Reptile Contest at Petco (Brought my Tortoises) Big Disapoitment!!

[grogansilver]

"Well I went to Petco today because they Advertized they were having a Reptile Contest! I was so excited I told everybody I knew!! "Well I showed up an Hour after start time only to find out that so far only five people were there and had showed up since I got there! but that wasn't what was so Disappointing, what was Disappointing was that I am there with my 3 Russian tortoises only to find out that what we brought them in with (their carry case) was what they had to stay in for 4 hours as per Reptile Specialist working there in the area! I know this because I asked were do we put our reptiles to display? figuring they had nice tables and possibly maybe tanks set up for the comforts of our animals! "well wishful thinking on the pet owner's part!! I watched People stand around with their pets in their hands in the containers they brought them in only to watch the reptile specialist try to sell them a Petco Reptile! and that went for everybody who showed up with a Reptile (Pet)!! even me! and you know what the worst part of all this whole Reptile Show project crap was? this was suppose to be a Supported by Petco a state wide Project sponsored by Petco its self! a show which was suppose to show off peoples animals and pick the best reptile and win a Ribbon!, Well guess what it was Actually a lure to get people who are into Reptiles in to their store to buy their animals which were clearly marked 50% off! How I know this was Because I watched the Reptile specialist try to sell for a whole Hour to everybody who showed up at petco, a Reptile! which was in there own display cases!!! After that I wasn't going to put my tortoises threw that any more to them it was torcher and that was of them being confined to a small carrying case which i had brought them in. I left and yes I was Disappointed about not having to possibly have one of my animals (Reptiles) win a Ribbon!! But I know one thing when I got home it felt good to watch my tortoise when I put them into their cage walk back into their spots where they then new that this was their home!! and then in turn, turn around and run for that Lettuce. http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii62/grogansilver/IMG_27651.jpg

 

[Cymmie]

Some nice looking Russian's you have there Grogan sorry you were disappointed by the petco contest. I was too.

 

[wellington]

That's really too bad. Not good on their part at all to do people like that. Sorry .

 

[Sulcata_Sandy]

Good thing I didn't go, then.
I totally planned on it, but after running errands and giving Oliver a bath, I didn't feel like it.

That's too bad, it sounded fun and a good way to promote good husbandry. Apparently not.


-------
Sandy
Oregon-Washington Tortoise Rescue

Mo the Sulcata (4.8 lbs)
Oliver the Sulcata (50 lbs)
Larry the Jordanian Greek
Curly the Eastern Hermanni
....baby Sulcata Franklin on the way!
Lola the Basenji
Dexter the Basenji
John the boyfriend stuck in Kansas...so I get more tortoises!

 

[grogansilver]

Good thing I didn't go, then.
I totally planned on it, but after running errands and giving Oliver a bath, I didn't feel like it.

That's too bad, it sounded fun and a good way to promote good husbandry. Apparently not.


-------
Sandy
Oregon-Washington Tortoise Rescue

Mo the Sulcata (4.8 lbs)
Oliver the Sulcata (50 lbs)
Larry the Jordanian Greek
Curly the Eastern Hermanni
....baby Sulcata Franklin on the way!
Lola the Basenji
Dexter the Basenji
John the boyfriend stuck in Kansas...so I get more tortoises!

SenjiSandy I remember you saying the other day you were going to go with a bunch of tortoises be glad you did not! you would of cried.. well it was a lessened learned on my half.

 

[StarSapphire22]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I actually am a Petco employee, and it looks like your store didn't handle their event very well. Reptiles get such a bad rap, from being "salmonella carriers" to creepy or gross. Today's event was supposed to be for enthusiasts to get together and share knowledge and an educational event to get people started with their first reptile, or on a kind they hadn't tried before, or simply to get a good deal on an addition to their current herd (ever notice how herp-lovers rarely just have one? Heehee!). People could bring in their pets to show off, and between hopefully knowledgeable staff and enthusiasts educate people on good husbandry and show them that reptiles are actually really cool!

It always disappoints me when people are disappointed in our stores, or associates don't do their job. It gives stores who are striving to be more than just a "bigbox" store, and associates who really try to know their stuff a bad name. Unfortunately most associates don't do their homework and give out bad info. I try to do mine, and I ask questions or look stuff up when I don't know...caring for the entire aquatics, reptiles, small animals, and birds departments means there's a lot to learn and a lot of animals to care for. An associates goal should be to serve, educate, and THEN sell. As a customer, I've been on the bad end of bigbox pet store situations many times. I hope though, that many of you realize that not all locations are terrible and full of uneducated associates just trying to sell you stuff. Our store's event today was a success as far as I've heard (I had the day off, but stopped in quick). People brought in all sorts of cool reptiles, and hopefully many people started a passion for reptiles, or at least learned something new! I'm so sorry your experience was less than stellar.

 

[dncekidd]

Sadly Coop and I were disappointed as well. They could not give me a time for the contest when I called to make sure I didnt have Cooper out of his home to long. the whole thing was crammed in the fish department with a small table with sign up sheet a couple flyers and gummy worms. There was about 7 reptiles we all stood around this tiny table and were told to vote for someone elses reptile. I did enjoy showing coop to the kids and telling them about tortoises but that was the extent of my excitement. The petco reptile Rally was really unorganized and poorly ran! I won't be doing another contest at petco.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Cymmie]

I have learned each Petco and Petsmart is different in it's own way, they have different ways of caring for animals and sometimes this is good and sometimes not. It shows really good care in some areas and not so good care in others. Like I don't think any big chain store should have chameleons, not because they don't know what their doing, because of their employees do. But because they are restricted to caring for them a certain way which does not exactly work for them because they have to have certain protocols for all reptiles and chameleons are not like a lot of reptiles. Let's face it trying to follow one set of rules for a whole genus would not work for most creatures.

Though I've realized with my petsmart they do quite well with their little veiled chams because they have the staff who has them as pets and knows how to care for them. They actually unscrew the red light in the cage just enough so it's still there and they won't get in trouble (pretending like it's gone out) but it's not producing any light so that the little one can get some sleep. XD I find that awesome <3

My petco just got some baby chams in will have to see how they do. And though I would much prefer for the torts to have a huge enclosure in the store they all have relatively smooth shells and are quite active. Though they tend to hate the glass on the one side. Both my petco and petsmart have a pretty good reptile set up, as for hermit crabs >.> (which I love) don't get me started on them >.<.

Sorry didn't mean this to be such a long post XD