My quest to improve Fire Belly Frogs habitats at Petco & Pet Supplies Plus (Greensboro, NC)

[mapdoggis]

Last month I bought 2 frogs from a lady on Craigslist. Her setup was so dry and hot that I was surprised that the frogs weren't cooked to a crisp. She told me that she was replicating the setup at Petco. Sure enough, I went to Petco and saw that the frogs were in a hot and dry enclosure with a nearly empty bowl of water (which was sitting on top of the substrate with walls so high the frogs couldn't get in). They were huddled in the farthest, darkest corner of their tank trying to escape the heat and lack of moisture. The crickets in the enclosure with the frogs were HUGE! I spoke with a store rep and left a message for the manager to call me about correcting the situation. I also sent an email to headquarters. I received a call a few days later from the store manager saying that he couldn't change the display setup since that is mandated by headquarters, but that he would reduce the temperature, bury the water dish and make sure it is filled, and feed the proper sized crickets.

My curiosity drove me to look at Pet Supplies Plus and I saw the same hot and dry setup. I followed the same procedure that I did with Petco, and got an email back the next day from PSP's store manager that they had changed their habitat per my recommendations.

So the moral of the story is that if you see that a store is not properly housing an animal, speak up. They may not know what they're doing, but they are not opposed to learning.

[crazy]

Last month I bought 2 frogs from a lady on Craigslist. Her setup was so dry and hot that I was surprised that the frogs weren't cooked to a crisp. She told me that she was replicating the setup at Petco. Sure enough, I went to Petco and saw that the frogs were in a hot and dry enclosure with a nearly empty bowl of water (which was sitting on top of the substrate with walls so high the frogs couldn't get in). They were huddled in the farthest, darkest corner of their tank trying to escape the heat and lack of moisture. The crickets in the enclosure with the frogs were HUGE! I spoke with a store rep and left a message for the manager to call me about correcting the situation. I also sent an email to headquarters. I received a call a few days later from the store manager saying that he couldn't change the display setup since that is mandated by headquarters, but that he would reduce the temperature, bury the water dish and make sure it is filled, and feed the proper sized crickets.

My curiosity drove me to look at Pet Supplies Plus and I saw the same hot and dry setup. I followed the same procedure that I did with Petco, and got an email back the next day from PSP's store manager that they had changed their habitat per my recommendations.

So the moral of the story is that if you see that a store is not properly housing an animal, speak up. They may not know what they're doing, but they are not opposed to learning.

I should do that to the one here in holly springs. The fire belly toad set up there is just a water bowl in a small aquarium with substrate and low humidity. I never see any fire belly toads in there though. Its nothing like the set up in a petsmart where their enclosure is almost all water with some places to get out of it.