Petsmart

[Torty Mom]

IMO, I do not believe anyone is "bagging" on either store. We have just shared what we have encountered. What is frustrating is that when you try to share info, and by all means I say "Share" as I am FAR from an expert in any sense of the word, they do not want to hear it, that's all ~ nothing more! I still shop there, I just wish they had protocol to follow, so these animals would be better cared for, that's all ~ nothing more! I myself like Petco, just wish they would change up a few things!

 

[schribby24]

I was at a petsmart recently and they had a redfoot on display with what i think was a russian tortoise and the tortoise enclosure was attached to a red eared slider tank. It was just sad. They should hire some people who know what they are doing

 

[moswen]

i'm not out to say i'm better or more knowledgeable than anyone else, but i think if you're going to sell an animal, you should know CORRECT information about it. make employees take tests or something. when i went to a little non-chain pet store to buy supplies for my sullies (a month or so before i joined the forum) i had in mind that i wanted coconut coir and play sand substrate. this store didn't carry coco coir but told me that any tortoise in the world could be kept on "this stuff", which happened to be straight up calcium sand. i got it and my poor torts had so much sand in their eyes all the time, it was so sad. i also was telling her that i'd like to put a log from my house in it and if that would be okay, she told me to "bleach the hell out of it, then let it sit out in the sun for a week, and it'll be great." now i never did this because bleach sounded really unsafe in my OP... but it makes me angry that you're going to give un-acceptable advice and improper care for a poor tortoise that will be very unhappy, but you'll grill me on how big my tank is and how many goldfish are already in it before you sell me one, because they need 10 gallons per fish and can't be kept in a bowl. ...really...

 

[jensgotfaith]

Rebekah- I have the same experience at one particular Petsmart with one particular associate in the fish department. The first couple of times I went in, she grilled me on the type and quantity of fish I wanted to purchase. While I understand her wanting to make sure about the home the fish were going to, her approach was waaaayyyy off. She has proven herself time and time again to have zero customer service skills and I refuse to ask for her assistance. I would rather stand there in the aisle and google my question on my phone than to ask for her help. But I do agree, most times the associates I have asked tortoise questions to simply don't know enough about tortoises to accurately answer the question. I think someone else has already said that if the people who worked at pet shops (both big and small) were truly passionate about the animals they were selling, the animals would be much better off.

 

[laura808]

I went to the mall the other day and checked out the pet store. Oh my goodness. They had a very small 20-30 gal. tank with rabbit pellet bedding. there were 5 boxies, 2 redroots, 1 very skinny sulcata and 2 leopards. all in the same tank with no water, no food and no humidity. The sulcata could barely go 3 inches without having to rest its poor little head on the ground. they all looked so weak!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Very Nice!

 

[Jerseynox]

i think they do that to make you feel bad for the animal so that you will purchase it from them
thats how i got my wood trtle

 

[Jerseynox]

i was on the road running out of battery when i posted the above i wanted to ad that at my petsmart (woodhaven mi) the manager/assistant manager amy called me (#on file with the discount card) the next day after i bought dash (CA wood) to make sure i knew what her needs were, she was knowledgeable, i was happy for the follow up. their display tanks are small but it was setup right and dash was discounted 99 down to 50 because she wasnt doing good there not eating & scared. the story i got was she was bullied at the breeders. shes not scared any more and she IS the boss in the tank

 

[laura808]

i think they do that to make you feel bad for the animal so that you will purchase it from them
thats how i got my wood trtle

Yeah, if I had the money, I would have bought all of those tortoises!