting it because ordering them online will save you money.... anyways the crickets at the Petsmart here aren't considered small, they say they're small but they're pinheads, and the large crickets smell so bad and die the next day, they're just an unhealthy bunch and always have been, I used Petsmart crickets for awhile then began to order Premium crickets about 500 a month, I've only had at max 5-6 crickets die out of the 500. I noticed my dragons behavior and growth expand as I began to feed them premiumcrickets, they're healthy, but if your Petsmart takes care of it and you don't have a probem then there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[MurderVictim]

Well, I'm definitely looking into buying online, since going out to Petsmart every other day is getting...annoying xD If I was unsure of the health of the crickets, I would've started ordering online when I first got him. Do you have a link to their site?

 

[Monotov]

Yes, www.premiumcrickets.com

 

[MurderVictim]

Dang, those are cheaper! I'll show the site to my mom and see if she's okay with it. Thanks! (Certainly saves me the grief of getting up early and convincing Mom to take me before work xD ))

 

[tgolden]

Premium crickets also has phoenix worms available to order. They are a little pricey if your gonna use them as a staple but, I have had pretty good luck with them. I usually only feed crix when i'm waiting for a order of worms to come in, thats y i go to a chain stores to get crickets.
I did that whole running to the pet store every few days to get feeders for a while and it got old fast for me. I live a half hour away from town lol. ordering online is really the best way to go.

 

[Monotov]

Yes it got old for me very fast too, the nearest Petsmart is about 20 minutes away, I was wasting money not only on crickets every 3 days but I was wasting money on gas as well lol. I just bought a big plastic tub at Walmart and filled it with sand and cardboard pieces and sticks with cricket water and food, also crushed cat food is a great gut loader for crickets, and I make my cricket water out of jello mix, (minus the flavor, just clear unflavored jello) works great and keeps all 500 crickets alive, like I said I've only ever had 5 max die out of all of them, just remember their sheddings aren't dead crickets, so you will see a lot of sheddings.

 

[Monotov]

Oh and speaking of Petco rant... My last experience at Petco had an 18 month old dragon in a tiny cramped up tank (you know what I mean if you have seen how little their tanks are.) that just layed there looking miserable with crickets jumping everywhere and a bowl full of dead mealworms. I asked why they had an adult for sale in such a small tank and they said someone donated him.. I was furious because out of all the places someone donated this poor thing to Petco? I was ready to take him home with me but I already own 2 dragons and couldn't simply afford a 3rd one.. Walking away from something like that makes you feel horrible inside, I've never been back to Petco since.