Don't let this happen to you.

[LukaTisus]

It'd probably be a good thing to start some form of petition for, the only problem is that petshops are out to make money... they probably make a good deal of money, from impulse-buyers. An impulse buyer would definetely be deterred by a Q and A caresheet and the petshop'd lose money.

The bonus in that'd be that the snake would avoid a possible neglectful home at the very least. I'd think the care and well-being of the animal would be just as important as the dollar made off of it, but that's sadly not the case in a lot of places.

Though I do remember going to a Petland and having to fill out a sheet for a Corn snake. It was like an adoption thing, asking how much experience I had and whatnot, this was in Calgary. Not sure how many Petlands like it require you to fill out the sheets, but it was definetely a good thing to have at least.. just tinker with the questions on there to ask for the knowledge and whatnot on the particular specimen you're buying, and it'd be great!

	Corn Snake The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a species of Rat Snake.

[faitharino13]

thats bad! i know someone that has a nile monitor and its one of the coolest things that i have ever sen!

[stalk]

Not to be a downer, but the reason nobody does it is because they would not make money. Demanding something from the customer almost always drives them away. It may sound right, as they would not buy a snake, but you would make no money and inevitably close the business.

The only way I can see it working is if chain pet stores do the same, giving the customer no other options. But I wonder if that would end up making it "too much effort than it's worth" to the bad caretakers, and the business would still close.

[razeraze]

Stalk thank you for getting the Cruelty officers involved. Good luck and please keep me updated.

To everyone else, it is up to us to try and stop this behavior. I try to encourage people to adopt before they buy a reptile. Thousands need homes and the more companies lose business the less reptiles they will carry. Good luck to everyone and thanks for caring about this sad story. As of right now I have heard no updates on Andy, but as soon as I do I will let everyone here know.

[Dezires]

What I find worse, is most of the pet stores around here employ teenagers who either A) are afraid of half of the animals in the store or B) don't know anything.

Even the OWNER of the petstore not too far from me doesn't know much! I was teaching HIM things.

Kind of frightening.

[Dezires]

Oh, and about chain pet stores, I don't think they should sell animals at all. Not for pets at least. Keep it to feeders and non-alive food, accessories, and toys.

I'd prefer to spend more for a snake and KNOWLEDGE then to spend less for something sick and unhealthy.

I like going into pet stores to TALK with their employees about the animals.
I think everyone who works at one should have to know certain things before getting a job.

I applied at one before, and it was the same application as one from a chain grocery store.

At least the SPORTS store had specific SPORTS questions on it.
Why can't a pet store?



-----

My snake, rats, ferret, and kitten were all adopted from friends who couldn't keep them anymore. I've taken care of more animals then I know what to do with at times, but they were all fed, cleaned, in proper caging, proper bedding, watered, heated, etc.
The animals I had that were sick or unhealthy were given to me that way, in which ended up in death. Quite sad.

[LukaTisus]

I mentioned this once before I think, but I was speaking with one of the girls at a Petland in Red Deer, Alberta.. she was telling me that to get hired and get raises at this particular petshop, you were actually given a quiz, by Management that asked about basic care and health of the animals in the section they were in charge of. Their needs, feeding schedules, signs of ill-health and the like and apparently if you didn't get 90 or higher percent, you didn't get the raise..

Now I think something like that is a great idea! That Petland had the best employees in the reptile section I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. They knew what they were talking about and also had large collections of their own to boot. It's nice when you walk into a store like that and have the employees impress you, rather than cause you to stare at them like, "Omg, how the heck did you get hired?!"

Sadly, I can't say a thing nice about the Reptile store that's also in Red Deer. The man simply won't change his ways, so the herp community in that Area and the surrounding one is doing their dangdest to put him out of business, and so far they're winning.

[Dezires]

Yea, there's a Petland where I'm at and there are SOME good employees, but a LOT don't know what they're doing and it's fairly annoying.

The owner of the Petland I go to didn't know anything about crawfish, yet sold them. Neither I nor Him knew about Blueberry Oscars until I researched on them. Turns out they are inhumanely dyed to be that color. Someone fed the owner false information, and he believed it. Thankfully, it was the only one.

I think the quiz idea is a GREAT thing to do!

[Ekke]

The Niles arde locales here and they are not friendly once they get big and they do get big.

I wish I could say that the pet ind. are better here but I think they are even worse.

[razeraze]

Ekke It must really upset you to know those beautiful reptiles where you live end up like this. I would love to be able to see nile monitors, or crocodiles. I have half a mind to move some where near alligators.