Hatchling cruelty at Petco...

[swiirlys]

I recently lost one of my snow corn hatchlings because Petco decided it was okay to keep their corns on a diet of hard, huge, black crickets. My corn died because the crickets' hard exoskeleton had damaged her internals from where she had swallowed them to about 3 quarters of the way down her body..it looked like she was about to poop one of the pieces out (she was a snow so it was easy to see her food). She pooped one piece of the cricket out and it was HUGE, which is why I assumed there was blood along with the feces.
I thought it was normal for hatchlings to be fed crickets till they get a little bigger for pinkies but I did research and was proven wrong...
I took her to Petco and told them that she wasn't acting right, etc etc.. (I had never gotten to feed her because I had her for only a week) and they freaked out saying "oh, the employee in charge of feeding them wasn't supposed to give them crickets, they were supposed to be eating pinkies...we would do something about it but she quit yesterday, blah blah blah..." She called the manager over, he apologized and suggested I buy another healthy corn. So i trusted their judgment and bought a new corn, started her on pinkies and she's healthy. She's bigger and doesn't seem to have been damaged by the crickets.
Well yesterday I went into Petco to buy her a new viv. I went over to the corns and realized it was full of ing crickets! I called the same employee over who had freaked out and acted like she was worried the last time to tell her about it and her only reply was a sarcastic "yeah..." and she just walked away from me! It ruined my day and I feel so horrible...I want to take legal action and I know it would be worth it but I know they're going to come up with some lame excuse as to why their feeding them crickets like "it teaches them to strike as babies"
I've never been so disappointed but I'm glad I searched around this site and found out it's better to buy from breeders.

should I do something about this?

It's blurry, so you can't see the damage too well..but the crickets are there
http://i39.tinypic.com/2cz27t0.jpg

[mariana]

Okay, I'm going to start freaking out now
My snow corn is from Petco too, and she has some dark spots like those that have been there for a while,
Should I get her checked out or something?

x___x

[BobbyHill]

mariana, is she eating and pooping regularly?

[TandJ]

Likely the dark spots you are seeing is organ tissue.. There are posts somewheres here that talks about those particular dark spots being the internal organs..

I certainly don't recommend using a tooth paste roller to remove these spots, I can't honestly see it being beneficial to remove those parts..

research and Regards, Tim of T and J

[Silvergrin]

Holy cow D:

Anyone have any idea of what PetCo's animal guarantees are?

Well, first off, don't buy anything else there. I would even look into returning the corn you got - if it's been less than 15 days they should give you a full refund. Not that it's the poor hatchling's fault, but I wouldn't want to give them money for pulling that crud.
Next, you said you talked to the manager. Talk to them again. If they don't fix things, try going up the ladder and send a message to petco higher ups. You could also try contacting local animal control and human societies to report animal cruelty. I would first try to force the store to shape up (let them know you will spread word of their animal cruelty as much as possible unless they either stop selling reptiles or feed them properly) before getting them in major trouble, because it should be easier to get them to feed fricking pinky mice. Uhg!

What petco location is this?

[CraziiTii]

I'm SO sorry!!

I'm applying for a job at PetCo in my area just for this specific reason. I'm trying to convince them that I will pay, and feed these snakes what they truly need. So far, I'm actually getting a good response, but I don't have the job just yet. I think we need to start a petition ASAP. Too many snakes have died because of their treatment, and diets. It's not right. Anyone know how to start something like that???

[rolandslf]

Besides the crickets being totally wrong as a food or prey item there are other dangers. Crickets will go for moist areas, the eyes for eg. and a snake could lose an eye due to the crickets either displacing it or eating it.
Crickets kept together will even eat each other.

Ciao

[mariana]

mariana, is she eating and pooping regularly?

Yes, everything's fine :D



Likely the dark spots you are seeing is organ tissue.. There are posts somewheres here that talks about those particular dark spots being the internal organs..


OH okay, that makes me feel a lot better, thanks!

[swiirlys]

What petco location is this?

Devonshire Road,
Harrisburg PA

I'm going to talk to them again this week...the manager wasn't there the last time I went in, and I've been boycotting basically

[Jadie.Glitch]

OMW... I would have been all up in their faces about it. That's freaking reDONKulous. I'm lucky that our PetCos aren't too bad.

I was checking out the babies at ours and I saw a particularly nice looking Reverse Okeetee sitting under a log. I couldn't quite see it right so I tilted my head and stuck my face closer to get a good look. About the same time that I noticed something was wrong with the way it was laying the smell hit me in the face. The poor thing was dead. I immediately went over to get someone who worked there. He rushed over, snagged the thing out and looked really troubled. He said "Oh no... not another one... the breeder we're getting these from has been failing on us recently. We just brought these in the other day and they've been giving us trouble."

He was genuinely concerned and then I went on to find out that he was a snake owner as well. It's nice to see when the employ someone for the position who actually knows what they're doing and have an interest in it. If he'd given me an "Oh well" reaction I would have been torqued. Too bad about that one too, she was the nicest looking RO in there...

I'm sorry about your snow. So is did you exchange it or just get a second one? I must have not understood that part. I personally would not have given them any more money.

[swiirlys]

I bought another one because I didn't wanna give up on her...I took her back home but she wouldn't eat or drink anything and just died two days later.
If I didn't feel such a strong attachment to the new one I had bought, I would have taken her back because my 15 days weren't up yet. I figured since the idiot who had fed them had already "quit" just the day before my visit, they would act on what they had said and started them on pinkies. the last time I went back they were the same snakes, this time not active at all, with a bunch of freaking crickets jumping around the tiny aquarium.

[RulinMJT]

There is a PETCO in my area. When i've checked out the corns there i sometimes spot some crickets. I asked the reptile specialist about it tho and she pointed out that the crickets sometimes get past the dividers that separate the geckos and the corns. Maybe the same thing is going on at the PETCO there. I guess it all depends on the area and the people that work there. The reptile specialist i talked to was very knowledgeable about reptiles.

[swiirlys]

yeah they told me that sometimes the crickets from the frog's aquariums got into the snakes but the funny thing is that the frog aquariums are located above the ball python aquariums and i didnt spot ONE cricket in there...
the cornsnakes' aquarium at this Petco doesn't have any other aquarium attached to it.

that's what I mean when I say they're gonna come up with lame excuses if i try to do anything about it..

[LostNFound]

dyk I feel a bit better ... I talked to my hubby ...
dyk I hadn't talked to him all day :(
dyk I am gonna try what the dr suggested .... if I hate it ... then I can do something else .... right? LoL

[LostNFound]

oops ... grrrr that's what I get for clicking the back button hahaha sorry sweets!

[LostNFound]

what I was going to post here was ....
I was at petco the other day. They have one person there who is really great .... seems so actually know a little something. However that person was NOT there the other day ... they had a beautiful little garter I wanted to LOOK at. I told him no need to disturb him much just lift the hide and let me see ... that idiot kept picking up that poor little guy and DROPPING him back in the tank!! and when he got bit he YANKED the poor little guy off his finger :( I told him put him back and gave him a not so nice lesson on snake handling!! ooooooh I was mad!!

[RulinMJT]

but if you wish to make a complaint that the snakes were being fed crickets in the first place and about your experience you should probly check this out http://www.petstoreabuse.com/petco.html Hope this helps

[swiirlys]

thank you!

[dndvictory]

You can get on Petco's web site and there is a link to contact them. Make a complaint explaining the problem and threaten to turn them in to your state agriculture authorities. The Petcos in my area changed there ways when this was done concerning a mite problem they wouldn't clear up.

[swiirlys]

I shall act on that -_-

[Demonic]

Im so sorry. That has to be terrible.

I had a great experience with Petco and buying my snake. They sell frozen pinkies and were great about informing me about proper feeding practices. I wish they were all like that.

[Jynx]

Some places are pretty good about giving their charges proper care until they find new homes, but for every 1 animal that is well taken care of, there are 4 that are abused. Usually, most of the neglect and abuse I see is at Petsmart... Petco seems to have a few more standards when hiring their "specialists" (and I use that term very loosely). I've seen more neglect than I'd care to ever remember (baby corns eating a cagemate's regurge, kingsnakes eating frogs, dead baby BP's just sitting in the tank, emaciated and exacerbated animals that no doubt died within days of my visit, and yes the crickets).

I have tried talking to employees and managers until I was blue in the face. I even happily offered free seminars about exotic care. They were not interested. After all, these were just "temporary" stops. Unfortunately, even talking to them from a business standpoint (no one wants to buy a sick animal) they would rather go about their ways, and keep writing off the returns and refunds.

From now on, if I need to go into a Petsmart or Petco for any reason, and I happen to see people looking at reptiles, I just give them my card and tell them that they don't want to buy an animal from here. Sure the store hates me for it, but I am a customer as well, so they deal with it. Hopefully, if enough people realize just how horrible these animals are being treated, and refuse to buy them, these 2nd rate "pet stores" will stop trying to sell them.

[Demonic]

Ugh. I hate petsmart. I saw a dead "fancy" rat laying in there once.

[Silvergrin]

Man, that's too bad. I've been rather fond of Petsmart as I got my kitties there, and I think it's really cool they (and Petco, I believe) don't sell cat/puppies from mills but rather team up with local shelters to find homeless pets a home.

The herps and rodents all looked pretty well taken care of at the petsmart near me. Definitely no crickets in the corn tanks!

[nrfitchett4]

our petsmart is pretty good. Reptiles look healthy. they don't keep many only maybe 8 displays for them, but none of the herps look sick.

[swiirlys]

update:
i talked to their manager, and he of course fed me a line of bs, so i threatened to file complaints and such...he freaked out telling me not to worry about it anymore because i should be assured it wouldn't happen again.

i told him i'd be checking in (LOL i felt like a creeper)

X.D

[Carinata]

I have made the local petsmart stay on their toes they tried to feed the corns crickets I said I would get o high level managment like big overseers if they didnt care for their herps right