I hate petstores.

[Amber_123]

I went to the pet store the other day to pick up dog food and I saw the cutest Russian. Please realize I know nothing about them but I know whow he was living was beyond unhealthy. This poor guy had not one single water bowl, barely any food, his tank was smaller than a 10 gal, he was as big as my Hand and couldn't fit into his hide, i don't know if they need humidity but he didn't have any , and I Also don't know if the burrow but the bedding was so thin I could see the bottom of the tank so he couldn't burrow if they do. Basicaly, I am sitting here wondering, why do they sell them, they keep them in such bad shape why can't they not sell them and just leave the tortoise selling to breeders who know a lot about the torts. This tortoise was so upsetting, and not to mention the pyramiding going on.
This sight brought a tear to my eye. I just wanted to take him home but I can't.

 

[Torts4Life!]

I completely agree with you it is so sad however I do work for a big pet store chain (granted I would NEVER let this happen to any tortoise under my care) I would love to hear what customers think and feel about any of the animals. Honestly if I were you I would go back and complain about such poor, poor living standards of this animal. Hopefully if it is brought to their attention by someone outside the work place they need to do something about it. That is animal cruelty and being a pet store they need to have the best intentions for the animals they are selling. I'm sorry you saw that today, it sure ruins my day just reading about what you saw

 

[luvpetz27]

I am also sorry you saw that!! I know how you feel! I have seen this in pet stores too!
Its just heartbreaking!!

 

[Amber_123]

I apologize when I said I hate pet stores. I am sure some places actually care for them like you do but so many of them are not caring for them like they should be and when I go back I am going to tell them they need to do something because what they are doing to him is just avsolutely heartbreaking.

 

[wellington]

I mean this in the nicest way possible. If you do nothing to help correct the way the tortoise is being kept, then you really have no right to complain. Turning a blond eye does not help that tortoise. We have to be their voice, as they don't have one. You need to collect the correct info and as nice as possible you need to help educate the stores owner/manager. If you don't have the nerve, print out the info and hand it to them. Ask them to please make the corrections and even refer them to TFO. You need to continue, until the tortoise has better living conditions. That is the right thing to do. Animal lovers are the only voice animals have.

 

[Tom]

They care about making money. Let them know that you would never buy one housed that way.

 

[Minority1]

They care about making money.

That is the essence of retail outlets and national chains. Buy in bulk, cheap and have the lowest overhead/minimal standards. Flip and sell around 1.5 times it's worth, sometimes more depending on the nature of the product.

Breeders will never overthrow this cycle because no single person can bring down costs that can compete. Even the majority of the captive bred websites are small operations which still cost more than the known pet chains. Would be nice if we could follow Japan's health plan and have a set price for pets/services and enforce them by the government.

If you're gonna blame pet stores you might as well blame the people who are out there catching these wild tortoises. People who probably aren't making much money to begin with. Bending over backwards trying to make ends meet.

It's a lose-lose situation.

I say either work on getting national attention on the low sub-standard housing and care for reptiles and exotics alike or educate a fellow/potential exotic pet owner one at a time.

The last week I told a manager at Petsmart about the poorly kept adult greek tortoise in a 10 gallon tank. He gave me a bs story and it's still there. Can't save them all.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

The only time I ever see nice enclosures with healthy tortoises is when I go to specialty reptile stores. Big box pet stores either don't want or don't know how to properly house their tortoises. I look forward to the day when all tortoises and other animals are bred only by caring breeders, and are only available either directly from them, or else from pet stores that give them proper housing and a good diet.

 

[Blakem]

I saw a baby sulcata in a 10 gallon tank the other day. It was listed as 140$, and had a description on the front with some info on them. It had a good description of foods to feed it. It's tank was small, their was a coil bulb, no substrate, and the food was really wilted and it was only given cilantro. It was really good looking and was head first sleeping in the crevice of its wood hide.

I asked to speak to a manager and give him some important I for on these guys. He didn't look at me the whole time I was talking, told me that they sell fast, and that the little one is misted a few times a day, which I hoped so! He also told me that they give the customers a care sheet when they buy one and that it's illegal to not provide one. Just thought I would share!


Sulcata (Dexter)
Russian (Ezek)

 

[Amber_123]

I agree and I am going to go back to that store and talk to them I would of don't it when I was there but I didn't know anything about them and I wanted I make sure that I was telling them right not wrong and I was running really late and had to go. Im just worried that whoever they tell will get mad and ask me to leave like another pet store did when I asked them to remove the dead Hampster and I told them they have too many in there so I might take up that offer of writing it down because I go there often. Thanks for the idea!

[qudote='wellington' pid='649257' dateline='1365392299']
I mean this in the nicest way possible. If you do nothing to help correct the way the tortoise is being kept, then you really have no right to complain. Turning a blond eye does not help that tortoise. We have to be their voice, as they don't have one. You need to collect the correct info and as nice as possible you need to help educate the stores owner/manager. If you don't have the nerve, print out the info and hand it to them. Ask them to please make the corrections and even refer them to TFO. You need to continue, until the tortoise has better living conditions. That is the right thing to do. Animal lovers are the only voice animals have.
[/quote]

 

[Raymo2477]

Not all stores are bad, but some are.

I work for a large chain and I make sure our reptiles are well cared for.

One thing to do is call corporate and tell them if you see something wrong. I know they take that seriously.

Btw-I'm always trying to educate employees on what's right for reptiles even if we don't sell it (like suggesting a Rubbermaid instead of a 40 gallon tank). And I wish we would only sell captive bred stock.

 

[Amber_123]

Not all stores are bad, but some are.

I work for a large chain and I make sure our reptiles are well cared for.

One thing to do is call corporate and tell them if you see something wrong. I know they take that seriously.

Btw-I'm always trying to educate employees on what's right for reptiles even if we don't sell it (like suggesting a Rubbermaid instead of a 40 gallon tank). And I wish we would only sell captive bred stock.

Sorr, Appologized earlier because I should have worded it differently

 

[Raymo2477]

No offense taken! But just like a previous post said you need to tell some one about the problem you saw. Tell the manager and if he\she won't listen take it to someone above them.

 

[Amber_123]

No offense taken! But just like a previous post said you need to tell some one about the problem you saw. Tell the manager and if he\she won't listen take it to someone above them.

Thanks!