PetSmart & other Pet Store Rants

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Chris...I.agree wholeheartedly and you are absolutely correct in that the "pet industry" is rampant with "puppy mills" of every species. And yes I do agree that a lot of breeders could use a class in ethics...lol..of course if the PetShops didnt purchase or consign animals unless they they are of appropriate age and healthy then unethical breeders might be forced into reconsidering their ethics,yes? Lol..the problem is in the entire system which is much like many other things in the world today and controlled by greed for the dollar and the dollar being priority over such things as health and well-being or even what is right period....and yes I could rant on that subject till all of our ears dropped to the floor..lol,)
My priority at present is a couple.of hours of blissful snooze tho
Have a wonder start to the new.week that has already begun!

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

Good night, Buddy!

 

[NerJaro]

i took this at petsmart, i had noticed the temp was a lil over 80, i informed the girl while she was getting my crickets and she said they have no control over the bulbs they use. i looked at the bulb and it was pitiful... that and i think they are feeding these pretty lil hatchlings too large of food... and that dish on the right was full of water. at least they look fairly healthy



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[Germ]

It also looks like they are feeding the pellets dry, which never should be done, as it takes too much of their moisture stores in the digestion process & can lead to dehydration very quickly ... Also looks like crushed walnut shell for substrate.

 

[NerJaro]

i wonder if the rocks are stacked dry or if the siliconed them down? probably dry.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@NerJaro...that enclosure set up is almost identical to the one for the baby beardies at the local PetSmart here. I had a long talk with the store mgr about this set up just two days ago and he told me that it is Corporate mandated how the 'holding tanks' as he called them are set up as are the diets and lighting and temperatures.

@Germ..the substrate is actually an ill fitting piece of desert ReptiCarpet and your are exactly right in that they feed mostly dry pellets and occassionally feed a bit of the dehydrated premixed Insta-food...the kind that you are supposed to add water to before feeding it but it is instead fed dry.

The temps are set at between 75 and 80 degrees and they are not allowed to change them because those enclosures are set into a bank of stacked enclosures at PetSmarts where they house all the different species of reptiles and amphibians and it is a one temperature setting for all type thing.

The guy I know who is the store manager is a bearded dragon and leopard gecko breeder locally and has quite a few other reptiles of his own. He told me that even if he could offer his reptiles for sale thru PetSmart which he can not that it would be the very last place he would sell or buy from. He said that he knows it is totally wrong and cruel in fact the way these creatures are housed but again nothing he can do to change things because it comes from way above his pay grade.

PetSmart is a total corporate money machine...that is their focus and that is what they care about. Money.

 

[Pat B]

Yep....my PetSmart beardie enclosure looks the same....dry food and too much 'stuff'. Why water? It is disgusting what 'corporate, says how to handle beardies. ...they don't know squat....it is all about the mighty dollar!! If I didn't have to get my crickets there I would never set a foot in that store!

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

It looks pretty clean and neat compared to the PetCo and PetSupermarket near me, I don't have a PetSmart nearby.

 

[NerJaro]

it did suprise me how clean it was and the fact its not completly void save for a rock or two, it looks like they tried the best they could with what they are allowed to use.

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

And some very pretty BDs to boot. A couple of them look pretty healthy; I hope someone buys them before the dry pellets sucks them dry.

I like the one at the front.

 

[NerJaro]

they were all looking at me which is good.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

My biggest problem with all the big box chain pet shops is that they bring in all of these different creatures who require different diets and habitat and then treat them with a one-size fits all mentality and then sell them as healthy pets..not to mention he lack of concern for making sure a potential new pet owner is given the proper info on what that animal will need to survive and thrive and even worse most times are given absolutely wrong info which leads to both waste of money to the consumer as well as needless suffering to the creature they are taking home.
I truly believe that if a store is going to offer reptiles, birds, fish, or what have you then they should be required to first house and feed the creatures properly while they are still in store and then have qualified personel on hand to make sure that when someone purchases that creature they leave the store with all the info and supplies that are necessary to house, feed and take care of that creature properly.
It'sreally not that much to ask but unfortunately it is too much for the big chains to manage...Most times you inquire at one of those places you are given wrong info, half info or "Uhhhh...Let me go ask my Manager"...I dont blame the employees mind you..they are not given the right training to properly answer most times.
I was in PetSmart a few days back...there was a baby Ball Python that I wanted to look at...I found someone finally to get him out for me..The guy pulls out his key and says..."Okay I'm gonna open unlock the glass but you will have to pull him out...he's a real mean one...and I don't do snakes"
I said Okay and when he opened the enclosure I reached in a picked up the baby python and the kid stepped waaaaaay back like I was picking upa bomb..lol
Well he was right and next thing I know the snake bit me...no biggie...he was just a baby but I thought the kid was gonna have a coronary.
I replaced the snake in the tank and told the kid thanks.
My question in my mind at the time was why does this guy even have a key to the reptiles when he obviously doesnt want anything to do with them.
smh...Its really sad but I wish they would train these folks at least half way.
Ya know if they really did train and they really sold quality healthy pets and really did make sure that every new pet went to their new home with everything they needed then places like PetSmart would curb the market, nobody could touch them as far as competition and THEY WOULD MAKE MORE MONEY SELLING EVEN MORE PETS because that would be the only place people would go...It's a very true thing that GREED Makes You BLIND....lol...rant over...Politics anyone?...Religion?,,,LMBO..don't worry I won't go there

 

[NerJaro]

as a heads up on reddit, http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10532u/i_am_a_former_petsmart_managerama/ ask them anything. figured some people would have good questions

 

[khaleesi]

Here in the UK there's a relatively new chain of shops called Pets at Home. One of these shops opened quite near me and today I decided because I couldn't get to my normal food suppliers that I would call in and pick up some food. Upon arriving I made my way to the reptile section and saw they had around 5 babies and a juvenile/adult bearded dragon, as well as a couple of Gecko's and about 10 snakes. The snakes were in the plastic tubs that the live food come in (about 2inches deep 6inches long 2inches high). I asked to speak with their reptile specialist to which I was told 'oh we have nobody in store today' so I decided that you guys are right we should stand up for these animals. I took a couple of pic's which I will attach to this message. The ''vivs'' the dragons were in size wise are maybe a foot high and deep by about 3/4 of a foot wide with 3 (I would say) 12 week old dragons in. The larger one was in a ''viv'' about 2.5foot long about half a foot deep by about 2 foot high. These cages that they were in could not be classed as viv's. They had only a normal 60watt bulb no UV no Basking area far too much stuff in there and they were housed on calci-sand. I clean my viv's daily full clean bedding/floor change bowls in to boiling water etc so I know when something has been left for a while and you may not be able to see so great because the camera on my phone is quite poor but these cages had not been cleaned in days! I will add though that although the lizards looked in good health it seemed to me they had had no fresh food, be it fruit, veg, or live.



I have an idea that I would be happy to start but I would need some help as I'm not very up on things like this, but wouldn't it be cool if we started a world wide petition for all reptiles to be granted a basic level of care while on display/sale in pet shops and knowledgeable staff who are trained to a certain level and enclosures that meet a minimum standard to provide the very basic of needs to these poor babies who do not deserve to be treated so badly? Maybe if all of us reptile lovers go together I feel that we could make a difference to the start of these beautiful animals lives. Failing that at least make enough noise that people realize that corporate pet shops are not all they seem to be and all their advice should be taken with a pinch of salt as they are not all that they seem!

 

[Pat B]

wow!! great site....thank u for sharing

 

[NerJaro]

here are a couple pics from the locally owned and operated pet store named Southern Agriculture (or Southern Ag for short)... i go there for the fact crickets are $0.99/dz (i've noticed they dont seem to live as long as petsmart crickets but the are cheaper)... at the time of the pics they wernt for sale yet but that is a 44gal breeder i believe. (and yes it is a spherical calcium substrate)

 

[Beardie123]

on my next petco trip ill take pics i am stationed in massachussets and they do fairly well with the setup but their number 1 problem here is the mostly feed them mealworms even the baby beairdies i told my mom i wanted to just buythem all they look so sad and they looked thin like you could see thier hip bone at the base of their tail :/ i felt so powerlest... i hate petco and petsmart is there any way to chane the way they house them?

 

[Noella]

They are sad. I'd rescue them if I could. I feel so bad for those babies. I'd raise 'Cain' until they do something.

 

[ThDude]

when a company cares more about lowering the cost of their animal care and housing you get what has happened to petco and petsmart.

they just look for a profit, there is no more love in these stores, only glass prisons for unlucky reptiles and fish

 

[Noella]

They used to use these 'breeders' that were closed down by Peta. They didn't care whether or not they're healthy or not. All that matters is the 'mighty dollar' these days. No love whatsoever! That's why I stopped going to Petsmart and Petco. I only go to my local pet store in an emergencies and Petland. Their animals are in better shape than theirs. I really feel sorry for the animals who suffer at the hands of irresponsible pet handlers.