There have been multiple posts in the Forum complaining about PETCO's poor snake husbandry. In a previous post I challenged members to write to PETCO and recommend better practices. Here's the "contact us" URL for PETCO. http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_contactus_Nav_143.aspx See my previous post for suggestions on nhow to be heard.
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Have You Written To Petco Yet?
- Thread starter bill38112
- Start date
Rocky Raccoon
New member
If anything I've thanked Petco for taking care of their animals and doing a great job. Again man, this isnt a corp. issue this is a individual store problem. I've seen other posts saying that their local Petco is great.
Rocky Raccoon
New member
I concur with you on that.
cornspot
I see spots!
I don't shop at petco but i have complained to corporate about my local petsmart. I checked a few days later & the individual animals were no longer on display & they tried to give me a $5 gift card. The animals I was mostly concerned about were some very ill water dragons (terrible mouth rot, rostral abrasions & one had a bleeding eyeball) and some dead and dying longtail lizards. I'm sure they just ended up in the back somewhere, may or may not have gotten vet attention, but at least they weren't on display for some unknowing person to purchase & have them die on day 15 of the 14 day health guarantee.
Jessicat
All Pied Everything
Honesty I don't think petco is really too evil. A new petco by my parent's old house just opened up. I went to go check it out, mostly to see if they had any kinds of cool wood, and to look at their snakes.
The same weekend I was in downtown Portland and discovered a specialty reptile shop. I was delighted and went right in. As soon as I stepped in however, I was disgusted. I don't really know for sure what rotting reptile smells like but I think that was the odor of the store. My first instinct was that the smell was of death. Lots of snakes, and although most of them were housed separately none of their cages had been cleaned recently and none had water. There were a few turtles and tortoises there with no water either. The man who owned the store was sitting at a computer playing spider solitaire. As I left I heard him say into the phone, "Well, if you absolutely have to go to a vet then I guess go, but...".
Yea, chain pet stores exist, and if you're uneducated enough to buy a snake from one you might end up with a snake that has mites or a kink or is $50 over priced. I feel much more optimistic about the animals that Petco cares for and sells though than that private business that I saw.
I think word of mouth is the best way to make sure that you and the people you know buy healthy snakes from reputable breeders. Let your friends or anyone you hear talking about getting a snake know that there are other options out there.
The same weekend I was in downtown Portland and discovered a specialty reptile shop. I was delighted and went right in. As soon as I stepped in however, I was disgusted. I don't really know for sure what rotting reptile smells like but I think that was the odor of the store. My first instinct was that the smell was of death. Lots of snakes, and although most of them were housed separately none of their cages had been cleaned recently and none had water. There were a few turtles and tortoises there with no water either. The man who owned the store was sitting at a computer playing spider solitaire. As I left I heard him say into the phone, "Well, if you absolutely have to go to a vet then I guess go, but...".
Yea, chain pet stores exist, and if you're uneducated enough to buy a snake from one you might end up with a snake that has mites or a kink or is $50 over priced. I feel much more optimistic about the animals that Petco cares for and sells though than that private business that I saw.
I think word of mouth is the best way to make sure that you and the people you know buy healthy snakes from reputable breeders. Let your friends or anyone you hear talking about getting a snake know that there are other options out there.
There are 2 petco stores by me and both take care of their animals pretty well. There is a petsmart store that is not that good at all with snakes. They have a king snake housed alone that doesn't have it too bad but the corn snakes suffer. They had 7 corns in a small tank on cage carpet with 1 small half log hide. They were crawling around in plenty of feces, probably more than one feeds worth, and an almost empty water bowl with green stuff growing in it.
At least now they changed the cage carpet and water bowl and put some plants in but they really need more hides and a bigger tank or split them up into several tanks.
I think the quality of care varies a lot store to store depending on the reptile knowledge of the employees. One thing I can say is that the petco near me has a knowledgeable reptile lady who keeps snakes and lizards at home.
At least now they changed the cage carpet and water bowl and put some plants in but they really need more hides and a bigger tank or split them up into several tanks.
I think the quality of care varies a lot store to store depending on the reptile knowledge of the employees. One thing I can say is that the petco near me has a knowledgeable reptile lady who keeps snakes and lizards at home.
RedRaydin
Jason DeFreitas
Ok I have a question
Any breeders on the site, I've been wondering this since I've seen this debate about petco reptiles. When you guys wholesale (I believe thats how you sell to them), have any breeders ever added in any stipulations such as:
When in the store I would like you to make sure that these snakes are housed seperately. Also that they have water, are fed 5-7 days, and have their cage cleaned weekly or bi-weekly.
I know petco would probably tell you to pound sand if you added all that in and say "hey I can go elsewhere with my bussiness". But has anyone ever given that a try or is that just not part of the process?
If it isn't and no one has tried it, maybe it's worth a shot?
I think the only prob with my local petco as far as corn snakes is that they are housed about 6-8 hatchlings per cage. Are provided only one hide, and if lucky some artificial ivy to crawl on. All are actually surprisingly placed on aspen bedding although it is very thin layered. Mine did look surprisingly small but I was told it had eaten eight times and was not a picky eater (god knows thats just a salesman routine), but I bought it.
This was all before I came across this site. But just asking.
Any breeders on the site, I've been wondering this since I've seen this debate about petco reptiles. When you guys wholesale (I believe thats how you sell to them), have any breeders ever added in any stipulations such as:
When in the store I would like you to make sure that these snakes are housed seperately. Also that they have water, are fed 5-7 days, and have their cage cleaned weekly or bi-weekly.
I know petco would probably tell you to pound sand if you added all that in and say "hey I can go elsewhere with my bussiness". But has anyone ever given that a try or is that just not part of the process?
If it isn't and no one has tried it, maybe it's worth a shot?
I think the only prob with my local petco as far as corn snakes is that they are housed about 6-8 hatchlings per cage. Are provided only one hide, and if lucky some artificial ivy to crawl on. All are actually surprisingly placed on aspen bedding although it is very thin layered. Mine did look surprisingly small but I was told it had eaten eight times and was not a picky eater (god knows thats just a salesman routine), but I bought it.
This was all before I came across this site. But just asking.
RedRaydin
Jason DeFreitas
This link may be a better bet, as all bussinesses are a part of this organization. The "Better Bussiness Bureau". Link is here:
http://www.bbb.org/
If they recieve enough complaints about a particular store and if people start teaming up locally fines can be administered to the store and reptiles and such can be pulled from the shelves.
My fiancee worked as a manager at a car repair shop and had them come out because some people had complained about work done on their cars, and from what she says they don't joke around and are very thorough.
http://www.bbb.org/
If they recieve enough complaints about a particular store and if people start teaming up locally fines can be administered to the store and reptiles and such can be pulled from the shelves.
My fiancee worked as a manager at a car repair shop and had them come out because some people had complained about work done on their cars, and from what she says they don't joke around and are very thorough.
RedRaydin
Jason DeFreitas
Ok sorry to take over the thread... but correction to my lst statement. Not all organizations are part of it, however... any organization can be investigated and looked into pending how many complaints are recieved. If you look up petco in there you will see some instances 16 in 36 months (Sand Diego area) regarding all sorts of things such as delivery, sanitary conditions, sales techniques, etc. Although most petco stores and chains are not members of this bureau they still will launch investigations. Check it out.
fiery_redhead17
Kiwi Chick
Not all stores are bad
I'm just writting to say that you cant call petco and petsmart bad completly. I live in montana and our local petsmart is really good. All there animals are well kept, cleaned and taken care of in general. The only problem i have is I can never seem to find someone when I need something. Like crickets lol. But there generally is a few ppl around just not in that partcular section of the store. So as much as I have heard bad things about these co-opertate stores I have something good to say about ours. I just hope that other bad stores can take up there good example. I also agree that a lot of privately owned stores are horrible. We have one in town that is really over crowded, the tanks arent reguarly cleaned, the reptiles often have no water and are sick looking and I once found a totally malnourised kitten in the store (which I reported to the local animal control). I'm disgusted most times I go in there. However I will admit to ordering my snake through them but only cos it was from a breeder and he only stayed in the store like 2 days, and I didnt get him cheap either. Just there werent any other places selling a snake any where close to the size I wanted and I didnt want to order myself as its sooo cold here and I couldnt find anyone close by.
So pls dnt shoot me down for that decision. I refuse to buy anything from the store I can get elsewhere. Me and my sis-inlaw even offered to volunteer there just to help the animals out. So yeah.
I'm just writting to say that you cant call petco and petsmart bad completly. I live in montana and our local petsmart is really good. All there animals are well kept, cleaned and taken care of in general. The only problem i have is I can never seem to find someone when I need something. Like crickets lol. But there generally is a few ppl around just not in that partcular section of the store. So as much as I have heard bad things about these co-opertate stores I have something good to say about ours. I just hope that other bad stores can take up there good example. I also agree that a lot of privately owned stores are horrible. We have one in town that is really over crowded, the tanks arent reguarly cleaned, the reptiles often have no water and are sick looking and I once found a totally malnourised kitten in the store (which I reported to the local animal control). I'm disgusted most times I go in there. However I will admit to ordering my snake through them but only cos it was from a breeder and he only stayed in the store like 2 days, and I didnt get him cheap either. Just there werent any other places selling a snake any where close to the size I wanted and I didnt want to order myself as its sooo cold here and I couldnt find anyone close by.
So pls dnt shoot me down for that decision. I refuse to buy anything from the store I can get elsewhere. Me and my sis-inlaw even offered to volunteer there just to help the animals out. So yeah.
I realize all Petcos are different but ours suck. I went in there tonight and one of the snow corns opened his mouth and blew a bubble out his nose which I'm assuming is probably a RI. His eyes were really big too. It was really weird, they were bigger than the rest of the corns eyes. I wanted to buy him just so he could get some help but then I would be supporting them. So I'm writing to Petco.