PetSmart & other Pet Store Rants

[Pat B]

I have got to share this. If this post is in the wrong place please move to where it should go. Anyway, went to PetSmart last week for crix and I always look at the beardies. Well....on this day there were 6 baby beardies and the enclosure was nasty filthy. Food overflowing the container and all over the floor. Food in the water and BIG mealies for these babies to eat. I was so upset I told the cashier that the beardie enclosure needed to be cleaned up. When I got home....fired off a nasty email to their coporate HQ in Canada. So today (Sunday) morning, I get a phone call from the PetSmart manager of this store. He was appalled and I told him the beardies couldn't speak up for themselves so I was. He was going to make sure it didn't happen again.... According to this manager there is quite a check list system that several people have to sign off on. Guess it didn't happen that day. Anyway....I know I did the right thing....and wanted to let you know....speak up if you need to.....thank you all....Pat

 

[Germ]

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Good for you, Pat!!! More people need to do this!!!​

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[ThDude]

saddly most of the time its not even the employee's falt some of this kinda stuff happens. i found out a few weeks ago that all reptiles kept by petsmart have the same temp settings as each other. the basking spots in the BDs cages dont go higher then 90F and thats right up on the bulb.

its the corporate disition on how to house the animals and its sad. however i must say the petsmart around me is the lesser of two evils(petco is just terrable around here)

im glad you stuck up for them. i tryed this at my local petsmart and they told me they know the temps are wrong but they can not adjust it unless the higher ups tell them too.

 

[Kodieh]

Yes, both smart and co are like that. With their rules, "difficult" or problem feeder ball pythons (a species NOTORIOUS for being problem feeders) starve because they get offered frozen thawed pinky mice regardless of size. My 400g boy can put down small rats and they'd feed him pinky MICE. They're terrible with humidity too.

And they both have the audacity to sponsor reptile shows? Zoo med is up there too, since they can't understand that leopard geckos don't live on sand in the wild.

Rant over, haha.


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[Pat B]

Thank you all for your support. I am going to get some crix this afternoon so beware Petsmart....I am coming your way and I will check out the beardies!!

 

[Kodieh]

I've honestly heard of people being asked not to return because they kept on the employees about it, haha. Sad stuff when proper husbandry is ignored for cheaper rules.


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[Germ]

Quote from an employee of one of the Chain Petstores ...

I also work at a pet store and hate what is done there sometimes. I am told by corporate that it is OK to do things the wrong way because we are only a holding facility. Animals are on the wrong substrate, being fed a bare minimum diet and housed with way to many cage mates. I'm told to worry more about appearance than to educate the public on the proper care of the animals. Fortunately I'm no kid and could careless what corporate has to say and tells the customer what they need to hear. Our store is number one in our district for animal sale, because people come to learn the truth about animal care and appreciate the honesty.

I am certified as a reptile specialist, because I took a test that cared more about how to put turtle food on the shelf in the correct place than how to properly feed the reptiles. I take the time to research every reptile we get into the store so I have at least the basic information about it. I am by no means an expert on reptiles other than snakes. I get a lot of my knowledge from forums like this. I see who is knowledgeable on the forums and listen to what they have to say.

 

[Pat B]

I've honestly heard of people being asked not to return because they kept on the employees about it, haha. Sad stuff when proper husbandry is ignored for cheaper rules.


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LOL....This will probably happen to me when I go to PS to buy some of their sorry crickets!! I will be so glad when my little beardie doesn't require so many crickets!!

 

[Chelsey]

I got my Worley from PetSmart and go back often for crickets. They keep telling me I'm buying/feeding Worley too many crickets (he tops out at about 15ish a day and that's on a hungry day. its usually 10-12, so I buy about 65 at a time). From what I've read, he may even be eating too few. He's a growing, healthy boy. I often look at the babies whenever I'm not in a hurry to get home and I wish I could take each and everyone of them home (especially when they're looking at you with those cute little beadie eyes, with their feet all up on the glass). I haven't noticed the baby cages being dirty or unkept. The PetSmart I go to used to have a full grown beardie on display on. He was very pretty. He viv was a suitable, but bigger would have been better (gosh forbid it be bigger though, because then it wouldn't have fit perfectly at the end of the aisle). He always had a black beard and I often asked about it. "Oh, he's just having a bad day." "Something is bothering him." "That's normal." Maybe if he's always so uncomfortable, you should DO SOMETHING about it!

Okay, my PetSmart rant is over now.

 

[ThDude]

i have thought about puting in a job application at petsmart but if i would be forced to give the wrong care to animals i dont think i could work there

 

[Pat B]

I got my Worley from PetSmart and go back often for crickets. They keep telling me I'm buying/feeding Worley too many crickets (he tops out at about 15ish a day and that's on a hungry day. its usually 10-12, so I buy about 65 at a time). From what I've read, he may even be eating too few. He's a growing, healthy boy. I often look at the babies whenever I'm not in a hurry to get home and I wish I could take each and everyone of them home (especially when they're looking at you with those cute little beadie eyes, with their feet all up on the glass). I haven't noticed the baby cages being dirty or unkept. The PetSmart I go to used to have a full grown beardie on display on. He was very pretty. He viv was a suitable, but bigger would have been better (gosh forbid it be bigger though, because then it wouldn't have fit perfectly at the end of the aisle). He always had a black beard and I often asked about it. "Oh, he's just having a bad day." "Something is bothering him." "That's normal." Maybe if he's always so uncomfortable, you should DO SOMETHING about it!

Okay, my PetSmart rant is over now.

Worley will eat as many crickets as you give him until he is full. I don't listen to anything they tell me at PS. If I have a question or a concern I go straight to BDF. I did go to PS yesterday to get crix and I checked out the beardies. The enc was clean and presentable and I will continue to look everytime I go there.

 

[blackclaw83]

Talking about Petsmart. I wont buy their crixs. They just dont seem livly enough for me. It is also bad when you can count atleast 5-8 dead in a pkg before even buying it. Not baging on them just what i have seen from the one where I live. I am happy i have the rep shop closer to my place. Crix are cheeper and healther { even though there about to become NOMNOMNOM for my Spazz}...

Props on doing the right thing. not many people would of

 

[Pat B]

Unfortunately, PS is the closest place to where I live for crickets. I bought 35 last week on Thursday and 10 were dead by Saturday....p'd me off.... and when I said something to the 'reptile' specialist when I went in again to get crickets they totally blow me off....like I was lying!! Did not make me happy....

 

[Kodieh]

It honestly only takes a day for them to die. They need a well ventilated enclosure and food that really should be moist (like I use grape fruit wedges). I also clean out the cricket bucket (I use a 5 gallon bucket ) every other day. Feeding days are the days after I clean the bucket.

Believe it or not, crickets have husbandry requirements too.


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[Alisha OK]

Sadly I bought Finnegan from petsmart, and now i have to bring him back, due to lack of eating and lack of interest in eating. this is what the lady from the store suggested I do. Im devastated, to the point where I've reasreached and done everything in my power to help him eat. he just wont. heart broken ..

 

[Pat B]

That is so sad. Have you given your beardie time to get acclimated to his new home? He may not eat right away and take a couple of days. Do you have the lighting right as in UVB and basking? It will 'usually' take about a week to 10 days for a beardie to get acclimated to a new environment. So what is PS going to do with the beardie when you return it? I would ask that question. I am just sorry....

 

[Germ]

Maybe you should post pics of your setup, your temps & other pertinent info, to see if we can pinpoint any problems there ... Not sure exactly how long you have had him but you have only been on the forum for 5 days. You have posted that he will happily eat sometimes, now not? In one of your other posts you mentioned shutting down the day light, does this mean that you use a night light? If so, night lights of any color are not needed or wanted, as they will bother most BDs sleep & also affect other aspects of their behavior such as eating. It is not uncommon for a BD to not eat or not eat much during the acclimation period. Possibly you are handling it too much. There are so many possibilities, that if you started your own thread with all your setup specs, feeding schedules, diet, supplementation & photos to enable us to understand the situation, it is very possible that we may be able to help.

 

[SouthernDissolution]

Ordering online is the best way to go....1000 for $12. Think about it, 1000 small crix from ps is $100. You can get 1000 for roughly $25 after shipping. Any size. Thats a 1/4 of the PS price.

 

[Demonatrix]

I try my hardest to stay out of those stores, I get so upset when seeing all the reptiles and how badly they are treated. There was one occasion where I was forced to go there when I was in a pinch and a customer was talking to a sales person about getting a crested gecko and the things this guy was telling him I couldn't believe! He was telling the customer that crested geckos needed to be kept at 90 degrees, needed a high power UV, needed to be fed crickets and mealworms only, were ground dwelling, and lived on sand. Well....I was asked to leave that day because I informed the customer of how wrong the sales person was and when the sales person started to argue with me I pulled out my phone and googled crested gecko care. The manager then came out telling me I had no idea what I was talking about and that all my pets would die because of my lack of knowledge... well that pushed my buttons too much and I screamed obscenities and left. However something good came out of it because the customer who was about to buy a crested gecko followed me out and thanked me then asked where he could go to find out more info before he purchased...and that he would not be purchasing from there.

I did file a complaint but nothing ever came out of it.

 

[blackclaw83]

Demonatrix. There is always cases like that. Atleast people stick up for for those that cant. I hate seeing our non speaken friends and family members being treated so poorly. Thanky for doing the right thing.