# Do you see sick reptiles in your local pet shops?



## VARNYARD (Nov 3, 2007)

Do you see sick reptiles in your local pet shops? I have four pet shops here, and all but one of them have sick reptiles.


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## dorton (Nov 4, 2007)

I saw one one of the people from a local pet shop at a exotic show and by a bag of the fresh imported ball pythons, and the next day they were marked up from the $5 purchase price to 89.95. They had been untreated, and were full of parasites. Many did not eat and died a slow death in the unheated tank they were displayed in. But 2 miles away from that one is a shop called Maw and Paws, that is as clean as any restraunt,and all the animals are handled on a regular basis.Before a customer can hold one their hands are cleaned with wipe out. They really care!Even their feeders are hand raised, and vacuum sealed, they look like they are just sleeping unlike the other place that they look like they were put down with a baseball bat.

Maw and Paws gets my money even if I can go online and get some things cheaper. I will support the people who care and boycot those who don't.


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## teguboy77 (Nov 4, 2007)

There was one that i called the animal control on them about 5 times,then one day i was in there i said something abd the worker there said she would mention it to the manager.So like two or three weeks went buy and the guy hired a kid just for the reptile room.


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## Mike (Nov 4, 2007)

Everywhere near my home has sick, imported animals in crappy cages. Every store that doesn't SPECIALIZE in reptiles has sick creatures. The best place I have found that has good reptiles is LLL. For every petco, there's 30 neglected reptiles.


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## Der-Boa-Lieber (Nov 4, 2007)

Hmm, the only ones around me are Petco, PetSmart, and Fins & Feathers. Finsa & Feathers i know the owner and he is a very good, informative guy so he never does but Petco and PetSmart....all the time.


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## COWHER (Nov 7, 2007)

the guy i bought my tegu off of has the most stressed reptiles i have ever seen he lets his crazy cat run around the shop swatting at the reptiles for hours its not a great place but its all my area has :roll:


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## Mike (Nov 7, 2007)

That's a shame, Cowher. I try not to support places like that. Is the herp hobby less common in Massachusetts?

Good thing you care more about your animals than that guy does. :| :wink:


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## COWHER (Nov 7, 2007)

Mike said:


> That's a shame, Cowher. I try not to support places like that. Is the herp hobby less common in Massachusetts?
> 
> Good thing you care more about your animals than that guy does. :| :wink:


I don't know anyone that has herps besides me so i guess it is a little rare in Massachusetts. thanks for seeing that i care  :lol:


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## DaveDragon (Nov 8, 2007)

I know of a couple of herp people in Connecticut (just below Massachusetts).

We've seen numerous sick reptiles at many stores. The most common are shriveled up anoles. Many anorexic Ball Pythons (we bought a nice looking skinny one a few months ago).


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## greentriple (Nov 8, 2007)

So two days ago I go into a new reptile store - Reptile City, it's being run by a kid who, while knowing what to say, seems so disinterested in what he's doing that the entire store looks neglected and put together without much thought. As I check out what they've got I notice VERY reasonable prices, but not very well maintained enclosures and the animals look thin and stressed. I then notice a tortoise on it's back, it fell of a platform set up in the enclosure for some unknown reason, trying to right itself. I mention it to the kid, but he seems disinterested. I finally, insist that he fix the problem and reluctantly he opens the cage flips the little guy. I left at this point.

fn. I found a sister store yesterday and it was a very different story. It as run by two women who seemed very interested in what they were doing and had a computer on hand to research any question they could not answer.


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## Guest (Nov 11, 2007)

This is the part where Drew goes insane. Desiree (the lady) and I went around to pet stores all over Sacramento County looking for a reptile for the move-in together. Pet stores that are not specifically herp stores are a disgrace to humanity. One man was selling iguanas at the flea market. Let me tell you how screwed up some people are.

Asian Lady - my son likes those, are they hard to keep?
Bastard Salesman - not at all, they are herbivores, the only eat veggies.
AL - like lettuce?
BS - you bet. lettuce tomatoes onions pickles fruit
AL - any lights i need?
BS - yep this 60W UVB light and this 10$ 10gal tank are all you'll ever need.
AL - how big do they get?
BS - those are full grown (THEY WERE HATCHLINGS!)
AL - awesome we'll take two

Drew - Excuse me miss?
AL - yes?
D - those will get to at least 3 and a half feet long, should never be fed lettuce, have strict calcium diets, need about 100$ in lighting alone, and will eventually need a 6ft tall by 4ft wide cage. otherwise you're gonna have a dead reptile.

BS - Listen A hole, Don't (explitive here) with my business.



This scares me.


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## PuffDragon (Nov 11, 2007)

ApriliaRufo said:


> This is the part where Drew goes insane. Desiree (the lady) and I went around to pet stores all over Sacramento County looking for a reptile for the move-in together. Pet stores that are not specifically herp stores are a disgrace to humanity. One man was selling iguanas at the flea market. Let me tell you how screwed up some people are.
> 
> Asian Lady - my son likes those, are they hard to keep?
> Bastard Salesman - not at all, they are herbivores, the only eat veggies.
> ...


Man stuff like that makes me so mad. Tell him to come to Jersey, my Jersey boys and I like to handle things in our own way.


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## Mike (Nov 12, 2007)

ApriliaRufo said:


> This is the part where Drew goes insane. Desiree (the lady) and I went around to pet stores all over Sacramento County looking for a reptile for the move-in together. Pet stores that are not specifically herp stores are a disgrace to humanity. One man was selling iguanas at the flea market. Let me tell you how screwed up some people are.
> 
> Asian Lady - my son likes those, are they hard to keep?
> Bastard Salesman - not at all, they are herbivores, the only eat veggies.
> ...



That bothers me a great deal. Too bad it hapens every day.... :x :evil:


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## COWHER (Nov 12, 2007)

geeeeez anything to make a buck! these guy kill me! :evil: :evil:


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## Guest (Nov 12, 2007)

the igs were so stressed and full of parasites that desiree said we would have to buy all of them, buy like 30 rounds of Frotax (an EXCELLENT antibiotic for parasites) and give em to Leapin' Lizards (our only good store). Only problem was I couldn't afford 30 igs at 15 a piece and 30 rounds of Frotax at 15 a piece. Ugh the world is sick.


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## COWHER (Nov 12, 2007)

ApriliaRufo said:


> the igs were so stressed and full of parasites that desiree said we would have to buy all of them, buy like 30 rounds of Frotax (an EXCELLENT antibiotic for parasites) and give em to Leapin' Lizards (our only good store). Only problem was I couldn't afford 30 igs at 15 a piece and 30 rounds of Frotax at 15 a piece. Ugh the world is sick.


We Cant save 'em all :cry:


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## nat (Nov 12, 2007)

99% of the pet stores I see I am not impressed with. I did however at one point work for one pet store which required that the staff read up on the species specific care sheets (which were all around ok) and if a staff member was caught selling an animal without the customer going home with the appropriate equiptment... it was grounds for immediate termination. Of course, it had more to do with the store taking every oppritunity to sell sell sell more product but it also insured that a lot of animals went home with the proper equiptment. I can't speak for the USA, but in Canada, I love the fact that our breeder community has really grown in the past couple of years because it allows us to buy direct from the breeder and cut out the pet store all together (which imo should stick to selling supplies and not pets)


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## VARNYARD (Nov 12, 2007)

That is awesome Nat, most of them here are far from what you have there.

BTW, I think you are one of my Myspace friends, am I correct?


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## nat (Nov 12, 2007)

I don't think so, because I don't have myspace! I have facebook though, are you (or anyone for that matter?) on there?


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## VARNYARD (Nov 12, 2007)

Oh, ok, I thought I seen your pic in your avatar somewhere. I don't know where now I guess, lol.

I don't have a facebook, but we have one member here that does, Matt AKA DaremoAlpha does.


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## DaveDragon (Nov 13, 2007)

I've seen that pic somewhere also. Stunning!!

Please tell us!!


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## greentriple (Nov 13, 2007)

Unfortunately most most pet stores are in the business of making money and they know that getting you to buy the exotic or fish is the first step to getting you to buy all the fancy smancy stuff that you "must" have. It's the overpriced accessories that makes the profits.

Most people can't tell a sick animal from a healthy one. After all, if the herp. is simply sitting there listless, they tell you that's what they do, bask and not move much until feeding time.


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## nat (Nov 13, 2007)

DaveDragon said:


> I've seen that pic somewhere also. Stunning!!
> 
> Please tell us!!




awww shucks ha ha 

I may have posted it at thetegu.com for our mug shots, I don't have a lot of pics of me so I may have used it several times. I don't know!


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## snakehandler (Jan 7, 2008)

most reptile stores have sick animals. the owners dont know anything or very little about reptiles. i think they should have some sort of exam first before allowing to sell reptiles.


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## zigster (Mar 20, 2008)

you know i gotta say i love this topic BUT...... it just seems like a big ol ***** session. im hoping theres somthing more that could be done. im from canada my self and i dont see alot of that out here either. although about a month ago i went into pjs pets and they had a tegu taged as a ' black and white tegu' (not eaven a columbian or argentine). not knowing the most of tegus, just that they get huge and are carnivors i asked to see him. well lets just say hes been stunted, diet neglected and poor little dudes toes are falling off. he had a fresh toe falling off and i asked what they were using on it and they thought it was so norm (since hes missing 8 others) that not eaven a bath was given. so i had it! i droped 400 right there and then. ive called head office, the managers, spca, and also have a few animal activists on thier hands now. their enclosures have become bigger and as for as ive heard thier diets have been paid attention too. id realy like to hear what everyone is doing about what they have seen. not just what has happened.


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## CaseyUndead (Mar 20, 2008)

I've definitely seen some pet shops with sick or poorly cared for reptiles. One shop here had an adult Ball Python that kept opening his mouth, probably a respiratory infection. And the Columbian Boas and Burmese python they have there seem to *always* have bad sheds whenever i go in... And i don't mean just one or two pieces not coming off with the rest, i mean in hundreds of little bits with pieces stuck everywhere. Same thing with some baby Ball Pythons at another shop around here. And a lot of the employees act like that's just how it goes, and don't attempt to change anything... And at that one last time i went they were keeping a couple baby burmese pythons in the same tank with a baby rainbow boa half their size, until i said something about it anyway. At least the people there that time did something about it.


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## KoreanDeathKid (Mar 21, 2008)

i have 3 pet stores here, they're all good, execpt they have more than one snakes in a single tank and over prices their reptiles, i've seen a normal ball python for a 200 dollars


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## Lexi (Mar 21, 2008)

I didnt think i had anything for this thread.. But i just got home from petsmart (which im surprised i didnt get kicked out). There was a Uromastyx (sp?) A full grown one at that...In in Half freakin gallon tank! His nose was reaching the back..and his tail woudl touch the glass in the front..He had nothing to hide under(because he was to big to fit under the small log they had in there)..And they where feeding him bird seed...I went to the fish deparment guy and ask him to tell someone to move him.. Then when i got home i called and spoke to a manager.. This poor lizard had a smaller tank then a little gecko. I wish i took a picture..
Now i like petsmart..and i always felt that they took good care to the animals there....
if i got in there tomorrow and he is still in the tank he cant turn around in.. Im gonna flip.


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## ColdThirst (Mar 21, 2008)

I just have two petcos here and one petsmart, the petcos always have snakes with bad sheds, but thats about the worse i have seen with them, and the petsmart only has like 10 reptiles in it at the most and mainly specializes in fish (they have a ton of them!) I luckily dont have any hack reptile places here, cuz I would be on them if their were. Also when we went to the petsmart to buy an oscar, me and my roommate got a full line questionaire from the cute little girl there about tank size etc for like 8 min until we were really starting to get pissed off unknowingly because we knew we had the perfect setup for one all ready to go. I guess we took offense to her questions thinking we were idiots, but we did praize her afterwards for conpletely pre-qualifying us and told her good job.


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## DZLife (Mar 23, 2008)

Lexi said:


> I didnt think i had anything for this thread.. But i just got home from petsmart (which im surprised i didnt get kicked out). There was a Uromastyx (sp?) A full grown one at that...In in Half freakin gallon tank! His nose was reaching the back..and his tail woudl touch the glass in the front..He had nothing to hide under(because he was to big to fit under the small log they had in there)..And they where feeding him bird seed...I went to the fish deparment guy and ask him to tell someone to move him.. Then when i got home i called and spoke to a manager.. This poor lizard had a smaller tank then a little gecko. I wish i took a picture..
> Now i like petsmart..and i always felt that they took good care to the animals there....
> if i got in there tomorrow and he is still in the tank he cant turn around in.. Im gonna flip.



Lexi, please try your hardest to get pictures to send me of the Uromastyx. I would like to contact the SPCA if they haven't fixed the problem yet. From what you have described, they could be put up for charges of animal cruelty. My father volunteers with the local SPCA, and so do I, on occasion. My father, however, is actually on call for the local SPCA. Also, please send me the information about the pet store (phone number, address, etc.) I will get a contact for the NY SPCA from my local SPCA, and have them follow up on it. We actually personally know the director of our local SPCA; she is a really great lady.


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## Lexi (Mar 23, 2008)

DZLife said:


> Lexi said:
> 
> 
> > I didnt think i had anything for this thread.. But i just got home from petsmart (which im surprised i didnt get kicked out). There was a Uromastyx (sp?) A full grown one at that...In in Half freakin gallon tank! His nose was reaching the back..and his tail woudl touch the glass in the front..He had nothing to hide under(because he was to big to fit under the small log they had in there)..And they where feeding him bird seed...I went to the fish deparment guy and ask him to tell someone to move him.. Then when i got home i called and spoke to a manager.. This poor lizard had a smaller tank then a little gecko. I wish i took a picture..
> ...



After i left.. I called and spoke to a manager again..and he said he would take care of it.. I was up there today and he was in a semi larger tank..Which i feel is still to small for him.. But i still dont like the fact that all they are feeding this poor thing is Bird seed.. Is that normal diet for uro's?


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## ZEKE (Mar 23, 2008)

i have read they can eat bird seed as a part of their diet. but i do not think it is good for them as the main part of their diet. some people use bird seed as a substrate for a uro because they can eat it. they still need greens tho i believe.


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