Petsmart and petco

[tickle]

Don't support the sale of wild Russians buy from captive breeders and support the small breeder and small bruisinesses.this will stop the demand for wild coaght 4 inchers.buying them cause you feel bad even though you mean well supports the capture of live tortoises these big stores go buy numbers and movement of stock.if we could get rid of the 4 inch law it is so absolete we could stop this

 

[mperrier100]

My sister works in petco as a lower manager and I just wanted to share my knowledge on the matter.
It seems that the main petstore branches (like Petco and Petsmart) have regulations on how they can house their torts. Unfortunately, the "regulations" are very lacking in what a tort should really have! However, those regulations are put in affect so that those stores cannot have anything less that what is mentioned. Some stores do upgrade their enclosures and treat their torts better; unfortunately that usually depends on if they have a reptile friendly manager of the store or have great reptile sales. It is unfortunate that many are unknowledgable and put the bare inimum for their torts, but everyone should give each individual store a glance to see how they keep their torts. One Petco may be better than another.

Also! I don't want to make anyone paranoid about torts "on sale," but often the "for sale" animals in petco (i'm not sure about the other stores) have something wrong with them or did have something wrong with them previously (eg: animal was injured previously, animal escaped enclosure for under 24 hours, etc.) This isn't ALWAYS the case, but it can be. Sometimes the animal is just in the store for too long and they want to sell it.

I hope this helped!

 

[russiantortoiselover1]

I would buy from breeders but I can't find any in my area is there a certain way to find them?

 

[kjr153]

Pet store Torts make me sad. The pet store near me had a BIG leopard female in a fish aquarium. She was atleast a foot front to back. They made her a shelter out of Legos. SAD SAD SAD.

 

[taytay3391]

Gersh I dislike this topic. I bought my tortue from petco. She and the other russian in there with her were active and actually eating when I went in. Us their housing wasn't up to par at all but they don't have the ability to create huge tanks for them. This is a commercial business. But they were fed, handled, and healthy. And mine was ON SALE and did not have any health issues or anything in the past. The employee I talked to told me everything you guys do except about the coil bulb. So do NOT accuse all employees of being idiots and all reptiles there doomed. This is not always the case. Assumption is a terrible human quality.

 

[Spn785]

Gersh I dislike this topic. I bought my tortue from petco. She and the other russian in there with her were active and actually eating when I went in. Us their housing wasn't up to par at all but they don't have the ability to create huge tanks for them. This is a commercial business. But they were fed, handled, and healthy. And mine was ON SALE and did not have any health issues or anything in the past. The employee I talked to told me everything you guys do except about the coil bulb. So do NOT accuse all employees of being idiots and all reptiles there doomed. This is not always the case. Assumption is a terrible human quality.

It is my personal oppinion that you should assume that all information given to you by a Pet store is out of date or generally wrong until you are given similar or the same information from a reputable source (such as repeatedly from this forum). This is because I hear all too often that the pet store said something that was simply a bad way to take care of a turtle or tortoise. I was once sold a RES as a Box Turtle, and that was from an exotic reptile store. Now I am not saying that all pet stores are a;ways wrong, nor am I calling them idiots, just misinformed generally. I don't think anyone is calling them idiots, nor am I or anyone else saying that all are doomed, just that you need to learn for yourself how to care for them, and that getting a tortoise from a pet store is debateable as to whether or not it is a good idea. Actually there is already a thread I started in the debateable section regarding this.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-64785.html

Why don't you read that and share your oppinion? I like hearing all sides of an arguement, and the more oppinions, the better. Thank you!

 

[taytay3391]

Gersh I dislike this topic. I bought my tortue from petco. She and the other russian in there with her were active and actually eating when I went in. Us their housing wasn't up to par at all but they don't have the ability to create huge tanks for them. This is a commercial business. But they were fed, handled, and healthy. And mine was ON SALE and did not have any health issues or anything in the past. The employee I talked to told me everything you guys do except about the coil bulb. So do NOT accuse all employees of being idiots and all reptiles there doomed. This is not always the case. Assumption is a terrible human quality.

It is my personal oppinion that you should assume that all information given to you by a Pet store is out of date or generally wrong until you are given similar or the same information from a reputable source (such as repeatedly from this forum). This is because I hear all too often that the pet store said something that was simply a bad way to take care of a turtle or tortoise. I was once sold a RES as a Box Turtle, and that was from an exotic reptile store. Now I am not saying that all pet stores are a;ways wrong, nor am I calling them idiots, just misinformed generally. I don't think anyone is calling them idiots, nor am I or anyone else saying that all are doomed, just that you need to learn for yourself how to care for them, and that getting a tortoise from a pet store is debateable as to whether or not it is a good idea. Actually there is already a thread I started in the debateable section regarding this.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-64785.html

Why don't you read that and share your oppinion? I like hearing all sides of an arguement, and the more oppinions, the better. Thank you!

My opinion remains the same?
As I've already stated my opinion above I think I'll leave it at that.

Oh also, I never said that you in specific called them idiots so don't take offense to that sentence. And finally I wasn't arguing that you shouldn't learn how to take care of your animal, I was arguing that petco and petsmart are not always terrible places to buy from as some people make it out to be.

 

[Spn785]

LOL. I didn't think you were talking about me, nor did I take offense. Sorry if you thought I did.

 

[taytay3391]

Oh grand.

 

[sulcatadude]

Petsmart, Petco, Petland, Petsupplies plus, Pet centers, all the same. Not a single one of the has a right to keep tortoises, as they never know a thing. It really should be illegal. Of the over dozens of pet stores I've been to...there is no exception. Terrible health, terrible husbandry.

Improper husbandry of tortoises, while unfortunate, will never be illegal. At least not before it becomes illegal for parents to feed their kids an exclusive diet of fast food and park them in front of TVs all day.

 

[mctlong]

If you're alluding to the fact that males pester the females all the time, it really doesn't seem to work that way in a pet store. Don't know why.

I think that is because they are generally kept in small areas, sometimes overcrowded, in lower light and kept cooler than normal. Rarely do you see them being very active at all. At least in any Petco or PetSmart that I've ever visited.

This hits the nail on the head. The RTs at the Petco near me are always lethargic. I don't see any aggression or pestering between males and females. I see very little activity at all.

 

[theelectraco]

It really all varies store to store. I'm a manager at one of the mentioned stores and l pride myself on my departments knowledge of the animals in our care. Some are more knowledgable then others in certain fields but they all know their stuff. And not the care guide crap that corporate prints out. All of the associates pretty much have gotten reptiles of their own after being in the pet care department, and half of them have multiple fish tanks. And they all know to page me to answer any tortoise questions and I make them listen in and learn if coverage permits. Every associate picks a new animal in our care weekly that they have to learn about and turn in. Information is reviewed and we make our own care guides that are shared amongst each other to study.

 

[mctlong]

It really all varies store to store. I'm a manager at one of the mentioned stores and l pride myself on my departments knowledge of the animals in our care. Some are more knowledgable then others in certain fields but they all know their stuff. And not the care guide crap that corporate prints out. All of the associates pretty much have gotten reptiles of their own after being in the pet care department, and half of them have multiple fish tanks. And they all know to page me to answer any tortoise questions and I make them listen in and learn if coverage permits. Every associate picks a new animal in our care weekly that they have to learn about and turn in. Information is reviewed and we make our own care guides that are shared amongst each other to study.

I wish all petstores were like this!

 

[littlelotusgirrrl77]

I work for one of the above mentioned stores, have on and off since 2007. I took a break to spend 18 months with my twins... but anyway, I have always seen the Tortoises active and alert. It is part of the reason I wanted one so bad. I do not work in that department and I realize that the Tortoise person is not there each day, some days it is the lizard guy or the snake chick. IDK, I just think that each person has different knowledge and it varies from place to place. My store is awesome and they REALLY love all the animals they sell and adopt. They research on their own to learn more about whatever it is they are responsible for. Even though I am in a different department, I am a dog groomer, We have three people in our salon with knowledge of Tortoises and all kinds of other animals.

 

[Raymo2477]

Blanket statements like all chain pet stores are bad are just plain wrong. Some are bad, some are good, and a few are great. I am a manager at a national chain and I ensure all of the store animals are in good health and kept as best as possible.

Yes torts are kept in mixed groups in small enclosures, but that's only their temporary home. I feed our Russians and Greeks a proper diet of dandelions and other mixed greens. I sex the torts and tell people they like being alone. I encourage people to make outside habitats and to use Rubbermaid bins instead of glass tanks. I also encourage any interested in buying a tort to join this site FIRST and see of they can really care for their future pet.

To me the animals come first, not the sale. And BTW I pester corporate as much as I can to switch to only captive bred reptiles.

 

[russiantortoiselover1]

Blanket statements like all chain pet stores are bad are just plain wrong. Some are bad, some are good, and a few are great. I am a manager at a national chain and I ensure all of the store animals are in good health and kept as best as possible.

Yes torts are kept in mixed groups in small enclosures, but that's only their temporary home. I feed our Russians and Greeks a proper diet of dandelions and other mixed greens. I sex the torts and tell people they like being alone. I encourage people to make outside habitats and to use Rubbermaid bins instead of glass tanks. I also encourage any interested in buying a tort to join this site FIRST and see of they can really care for their future pet.

To me the animals come first, not the sale. And BTW I pester corporate as much as I can to switch to only captive bred reptiles.

---

Blanket statements like all chain pet stores are bad are just plain wrong. Some are bad, some are good, and a few are great. I am a manager at a national chain and I ensure all of the store animals are in good health and kept as best as possible.

Yes torts are kept in mixed groups in small enclosures, but that's only their temporary home. I feed our Russians and Greeks a proper diet of dandelions and other mixed greens. I sex the torts and tell people they like being alone. I encourage people to make outside habitats and to use Rubbermaid bins instead of glass tanks. I also encourage any interested in buying a tort to join this site FIRST and see of they can really care for their future pet.

To me the animals come first, not the sale. And BTW I pester corporate as much as I can to switch to only captive bred reptiles.

---

Blanket statements like all chain pet stores are bad are just plain wrong. Some are bad, some are good, and a few are great. I am a manager at a national chain and I ensure all of the store animals are in good health and kept as best as possible.

Yes torts are kept in mixed groups in small enclosures, but that's only their temporary home. I feed our Russians and Greeks a proper diet of dandelions and other mixed greens. I sex the torts and tell people they like being alone. I encourage people to make outside habitats and to use Rubbermaid bins instead of glass tanks. I also encourage any interested in buying a tort to join this site FIRST and see of they can really care for their future pet.

To me the animals come first, not the sale. And BTW I pester corporate as much as I can to switch to only captive bred reptiles.

---

Blanket statements like all chain pet stores are bad are just plain wrong. Some are bad, some are good, and a few are great. I am a manager at a national chain and I ensure all of the store animals are in good health and kept as best as possible.

Yes torts are kept in mixed groups in small enclosures, but that's only their temporary home. I feed our Russians and Greeks a proper diet of dandelions and other mixed greens. I sex the torts and tell people they like being alone. I encourage people to make outside habitats and to use Rubbermaid bins instead of glass tanks. I also encourage any interested in buying a tort to join this site FIRST and see of they can really care for their future pet.

To me the animals come first, not the sale. And BTW I pester corporate as much as I can to switch to only captive bred reptiles.

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hey sorry if i offended anyone by saying all pet stores were bad just some i have had experience with. sorry Raymo2477 about posting ur reply so many time i was trying to reply to it but it just was posting ur reply.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Tortoises don't fight or breed in pet stores for the same reason that people don't write poetry in concentration camps: the conditions are just not conducive to flourishing. Once you take them home and give them a territory, though, that's when they come out of their shells.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I hope they don't come completely out of their shells though... that'd be bad.... (hahahahaha) boom boom *cymbal crash*

 

[russiantortoiselover1]

hahhaha ok i feel much better about the safty of our torts