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Long Pet Store RANT

The Cat

The Cat

New member
Okay, here it goes. I got really mad so be prepared for a novel.

I went to a local pet store (no specific names, but let's just say they were the "WORST in Pets) to check out out, expecting it to be better than a chain pet store.

The first thing I noticed was the puppies and kittens crammed into small cages, with at least 4 in each cage. They had metal bars to walk on, and a few looked sick.

I asked to hold a baby corn snake. It was in a container that could be barely suitable for a toad. It had and empty water dish and was on aquarium rocks. No hides. I held it and almost dropped it because it was a little hatchlings and couldn't possibly sit still. I noted that and the guy was like "Oh, yeah, he'll be like that his whole life. You see, the difference between grass snakes and tree snakes is that tree snakes just sit on you and chill, and grass snakes are always moving."

Completely off topic to me. I didn't understand him at first. My mom said that if they stayed that size, she would like one. Then the guy said "Oh, they can stay small, if you don't feed them regularly. You can get a snake that looks on that is actually five."

Me: "Well, I don't want to starve and underfeed my snake."

I apologized to the snake then put it back. They had an older hatchling in the same conditions, same with some kingsnakes and boas.

Now for the bad part: They co habbed, and BAD! I'll list the same species cohabbing first:

At least 6 adult corns in a cage that I could see
At least 4 pens of clipped birds, about 20 per pen
Two pigs together, a bit crowded
At least nine rabbits
Mice
Hamsters
Checkered garter snakes
Bearded dragons
Geckos
Frogs
Lizards

Now for the separate species cohabbing list:

Bearded Dragons + sulcata ? Tortoise
Ball python + boa
Frogs+other frog species
Gecko + other gecko
A bunch more that I forgot



I left mad. I hope to be there again to tell them off.

I'm still kinda mad...

Sorry for the rant, I just had to vent to someone who cares. There was much more, seeing as I didn't even go see the fish.
 
I'm just staying away from pet stores ever since I bought my corn snake at petco. She had shed stuck since its last time and worst than all, she had mites and no to mention she was in the same tank with another corn snake. No thermostat available either (and mind you I went to two different petcos and a petsmart), but they do sell unregulated UTH without caring...

I don't even think they clean up their tanks after they move out snakes. The display tank of the corn snake I bought was pretty dirty and when I came back looking out for a thermostat, what do you know, there's a baby pastel ball python sitting in this dirty tank. Wanna bet she's also gonna get mites?

It's not even big pet stores, I went to an exotic pet shop 2 days ago hoping I could find a spider ball python for a reasonable price, and what do you know, 3 or 4 spiders... but in the same tank. Normal adult ball python being housed with a very small ball python... the list goes on.

I'm sticking to online breeders from now on, reptile expos or I ever be so lucky to find a local breeder.
 
I have received all my babies from breeders..BHB reptiles, NWBloodlines and I just got Lucy from Tropical Hut (breeders from Portland ). I would never get one from a pet store. The conditions they keep the animals in can be down right horrific. I was in a Petco and the cornsnake viv had a regurge in the tank. I went to the employee to inform her of the situation. She gave me the impression it was a bother to clean it out as I watched her take the paper towel and remove the mess. My vote is breeders all the way. its too disturbing to witness those atrocities. I wish they werent able to sell the reptiles at all due to the fact that they do not seem to posses any knowledge of reptiles. I do alot of research and ask questions. I am so grateful to the breeders I have dealt with for their knowledge and most of all patience
 
Gosh that sounds awful!! The poor animals!

I have 3 stores near me that sell reptiles, and it seems the one furthest from me is the best of the 3 - they seem to care - whereas the closest one put me on edge the minute I walked through the door, I just did not like it!

My snake would've been a pet store snake, if the shop hadn't been closed down. It wasn't a brand name pet shop but an individual reptile shop and the animals were all well cared for with knowledgeable staff too.

I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes the shop can have the right staff working for them that actually give a hoot about the animals.... and if you find that shop cherish it and frequent it cos it's a gem ;)

Nothing against breeder bought snakes tho', they know thye're stuff and the animals they are selling you :D
 
Every one else in the store was as happy as ever, and then there was me, fuming around and mumbling all angry-like.

They had too many animals and no room. There were tanks everywhere, and most were either in a wall (like most stores), ExoTerras (which I could open and steal lizards and kingsnakes), or had an open top. They were stacked and looked like they could fall over.

Ugh. Thanks for caring, guys. My family just told me to calm down and that they won't be there long anyways. Thanks.
 
yeah.. I agree with the above statements!

most but not ALL petshops are horrid.. I don't do big name brands like petsmart est..
but I was forced to buy my first corn from a local reptile shop in town, and he's been a dream!
their wonderful though, all the animals are housed singaly, in there own tanks, clean and fresh water.. and they wont sell any snakes that haven't fed for them 2 times in shop after being shipped in, which I love!

I even ended up getting my second snake their and he was healthy and is growing like a weed aswell! :D I'm just saying that most pet stores DO suck, but like stated above if you can find one that cares, hold onto it, and SUPPORT it! there hard to find.. :(
 
Whenever I go into pets at home, which is a large chain of pet shops, the reptiles are well kept - corns are kept in small RUBs along a heat strip, for example, however the fish are in horrible conditions. Every time I've been there have always been dead or sick fish. However we won't buy animals from them any more. I've been given the wrong information about fish in particular before which led to a few of ours dying before we knew what we were doing by ignoring them and going on the Internet and speaking to hobbyists.

I got Cleopatra from a local hobbyist who breeds corns every year, and Edna was from an online specialist reptile store who (judging from photos and reviews on Facebook and Internet) are well-regarded for keeping animals correctly - they don't co-hab and when I got Edna she came with complete records. Whereas with pets at home I really don't think any of the staff know much about any animal unless they happen to own one.
 
^^ And that's really the answer. Stores that intentionally hire competent people to care for their animals do a good job, keep animals properly, and earn trust from customers. Even stores that luck into the right person can do well, but if you just hire a body to fill a position, customers like us figure it out quickly and go elsewhere. There are chain stores I trust and others I won't even walk in any more...
 
I know some petshops are great, but I really think I would rather buy stuff for Petco over the place I went. At least Petco supplies their animals with heat.
 
Some of the species I don't have a problem with unless they are severely overcrowded....birds generally do okay in groups....pigs too and most rodents. Snakes no and certainly not mixing species....is there a local animal reg that you can contact.....since there's no water in cages or the puppy mill kittens and dogs appear ill? I'm currently corresponding with a young man that was going to buy one of my green tree pythons...he ended up getting a "Deal he couldn't pass up" at a petstore. Since then, he's had two trips to the vet for mites and what appears to be a bad abscess on her head, two others of his snakes now have mites as well (no, he didn't quarantine) and what was a good deal turned out to be not so much. Between the meds and the cost of the vet he would have spent less buying my animal. He would have had a healthy animal that he probably would have spent a lot less money and time on in the long run.
 
As far as I know there is no one I can't contact who cares.

There were a LOT of birds, though. Most were not in a cage. I know they can lie together, but DOZENS of clipped birds in a bin?

Only like, three puppies/kittens didn't look as active or into it.


Ugh. I'm planning on going back and having a LOOOONG talk with the manager.
 
There is a local mom and pop style pet shop that used to be great. I was happy to visit that store and all the animals were so well taken care of. But the old man retired and he decided to sell the store.

Now that the store is owned by new people it is so disgusting. First of all the stench hits you like a wall as soon as you open the door. The reptiles and amphibians are all housed in 10 gallon tanks sitting on a table with this cluster/tree of a few heat lamps hovering over them. The tanks on the floor under the table don't even have that!
They have multiple animals per tank. There is no tank bigger than a 10 gallon besides the empty "display" 30 gallon tall with a tegu stuffed in it out in the middle of the shop. He can't even turn around in there without standing up against the glass. There is some species mixing. Especially with the frogs.

None of the enclosures for any of the animals look like they have ever been cleaned and are over crowded. Every time I go in there I see the same piles of poop in the same places with more and more all over. I asked about it once. The big normal corn (who is now housed with an adult lavender in the same 10 gallon) had about 10 piles of poop in her cage that I counted. They said that they clean the cages every day and that she had just pooped that much in one day.
Anyway it never got cleaned up and it is still there (plus more).

I think the worse is all the customers looking at all these animals and having fun in the shop. Do they not have eyes? Can they not see the filth? Do they not see the sick and dying animals? Can they not smell that horrific over whelming smell of ammonia?
 
WingedSweetheart said:
I think the worse is all the customers looking at all these animals and having fun in the shop. Do they not have eyes? Can they not see the filth? Do they not see the sick and dying animals? Can they not smell that horrific over whelming smell of ammonia?
Click to expand...

I hope I used the quote function correctly.

I had that same problem! Everyone else was all happy, even my family! I explained to my mom that the animals are being abused in a way, a d she's all like 'They won't be there long, so it's okay' Pssh, yeah, right.
 
health department would step in for the filth if nothing else....have you actually contacted animal reg or even fish and game? Some reptiles would fall under their care if nothing else....write a letter to the paper, contact the local news and see if they want to run a story about the treatment of animals...hell, take pictures and post them on Facebook...get people mad and involved....pressure on the pocket book in the form of people boycotting often gets people like this to straighten up...if they have sick puppies or kittens, even the most lax states require veterinary care.....and no.....large quantities of song birds piled in a bin is abuse....even if animal reg does nothing about the reptiles birds are another story...as are puppies and kittens....Puppy mlll animals like this pet store handles are covered under the USDA
 
I really don't know who to call. I don't think people would care about the more exotic animals like the reptiles. No one really knows much about them I guess...
 
Start with your local animal reg. The state has laws against animal cruelty. Report the conditions in the shop, including the birds and the kitten/puppies. Tell them that the snakes and other animals have no water...get pictures if you can to document it....If that doesn't work, contact fish and game about the reptiles. Go to your local paper....write a letter to the editor....Saving an animal starts with you.....
 
I think we have a fish and game group... I don't know. I'm going to talk to them before I think of reporting them. Second chance...
 
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