petsmart or petco
- Thread starter leolover2
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Golden Gate Geckos
Mean Old Gecko Lady
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Neither.
brandy101010
New Member
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Every Petco I have been in is really bad. We have a petsmart That is pretty good but I have heard most of them are bad too. If you are planing on buying a gecko I would see what the breeders have available before going to a pet store.
Golden Gate Geckos
Mean Old Gecko Lady
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I don't see why anyone would choose to buy a gecko from PetCo or PetsMart when they could get a beautiful, healthy, robust gecko from the many fabulous breeders here on GeckoForums.net.
GECKOFREAK
Addicted To Leos
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Golden Gate Geckos said:
:main_yes: :main_yes: :main_yes:
ReptileMan27
New Member
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The petcos here are pretty good actually, the petsmarts use to be bad but have gotten better. You can get healthy herps from both of them with caution and common sense. If the animals dont look good and healthy, dont buy them, its that simple. Make sure to know how to care for the animal before purchasing because asking the pet store workers for care advice is never good. I mainly buy crickets and other supplies from them but have gotten several healthy herps off them.
crayolaskies
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ReptileMan27 said:
I agree. It's all about discretion. If the animals don't look healthy, don't buy from that store. The Petco near me takes pretty good care of their animals. They're not as good as the gecko breeders on this forum, but at least the animals are not skinny and sick.
Can't say much about Petsmart, since there's not one near me, but I can say that the three leos I got from Petco have turned out to be healthy and are doing great! I think people buy from pet stores mostly on impulse and because their prices are so low. And if you look, you can sometimes find some pretty high quality herps at those pet stores. :main_yes:
KiKi
frustrated mom
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but dont listem to the employees because most give bad advice
iceman
New Member
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they both are pretty bad i saw a horribly skinny leo setting on a mountatin of feaces at petmart recently my question is why they buy them from breeders if they are to be treated like this?
V
viva la gecko
Guest
if you HAD to go to one petsmart, the petco here does bad hings like mixes species and they have been investigated for animal abuse petsmart is better
PrototypeGeckos
New Member
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I wouldn't choose either over a proven breeder with the gecko I want, but around here I would have to say the Petcos are a ton better than our Petsmarts, our Petsmarts are just sad!!
trizzypballr
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is it true that usually chains like petco and petsmart sell wild caughts?
D
Dottie
Guest
I have the choice of petsmart or petco. The petco has better feeders but the petsmart houses their leos on carpet instead of sand. But they house them with AFTs. I have almost always left the petco in tears after looking in the leo cage. I have bitched out every person there about it but alas it does no good - "our animals are housed in vet approved situations". I have to get my feeders at petco and have learned never to do it after a few drinks. That's how I got little Chance who is costing me a bunch in vet bills and even more in emotional upheaval. I just could not leave the little tiny guy (smallest I've ever seen) to die. Well, he may die on me, but at least he will have been loved and cared for. I've even e-mailed petco and gotten no response. My biggest gripe is the fact that all their literature on leos stresses no sand yet that is how they cage the little fellas. And they give them great big water dishes that they can't even reach into! (that was my last batch of tears - seeing the little guy hanging over the edge of the giant water dish and not able to reach it.) Chain pet stores are implements of the devil. They know they have big dollars with pet lovers - especially the dogs and cats - so every thing else is just for show, I think. I can't even begin to imagine what the leo breeders are like for those chains. I may weep again just thinking about it. I would like to order my feeders on-line so I don't have to support them but I get some sort of perverse pleasure by going into petco and being a total bitch about their leos. Maybe one day......in a perfect world.... all god's creatures would have equal value.
Dorcas
Dorcas
V
viva la gecko
Guest
why dont we just do a giant boycott, to teach them a lesson?
Kotsay1414
You feed 'em we breed 'em
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There was a thread on this already. It probably wouldn't work since it would just be the people from GeckoForums and such. It won't stop the people who just go to petco and are like "Oh hey, they look cute, I'll take one"viva la gecko said:
O
okapi
Guest
Ive only ever been in one petco. It was in the valpo area and I was impressed. Their herp area was actually clean and they had some nice geckos at good prices. I was just stopping in to see what they had and ended up buying two SHTCT hatchlings. $24 each:
They were better looking than the one that I had just bought at a show for $50:
That particular petco had their herps in 1 secies only tanks with alot of room. There was clean water in every dish and plenty of food as well. I only saw poop in one tank (the leo tank) which was like a 30gallon long with about twenty 4 gram hatchlings, and it was just like 8 poops in one corner. The person who unlocked the tank and got them out for me talked to me a little bit and gave me a care sheet that did contain good information. Over all I was impressed. The one hatchling now has a 20% CT and both are loosing their patterns. The one from the show has gained no more carroting and the pattern hasnt changed much at all.
The petsmart in my area is okay. They seperate most species (except for frogs and some turtles) and the guy "in charge" of the herp area used to be a breeder. He takes good care of them. The prices are a little high though... $70 for a murphy patternless, $30 (on sale) for a normal, and $50 (on sale) for a tremper albino. They once had a tremper blazing blizzard for $99. The price was a little high but I decided to buy him to add some new genes to my blazing project gene pool. Over all my petsmart is okay too.
There are some other pet stores that are not chain around here that are not so good... I did a pity buy on a blizzard hatchling for $70 that had crypto, and wasnt able to save him/her. And one of the stores in my area pretty much only buys off the street and every leo in there is either a high yellow right out of the egg (for $50) or some older looking normals.high yellows/ hypo tangs, usually with either a missing tail, toes, or both. And those are priced even higher...
They were better looking than the one that I had just bought at a show for $50:
That particular petco had their herps in 1 secies only tanks with alot of room. There was clean water in every dish and plenty of food as well. I only saw poop in one tank (the leo tank) which was like a 30gallon long with about twenty 4 gram hatchlings, and it was just like 8 poops in one corner. The person who unlocked the tank and got them out for me talked to me a little bit and gave me a care sheet that did contain good information. Over all I was impressed. The one hatchling now has a 20% CT and both are loosing their patterns. The one from the show has gained no more carroting and the pattern hasnt changed much at all.
The petsmart in my area is okay. They seperate most species (except for frogs and some turtles) and the guy "in charge" of the herp area used to be a breeder. He takes good care of them. The prices are a little high though... $70 for a murphy patternless, $30 (on sale) for a normal, and $50 (on sale) for a tremper albino. They once had a tremper blazing blizzard for $99. The price was a little high but I decided to buy him to add some new genes to my blazing project gene pool. Over all my petsmart is okay too.
There are some other pet stores that are not chain around here that are not so good... I did a pity buy on a blizzard hatchling for $70 that had crypto, and wasnt able to save him/her. And one of the stores in my area pretty much only buys off the street and every leo in there is either a high yellow right out of the egg (for $50) or some older looking normals.high yellows/ hypo tangs, usually with either a missing tail, toes, or both. And those are priced even higher...
W
Wretched
Guest
Petco Petsmart.
A lot of the petstore problems are the fact that it's corperate. This leads to cutting costs, and worse. As long as they make their realm money on dog food, you're S.O.L. Also, its chain reatail store with a crappy dress code and really bad company policies. There is a high turnover rate as well, which means folks are usualy half trained at all times. Once every MONTH or two they have higher up's do walks and make sure all the animals are to 'planogram' but thats about it. Cages are changed once a week. I worked at petco for a year, i was their 'reptile specialist', all my information i got from here or other similar places. I think I took damned good care of the critters, but there only so much you can do even if you are knowledgeable. petco wont let you change the substrates you're supposed to have, and really, you got 4 choices there. Calci sand, Repti bark, Aspen and Eco-earth. its really up to the people that work there. The leopard gecko's we'd get in stock were aboutt he size of the hatchlings I have right now, not even at their first shed. i would tell the managers under no uncertain terms that i was quarenining them int he back room on paper towels till they had at least gotten a tail that was a bit fatter adn they could posibly survive sand and i was forced to bring them out. I gave them shllow water dishes too, and i had to keep an eye on other employees to make sure it stayed like that. I'm 26, all the 'managers' were you nger then me, there was all sorts of BS going on there, includeing one of my managers tossing a finch in the ball pythons cage over night. This is what I know of petco
The people they get their feeders from on the other hand, 'Rainbow Mealworms' Are all my critters eat, its a good company. Good prices too when you order over the phone.
Petsmart on the other hand. Well, see, they got a stick up their backside about things. Like trying to lecture you about feeding snakes live. Sure they keep thei critters on carpet, but the carpet is usualy rather filthy, and their cages are cramped. The feeders there suck, and well, mostly the same other stuff at Petco.
Yes, Petco was investigated for ill treatment of animals. P.E.T.A. (who really suck) Came down on them and protested petco, spewing propaganda like they always do. So now, instaid of selling Fancy and Common Mice, petco simply sells mice. Because people would by the cheaper 'common' (read:white) mice for snake food. They also no longer sell large birds, which Petsmart still does. In exchange, P.E.T.A. can no longer openly protest petco, so now their sights are set on petsmart who they still openly protest.
Yes, buy from the breeders, tho to be honest, i did take a few of the petco babies home and they are in good condition. this is because I ordered them, and got them before they even set foot inth e petco cages. I got a nice tang a bliz and a patternless there. plus a few rescues people brought in for addoption. So my advice, if you want them, work there, order them and grab them direct from the breeder (in petco's case it was Cal Zoo and gourmet rodent) if not, go to a show, which is the cheapest usualy, or buyt hem from a breeder. Marcia is awesome from waht ive seen at a show, and the bliz I bought from steve sykes at the san jose show is awesome.
i've rambled, night.
A lot of the petstore problems are the fact that it's corperate. This leads to cutting costs, and worse. As long as they make their realm money on dog food, you're S.O.L. Also, its chain reatail store with a crappy dress code and really bad company policies. There is a high turnover rate as well, which means folks are usualy half trained at all times. Once every MONTH or two they have higher up's do walks and make sure all the animals are to 'planogram' but thats about it. Cages are changed once a week. I worked at petco for a year, i was their 'reptile specialist', all my information i got from here or other similar places. I think I took damned good care of the critters, but there only so much you can do even if you are knowledgeable. petco wont let you change the substrates you're supposed to have, and really, you got 4 choices there. Calci sand, Repti bark, Aspen and Eco-earth. its really up to the people that work there. The leopard gecko's we'd get in stock were aboutt he size of the hatchlings I have right now, not even at their first shed. i would tell the managers under no uncertain terms that i was quarenining them int he back room on paper towels till they had at least gotten a tail that was a bit fatter adn they could posibly survive sand and i was forced to bring them out. I gave them shllow water dishes too, and i had to keep an eye on other employees to make sure it stayed like that. I'm 26, all the 'managers' were you nger then me, there was all sorts of BS going on there, includeing one of my managers tossing a finch in the ball pythons cage over night. This is what I know of petco
The people they get their feeders from on the other hand, 'Rainbow Mealworms' Are all my critters eat, its a good company. Good prices too when you order over the phone.
Petsmart on the other hand. Well, see, they got a stick up their backside about things. Like trying to lecture you about feeding snakes live. Sure they keep thei critters on carpet, but the carpet is usualy rather filthy, and their cages are cramped. The feeders there suck, and well, mostly the same other stuff at Petco.
Yes, Petco was investigated for ill treatment of animals. P.E.T.A. (who really suck) Came down on them and protested petco, spewing propaganda like they always do. So now, instaid of selling Fancy and Common Mice, petco simply sells mice. Because people would by the cheaper 'common' (read:white) mice for snake food. They also no longer sell large birds, which Petsmart still does. In exchange, P.E.T.A. can no longer openly protest petco, so now their sights are set on petsmart who they still openly protest.
Yes, buy from the breeders, tho to be honest, i did take a few of the petco babies home and they are in good condition. this is because I ordered them, and got them before they even set foot inth e petco cages. I got a nice tang a bliz and a patternless there. plus a few rescues people brought in for addoption. So my advice, if you want them, work there, order them and grab them direct from the breeder (in petco's case it was Cal Zoo and gourmet rodent) if not, go to a show, which is the cheapest usualy, or buyt hem from a breeder. Marcia is awesome from waht ive seen at a show, and the bliz I bought from steve sykes at the san jose show is awesome.
i've rambled, night.
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