pet-co sucks

[wyattroa]

Well i just have to vent a little. I ran to pet-co to go get come more calcium. While there i always swing by the reptiles and check them out. This time they have bearded dragons in. These guys are pitch black. I mean i have never seen a dragon this black before. All 6 of them were the same way. I asked for the manager. He came over and i asked. Do you see a problem with the bearded dragons? No, why.

Well first off they are black. Each one is black which is not normal. Do you know why they are black? No. That is because they are stressed and trying to soak up as much heat as possible because the temp in your tank is reading 74. Then i just went off on how the temp needs to be at least in the 100's so they can digest there food. I asked where the basking light was. He said that they heat the tanks from the bottom. Then i went off on how that can burn them and in no way can you get your tank to the 100's with out burning them from the bottom. I said it says right on the glass right there. "basking lights make us happy so remember to buy one". I was just blown away. He said that the heat blower must be broken. I told him that it is not whats broken. It is the training and information.

Sorry i just had to vent
robert

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

agree with that.

 

[Crusher08]

Yeah, i use to work at a petco here in Mass. Most of the people i had at my store didnt even like reptiles, let alone care if something was wrong with them. it took me 3 weeks to finally convince my manager to take a whole row of snakes out of the enclosures, because they were all infested with mites. Then some idiot treated the corn snakes wrong -- the friggen directions r right on the bottle!!! They treated them to often, and killed them all! :bang

 

[hoosier]

the one i work at is actualy really good with reptiles. my manager is highly knowledgeable. i have really good conversations with him pretty much every day. i also take care of most of the reptiles so they are all pretty healthy he also wont sell to anyone who dosnt know anything. lol

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

the one i work at is actualy really good with reptiles. my manager is highly knowledgeable. i have really good conversations with him pretty much every day. i also take care of most of the reptiles so they are all pretty healthy he also wont sell to anyone who dosnt know anything. lol

bro its all about the workers not all petcos are bad at animal care. some really know what they are doing. including yourself.

 

[Crusher08]

I think the one I worked at was just very poorly managed. One guy worked reptiles; he was very knowledgeable, but he just didn't seem to actually care fully for the animals. He just treated it like a job, instead of a passion. I didn't really get to work with the reptiles because I was hired for stock, but of course I always snuck a peak... ;D Kept an eye on them as much as I could.

 

[crox]

I also used to work at a petco, i got written up for taking too long switching out water everyday and not just spraying the meters to act like the humility was up. I quit.

 

[Reflektr]

Word. Our Petco is better than our Petsmart though, I will say that... Last time I was in Petsmart I went to grab some worms out of the fridge, and all the little containers were drenched with condensation. I wondered if it was just the outside of the cup, so I opened a few to check them out and man were they foul. That same trip I was checking out the reptiles when I saw these huge staples sticking out of the half-log hide in the panther gecko's tank. I brought it to the attention of an employee, and she says "Oh, that would be our awesome new manager...". Then went and pulled the staples out of the log. I was beginning to wonder if their new manager was Mr. Magoo.

None of their temps or humidity are right either, but that could be due to their mad-cheap thermo/hygrometers. Their Russian tortioses are literally the pictures from the "What to Avoid" section in my tortoise book, and their poor Uro's basking spots are barely at 85 degrees when they should be well (well) over 100. I don't want to try and tell them how to take care of their animals or anything, as I have never kept the majority of what they have. Even so, I am still aware of their basic husbandry requirements because I love all reptile research, even if it doesn't pertain to what I keep.

I hate getting all riled up over a horse beat-down, but it seems like reptiles constantly get the short-end of the stick. If it were a puppy or kitty it would be considered inhumane. I just wish there was something I could do.

 

[herper9]

I currently work at a petco as well. Our managers don't know jack about reptiles, but they know when somebody does, and doesn't question what they do. It's pretty awesome. Of course our new animal manager doesn't really look at each animal to see if it is healthy like they are supposed too, but what are you going to do. I would take the job if I wasn't in school.

 

[eddyjack]

I prefer privately owned pet shops instead of the franchise stores because you stand at least a slim chance of getting someone that is educated on what they sell.

 

[eddyjack]

Let it be known that is was not me that said "Petco Sucks"! I simply prefer locally owned for some things rather than franchise. I shop at Petco for some things and get great service. I have found knowledge about certain things to be greater in locally owned when I am educating myself on a certain subject that's all. The Petco in my area is really fun to go to and I support them with my purchases when they have what I need.

 

[White_Lotus]

i hate pet-co and petsmart..one day i bought 24 crickets and they AL were dead by the time i got to my car..i don't understand how the heck that happens but there was this yellow goop everywhere it looked like a cricket massacre had just happened between the bin they're kept in and my car...I went to petsmart one day i was talking with one of the workers about my tegus and she told me..tegus are naturally aggressive, females ge larger than males, columbians are evil little tegus that could never be tamed down, ALL monitors are aggressive, boas are aggressive and ball pythons are the absolute best starter snakes...I was one more stupid statement away from slapping the taste out his mouth but i just styed somewhat composed and just took what he said with a mound of salt gave him back the superworms and went to the reptile place up the street and paid 5cents more for worms..

 

[reptastic]

its really about the people they hire, i went in petsmart recently and all the beardeds were skinny and mostly all black, i had been worrried about my beardie before that because he wasnt eating alot of bugs, but after seeing all those beardies the same size as mines and how scronny they were i worried no more! i went to the same store to get some fake plants and what nots...i ended up doing a semi-seminar on how to sex, feed, house ect ball pythons because the so called pet specialist had no idea and there were customers inquiring about such information. this same girl told a guy (not even a fem mins. later) who bought in a lil iguana to put him on reptile bark, and all he needed was a heat lamp and to feed him the iguana pellets, i informed them about the right care for a baby iguana, but the guy bought it anyway i guess since i dont work there i have no idea what im talking about, even though i have 9 petreptiles all of which are healthy, growing well and thriving, go figure! i wish they would start really training these people before they start letting them give people advice about animals the know nothing about!

 

[Adam87]

dude i totally feel you i got kicked out of a pet store in the mall and they were selling baby savs and i played dumb to see if the manager new what he was takling about and well just got to the post and read for your self


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its clear that not all pet shops but most of them just want $$$$$ thats it

 

[herper9]

reptastic, don't feel too bad about them not listening to you. I work in the reptile/fish department at my Petco and after I've told someone there is no way I'm selling them an animal they just come back when I'm not working, tell the other associates what I told them they needed and get the animal anyways. Suffice it to say, I always see them back in all upset because their reptile just up and died one day. It is a sad thing when someone's compulsiveness leads to the death of an animal.

 

[chelvis]

I use to work at both petco and petsmart at one time or another. Have to say the degree in care and knowledge really really depends on the manager and who he hires. Also next time you think the reptiles are bad look at the fish, we're told to mark the price so that we still turn a profit if half of them die. Or the birds, we lost quite a few my first few weeks. Its a sad truth in the pet industury either you get qulity and mark it up (something large chains can't afford to do) or you get quntitie and expect some lose. I still go into the stores i use to work at and they let me teach the new people, help customers. It's funny becuase they know what days i come in to buy dog food and get my dogs meds (banfield has on percribtion and vetco has another go figure) and i'll have customers come up to ask me about all kinds of exotic pets. The new employees either hate me or sit there and take notes which is better then nothing.

On a side note i did get kicked out of a different Petco once, not for hijacking customers, but for eatting out of the dog treat bar. Those things taste like they have way to much sugar in them fyi.