This is why we don't shop at our local reptile store!!

[Dustilyn]

Had to stop by the store I usually avoid to pick up a feeder tonight. My son drug me over to see their viv full of adult corns. See why I avoid this store!

Let's see, aside from the obvious multiple snakes housed together, I see a nice looking diffused sheathed in his own unshed skin, a big fat albino gopher snake squashing a poor little anery, overall filth and some unidentified black thing. What did I miss???

 

[Stormy]

I dont understand how anyone could think keeping snakes, and multiple species of snakes together like that is ok.

 

[reptile65]

I go to that store every weekend to buy my crickets. They've had all of these snakes together for several weeks now, and it bothers me every time I see it. Although there are some nice looking corns in there, I'm sure they're terribly stressed and probably not healthy. Not to mention, I've been watching that poor gopher snake get skinnier and skinnier each time I go in. Sigh.....

 

[Ares2010]

Well I do have to admit that the pet store nearest us had one snake per enclosure, so perhaps the owner knows a bit about corns etc. They didn't seem too unhealthy. But seeing the photo above does bother me.

 

[Dreamsnake]

Have you spoken to the owners and explained that the snakes are in a bad condition? If the snakes die the store will lose its investment. I've explained how to shed snakes to store clerks before. Tell them if they don't get the skin off and cleaned up the snakes will get sick and possibly die.

 

[pridecity]

Someone finally bought the lavenders in there. The store looks nice compared to before. New owner. He fired everyone and has his kids and wife working now. Said he couldn't afford help.

 

[reptile65]

Someone finally bought the lavenders in there. The store looks nice compared to before. New owner. He fired everyone and has his kids and wife working now. Said he couldn't afford help.

When did they get a new owner? Is Rich still the manager there?

 

[Dustilyn]

When did they get a new owner? Is Rich still the manager there?

That was my question too. Pridecity - Are you talking about the Lakewood store? I know they have new owners and cleaned house of all the old staff. Sadly though, they know nothing about reptiles. He told me they just bought it as an investment and intend to flip it. I took one of the lavenders from the that store and it is a starving, sickly mess. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to save it.

These pics are from the north store. Northglenn I guess? And there's no telling the "reptile experts" there they are doing anything wrong. The owner of the north store is a piece of work. I'm sure they took these snakes in on trade for store credit so their "investment" is minimal. I think the store is run down and trashy. I'm glad I didn't see it before it was "improved".

 

[gelshark]

I went in there on the 28th of May (9 days ago) and saw that same cage with the two different species. I like to go in and look, but I am weary of purchasing anything from them. The employees were the same that I've always seen, and they seem nice enough. I think that a pet store business would be really hard to run and still make enough money to make sure that the owners had decent living conditions for themselves.

 

[Riyeko]

I have family that live in Colorado... Arvada and Littleton to be exact.
Where is this store located at?
Id totally pay for my aunt or my grandmother to go grab those poor snakes.
Or heck, I could probably go check it out when we go for thanksgiving or something.
Too bad I dont have a lot of finances.. id probably go on a rescue mission =/

 

[gelshark]

I have family that live in Colorado... Arvada and Littleton to be exact.
Where is this store located at?
Id totally pay for my aunt or my grandmother to go grab those poor snakes.
Or heck, I could probably go check it out when we go for thanksgiving or something.
Too bad I dont have a lot of finances.. id probably go on a rescue mission =/

104th and Pecos in Northglenn

 

[reptile65]

I went in there on the 28th of May (9 days ago) and saw that same cage with the two different species. I like to go in and look, but I am weary of purchasing anything from them. The employees were the same that I've always seen, and they seem nice enough. I think that a pet store business would be really hard to run and still make enough money to make sure that the owners had decent living conditions for themselves.

See, I have mixed feelings about the place. I really like the manager, Rich. He generally knows what he's talking about and is a really nice guy. In fact, two of my reptiles were purchased at that store.

However, I often see herps there that are unhealthy and being housed improperly, which makes me sad. Also, I've heard some of the employees there giving out some really bad advice. Their supplies are ridiculously overpriced, so I almost never buy anything other than feeders there. Occasionally, there are some really nice and healthy animals there, though (this was the case with the two herps I bought there).

 

[pridecity]

Oops! I thought that was the Lakewood store. On my phone, one of the snakes looked familiar. The Lakewood store is the one with the new owners. I've been trying to get a job there forever so that I could do what I can for the animals. For example, the turtle tank has always stunk. I have offered to clean it every week for free for at least the past year.

As for the northglenn store, I go back and forth. As far as Rich goes, I know he has some beautiful animals in his personal collection (lucy balls) but he has freely admitted that he knows next to nothing about corns.

 

[Dustilyn]

Im sure its very hard, Lars. You have to look at animals as commodities and inventory and make your decisions based on financial criteria. I could never own or work at a pet store because I would have difficulty selling pets to a lot of the people who wanted to buy them.

I hadnt intended to get as specific as naming names, but my experience with this owner, going back to the early 90's has never been that positive. I witnessed cruelty to an animal and tend to not look past those kinds of things regardless of how friendly a person appears to be.

Anyhoo....hope everyone is having a great week.

 

[reptile65]

I hadnt intended to get as specific as naming names, but my experience with this owner, going back to the early 90's has never been that positive. I witnessed cruelty to an animal and tend to not look past those kinds of things regardless of how friendly a person appears to be.

Are you referring to the actual owner, or the manager? I've been going there for years and never met the owner, but the manager is there frequently (they are 2 different people, from what I understand).

 

[Dustilyn]

Are you referring to the actual owner, or the manager? I've been going there for years and never met the owner, but the manager is there frequently (they are 2 different people, from what I understand).

Ummmm, the one you named as manager is who I'm referring to. I had been under the impression that was his store. It's not my intent to bash on anyone though. I do better if I just stay out of that store all together.

 

[ceduke]

I have family that live in Colorado... Arvada and Littleton to be exact.
Where is this store located at?
Id totally pay for my aunt or my grandmother to go grab those poor snakes.
Or heck, I could probably go check it out when we go for thanksgiving or something.
Too bad I dont have a lot of finances.. id probably go on a rescue mission =/

Giving a bad pet store money is not "rescue". It is encouraging their poor practices.

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Do not purchase those animals. Id you do, you'll be paying whoever is in charge for neglecting them. That's not what you want. If you want to help, give the owner a serious talking to and if he refuses to change, boycott the store.

 

[Stefanie]

I have been at a local pet store the other day to scout out what they had. I've seen almost the same picture. It was really sad and made me unbelievably angry. The clerk was more concerned about surfing the internet than caring for the MANY different animals he had in there.
Now I am originally from Germany, so I don't know about the legal system here, but is there some kind of agency that controls pet stores like these? I would LOVE to send them over to that store ...

And I agree with the latest replies. Sure, you'd get the snakes out of that environment, but ultimatley the store owner would put other's in their place and they'd go through the same ordeal.

 

[toxiclight]

There are agencies in certain states that will protect pet store animals (for the record, Colorado does have pet store laws...they can be found http://www.bornfreeusa.org/b4a1_petshoplaws_state.php?s=co and cover some of the issues that were seen with those snakes). Unfortunately, from checking around, there are only a few states (27) that have laws protecting pet store animals, and they're not always terribly well defined, nor always include all animals sold in the store.

Colorado seems to actually be an exception, in that it includes any animal sold as a household pet. If conditions are that bad, it may be worth a call to the humane society in the city or health inspector...they may be able to do something to improve conditions.