Good petco

[camimom]

I went to petco today to get fruit flies for Kermit, and had to ask for them, while they were checking to see if they had any, I wandered around the reptile section, and found a veiled chameleon baby, maybe a month old, on his highest perch, eyes closed and sunken, head up, and mouth slightly open.
I immediatly told someone that the cham was in bad shape, and needed help.
She raced over, took him out, and inspected his mouth, out loud she wondered if he had mouth rot.
ANother person from petco came over, asked what was happening, and the first peron told her that they needed to pull the cham from display and get him to a vet.
By the time all was said and done, 4 people from petco were concerned, and they were plotting what do with him.
They checked his basking temp, uvb bulb, humidity, and began inspecting his mouth.
I was pleased to see that they cared, and that at least one of them seemed somewhat knowledgable on chams, (even if there was a shallow dish to catch the water from the dripper, but she did say she mists him 4-5 times a day)
Just thought Id share, that even though they are big bad chain pet store, at lesat one person cares enough, and listens to customers who have more experience with chams.

 

[lindawaz]

Awesome!!!

 

[antithesis123]

I just puked a little in my mouth. Petco.. Yuck!

 

[camimom]

I just puked a little in my mouth. Petco.. Yuck!

I like petco, for other non reptile things. I only went to get ff cuz Kermit isnt eating his pinheads like a good boy, and I found a large ff culture there months ago for Kink.

 

[ruru]

If only there were more people that worked in these pet stores like the one you came across.

 

[camimom]

If only there were more people that worked in these pet stores like the one you came across.

If there were, life would be better.

 

[laurie]

If only there were more people that worked in these pet stores like the one you came across.

Sometimes one is the best we can do, but it is a start.

 

[Elizadolots]

One thing that's been reported here before is that they put a "water bowl" in the enclosure because most people don't know about the misting, drinking off leaves thing, so they track down clerks to inform them they are cruel for not putting a water bowl in the cage.

 

[maxttu]

Military intelligence ... oh sorry, thought we were doing oxymorons.

 

[camimom]

One thing that's been reported here before is that they put a "water bowl" in the enclosure because most people don't know about the misting, drinking off leaves thing, so they track down clerks to inform them they are cruel for not putting a water bowl in the cage.

It appears that the water bowl was in the cage to catch the water.. It was kinda dumb how they had it tho, the tube from the little dripper was placed in teh water dish.... so the cham would have to drink standing water, However, the cage had been recently misted, leaves were wet.

 

[camimom]

Military intelligence ... oh sorry, thought we were doing oxymorons.

I know I know, we all hate petco... but they did agood thing. I try to give credit where credit is due.

 

[Rycron]

If that was a good petco, the animals would never be in situations like that to begin with. It is refreshing to meet employees that genuinely care though, even when their work environment makes it difficult to.

 

[ChameleonRave]

That's a good PETCO..., I was just at the PETCO that I visit, they are rude, and horrible to animals and people. I found a Chameleon (Veiled) maybe about 3 months old with MBD. I wanted to tell them about it, but I've done it so many times and they where just being outrageously rude. I left that hell hole and went to PetsMart and got into a half hour conversation on correct chameleon keeping. They ended up taking all my advice.

Glad to see not all pet stores are the same.

 

[camimom]

If that was a good petco, the animals would never be in situations like that to begin with. It is refreshing to meet employees that genuinely care though, even when their work environment makes it difficult to.

Im not saying its perfect, im saying they took action when someone pointed out a bad thing.

 

[brooklynelizabeth]

It is very refreshing to hear positive input, the truth behind large companies such as Petco, Petquarters, Pet this Pet that...is the underlining factor that they don't prepare nor strive to house animals for long periods of time, as with any business, they want to move the product. Of course as new pet owners, its easy to be mislead by what they are offering, the cages are simple, the employees will often show you the Sm. Reptibreeze enclosure and tell you that it will house a chameleon for life, etc.. but once again, they are there to push the animals, reptiles, fish, to seek profit, bring in new animals, and repeat. The unfortunate problem with this setup and way of business is the underlining factor that the economy is not at its greatest, often a Veiled Chameleon will run anywhere from $85 dollars to maybe more at a Petco, the enclosures are expensive, the supplies, bulbs, etc rack up a scary bill to the typical mom and pop bringing there child in for a new pet, they walk in expecting to get a chameleon and walk out with a Anole, meanwhile the Veiled whom is in a made to be temporary enclosure is stuck for another day, and the process repeats, perhaps the Veiled finds a home a week or two later, by then the new owners now drop tons of cash to house him, properly set him up (after joining this forum and learning the correct way) and are also now paying extreme vet bills to help with MBD, RI's, Mouthrot, etc... Its a nasty series of events that seem to repeat over and over. It would be at its best and most responsible effort to have large chains (refer to a box store style pet shop) to slide away from exotics such as the chameleons, and leave them to be housed with shops or vendors who specialize in Chameleons. This would provide a healthier environment for the chameleon, and healthier chameleon going to a forever home, and ultimately a larger based popularity of the chameleon, if you have a good experience with a chameleon upon becoming a first timer, your more apt to tell a friend or friends about the joys, if you have a horrible experience such as to often people do when bringing one home from a petco or box store...the output will be negative, and that friend or friends is apt to get a hampster.
Its a damn shame, but like i said before rambling, its nice to hear positive news.

 

[Symbiot]

Good to see that they showed concern and did not just leave him alone in the cage to die.

 

[Leza]

my local petco is full of very nice employees. I always get well crickets, never have any die offs. Can't say the same for petsmart here...

 

[antithesis123]

Where do you want to get your pets and pet supplies? at a huge corporate conglomerate or a friendly family owned business that actually might have an interest in being a part of the community because of the service they offer!

These guys are about #s and they put a lot of really good small business owners who stock diversity out of business. Their employees might be cool sometimes but get this- If petco and petsmart didn't put small pet shops out of business those employees would be working somewhere much cooler.

These places are just bad for the quality of life and shopping there is a compromise of my ethics.

Full discosure, I own a tropical fish store-

 

[JackP308]

Good quality small shops will succeed anyways compared to these. Im still going to shop what best suits me. If I want a pet Ill look for one from a breeder that cares about the animals. If I want cat food, or litter Im going to petsmart. If I want crickets in a pinch Im going to petco. If I want eco earth Im going to head to pet plus supply. Each store has a purpose for me. Lately Ive been more disappointed in the local stores in comparison to the chains in care and quality. They lose money 99% of the time on every animal in the end. Its the care products and feeders where the $$$$ comes in. These employees are just like you and me. They probably do care but they have to abide by a strict policy and some people are not familiar with everything so you have to give them a break. I don't get on Best Buy employees for not knowing more about the TV that I researched before I came to buy. Yes these are animals but these are kids and people working in retail for $7 hr. not experts making big money they just needed a job.

 

[antithesis123]

Good quality small shops will succeed anyways compared to these. Im still going to shop what best suits me. If I want a pet Ill look for one from a breeder that cares about the animals. If I want cat food, or litter Im going to petsmart. If I want crickets in a pinch Im going to petco. If I want eco earth Im going to head to pet plus supply. Each store has a purpose for me. Lately Ive been more disappointed in the local stores in comparison to the chains in care and quality. They lose money 99% of the time on every animal in the end. Its the care products and feeders where the $$$$ comes in.

Did you just make that figure up jack? 22 percent of a reptile stores $ is from reptiles. its true though that 25 percent is from food and feeders but the remainding 53 percent is from various accessories and housing- I can break it down for you if you like. Its nearly the same with fish stores too. you dont loose money on the animal.

I get you though- there are just as many deficient mom and pop stores as there are good ones. My point is that if you have one you like then you should support it because if you dont- all you have will be the big stores.