Heart broken over red eyes at petco

[pinkfeet]

Guys/gals,


What a sad thing to see, I went into a local Petco today to grab a few Eco terra vins for my verde an chilie an jalapeño an fingers. Anyways as I was waiting for the clerk to get me sone crickets I decided to look at some of there tanks. At first I saw a very happy snake an then a camillion an all of a sudden I came across a small take with red eyes. Juveniles ... Anyways at first glance I thought aw 2 happy fat Lil frogs on the wall. But with a closer look there water look dirty an there was a good amount of poop in there then just next to the water dish was a poor skinny almost skeleton Lil red eye belly up dead. Heart breaking. I said to the clerk when she returned how glade I was to see how well they take care of there frogs. She gave me a puzzled look since I blatenly said it sarcastically !! An firmly pointed out the dead red eye who must of been dead for well over a day. I can't even stress how much I wanted to save the other 2 that were in there.

[Heatheranne]

Awe

[Branman]

Places like petco and petsmart don't take good care of their reptiles. It's sad, but the reality is that they are a big business and are only trying to make money. They don't care much about the replies they carry.

[Deac77]

Places like petco and petsmart don't take good care of their reptiles. It's sad, but the reality is that they are a big business and are only trying to make money. They don't care much about the replies they carry.

Actually i cant speak for petco but petsmart takes good care of their animals i work there part time i know the rules and regulation that we have to follow for EACH species and they are all very very accurate how the EMPLOYEES handle it is different if you dont follow the rules you end up with sick animals my store is one of the best selling in the nation on reptiles and i make sure we have very nice and accurate enclosures each tank has its own humidity and temp gauges as well as its own lights both UVA and UVB and thats a pretty big deal when you think about having to keep a variety of different animals with different lighting and temp requirements that they supply each tank its own stuff....

[Kristen]

Places like petco and petsmart don't take good care of their reptiles. It's sad, but the reality is that they are a big business and are only trying to make money. They don't care much about the replies they carry.

I think it's just a few stores that have given them a bad name. Its not the company in itself its the way certain stores are. Some do it just for money while others genuinely care about their animals. Its best not to put a blanket over it. Iv'e also heard that it is because the store has been given the wrong information on that particular species so they set up the care for it wrong, resulting in a sick animal.
We only hear about the bad stores because people are disgusted and concerned and want something done about it, while no one says anything about the stores who take exceptional care of their animals because it's just expected of them. Which means people only hear about the bad stores and that leads them to believe they are all bad. Which is certainly not the case.

[FinnyBird]

My European firebelly toad was a gift from a friend. They were at Petco when they saw her and felt bad for the poor thing, and knew I owned several of the frogs. Of course they called me after they bought her, and Petco had a no - return policy on live animals. Not that I would have turned it away. When I picked her up a couple hours later, I found that she was skinny and slow, and barely struggled with me. I didn't expect her to make it, to be honest. However, with lots of work, I got her back up to speed and managed to put her in with my others. She lives happily now, good and fat and healthy. But I can't imagine she would have been long for this world had my friend not bought her. Can't save them all, I know (and indeed, buying all the froggies at Petco would only support the industry), but when something falls in my lap I do my best to help.

Our Petsmart is really good, though.

[mshine1217]

The problem is multi-layered. Having worked for a former major pet store chain, knowledge and care can vary from store to store. Our store was a franchise and fortunately the owner wasn't just interested in the bottom line. We had a good working relationship with a Vet who was familiar with warm and cold blooded animals. The employees were continuosly trained on the proper care and maintenance of every species had, to the point that he would refuse to sell an animal if the customer wasn't willing to make the full commitment. Granted that was a rare situation, but the point is that the individual chain stores have the opportunity to step up. I'll speak to the manager of the store if necessary to educate. I know that most of them are trying to climb a corporate ladder and might not be interested and there are plenty of employees who are just there to collect a check, but I have found that many are more than happy to accept your information especially if they are not made to be defensive. So please don't judge all chain stores by a single experience

[RedHed]

I saw a Chinese water dragon laying on the floor of his tank at petco. He was super dark brown and couldn't even raise his head when the other lizards ran over him .... I wanted to save him but have absolutely no place to put him

[Chaser]

I don't think I can handle walking over to the tanks while the clerk gets my crickets. It is heartbreaking! My girlfriend has even told me she wishes she could blackmail them. Haha..