Petco's reptiles????

Question

petco's reptiles are they good? i saw crickets in the corn snake tank and in the king snake tank is this normaland there geckos i saw one dead on top of the cag amd they said it died

Answer 1

I can't speak for all Petco's, but the one near me in  Ma. is horrible!!  My daughter and I have bought 3 pets from there and all died after just a few weeks. I also saw a dead bearded dragon in the tank once :(

I spoke with my vet about it and she said they bring in sick and dying animals all the time..usually too late.  I suppose some Petco's are better than others, but I will never buy anything alive from my nearby Petco again!!

Answer 2

Some Petcos are good, some are bad - It looks like you had an encounter with a bad one. Neither Corn Snakes nor King Snakes eat crickets, even as babies, though it is possible they escaped from a nearby cage, and the dead gecko is just wrong.

You should contact the manager of the store and file a complaint, and never buy a reptile from that Petco.

Answer 3

You have to be careful about your selection, but I have gotten a leopard gecko from there that's lived over 6 years now..

Answer 4

Petco's reptiles are horrible. It's a chain, so many times they pack them together, or they're sick. Don't EVER buy an animal from Petco. The animal may be sick, and unless you're willing to nurse it back health, I wouldn't risk it. The crickets may die in the tank, it's normal, but the animals may be sick. I know they try to feed them well, but sometimes it doesn't work out.

Hope I could help.

Answer 5

Some are good and some are bad. PetCo is a chain but they are owned by franchisee so it really just depends on the store. I always avoid it now and get all my reptiles at a local exotic pet store but my first reptile (a bearded dragon) I got at a PetSmart and he has been healthy since I got him (4 years ago).

Answer 6

Well, my son bought his leopard gecko at Petco.  It was really healthy for a long time, like 2 years and got pretty big.  Unfortunately, my younger son who is 3 took the gecko outside and let it go.  Said it needed to go to the doctor!  So sad.  Some petco's could be better than others.  The one in Tulsa, Ok on 41st Street rocks.

Answer 7

OMG.

I work at petco - hopefully and doubtfully NOT the one you went to!!

The habitat that all the reptiles are in - they are only divided by a thick piece of plastic that can be taken out if needed. Sometimes the crickets are able to squeeze between the pieces into another habitat. When we do (clean and feed) the animals in the morning and at night, or during animal walks (when we walk and check on the animals) we (at least at my store) remove any crickets we see. They will not harm the snakes at all - sometimes they even eat the crickets.

As far as the geckos go - It was not good that it was on top of any cage. Any time we find a death we are to take it out and put it away immediately! This is not only petco policy, but also a health issue. Sometimes we do not see it right away if it is in the tank, but we remove as soon as we know.

I am going to speak honestly - Are reptiles, or all animals for that matter, are for the most part very good and well taken care of. Now remember I can only speak for the store in which I work, but I would hope it isn't that different throughout. We do get in sick animals, and sometimes they get sick while they are in our care - we put them in our wellness room and a vet is called immediately. Unfortunately death happens throughout, but we try to prevent that as much as possible.

I apologize as a petco employee that you had a bad experience. You should let the store manager know what happened and your concern.

Oh the second answerer saddens me =(

Many blessings.

Petco 3+ years.

Answer 8

Your question pretty much says it all. The petco's by me are the same way. No, crickets in king and corn snake cages is not normal, nor is it healthy. Their gapped divider style cages are terrible- there is no complete separation of species. Any bacteria, mites, ticks, or anything else is free to spread from one animal to another through the cricket-sized gaps, and many of their animals look sickly. To top it off, animals from all different parts of the world are housed next to each other in those divider cages, so that makes quarantining even more important.

  Petco needs new style, completely sealed cage units, experienced(not "trained") personel (you cant be taught proper care in a quick class- you learn it through years of experience), and a captive- bred-only policy. They sell too many wild caught animals, which are often the sickly ones(anoles, ribbon snakes, etc.). In this day and age, there is no excuse for a large chain to sell wild caught reptiles- period. They should be suppporting the captive breeding industry, its better for the wild populations and the "pets".   They could then have a greater variety of species, and the animals would be much healthier, and they would do more business.

The dead gecko you say should have been separated and treated before it got to the point of dying. No sick or emaciated animal should ever be on the sales floor- ever. They belong in the back room, getting proper care, away from the stress of 100 daily visitors.



I have a large reptile collection, and none of my animals came from petco, and it will stay that way. On rare occasions, I buy supplies there, if the price is right, but thats it.

  If you want a healthy reptile, find a private breeder with a good reputation, and buy from them. Its worth the extra cost in the long run.

Answer 9

Haha... no.  They aren't.  I had a petco person tell me a Ball python only needs temps in the high 70s or low 80s, that a heat lamp was best for them (instead of an UTH) and that they need a 120 gallon tank.  I have found very similar answers at other Petcos.  

Look for a reptile breeder and do research on them before buying a pet.

Answer 10

I wouldnt order reptiles from petsmart/petco. They are way over priced and they dont know how to care for there reptiles. They tell you a snakes going to eat crickets because some people wont get anything that eats mice so you buy it and then it dies a month later and you cant get your money back then. They usually have more than one species in there tanks and dont have there set ups correct. I saw a leopard gecko in a cage with real high humidity and eco earth jungle bedding. They also had a dead bearded dragon in with a skink. All there reptiles are unhealthy probally wild caught imports that they want to sell to make a quick buck even if they have to tell you that the snake or whatever your getting only will get 3 feet and live in a 10 gallon eating crickets and with no heat light. But infact that 3 foot snake might get to be a 6-14 foot snake and need a 150 + gallon tank. They do it just to get a sale and then your animal dies because of them

Answer 11

I don't like trashing a whole chain of pet stores, so keep in mind this is only my experience with the detroit metro area of Michigan.

The Canton PetCo, PetSmart, AND Superpetz all had deplorable reptiles. Young bearded dragons should not be kept on sand and fed meal worms and they were both at all three locations. They all had maybe shoe-box size to 5 gallon enclosures with far too many dragons in them and PetCo had maybe a 7 inch long beardie in with all of the little 4 inch guys. All their other enclosures were filthy and unkempt, and there's really no excuse for it. Reptiles get the second worst holding at pet stores, second only to Betta fish.

Even with local run pet stores you really have to be careful. "Something Fishy" had beardies in none-too-nice of care, yet "Goody's" was meticulous. I bought my dragon through a reptile specialty pet store and that was the best I've seen overall. Ask to see where the reptiles are coming from before you buy them. Goody's breeds their own dragons from they owner's two personal pets and it shows in the care that the hatchlings get.

I've noticed with all animals, the more streamlined the source, the better the animals tend to be. Breeders are usually better than "ma and pop" shops which are usually better than chain stores.

Answer 12

it depends.  any reptile can be sick or 'not good' from wherever you buy it.  although Petco tends to have higher prices for their reptiles, your best bet would be to purchase from a local breeder or at a reptile show.