Petsmarts Care Guide

Given their care sheet I have to ask just why their store stock is not housed correctly (monkey see-monkey do), why you won't be able to find the correct lighting, gutloads, healthy feeders, or other supplies in their stores, or why their "associates" are unable to pass the correct information on.

If a buyer isn't persistant enough to ask or read this caresheet, they are going to get bad info from the typical employee or manager.

Very sad.
 
I agree, Carlton. Then again, you usually have good things to say.


After a cursory glance, their guide does say :

"Feeding frequency & amount
Feed juveniles 1-2 times a day; adults daily or every other day. Offer an amount that can be consumed by the end of the day."

My chams would eat themselves to death if I offered as much as they could eat day after day. My adult panthers (of which there are few) usually get only 5-10 adult size crickets (or other equivalent sized feeder) every other day. And sometimes I skip two days. My chameleons are happy and healthy. Just my two cents!:rolleyes:
 
CNorton said:
I agree, Carlton. Then again, you usually have good things to say.
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Yep, I think my one critique of the caresheet would be "the Devil is in the details". Too many critical details are missing, leaving a reader to rely on asking questions of the store staff...and we all know how helpful that will be!
 
PETSMART and PETCO just scare me. They claim they love animals and the animals always come first yet they do so many things wrong. Like their Saltwater fish they keep in hypo-salinity which is a real shock to the poor animal and then when you get them home it takes 8-14 hours to acclimate them. I can't imagine the problems they have with lizards. I do now they sell many medium lizards and sell only extra large and small crickets. They do not tell you to gut load or recommend additives and supplements.

My 2 Cents.
 
One time they asked if I wanted my crickets dusted. When I said I wasn't feeding them off today they told me it was okay because it would last for weeks. I laughed at them - I tried not to because I knew it was rude, but it's just ridiculous how little they know about what they sell!
 
Being that I'm a Store Manager for PetSmart I'll come back to this thread and post my personal thoughts on some of the comments later when I'm not on my cell typing.
 
I don't work at a petstore, but has anyone been into a Petland. They have a store in Cambridge, Ohio that I go to a lot ( for supplies and crickets). They don't carry a large volume of any one animal(usually only one sometimes two). The only carried veiled chameleons and they keep him in a exoterra glass enclosure by himself. I know glass isn't the best but that has a screen top and vent hole on the sides. I'm not big on any of the bigger pet store. But most of the employees will actually tell you when they don't know something. Not saying thats great, but definetely better than lying. If there's a Petland near anyone else let me know. I would like to see if all the stores comcare. As for Petland, I hate that store. They don't take care of their animals. I stopped in one out of town the other day and felt sooo bad some little veileds. They were setting there with there mouths open gasping for air. I had the employee get them out and they were fine when they were out. I hope they did something to help them. If I had the funds for more enclosures, I probaly would have bought them.
 
My take on Petsmart and Petco is that they are well versed in dogs and cats. After that is a crap shoot. If you think about it, the kids who work there just really want a job and don't really want to learn about ever single thing that they sell in that store. I don't blame them either because they're getting minimum wage and they're just there to earn a few bucks while they're probably going to school. It's unfortunate that they might know what they are talking about, but it is what it is. I've worked at Bed, Bath and Beyond and people asked me questions about products all the time. I seemed to know what I was talking about because I held the box in front of me to show them the item, then I read the side of the box that list the features to them out loud.
 
I have worked in 3 pet stores, 2 were exotic pet stores, and the other was Petco....and they suck.

No one there knows crap, and I would notice co-workers there making things up to tell people so they would seem more knowledgeable. Not good at all. I steer clear of them as much as possible, bc I would be liable to just get mad.
 
pinocchiosmommy said:
I don't work at a petstore, but has anyone been into a Petland ... If there's a Petland near anyone else let me know. I would like to see if all the stores comcare.
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The Petland here is absolutely terrible. They know even less than petsmart/petco. The clinic I was working with at the time was the official vet for the store and we cancelled our year long contract just 2 months in because of the absolutely terrible business practices and how poorly they took care of animals. We would treat parvo puppy after parvo puppy and send them back when they were healthy enough (their policy) and they would never give all the meds like we told them to and would immediately put them in with all the other puppies. And guess what, then ALL the puppies got sick! And instead of doing anything about it, they would just sell them anyway and not tell people. This happened way too many times.

Another clinic I've worked with was the vet for a Petco. Their conditions were a little better at this store (mostly because they have so few animals they actually stock) but it was mostly the same kind of thing with their rodents and rabbits.

I like to pretend like I'm interested in buying an animal just so I can ask the staff questions to see if they know anything at all. When they're done spewing their made up crap I like to get their care sheets sitting right there in front of the cages and tell them to read it in case someone actually does want to buy the animal. If they are knowledgable I tell them good job and will get supplies there. I will go to our Petsmart, I will not go to our Petco since they have failed the test every time.
 
ChamChick said:
I have worked in 3 pet stores, 2 were exotic pet stores, and the other was Petco....and they suck.

No one there knows crap, and I would notice co-workers there making things up to tell people so they would seem more knowledgeable. Not good at all. I steer clear of them as much as possible, bc I would be liable to just get mad.
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But it's not just pet stores right? Especially in this day in age with the internet, there is no excuse for a customer to go in to a store to make a major purchase without being armed with a good deal of information beforehand. Isn't there an old Latin term that translates into "Buyer beware"? I still go to Petco and Pestmart, but there hasn't been anyone ever that has persuaded me or advised me to buy this or that. I know exactly what I came in to get long beforehand.
 
DeviousMike said:
But it's not just pet stores right? Especially in this day in age with the internet, there is no excuse for a customer to go in to a store to make a major purchase without being armed with a good deal of information beforehand. Isn't there an old Latin term that translates into "Buyer beware"? I still go to Petco and Pestmart, but there hasn't been anyone ever that has persuaded me or advised me to buy this or that. I know exactly what I came in to get long beforehand.
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The bottom line for me is not the fact that an employee can't possibly know everything about every creature, but that they are not honest about it. If the staff at any pet store is honest enough to say "I'm not an expert on this animal but I have some good care information sources for you" then I am not going to rant at them. That's all it takes...honesty, concern for the animals they sell, and willingness to learn anything about them. When did a bit of humility become a crime?
 
The bottom line for me is not the fact that an employee can't possibly know everything about every creature, but that they are not honest about it. If the staff at any pet store is honest enough to say "I'm not an expert on this animal but I have some good care information sources for you" then I am not going to rant at them. That's all it takes...honesty, concern for the animals they sell, and willingness to learn anything about them. When did a bit of humility become a crime?
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Cheers for that sentiment.

I think in America there is a huge problem with "experts" especially in retail making stuff up on the fly.

I've heard some whoppers at pet shops over the years-

"how big does it get?"

"Oh you know, a right good size."

Has to be my favorite that I've heard.

It's better just to say you don't know but will try to find out for a person, or try to give them a pointer to a resource where to find out rather than to take a guess and pass it off as fact.
 
Exactly. My issue is not with the lack of knowledge ect....but with the blatant lies they tell their customers. Yes, people should do their research on an animal they are going to be purchasing, but the sad facts are that a lot of people don't know any better, and think that these pet stores are a reliable source of information. That is where the trouble begins. These people rely on these sources of information simply because their reasoning is "Well, they work in a pet store, so they should know about pets"...

If the people that worked for these said places would be HONEST in the first place, this issue wouldn't exist. What is wrong with saying "Well, I'm not an expert when it comes to that animal, but let me direct you to a source of information that can help you...."
 
for me the last time i listen to "them" was when i got my first veiled. i wanted a cham since i was 5 and did research on jacksons to get a general idea. and thought since i know veiled are bigger but didnt know how much bigger i asked the guy at petco in socal who said he had a few veiled how big they would get cuz i only wanted to get 1 cage that would last him his life. he then pointed to a 79.99$+tax 12x12x18 class cage and said thats more than big enough.
then i let him talk me into getting a bunch of other stuff that " i needed "600$
later i leave, go home set everything up and make sure the temp and humidity is good then went back the next day and got the veiled. and my beardie. they had 3x 5 month chams(99$ + tax) in a 6''x7''x10'' glass cage so i felt bad for them and they had like 10 beardies (79$+tax)in a slightly larger one so i had to free one.
after a week of trying to find a plant that would fit in it i went to petkingdom in SD and they had all thier chams in large screen cages so i asked them a bunch of stuff and got good info and one of the people told me about this site. and i went home with my 2'x2'x3' (84$+tax)screen cage till i got back to oregon.
in the end where i was staying was not a "good" place for pets and unlocked bedroom door and working 16-18 hours a day. the cham wasnt in the best of health to start with and the "care giver" broke its legs and and who knows what she did to my turtles other than kill a hatchling, and drowned 3 of my frogs. and my beardie hasnt been the same but that could be from the lower temps
she was soon fiered and i moved back to oregon
 
OK.....as I mentioned above I'm a Store Manager for PetSmart and have been for about 4 years. Before that I was an Operations Manager for PetCo for 3 years. Let me start by saying, anything I post in this thread (or on this Forum for that matter) is in no way the thoughts of PetSmart as a company, it is all my personal view and experiences (based on my store specifically).......Now that I've got that covered......

DeviousMike said:
My take on Petsmart and Petco is that they are well versed in dogs and cats. After that is a crap shoot. If you think about it, the kids who work there just really want a job and don't really want to learn about ever single thing that they sell in that store. I don't blame them either because they're getting minimum wage and they're just there to earn a few bucks while they're probably going to school.
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As far as the above comment, nearly every associate in my PetCare department has YEARS of pet experience. Two of my most tenured associates have about 35 years in the pet industry between them. They both are in the industry not to earn "a few bucks" but because it supports them and their families in addition to their love for the job (the pets). I can say with 100% certainty that my associates don't make anywhere near minimum wage, the average hourly wage in my store is about $13/hr.

Next, I completely understand where you are all coming from when it comes to the habitats that the pets are kept in.......however, just looking at the Chameleons habitat......Many owners have kept Chams (at one stage of life or another) in glass enclosures with success. Ultimately those Chams are usually moved into a screened enclosure. Therefore, the glass enclosure was just a temporary home. The Chams (and all pets in our stores for that matter) are kept in habitats that are only intended to be temporary homes. The same goes for nearly every pet that nearly every pet store sells (PetSmart/PetCo or small local shops). I've yet to see a pet store that has the space to allow for every pet it sells to be in a 100% perfect habitat entended for the entire life of the pet.

As far as knowledge......there is a very wide gap in knowledge. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know everything about everything we carry. However I'm able to assist in selling the basics for every pet in my store. As it was mentioned earlier in the thread, I tell my associates all the time if you do not know the answer be honest and find someone who does. Even as the Store Manager if I don't know I find someone that is an "expert" and get clarification.


Carlton said:
.....why you won't be able to find the correct lighting, gutloads, healthy feeders, or other supplies in their stores....
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I'm not quite sure what specifically you're talk about that your local store does not sell? I've never been in any of our stores where you can't get the basics (including the correct lighting and healthy feeders). I can't really think of any pets in my store that we do not sell all of the basics of what is needed to ensure that pet goes home with everything it needs.

As far as lighting we have everything from basking bulbs (day and night), compact florescent UVB screw in bulbs, regular florescent UVB bulbs and MV bulbs. Our feeders (crickets) are given fresh dry gut load and water cubes twice per day. The gut load that is used is the Flukers (one that many people use on this board from what I've read). Personally I get my feeders from my store every other day, I continue to gut load them at home and I've had no issues at all with either dead crickets or any health issues with my Chameleon.

I'm not saying that all pet stores are perfect. I realize that many of the associates in ALL pet stores (not just big box stores) can learn something everyday to help their future pet parents. I have been just like you guys and have gone to other pet stores and been fed incorrect information but the one point that I did want to make with all of this rambling is that there are TONS of TRULY PASSIONATE associates through out the pet industry. For what it's worth, maybe some of the people on this forum would make a great PetCare employee :)

Ultimately we all get up in arms with conversations like this because we are passionate and do care for the pets we have. I hope I haven't offended anyone and maybe I've shed some light for those that have only experienced the bad things pet stores seemingly have to offer.
 
i think a lot of us stereotype petstore people and yes there are some good people but a lot of them just want to sell u stuff.

the petco by my house there is a gal that works in aquatics who will go out of her way to help the customer understand what they did wrong, the cheapest/easyest way to fix it and how to prevent otherthigns from going wrong and if she doesnt know something she will look it up or call someone who know or ask if there is a number she can get ahold of them for when she does find out.

but in like san diego i hated going to petco or petsmart but they had feeders i needed without driving 50 miles or so and on avg it took about 45mins to get someone to help me. 1 night i was in there for 2 hours just to get 50 small crickets and 50 large crickets and there was only 1 other customer in the store. and the prebaged crickets 15/30 had almost deflated all of they way and over half of the crickets in them were dead. sometimes it took them a few days to rebag more. all the feeder fish had Ick

now PetKingdom other than a few cages 90% of the animals were in proper cages. not full term cages but proper ones for their size so u know what it should look like and what u need when they get larger. and if they didnt have something that i was looking for they offered to order it for me or point me where i could get what i needed.

PS: i wounder if i still have the care sheet for veiled from petco in sandiego.
the part that stood out was
Feeding : 1 time daily as much as they can eat in 10 mins
Humidity : 90-100%
Temp : 90-100 daytime and 75 nighttime
 
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I just bought my baby veiled (Yoshi) at Petsmart, she was housed in a 40 gallon tall with another veiled, 4 beardies, and a uromastix. Her tail had been bitten off, she was pissed off when I got her and it took a week for her to get over the stress. Now (besides the messed up tail) she seems to be happier. They tried to tell me her tail would grow back, I informed the manager that it won't. The manager did take 50% off the listed price. Still, there is no excuse to house so many reptiles (let alone other species) together.
 
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