What does everyone think about Petco selling Reptiles?

Question

I Live in California and I find that the petco's here keep there Reptile in terrible condition.

Answer 1

If you think their being kept in a horrible condition, you can always contact their corporate office.

I suggest first calling and talking to a manager, then calling corprate if nothing is done.

Answer 2

I was amazed to see this, but evidently, there is a demand.

Answer 3

NO big chain petstore should actually sell any animals. I have found that both Petsmart and PetCo keep everything from Betta fish to Boas in the most terrible cramped conditions. Even if they are mite free, some may be underweight, or kept five at a time in a single tank. That is not how you keep a reptile. I visit PA frequently (as I have family there) and was horrorized to discover that in Pittsburgh, last summer they had seven corsnakes housed in the same 20Gal.

PetCo and Petsmart and other big-chains should ban themselves from selling animals and dedicate to accesories, housing and food.

Answer 4

I don't think any live animal should ever be sold in any pet store.

Answer 5

AMEN!!!! Me too. Its horrible. They sell fungus red eared sliders, thier fish are all sick with ick and stick finj and slimy tanks that are nhot cleaned..

and they all could care less ..right up to corporate..

I am in Laguna Hills,Cal

Answer 6

I live in washington and Petco is excellent with the reptiles here.

I would suggest placing a complaint with corporate, that would be your best change of changing things.

Not all petcos are like that one.

Answer 7

I would assume because they hire people that are just looking for a job, just any job, so they are not necessarily animal lovers that work there so they don't care enough to provide proper care to the reptiles.

Answer 8

I answer this question with another question;

ever see a tank of dead fire-bellied toads, and notice that the staff has been feeding them postmortem, apparently not aware that the animals were deceased?

Yeah.  That's all the reason I need to hate them.

It's already been said, but the fact is, herps need a lot of dedication and special care, that they simply aren't going to get from someone hired to "do a job" for poor pay.  You can't really expect anything else out of this business model.  Wouldn't it be nice if they screened for a specialized caretaker of the herps, like a breeder or at least someone with a bit of herpetology knowledge and/or experience?  They could pay 'em more, and in turn, they'd be someone that would give a d**n about the reptiles and amphibians.  Maybe they could even get people aside from 12 year olds and their apathetic parents to purchase their herps!

Answer 9

Petco does not take care of any of their pets reptiles included... I would suggest not buying anything from them.

I bought a hamster there once and it died like two days later and I took it back and they said that it is normal for people to bring back dead hamsters because most of them are sick when they get them... so weird cause it happened to my fighter fish as well... they will take them back if they die within the first couple of days...

Answer 10

what do u mean by terrible ?

well if petland can sell reptiles so can Petco...

what's the big issue about it...

Answer 11

they do fine with the reptiles near me, but theres another pet store nearby that does terrible. they leave p**p in there for weeks, ive seen water dishes empty, and very poor sheds. even mites.

Answer 12

There is a demand, and most people are closer to a Petco than a reptile specialist.

The animals are not in the best condition and can't thrive in a pet store. The care for reptiles is also different than for most other pets sold at pet stores. The employees probably have minimal knowledge of reptile care.

Not good...

Answer 13

Petco keeps all their animals in terrible condition and overprices everything it sells.  I personally have banned them.

Answer 14

I think chain Stores are c**p They need to be reported to authorities I used to think that Petsmart Keeps pets in horrible condition but Petco Keeps them in worse condition. My first job will be at Petco or Petsmart probably, but I'll save the pets rather than keep them their. If you want to buy a pet go to local stores or stores that have a huge section on reptiles and let you handle them and have reptile experts or pet experts. NEVER buy from chain stores.

Answer 15

I guess I don't think too much..  I don't know.

Answer 16

it really chaps my ***

Answer 17

I live in Cali too and the Petco's out where I live keep their reptiles in perfect conditions.. If you think they are being harmed then why don't you go do something about it...

Answer 18

I live in Pa and noticed the same thing.  I went to buy a snake and theirs had mites.  Your better off going to a smaller mom and pop store to buy your reptiles.  Thats what i did and it was cheaper too.

Answer 19

Well I have no problem with them selling reptiles.

I do however have aproblem with them sellign them in bad conditions.

You shoudl report the conditions to the humane society.

GOOD LUCK

...........................

Answer 20

they keep them in a bad habitat its either to small or they dont know how to keep the habitat up and they give some excuse my french but some crapy advise too

Answer 21

I too live in California. The petco's around here seem to be ok other than the cramped enviornments that they keep the animals. (especially the reptiles).

My fiance and I have bought fish from there, with mixed results. The reason I say that...is because some fish did well, others just died on us. (goldfish did well, the guppies we replaced them with when the goldfish died in the move...were gone in the first week and Petco refused to replace them or refund the money, in spit of their policy).

I won't ever buy fish from petco again, mostly because of the attitude of their sales people. I understand that they don't have the highest trained staff and most of them are high school and college students with little or no previous experiance, but the least they could do is train their employees on proper care of the animals and making sure that if something does die...that they take care of it quickly. I'd be ok with paying a little more (2 or 3 bucks more) per animal (on reptiles and such) if I knew it was paying for someone who knew how to properly care and store animals rather than cramp 20 red eared sliders into a 20 gallon tank when that's only enough room for 1 of the small turtles while they are small. (for 20 turtles it should be a 200 gallon or bigger tank at the very least). For fish they do the same thing, way to many fish in way to small of a tank. Especially I've noticed they love to do that with the Balla Sharks and Guppies. You'll see Tanks with 50 or more Guppies that should hold 5 of them, max...just because the guppies are small. With the balla sharks..any more than 2 in a tank of that size is asking for trouble because Sharks eat alot and they'll start attacking whatever comes into the tank if they don't feel they are eating enough. Petco and Petsmart could give a c**p less though. It's all about sell, sell, sell....who cares if theese "disposable" pets last or not. We are then stuck paying 20 bucks for certain breeds of fish from them because they keep killing the ones they have instead of properly caring for them. (of which I don't mind paying 20 bucks for said animal if I know it's been properly cared for). They'll never change until it becomes impossible for them to continue to sell fish and reptiles to people.