PetSmart.....ugh

[Kyle M]

So I need to vent a little bit... I've been to the PetSmart in the city near where I live many times and each time I am absolutely appalled at the conditions in which their animals are kept and the diet they are fed. Let's start with the corn snakes: they cohabitate not just two or three, but four to five corns in an enclosure that can't be no larger than a 5 gallon aquarium. On cedar chips...

The bearded dragons are thin and frail and fed a diet of romaine lettuce, carrots, spinach, and kale... If you know a little about beardies it should be obvious why this is HORRIBLE...If you dont; those foods are either nutrion-free or absorb calcium or can cause vitamin A poisoning.

I just had a word with the pet care manager about the state of her animals and their diet and she took extreme offense. I didn't come to start a fight, so I was very apologetic and polite...but she had the nerve to be offended by my concerns and insult ME...very unprofessional and rather disgusting if you ask me. She made the mistake of taking me in the back to see the fridge...The filthy rusty fridge.

I'm just really pissed off and worried about those animals..I know there's nothing I can do, but it's just heartbreaking to see someone so unwilling to hear another voice who has researched and researched and cares for these animals and not the money.

Ugh.

 

[The Cat]

I don't understand how PetSmart thinks that they're taking good care of their animals. Even minimal research would show that they're conditions aren't acceptable.

 

[Senusenu]

Why would they be on cedar? Are you sure it wasn't fir bark? The care guidelines all stores should follow state to use aspen. The beardies should be on dusted crickets and supplimented with other foods (some stores might use fresh vegetables, and some use beardie pellets). You should contact corporate about that store, because as far as I know, those things are wrong. The co-habbing is a tougher issue. I advise everyone that it is better to house snakes alone even though the tag says they are communal.

 

[Nythain]

I don't understand how PetSmart thinks that they're taking good care of their animals. Even minimal research would show that they're conditions aren't acceptable.

You can't really say "PetSmart". Really only "our local PetSmart" or "This specific PetSmart". They aren't all the same. They don't all have the same employees. Hell, half the time they don't all even have the same policies. I know our local PetSmart is better than a lot of the local mom and pop shops people rave about.

 

[Kyle M]

You can't really say "PetSmart". Really only "our local PetSmart" or "This specific PetSmart". They aren't all the same. They don't all have the same employees. Hell, half the time they don't all even have the same policies. I know our local PetSmart is better than a lot of the local mom and pop shops people rave about.

That's what I meant, "my local petsmart"... that's kind of the reason why I mentioned it was in the city near me, to be clear that I wasn't talking about ALL petsmart stores. I've been to plenty that are fantastic and indeed better than mom and pop stores..but this particular one really irks me.

 

[Kyle M]

Why would they be on cedar? Are you sure it wasn't fir bark? The care guidelines all stores should follow state to use aspen. The beardies should be on dusted crickets and supplimented with other foods (some stores might use fresh vegetables, and some use beardie pellets). You should contact corporate about that store, because as far as I know, those things are wrong. The co-habbing is a tougher issue. I advise everyone that it is better to house snakes alone even though the tag says they are communal.

I didn't get to discuss substrate with the lady because as soon as I raised my concern about the diet she cut me off and went on a tyrade...I mean she believes she's doing right and I guess I can't really blame her but she IS the pet care manager. But yeah that looked exactly like cedar chips to me, we had some guinea pigs that lived on cedar so I'm certain that was it.

 

[Senusenu]

You can't really say "PetSmart". Really only "our local PetSmart" or "This specific PetSmart". They aren't all the same. They don't all have the same employees. Hell, half the time they don't all even have the same policies. I know our local PetSmart is better than a lot of the local mom and pop shops people rave about.

Yeah, our local non-chain pet store is horrible. Any time I mention them as a place to buy a specific item we don't have, the customers shake their heads. I go now and then (I get my frozen mice there as it's far cheaper than at the chain stores), and occasionally I get something I need that I can't find elsewhere, but I would not recommend them for live animals. Their cages look filthy and the staff don't seem very nice. I've rarely had someone tell me they actually like shopping there.

The staff at any particular store can make a big difference, and some will be better than others. Most people working there genuinely want what's best for the animals and educate themselves outside of the store. The managers know if we don't agree with a specific policy, but we have to tread lightly so we don't get in trouble for advising information counter to our policies as if it leads to injury of an animal, we can get into big trouble.

I highly advise going above the store if they are doing something dangerous for the animals. Ceder is awful for just about any critter as is. Get in touch with the district manager or go straight to corporate.

 

[Nythain]

That's what I meant, "my local petsmart"... that's kind of the reason why I mentioned it was in the city near me, to be clear that I wasn't talking about ALL petsmart stores. I've been to plenty that are fantastic and indeed better than mom and pop stores..but this particular one really irks me.

Yeah, that's why I quoted frogman and didn't make it a generalized comment. I noticed you were pretty specific with mentioning the location of the PetSmart I just get a smidge defensive when people blanket attack an entire generalized entity like "PetSmart". Especially PetSmart because I've had 3 different friends work for the one around here over the years, and again, can attest to it's quality over even the mom and pop shops which sort of slop their stuff together (often times in the same enclosure, gtp and corn snake same husbandry what?!?!) and call it done.

 

[Senusenu]

I looked up the snake care info on the website and it states there to use aspen but does say to talk to an associate for specific substrate needs for each species. (They should all be the same, the in store care guides all say aspen as far as I know.)

You could also try the store manager and see if they are more receptive to your converns. Avoid anything that sounds accusatory, since that puts people right on the defensive and shuts them off hearing what you have to say. But her going right into a "tirade" from just trying to open a dialogue doesn't bode well to her being open to additional information. Main thing is, far as I know, using ceder is counter to policy.

 

[Kyle M]

Yeah, that's why I quoted frogman and didn't make it a generalized comment. I noticed you were pretty specific with mentioning the location of the PetSmart I just get a smidge defensive when people blanket attack an entire generalized entity like "PetSmart". Especially PetSmart because I've had 3 different friends work for the one around here over the years, and again, can attest to it's quality over even the mom and pop shops which sort of slop their stuff together (often times in the same enclosure, gtp and corn snake same husbandry what?!?!) and call it done.

Oh yeah I hear ya. I actually wanted to work at that store but after my experience today I don't think I'll ever be going back for any reason. I can always order hides and decor from amazon. The local mom and pop store in the same city...well, the one I go to.. does have some questionable keeping methods as well but at least they feed them the right stuff and they all look healthy and alert (reptiles, amphibians, birds, rodents are what I refer to) and pretty happy. My only complaint is the enclosures have a little bit of rust on the sliders and they have an adult beardie in a very small condo. Otherwise it's clean, the staff is friendly and helpful and not rude when you have a concern. The only reason I went in to petsmart today was for some pinkies because the other store was out of frozen.

Oh and another thing that has been bothering about this particular petsmart: I've been in there about 6 times over the last 2 or 3 months and their leopard gecko enclosure has a very large hole in the mesh. I've brought it up EVERY TIME and it still has not been fixed. Just a very disappointing store. I've never had this much badness coming from petsmart in my life. My family and I have been shopping there for at least a decade if not more.

 

[Kyle M]

I looked up the snake care info on the website and it states there to use aspen but does say to talk to an associate for specific substrate needs for each species. (They should all be the same, the in store care guides all say aspen as far as I know.)

You could also try the store manager and see if they are more receptive to your converns. Avoid anything that sounds accusatory, since that puts people right on the defensive and shuts them off hearing what you have to say. But her going right into a "tirade" from just trying to open a dialogue doesn't bode well to her being open to additional information. Main thing is, far as I know, using ceder is counter to policy.

I've been sitting here trying to recall the look and color of the chips and now that I've had some time to settle my anger, I think the substrate was actually aspen chips. I thought I had seen some red flakes but, no I was wrong there. Still, the diet and cohab issue isn't something I take lightly.

 

[Senusenu]

I'm not happy with the co-habbing either and I have mentioned now and then that most keepers/breeders advise housing them singly. If it's not a blatant animal welfare issue (like hamsters eating each other or reptiles without necessary heat/uvb), getting them to change isn't easy. They have a vet that approves all care guide info, but we all know that vets aren't infallable and can make mistakes. I do firmly believe they have the best interests of the animals in mind- yes, they are there to make money, like all businesses, but our internal info, education, and training all stress that the animal's wellbeing is above and beyond merely being a business. Think about it, we won't make money if our animals are sick or die after being sold.

I can't divulge any proprietary information about our training (I like having a job), but as an animal lover myself, I do feel confident that my particular store, at least, does all it can to keep animals happy and safe.

A hole in the leopard gecko enclosure is a huge issue, though :/ That's absolutely ridiculous. Our enclosures have sealed plugs where equipment wires could be slipped through if we needed anything inside the viv. One popped off once, and even though it was tiny at about 1cm, a new one was ordered immediately and it was fixed right away. Leaving a big gaping hole is horrible.

 

[LazyLemming]

We had concerns about our local petsmart too. The staff was awesome but she wasn't allowed to change much.

Luckily they just hired a new pet care manager who is freaking AWESOME. She's a big time herper and she's changed the care for a bunch of the animals. Unfortunately there's still some petsmart policies that kinda suck (improper/poorly monitored temps) but they are in much better hands now.