Wow, am i mad!!!!

[bittner_344]

alright, so i went to buy some mealworms tonight at pet-co, i was furious when i saw the condition of the leopard geckos. they were all very young and skinny as can be. i counted over 17 leos in a cage a bit smaller then a 10g. so, i called the manager over, i said "does this look right to you" and he replies, "yes". and thats what really got me mad. after that i said thay look horrible and very very un healthy, he corrected me and said no, they perfectley fine and that they should look like this as babies. then i just shook my head and left. well i was really tempted in buying the smallest leo in the cage, he was nearly dead, and this guy is telling me they look fine!:main_angry: anyways it just goes to show how stupid people can be.
thanks
-brett

 

[lazzara8478]

Wow! I keep hearing all these horror stories about petco and it saddens me. Our petco here is very respectable...they only buy 2 month old juvies and never house more than 4 together in a 10 gallon...but they sell them so quickly that its not an issue...also the ones i bought and all others ive seen have been nice and plump...so its not every petco but it sounds like they need to step in and deal with the stores that are this way

 

[ReptileMan27]

I keep hearing these horror stories also, the 2 petcos here arent that bad, yes they use sand for the leos and a few other things but otherwise then that, their not that bad. You want to talk about bad, come see the mall pet stores here

 

[Jayyoung]

I use grubco.com now for mealie and crickets

 

[KiKi]

petco strikes again, the one by me never had enough mealies the geckos didnt have a moist hide and there is the sand issue

 

[sportbike_rob]

the petsmart near me, has horrible reptile care, i dont go in anymore after seeing a BTS that nearly looked completely deflated due to some serious bone issues on its rear half, and then the employees passed it off as "normal", then the manager told me something different, but i have come to believe that it was just a run around. all their animals are skin and bone, i could see the ribs and hips, its just horrible, not to mention they keep a variety of animals in the same enclosure, one enclosure had 2 AFT's, 2 leos, 3 tree frogs an anole and a really small lizard with a super super long tail, it had 2 hides, no humid hide, and they used a mix of black and brown calci-sand as a substrate. it was horrible, i did my share of speaking with the manager and i left and never went back.

 

[ReptileMan27]

The little lizard with the really long tail you were reffering to is a long tailed grass lizard . Use to have one, I agree the petsmarts are generally worse here, we have like 5 in the area,some are worse then others.

 

[goReptiles]

Unfortunately, it is a policy that they have to keep leos and other reptiles on sand. They actually want to put tortoises on pebbles, which they will eat... There's really nothing that they can do to change that (They being the individual stores). At our petco, I hate that they have them on loose substrate, as does the actually reptiles person (as I was placed in small animals, since I fit both groups). Our manager in particular, really doesn't now animals, told us today. Said that we know a lot more than he does, but that we still have to go by policy or we all get in trouble... It sucks but right now there's nothing we can do...

As for my department I have a BIG issue with the max number of large rats per cage (which is basically a 20 gallon split in half to house males and females) is 3, so they do it... 3 large rats in a small cages, really makes me mad, but this past shipment was a sucky one and a lot of the mice were sick (respiratory infections), so I WILL NOT buy anything yet...Well, maybe a feeder rat, but who knows. The rats were as bad off by my goodness the poor mice... Everyday I have to take at least 1 to the wellness room... Anyway I'm way off subject.. Sorry...

 

[bittner_344]

oh ya, and there was only one hide, the ones that are like half, so you can see the tunnels from the glass.

 

[lazzara8478]

Unfortunately, it is a policy that they have to keep leos and other reptiles on sand. They actually want to put tortoises on pebbles, which they will eat... There's really nothing that they can do to change that (They being the individual stores). At our petco, I hate that they have them on loose substrate, as does the actually reptiles person (as I was placed in small animals, since I fit both groups). Our manager in particular, really doesn't now animals, told us today. Said that we know a lot more than he does, but that we still have to go by policy or we all get in trouble... It sucks but right now there's nothing we can do...

As for my department I have a BIG issue with the max number of large rats per cage (which is basically a 20 gallon split in half to house males and females) is 3, so they do it... 3 large rats in a small cages, really makes me mad, but this past shipment was a sucky one and a lot of the mice were sick (respiratory infections), so I WILL NOT buy anything yet...Well, maybe a feeder rat, but who knows. The rats were as bad off by my goodness the poor mice... Everyday I have to take at least 1 to the wellness room... Anyway I'm way off subject.. Sorry...

The petco near me uses Retile carpet...

 

[goReptiles]

Really??? See I asked about it and I was told it's our policy to use sand or whatever they're already in. And our wellness room had to be set up like the other habitats which does NO good to watch them properly... I'll ask about it, or at least have someone in that department ask.

 

[moosassah]

I was in one near me this week. I think they must've had the same cage. I didn't count, but I'd seriously bet there were 20 in the cage. Most of them no larger than pencil width. There was a cricket in the cage larger than most of the leos. They were on sand, no humid hide & easily 5 were shedding. I asked to speak with the "reptile guy". He knows his stuff (as far as I could tell), but corporate will fire him if he changes the "approved set up". He said he mists the guys he sees shedding each day he's there. I've got to start buying mealies on line.