Pet Shop

[Scooter]

So I went into a reptile store in town today and I have been there before and not been impressed by the animals enclosures but they moved to a new building and I was hoping it would be better. There were animals with no bedding and no water, many skinny enough to see their bones. There was a redfoot (about 5 inches) in with an almost full grown Russian with no water. There was also a sulcata and redfoot baby together (both small enough to fit in your palm) and they were both already starting to pyramid. I have reported them to fish and wildlife but I just wish there was more I could do to help these animals. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Yvonne G]

Fish & Wildlife probably won't be interested in it. It should be reported to the SPCA or animal cops in your town.

 

[Scooter]

We do not have animal cops in our town just animal control, which I figured would not do anything about an exotic pet store.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

We do not have animal cops in our town just animal control, which I figured would not do anything about an exotic pet store.

But they might be able to tell you who you should contact...

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Is there any law or anything that you can actually threaten them under or get the authorities involved? Because so many people don't know about how to care for tortoises, so why would an authority think its bad to keep to torts together? I know these are bad conditions and I completely agree something needs to happen, but is there any regulations that you can make the contest under?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Or is this a situation where you could print out some care sheets and talk to the guy who runs the store, let him know that you know the animals aren't being cared for properly and maybe you can make a difference that way. We have a small pet shop here and they mix all the different species and the last straw for me was the cantaloupe and grape dinner the Sulcata were given. So I printed out care sheets and marched my way to the owner and handed them to him and I was told that he was VERY experienced in caring for tortoises and the fruit for dinner was very good for them and I was wrong and being a busybody...so it always doesn't turn out the way we hope...

 

[Scooter]

I have thought about trying to talk to him but its not just the torts being multiple species in an enclosure. There are under weight iguanas and geckos. Monitors that are shedding yet have no water available. Last time I was there he has 2 corn snakes in one enclosure and one of them was dead. I think I will try to just talk to him but I am not so sure it will work. I contacted fish and wildlife because he has permits from them for his venomous snakes. I will do some more research this weekend to see what I can find out.