the worst petshops

[travie]

when i was getting my boa i was appalled at the pet shop owner.there are some people out there and they should not be let sell animals.he had not a clue.when i saw my boa he/she was skinny to look at,really cold and sluggish.there were two small injuries on the body and the owner claimed to not even know what they were.he told me he fed live(probally where the marks came from).he did not know when he/she was fed last or when the last shed was.when asked what temp the boa was kept at he said "during the winter we lower the temp to slow them down,like a kind of hibernation".i tried to buy frozen food and he had none.nor had he a clue what its sex was.the only information i got was it was about 6 months old.i purchased the boa and it is now doing great.what do you think? is that the worst pet shop or what.
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[Voodoo]

The pet shop I adopted my two big BPs from kep them in a plexiglass cage that was about 1.5' wide, and about 1' deep. No hides. One dirty water bowl. Heat rock. Unclean.

They also had a 4.5' and 4' RTB in a cage about 3' wide, and 1' deep. One water bowl big enough for the 3' to curl into. Heat rock. Pine shavings substrate. No hides. I wanted to get them, too, but I didn't have anywhere to keep them. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]

Anyway, I'm trying to get a job at a SuperPetz here, so I can take care of their BPs and RTBs. And the other snakes/lizards that they have. I figure they need SOMEONE who knows what they're doing, there.
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	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[roachpunk]

the pet shop i got my iguana from had ALL the medium sized lizards in one enclosure. all the big ones in another and a buch of different big snakes in another. they had iguanas together. there was one huge one there that had its tail bit off by the other in the tank. they had hot rocks and the food dish was JUST kale. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]
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	Iguana Iguana

[XzyluM]

There is very few petstores that have any experience or knowledge with herps. They'll say anything to get a buy. Those need to be banned from selling herps. However, there is a few with such experience and knowledge, but you rarely see them around.
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[JuliusSqueezer]

Buying from petstores like this only makes things worse...I can see where you want to save the animal...but as long as people keep wanting to save the animals there by buying them...then they are turning a profit and that's all they care about anyway. As sad as it is to leave a few snakes in a really bad situation...If the owner learns that hos bad keeping practice is costing him sales then and only then will he MAYBE make an effort to learn proper keeping. Talk to them...tell them what the animals need. I have even taken out a note pad and started jotting down notes in front of them...they get really interested when you do that and anything they see you write down will stick in their minds that this is something that they need to correct before "whoever they think you may call" shows up. make a frown...shake your head...and jot things down...when they try and sell you anything....tell them why you won't buyu there but tell them that you are looking for a certain animal and if and when the store makes certain changes....you will not only buy there but bring them some business.....otherwise...as sad as it is...it is better to let a few animals perish than to keep them in business and have them continue bringing in new stock. Remember that the snake you just "saved" will just be replaced by another within a few days.
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[telefrag]

Jules is right,
its best to stay away from anything in places like these.
Report it to your local animal control, or P&WD, or herp society,
and while that will probably have no real recourse, it may promt the owner
or manager of the store in question to start making a point to take better care of the animals.

There is a independent store here local to me that has recently
changed hands and since then,the cages
look like they havent been really cleaned for about 2 months,
and one time I went in and they were feeding 2 af rocks in the same cage.
I let the kid doing the feedings know that it was best to feed them seperately.
About 10 minutes later, I went back to look again and one had the other completely wrapped up trying to get to the other snakes mouse.

Its a shame that some animals get to suffer because their stores dont provide proper info or training (they usually dont know that much themselves either) and they usually do their best to have high animal turnover.

your snake got lucky, but buying animals just supports their demand to get more.

[travie]

thanks for the info.its a pity that i had not the choice to visit another pet store.i live in ireland and there is only 2 pet stores in the country that sell red tails.the hobby of keeping constrictors isn't very popular here unfortunatly.so my options were very limited.hopefully reptile keeping will catch on here.
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[pincess_wy]

Voodoo,
you have SuperPetz down there? I did not realize that the store was part of a chain... we have one here, and it's great! They have really knowledgable employees, and have these signs posted all over the store saying that they reserve the right to refuse the sale of any animal to any person, for any reason. Maybe it's just the particular store, but they are my favorite! (Up here, anyway.)

_________________
"Life's short and hard, like a body building elf..."
~It's the legendary Bloodhound Gang, from the One Fierce Beer Coaster Album!

[ChrisRezendes]

Around where I live, there are tons of pet stores, and a very small percentage of those actually seem to have any knowledge on reptilian husbandry. I'm constantly finding under-nourished and mite infested snakes in filthy quarters. A lot of the pet store employees and managers/owners seem to be very dishonest also. A lot of talking about things they don't know about and a lot of lying about the health of their reptiles, and I would imagine, animals altogether. They also won't tell you if a particular snake is snappy. They need to hire somebody like me. Clean those #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& places up. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_evil.gif[/img] That would be pretty cool. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[ShakiraFuego]

Newboaman: Would this happen to be the Petland in Waterford? Horrible place... [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]
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[Seany]

Newboaman, are you sure it was a Petland? I worked at a Petland for a couple of years and happen to know that there are no more Petlands in Florida.
Also, it is not that big a chain and they are very good at teaching workers proper husbandry.
If it was a Petland, please let me know so I can talk to someone about it.
Again, there are NO petlands in Florida, they were closed a long time ago for that reason, it was too far to check on in person and were getting bad feedback.
I wouldn't hesitate to get my snakes there, infact I got my Albino Corn snake there and never had a problem with them.
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	Corn Snake The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a species of Rat Snake.

[ls1grrrl]

Seany,

Actually Macgyver and I live in Orlando, and there are 2-3 Petlands here. The 1 we've been in at Waterford Lakes (which is the one I think Newboaman is talking about) is pretty bad. We went in there once and found a poor little rat snake with its tail stuck in the top of the cage. He had been hanging there by his tail for who knows how long [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]


BTW, if you go to Petland's website and go to their store locator, you will find that not only are there 3 listed for Orlando, but there are several throughout Florida.

Heather