File :-(, x, )
Petsmart - Like or Dislike? Anonymous
Obviously everyone is going to have different experiences with them, but I'm curious what people think of Petsmart? Are they knowledgeable? Do all their pets die the moment you take them home? Any pros/cons worth mentioning? Any pet stores you'd recommend?
>> Anonymous
it's the closest pet store to me, so i go there rather often. the cats are usually healthy, but i've noticed that some of the reptiles have mites a lot. they're not going to sell a completely sick animal though, so as long as you check it out first, any pet you might buy should be fine.
>> Anonymous
>>238519
None of the petsmarts around me sell reptiles. It's all fish, cats, and birds.

More to the point though, when I had questions about something, even on an animal that isn't sold there, they were answered pretty thoroughly
>> Anonymous
I actually work at a petsmart (dog trainer), and my store's pretty anal about hiring people who are really work-oriented and will do their shit. We're pretty reliable both with information and the animals themselves (except my manager the other day was trying to tell a customer that a Mali Uromastyx lives up to 12 years).

That being said, some of the other stores in my area suck balls. The people aren't friendly, nobody knows their shit, the animals are always dying, etc etc.

I think it really depends on the store.
>> Anonymous
>>238539
Neither, you retard, it's Pet's Mart.
>> MiMi
I work at one, in California, that's in the top twenty stores in the nation.

As far as retail goes it's a very fun job. At MY store, 9 of 10 of the managers can such a huge sack of dongs and I hope they choke - but the store is well-run, very clean, we never sell pets that are sick, and if you know how to take proper care of the pet you've just bought, there should be no reason for it to pass away anytime soon.

If it does, it's due to either not enough observance on your part (wet-tail in a hamster a teenager had already had for two months), or a disease that we were not aware of while it was in our care.

The reason we have the fourteen-day pet guarantee is because IF anything is going to crop up in that time, it will due to the stress of moving, which lowers almost every animal's immune system. We'll take them back for you and care for them, if the animal gets sick, or replace it with another if you prefer. And for deceased pets, we will refund your money or exchange it for another one.

Someone mentioned lots of mites - if a store has a busy Pet Care Manager, the younger associates in that area might not be aware of the problem. Let them know, or go directly to a manager and see that it gets taken care of! Please.

>>238539
It's PetSmart. Listen to any of the commercials. The new catchphrase is "that's smart - PetSmart." (And "You and your pets - better together."

>>238522
The store you're mentioning might be a franchised location.
>> Anonymous
I wouldn't buy an animal there unless it was a fish - breeders only. But the rest of their stuff, food, toys, supplies etc - fine. Great, even.
>> Anonymous
the staff were pretty stupid when i went to buy my younger sister a hamster. They said they would have more panda bear hamsters that were female in a week, and i come back the day they say they will, but theres only males xD so i bought one, but the male is awesome. She named him rambo and he has never actually bit me before. he sometimes puts alittle pressure on your fingers with his teeth when your feeding him yogurt drops but thats all. He has only bit me 3 times for real, but i pulled away before he could actually get me
>> Anonymous
When it comes to reptiles, amphibians, and pretty much anything outside of dogs and cats, the staff at the places I've been to never really seem to know shit. Not that I seek them out for information, but I can't help but facepalm when I overhear them trying to tell someone they should buy a full-spectrum incandescent bulb for a tree frog and shit like that. And like>>238519says, mites. Don't let them try to sell you reptile vitamins either, as the stuff is more often than not absolute rubbish.
>> Anonymous
>>238572
wtf? Stores are supposed to only have either females OR males for small animals, not both.
>> Anonymous
>>238583
wtf are you talking about?
they can have both genders, but they need to be separated.
>> Anonymous
Everybody's experience is going to vary from store to store. I worked specialty (small animals/fish/birds) at a store here and ended up being the senior employee in the department with the exception of the specialty manager.

We took our shit very seriously. If any animal had a problem at all, it was isolated and treated until it was in perfect health. We could answer almost every question customers asked us, and if we didn't know the answer, we referred them to a book, a website, another store, anything it took. Our store kicked some serious ass.

So take that into consideration when you try to apply a broad generalization like "Is Petsmart good?" The answer is that some Petsmarts are fucking awesome, some are going to suck shit, and others are going to fall somewhere in between. If you go into a Petsmart where things aren't flawless, you could probably email the company and get the store in a lot of trouble. From what I can tell, the higher ups are extremely concerned about the company's image.

>>238572
This brings me to another point. Your average consumer is too dumb to remember if they went to a Petsmart or a PetCo or whatever the fuck is out there these days. So, like>>238583said, Petsmarts should only have males or females but never both. Are you sure that's the store you visited?
>> Anonymous
I work at a petsmart (dog groomer) and as an employee there I can tell you some of the employees there know what they are talking about and well others know absolutely nothing. Our reptiles don't have mites or anything like that because once they get them we do send them away to a vet and then treat them before they can be sold. I guess petsmart is a hit or miss kinda thing.
>> Anonymous
I got my second hamster at Pet's Mart. I pointed the one I wanted out, and the guy went to grab her and he dropped her onto the floor. He grabbed her again and dropped her AGAIN and put her into the box.

The hamster had the shittiest temperament ever. I could not get her to relax or get used to my smell (I used the tissue trick to try to get her to get used to my smell, didn't work). Everytime I got close to the cage, she would scream. When I would change her food bowl, she would bite the shit out of me. I returned her to the store after a week, I felt awful because I wanted to tame her but she had drawn blood on me like 4 times. Thats enough.

I'm not blaming the crazy hamster on the employee, but dropping it twice probably didn't help her temperament.

The same dude that sold me that hamster got me another one. He fucking dropped it on the floor as well. But when I got her home she was a really sweet girl, a bit shy but really sweet.

PETSMART EMPLOYEES ARE HAMSTER DROPPERS, THOSE ASSHOLES.

But besides that incident, I haven't had any problems with them.
>> Anonymous
NEVER buy a fish from Petsmart or 'Pets at home' without putting it in a quarantine tank for at least a month.

I am the staff writer of a pets magazine and look after 32 different species of animal in my home (it's a large house with extensive grounds before anyone starts to think I might be a bit like Russian Cat Lady) so I know what I'm talking about.

2 stores spring to mind in Britain, where I have had to point out fish that have been dead for some time floating in the tanks while staff members that are meant to check on them just walk past.

I also had to point out white spot that was effecting fish in a whole row of tanks when they were about to sell me a black moor that had it (they couldn't recognise white spot on a black fish) and I had to explain to the staff member, his supervisor and the store manager how to spot fungal infections in fish and how to treat them.

They treat their stick insects badly; they always have dry old brittle leaves in the vivarium, hardly ever fresh.

They sold 2 hermit crabs to my 8 year old nephew without any advice on how to look after them.

They sell degus without actually selling degu food (degu food has to be low sugar, rabbit food will give them cataracts and diabetes) and sell you way too small a cage for a happy pair of degus.

Mind you they do know their stuff about rabbits.
>> Anonymous
>>238592
What? Petsmart doesn't sell degus, rabbits, or pet insects/arachnids. Are you just lumping them in with some other store or what?
>> Anonymous
>>238572

The small animal yoghurt drop treats taste great, I could eat them all day.

The cat treats aren't as nice, they made my mouth feel a little numb, what the hell do they put in them?
>> Anonymous
>>238594

Does in the UK. Some shops have birds too and others don't. We don't tend to get lizards though,

Often what both they and pets at home (which is run by the same people these days AFAIK) get different animals in for only a few weeks or months. It's no wonder that some of the staff can't keep up.

I wouldn't say every store in the world is as bad as the one where they hadn't heard of white spot but some are good and some are bad.

The trouble is when a petshop is bad, and this includes independent ones, it tends to be really bad.
>> MiMi
>>238592
As far as I have been able to find, there are NO PetSmart stores in the UK. I have found an article saying that sometime in the nineties, the PetSmart corporation bought or tried to buy a "a huge chain of 300 UK pet superstores in Britain, followed by a 700-store assault on mainland Europe." ... But I don't think it was successful. I haven't read all the way through.

But yeah. US (and Canada, I think) stores do not sell insects, arachnids degus, or rabbits. We've only very recently begun selling snakes. (Which I find to be awesome.)

We DO know about rabbits - it's part of Pet Care/Small Animal Specialty training. If people are interested in buying a rabbit, we have listings of local pet adoption agencies or suggest looking for breeders.

>>238594
The article called the place "Pet City" or something, not "Pets at Home", so I'm still not sure what he means.
>> MiMi
>>238604

Also, not saying that "owning 32 species of animals" isn't awesome or whatever, but if half of those are fish, which they easily could be, I am not very impressed. Same goes for many pet frogs - different species but very similar care and handling requirements.

What magazine are you employed by? I often take a copy of the many various magazines sold in my store into the breakroom to read during my lunches or breaks. REFERENCES OR YOU'RE LYING. Haha.
>> Anonymous
>>238594

They sell products and are supposed to give care sheets for animals they don't carry, as well.

I think a lot of the store's problems come from their vendors. Their vendors suck ass (plus mass breeding for the lose). The animals at Petsmart are tameable, but not tame yet, and even before I worked there I tried to handle a rat and had her bite the shit out of me. A different chain store just down the road sells friendlier pets for less money, you can reach right into the parakeet habitat and coax one onto your finger.

But for products, the store here always has fresh hay and millet, and the older members of the staff do a good job at helping people.
>> MiMi
>>238605
SPAMMING THIS THREAD. I laugh at myself.

So I finished reading this article, then noted the date - February 1999. Almost ten years ago.

The meat of this article basically makes fun of Americans for buying out such a huge string of businesses all at once. "They" introduced cheaper foods (and Brits like to "pamper their pooches with fancy scoff"), things like horse feed in stores in Central Manchester, and introduced readily available services such as pet grooming and veterinary offices which "the English were simply not ready for".

Wow, Britain. I love you and all, but "not ready" for taking your dogs and cats to the vet when it's much more convenient and much less costly to do so? WOW.

Anyway, this is an old article at best, and it ends on the note of "the American corporation" trying to sell it back as quick as possible since they essentially gambled a lot and lost much more. I doubt PetSmart officially owns those stores now, or if it does, it's through a franchised branch - or all of the UK stores are franchised locations.

Franchising can really make a difference in the quality of pet care, products, and customer service, unfortunately.
>> Anonymous
>>238605

It was successful in the end, they rebranded as 'pets at home' in the UK and new stores are still cropping up.

>>238608

I only have a few different species of fish. I have a few different species of mammals and birds, several turtle species and amphibians (caeceilians, aquatic and terrestrial, sirens, amphumas), several different species of insects (phasmids, silk moth, cockroaches, beetles) and chickens.

Sorry to disappoint you though I'm not going to tell you what mag I work for as that'd be just like telling everyone my name (and that is something I don't want to do) as I've already said what position I hold in the mag. They don't sell it at pets at home though or petsmart to my knowledge. I do have a biology degree though.

(anyway, its half past 1 in the UK I'm going to bed now and I'm too sleepy to check my spellings let alone debate anything, I'm sure MiMi's petsmart is a good one, it's a pity not all petsmarts and pets at home are as good.)
>> Anonymous
So those cats in cages are for sale?
I thought it was rescue cats who need homes.
>> Anonymous
>>238649
Nope. Absolutely NO petsmarts have dogs or cats for sale. All the cats (and in some stores, dogs) housed within petsmarts are with a local rescue organization.
>> Anonymous
>>238590
Pretty much how its going to be at any store. Glad to see someone understands that a few dumb employees do not represent ALL employees.
>>238583
Petsmarts generally are either a male or female store. The exceptions are a few species, tortoise shell, calico, etc which usually come in female for many stores. I have no idea why, otherwise all other small animals should be one gender or the other.
>>238572
The staff doesn't always know what kinda hamsters they're getting until they arrive. You can thank the partially broken auto-ordering system for that.
>> Anonymous
practical fishkeeping (which is sold in the usa)
or some no-name fishwrap
QT for a month is the most retarded thing I've ever heard
If you QT, you might as well use copper in your QT, if you use copper in your QT, everything without a spine is dead in days
And while I'm at it...why the fuck does every "hobbiest" magazine spend half the damn issue on fucking stupid questions and info that anyone with the inclination to pick the mag up in the first place would already know or google in a 5 secs.
>> Anonymous
>>238635Sorry to disappoint you though I'm not going to tell you what mag I work for as that'd be just like telling everyone my name (and that is something I don't want to do) as I've already said what position I hold in the mag.

Riiiight, you feel the need to mention it to give what you say some weight and then wont back it up. Either your a attention whore or just some wackjob with a newsletter that thinks he is part of somthing bigger than his parents basement.
>> Anonymous
Pretty decent place on the whole. Like any large dealer, they might have some sick fish, or a poorly educated employee. As long as you educate yourself about what to look for before buying, you're fine.
>> Anonymous
the one near me is pretty good. All their fish have little info things below the tanks
like for goldfish they actually have a sign that says "DO NOT PUT GOLDFISH IN BOWLS. TANK RECOMMENDATION: 20 GALLONS"
>> Anonymous
petco on the other hand is simply awful
i once went in and in their goldfish tank were at LEAST 15 dead ones floating around... and all of their snakes had tons of mites, and quite a few of their rodents seemed very thin and sickly
>> Anonymous
>>238734
PetCos in this area are like that, too. I don't know what it is about them. I'm one of those people who say that you can't judge an entire chain by a single store, but there are two PetCos here and both are just nasty. The old one is run down, their fish system caught fire or something and after at least a year they hadn't completely repaired it, not sure if they ever did. So most of their tanks were always empty and the rest were usually filled with sick fish. Another one opened on the other side of town and, curious, I went to check it out. It hadn't been a week and all of their tanks were infected with ich. Like, seriously, come on. I worked at a Petsmart for two years and I saw MAYBE one ich outbreak. Ridiculous.
>> Anonymous
PetCo is awful. Their claim of hourly checks on their animals is such a lie. I've called in animal control multiple times for cruelty cases, including one where a finch's claws were so overgrown they'd literally corkscrewed in shape, and the poor bird had gotten stuck on a bar and broken its leg trying to get free. Their fish always are either dead or show raged fins or open sores, they have rodent infestations, and the workers are all plain fools. The manager at the Encino PetCo on Ventura Boulevard is a stoner and tokes up in the back. Sherman Oaks PetCo is a dingy little hellhole and its fish are always all dead, half decayed and floating. Forget Chanology, save the fukken pets.
>> Anonymous
"What's that you say, Georgia Department of Agriculture? The quarantine of our birds due to psittacosis- which can spread to humans- doesn't meet state requirements so you're imposing a mandatory quarantine? Hmmm... this isn't good publicity. Gee, we've been purchasing and selling birds with an abnormally high rate of psittacosis infection for years, maybe we should finally stop buying from that supplier and voluntarily quarantine the birds in half the stores across the country before other states make us look bad by imposing mandatory quarantines."
>> tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ
>>238682
Tortoiseshell and calico coats are female-only traits (and rarely, a male genetic mutiation, but the males are usually sterile).
>> Anonymous
I work at Petco, and I have to say, all they are really worried about right now is taking back the lead of Petsmart.

I've worked at two different Petco's due to transfer from moving.

The first one I worked at was very clean, didn't keep the cages and habitats cluttered with animals and cleaned them every week. And the specialist in each area took very good care of the animals.

The one I transfered to was opposite of the first one I worked at. The manager really only cares about business, and usually habitats only get cleaned once a week, which is pretty bad considering this store has about 2-3 times more animals than the old one I came from. The store is filthy and when I first started the store had a rat infestation. Thankfully we're working getting the store more clean, but the animals are still an issue. The specialist try their best, but with the manager not so worried about the animals, it's hard for them to do their job.

I'm working on becoming an small animal specialist, and with that, can hopefully get the rodents filthy habitats taken care of. I can the manager to listen to me, because I have a penis, and the rest of the specialists are woman, and he's a sexist old man and won't listen to what they have to say.
>> Anonymous
>>238715

No, It's rather bigger than a newsletter. Just because I wish to remain anonymous, I don't see why i should tell you which mag, (honestly what are you going to do if i tell you and the whole word?) I think that proves I'm NOT an attention whore.
>> Anonymous
>>238790
Well of course you have a penis, you're on 4chan.
>> Anonymous
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've been wanting to get a pair of rats for a while now but there isn't a breeder I've been able to find within a reasonable distance. Does Petsmart socialize their rats well? I don't want to end up with a pair of rats I can't touch because they've been all abandoned during their babyhood. Who has Petsmart rat experience?
>> Anonymous
>>238811
There are quite a few people on /an/ who have been/are employed by Petsmart, it seems. The best answer any of them are going to be able to give you is this:

It's going to depend on the store you go to, and who works there.

There are good stores and shitty stores, as this thread has said again and again. If you have a store with employees who care and get their hands in there with the rats every day during feeding and cleaning, then you're golden. If you have a store filled with asshole employees who don't give a shit, you're better off going elsewhere.
>> Anonymous
>>238813
I was worried about that. There's really no way for me to know I guess. Unless they'd maybe let me look at their rats a little closer then you can through a glass wall. Probably not though, huh? Cuz I mean if the rats seemed nice when I put my hand in their cage then it would mean they weren't afraid of people... I'll look around some more I guess.
>> Anonymous
>>238815
Lulz. No, you'll be able to handle them freely. Just ask. You can spend as much time with them as you want. You /should/ get your hands in there and see what's up.

Also ask about when they get their shipments in. I think we got ours every Tuesday, and then there was a 72 hour observation period in the quiet room. Stores will sometimes get their rats in pretty young. That's a good opportunity to get a pair. You'll be able to mold them into sociable, friendly little boogers.
>> Anonymous
>>238817
Yeah... last time i was in I couldn't even find their rodent specialist... that's probably not a good sign. I just want a pair of ratties to be my friends... :(
>> Anonymous
>>238818
Couldn't find? Were you just browsing around in the specialty department looking for an employee? You could have easily missed them if they were in a back room taking care of the sick or new arrivals. You should ask a cashier to call them to their department so you can get some help.
>> Anonymous
>>238820
Well I didn't ask a cashier or anything. They didn't actually even have rats at the one I was at (no cage labeled for them or anything) so I didn't need the guy that badly. I was there for quite some time though in the little rodent area talking to my friend about wanting to get a pair of rats. Some guy in a uniform walked by and I tried to ask him a question but he said he was the fish guy. The rodent guy never showed up so I couldn't ask him if they ever had rats. There's another Petsmart like 4 extra miles away I could try and a Petco down the street though I don't usually go there.
>> Anonymous
>>238821
Said he was the fish guy? What a faget. Specialty is specialty. He should have all that shet covered. Ah well - if you end up going back, or go to the other Petsmart, don't be afraid to ask a cashier for a specialty associate if you can't find one. I assume PetCo is at least similar, so the same thing applies. They're being paid to help you out, so take advantage of that.
>> Anonymous
>>238822
Yeah Petsmart has people who work as Pet Care, this includes fish, small animals (rats, hamsters, etc), birds and reptiles. Story sounds fishy or the guy was an asshole.

Is it true Petco does or used to have employees for each specific department? Reptile guy, fish guy, hamster guy, etc? The one around here did, which sucked because last time I was in I wanted a reptile and they were like "Sorry I'm fish, reptile guy isn't here now" Okay, well I still want a fucking anole, jeez.

>>238811
Petsmart employees don't really get an opportunity to "play" with the animals. Socializing them isn't really possible when you're attending to customers all day. Animals do get "observed" now and then.

>>238774
I thought so.

>>238790
Petsmart actually only cleans their cages completely once every week, but constant spot cleaning is required...although depending on the store does, or doesn't happen.
>> MiMi
>>238837
Your last bit about cleaning habits is definitely true. Only the once-a-week total scrubdown, but daily spot-cleaning, or more often than once-a-week if that's what's necessary. It's the same routine we suggest to customers, AND in my store, the DM hands us our asses on a platter if it doesn't look perfect.

Since my store is under critique so often, that bastard of a DM has taken to making me stop stocking the shelves to fill holes, to clean -carts- or dust -underneath the steel-. Would be fine and dandy if we weren't such a busy store. If he can't nitpick on the usual things (which is good, in a way), he just moves onto the smaller things. Meh.

>>238811
>>238815
Like the other person said, there should always be at least ONE person in the store who can handle the rats/rodents comfortably in case a customer wishes to handle one before purchasing. In my Pet Care area, of about ten employees, I think perhaps only one is skittish about holding rats. But that leaves nine others, not including our Pet Care Manager.

If you ask Fish Guy again, and he really is new to rodents or something, ask him who else is available - or go up to a cashier and ask them for the Store Manager. I'm serious. If you can get the Boss of Bosses to come help you look at the rats, you are one awesomely determined customer. And it's good to get the higher-ups to dirty their hands once in a while, haha.
>> Anonymous
>>238837
>Is it true Petco does or used to have employees for each specific department? Reptile guy, fish guy, hamster guy, etc? The one around here did, which sucked because last time I was in I wanted a reptile and they were like "Sorry I'm fish, reptile guy isn't here now" Okay, well I still want a fucking anole, jeez.

Yes, they have specialist in each department, and all the managers are suppose to be specialists in every department. Every employee though should be able to let you handle an animal and sell you one. And if they don't really know anything about that animal they're suppose to go grab someone who does.
>> Anonymous
>>238906

Maybe the guy was just afraid of the rats as my question did have to do with them. But there weren't even any rats around! I dunno... I don't get it... I'll check out the other Petsmart around here. I just would rather not wait a few months for the breeder.
>> Anonymous
>>238918
That could be it, I was a little iffy about grabbing rats and other stuff when I first started. Was this at Petco or Petsmart? They could have been sold out, I know petco sells more rats that petsmart probably does, since petsmart isn't suppose to sell rats and mice as feeders, where petco can.
>> Anonymous
>>238924

Yeah they didn't even have a cage for rats. they did have some empty tanks so maybe the rats were just away somewhere. I am going to check back, that guy just discouraged me... I guess that means he wasn't doing his job very well.
>> Anonymous
I wonder if the axiom of: Do your research first, then quiz the store representative in that division to see if they know what they should know, works in these cases.
>> Anonymous
My Petsmart really sucks. They don't know shit about animals. Everyone there's a lazy Mexican who doesn't give a shit about customer service, and they all deserve to eat a cock. The pets there look miserable, and the store smells like a boiling pot of piss.
>> Anonymous
>>238995
Mine is run by mexicans too!
>> 8-Ball
>>238605
petsmart a few blocks away sells rabbits

also has a baby boa, which would be awesome...however i dont know how the huskies would handle a snake...and i dont think them playing together when the snake is older is such a good idea
>> Anonymous
>>239247
really? I don't think any petsmarts carry rabbits. My store JUST got in a milksnake and a python (ball python? I'm>>238552
and I didn't get to look at him long, teaching dog classes and all), which is awesome.
>> Anonymous
the petsmart that I buy supplies for my guinea pig sells arachnids(mostly rose hair tarantulas) and has a huge ass section for birds, they even have a huge cage of doves
>> Anonymous
I go to Pet'smart a lot but i hate it...

Unless you want to own fish, or already own a dog and want to buy it obscene amounts of stuff, the selection pretty much stops there.

You have to go to a local petstore, or a specialty store (I like Petworld) to get any real variety in pets and pet supplies.
>> Anonymous
>>239310
Might just be your store, mine has a pretty decent selection of animals, but they carry the usuals as well...anoles, house geckos, long-tailed lizards, and so on.

Other animals: Dumpy Tree Frogs, Chubby Frogs, Tomato Frog, Ball Python, Sand Boa, Apricon Milksnake, Toads, Blizzard Gecko, Albino/Leopard/Panther geckos, Pacman frog, Chinese Water Dragons, and the occasional Chameleon.

What does YOUR store have 4chan?
>> Anonymous
>>239247
>and i dont think them playing together when the snake is older is such a good idea

What kind of retard thinks snake+dogs is a good idea regardless of the age of the animals?
>> Anonymous
>>239440
Let's see if I can remember...

Pacman frogs, Dumpy Tree Frogs, Anoles, Plated Lizards, Leopard Geckos, Chameleons, Mali Uromastyx, Milksnake, Ball Python, Red sliders, and once in a while we'll get Bearded Dragons too.
>> Anonymous
I bought a Siberian dwarf hamster over 8 months ago from petsmart and he is doing great, and recently I adopted a cat that was at petsmart but then moved back to the shelter before I adopted her, poor thing was there for over a year and six months ;_;

Also, I was bitten by a rather large bird at a petsmart about 4 years ago and they gave me free animal treats and had me sign some shit.
>> Store 0781 here Anonymous
Our store has Anoles/Long Tailed lizards/House Geckos (one tank,) a Red-legged Tortoise (sold his buddy on Saturday,) two Uromastyx (Mali and Egyptian), Tree frogs, a Pacman, a baby Ball python, a few Geckos, Chinese water dragons, a Frilled lizard, and maybe one or two other small lizard types.

We had two Dumpy/White's Tree Frogs, but I bought them. They're the sweetest little things ever, they sit out on their log at night and stare at me while I'm trying to sleep.

The only bad thing is that the agency who runs our cat adoption center are assholes. Maybe four cats a year get adopted. They rejected our Pet Care Manager's application because she has an un-neutered dog (hunting dog.)
>> Anonymous
>>239482
our store too! The lady in charge of adoptions is a TOTAL bitch, and really, really really anal about who adopts the cats. We adopt out probably 2-3 cats a month, but I remember there was this one totally sweet old cat and the adoption lady rejected every single application to adopt her for a YEAR. That poor fucking cat was in our store for a year (couldn't be relocated to the shelter because she'd stop eating) before she finally got adopted.

On the other hand, we have our dog adoption agency come in on saturdays and they'll give dogs to people who absolutely everybody and anybody. Not saying that that's good, either.
>> Store 0781 Anonymous
>>239526

We're not allowed to have dogs. State laws are very strict or something.
>> anonymous
>>239526

I had a similar experience. Bitch refused to let us adopt a cat because we let our cats go outside. Later, someone else was working the adoption section and let us take the cat. Bitch found out and was not happy. :3

Srsly, why be so anal about who adopts? Not every home is perfect, but not everyone is an abuser either.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Most of our cat adoption ladies are insane. They want a shit load of money for the cats and then they make you sit down and spend at least a half an hour with them so they can interview you.

Plus they are really fucking stupid. Someone found two kittens and brought them in. Took them to the cat lady there at the time and asked her if she would take them and she said no, because one of them had a curly tail and she said that it wouldn't live past a year. Well I took the kitten home cause she was cute and she is still alive and kicking. It also turns out that the tail deformity is pretty common amongst manx cats.

That's her and her six toed friend.
>> Anonymous
>>239718

Why is calico cat humping dead/asleep white cat?
>> Anonymous
>>239718
what the fuck? Wouldn't take it in because it had a curly tail?? If anything, people like those kinds of cats MORE. Any cat we get in that's tailless gets tons of adoption applications.

So did she think it was gonna die BECAUSE of the curly tail? If so, she is completely retarded.
>> Anonymous
Pet stores? I liked it better when it was Slave trade.
>> Anonymous
>>239718
AWWWWWWWW
Love your kitties.
>> Anonymous of Houma
They're dumb enough to sell wild Chinchilla.
>> Anonymous
well becarefull at petco. they suck sometimes. the one on 86th street in NY is full of morons. one time a women asked the guy what is the diffrence between hamsters and rats and he said there is no diffrence...what! i came over and said that they are two completly diffrent animals and you can tell by just looking at them.
>> Anonymous
>>240198

Well, if the woman asked the man what's the difference between hamsters and mice and he said no, then I would fucking agree with them. Both are stupid little things you keep in cages.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Shop smart, shop PetSmart.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>239959
They said she was going to die because of her curly tail. I was like how the hell is her tail going to kill her? They said it would kill her because it was probably broken and she was going to get an infection. So I took her to a vet and they said it's not broken. It's a bone fused that way so she can't uncurl it.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>238517
They treat the ferrets horribly, and the people they have handle the ferrets are way too rough with them. Thus, I dislike them.
>> Anonymous
I've never heard anyone defend the knowledge of the average Petsmart employee except for people who have worked for Petsmart.
>> Jesus H. Christ !!nwi78PCb+iZ
Just find a local Petworld

I've found that the employees are more knowledgeable, they have a broader selection, and because they are technically a warehouse store, their prices are lower.
>> Hacbarton
"When I was a child, I had a cat. It had kittens and me and my father took them down to the lake to drown them. I was crying because, y'know, I couldn't get them to skip."-Emo Philips
>> Skullomania !!QoJbVXqnToO
sup /an/

I used to work for PetSmart, until I got fired for allegedly stealing about $600 from them, for which I am now facing arrest

Any questions?
>> Anonymous
>>240546
Did you do it?
>> Anonymous
>>240552

LOL
>> Anonymous
>>240514
Because your average Joe has no idea what goes on behind the scenes. You don't just walk into a store and know 100% how they function. Hell, most people I talk to don't even know the difference between Petsmart or Petco. How are they going to vouch for anything? I'll even bet some of these posts in here are people mistakenly calling it Petsmart because they don't pay attention to that shit.
>> Anonymous
>>240580
lol, no, it's because Petsmart employees are all high school kids and 20-somethings who 'love animals' but aren't bright enough to become zoologists or veterinarians and think the bare-bones crash course and corporate pat on the head they receive makes them animal husbandry experts.
>> Anonymous
>>239310
It's not like local pet stores are fucking great. Sometimes they have more variety, but alot of times it's a total disaster because no one is really checking up on standards and such. Petsmart (not sure about Petco) has a very strict set of procedures and policies to assure animals aren't getting neglected. If an employee isn't changing water, food or making sure cages are clean there are at least two people above them to make sure its being done. On top of that there are publicly posted numbers for customers to call if they wish to comment on the care of the animals. I've walked into many a local pet store and been horrified at the conditions. Not to say they're all bad..That Fish Place in PA is awesome. Anyone been?

>>240514
Petsmart employees are generally kids who are paid 8 bucks an hour when they aren't in school with limited knowledge of pets. Anyone who goes to them thinking they're experts are idiots. Sure they might be able to offer basic care and advice, but they're not professionally trained adults who are looking to make a career out of selling hamsters and scooping dead fish.

>>240588
If anything its the customers who expect a bit too much from the kids who work there. You don't walk into a pet store and go "Gimmie that Chinese Water Dragon, now how do I take care of it?"
>> Anonymous
My main problem with my local Petsmart is that the idiots there say male mice can be housed together... yeah, if you want them to kill each other.

I rescued one boy from it who had huge gashes all over his butt and balls from the other boys in his cage.
>> Anonymous
>>240642
>If anything its the customers who expect a bit too much from the kids who work there. You don't walk into a pet store and go "Gimmie that Chinese Water Dragon, now how do I take care of it?"

This is true, but my point was that PetsMart employees generally aren't knowledgeable, and I don't think customers expecting them to be, especially considering all the "I work at Petsmart and we're very knowledgeable!" posts, really excuses them. Especially given that there ARE some places with high standards and the owners and employees know their shit and can tell you the basic husbandry needs of a water dragon or how to meet the pH and dissolved oxygen requirements of a specific species of cichlid.

Petsmart shouldn't even be selling water dragons.
>> Anonymous
>>240734
Right, they aren't, they're kids who have been working at Petsmart 25 hours a week for 4 months who go home and spot weed on their off time. Anonymous said earlier that in the end its store to store, some are better than others.
>> Anonymous
>>238598
holy crap. these small animal yogurt drops ARE delicious! i've always been tempted to eat them.
>> Anonymous
>>238635
can i sell you my cockroaches plz lady? there's a whole bunch of em under my mattress.
>> Anonymous
i've been totally bullshitted by superpet employees, so petsmart might be better but i wouldn't know. if i have questions i do all the research i can online, so that when i ask the employees about something i can gauge whether they are actually going to give me any useful information or not.
>> Anonymous
>>240502
i think that is seriously the most adorable deformity i have ever seen. the internet demands more glamour shots.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>240807
It is, I mean she wags her tail like a dog because of it.

As far as this whole PetsMart employee thing goes, I have to say some of them are really dumb. Then again they are getting paid minimum wage most of them are part time and have to deal with asshole managers and store directors who treat them like shit and don't teach them anything when they go to them with questions. They also place them in departments where they aren't comfortable at. I know when I applied I wanted to work pet care but they needed groomers more so they only offered me a position in the salon and now they are so short staffed that they are either asking me to cover in pet care or to transfer out.
>> Anonymous
>>240514
I wouldn't defend the knowledge of the average employee. I'd defend the knowledge of the few, though, who really love the job and continue to work there because they do, and know their shit. God knows I had to deal with a lot of really stupid kids while I worked in the specialty department.
>> Anonymous
We have a couple of people who have been there for years and know their shit. Those are the people that I respect. The random just fresh out of high school employee who thinks they know it all get nothing from me.
>> MiMi
What do you know ... I figured this thread had died. 0050 for anyone who cares. Sac, CA.

>>239307
>>239247
AFAIK, rabbits still aren't SOLD at PetSmart. They may be up for adoption through the store; Are you sure that's not the case?
We never used to sell snakes, but we do now. Basically their reasoning was "IF and only IF we bring up the number of sales of most of the other reptiles we sell, then can we justify introducing snakes for sale. We want to make sure people are both interested, and willing to care for them properly."
I suspect that the same reasoning could be applied to selling rabbits instead of adopting them out through local agencies, and the same for selling arachnids, but again, the store may just be franchised. They can take many more liberties that diverge away from Corporate decisions/regulations/etc. ... As far as I know.

>>239718
Adoption ladies are wary around here of only CERTAIN interested customers, but that's because we sometimes get repeat requests for permission to adopt from people we know have relatively small homes, and several pets already. The 'curly tail' thing I bet was just an excuse pulled out of her butt. Our area also has the highest incoming and outgoing cats.
http://www.happytails.org/index.htm
>> MiMi
Cont.


>>240510
We sell ferret supplies and food at my store, but they're illegal in California. Sad. I love the little buggers. All of our ferret-related product sales are from people traveling, or who come down from the Reno or Nevada-Tahoe area.

>>240588
Sadly I have to agree with you on most of that; But at least it's wrong in my case. I got this job because no one else in the area would hire me at the time - NO ONE was hiring - and as far as retail jobs go, it's fun and actually keeps your brain active. The only reason I'm not a vet tech right now is because I cannot, simply cannot stand seeing injured and dying animals. I recall a particular instance where (even though Banfield is not an emergency vet, neither provisioned nor licensed for emergency care or surgeries) a little girl, trailed by her mother and brother came running into the store, holding her [dead] pet rabbit at arm's length. They didn't know what happened to kill it, and all the vet could do was pronounce it dead and give them hugs. I sat down with the little girl after they took the rabbit from her, and BAWWWW'd.

Also, at least in California, I know that 9 of 10 veterinary offices around town process more abandoned/injured-abandoned/baby-abandoned animals than my store. I RAGE every time it happens at my store. I'd just be RAGING harder and more often if I worked in a vet office.

>>240734
Honestly I agree with you, too. I've told my superiors - Who have YOU told? I'd like each store to focus on animals that are in demand in that store's area. If you think so too, or something similar, perhaps you should try telling Corporate. ... No, seriously. Petsmart.com > Contact Us. Do it faggot.
>> Anonymous
>>241155
>Honestly I agree with you, too. I've told my superiors - Who have YOU told? I'd like each store to focus on animals that are in demand in that store's area. If you think so too, or something similar, perhaps you should try telling Corporate. ...

lol. Telling corporate what? "Hey, I know these little lizards your company buys for cheap sell well on account of how cute they are and help you push pet supplies like lighting fixtures and humidifiers in addition to the markup you make on the animals themselves, but maybe you should stop selling them because your average customer is an impulse buyer who either doesn't realize or doesn't care that as adults they require a high-humidity semi-aquatic enclosure several feet wide and high, and they almost all die from malnutrition as juveniles"? Yeah. I'm sure that'll work. Chinese water dragons have been popular pet store reptiles since at least the 80's for the same reasons green iguanas were/are. They're cheap and they sell.
>> Anonymous
>>241257
Yeah, but don't Petsmarts not sell iguanas just for all those reasons? Get huge, bad pets in general unless you're super prepared to provide, etc.? Why NOT mention it, if it bothers you? Just a couple of minutes out of your day and if other people do it, too, it might actually help.
>> MiMi
>>241267

Beat me to it. You have no reason not to. Speak up, or shut up.
>> Anonymous
>>241267
>>241289
According to Petsmart they stopped selling iguanas for exactly those same reasons. Then they went back to water dragons to fill the void. They get half as big, cost twice as much ($20-40 instead of $10-20) and aren't hardy enough to survive when abandoned and become pests in the southern states, so the media isn't going to take notice and point fingers at them like they did in the late 90's, after which Petsmart decided to FINALLY stop selling green iguanas.

And yeah, as if Petsmart corporate headquarters doesn't already receive hundreds of compaints about the animals hey sell every single day. What with the PETA nuts and their letter writing campaigns and ALF with their death threats you're daft if you think yet another complaint by an individual about their carrying water dragons is going to make a difference. It wouldn't be the first on the subject or the last.
>> Anonymous
>Thank you for your letter in which you asked that we discontinue sales of (_). We share your concern for the well being of animals kept as pets and are continually reviewing the type of pets available in our stores to ensure they’re a good fit for our customers. At this time our plans are to continue selling (_).

>Many people enjoy the companionship of pet (_). They treat them like family and the (_) enjoy long and comfortable lives. These are the kinds of pet parents and relationships we seek when selling (_) or any other pet in our stores. We discourage impulse buying of any pet by educating potential customers on the proper care needed for each pet, including (_). Our associates may refuse to sell a pet to a customer if they have any concerns about that customer’s ability to properly care for the pet.

>Our associates are trained to educate customers about feeding techniques, daily care requirements, expected life spans and typical behavior patterns of (_). Our goal is to help customers fully understand the responsibility they are assuming for the health and welfare of a living being. In addition, we have a strict quality assurance program to ensure that the pets we sell are bred, raised, transported, cared for in the store, and sold in a responsible manner.

>We recognize that, sadly, some (_) are the victims of poor breeding facilities, poor handling, unscrupulous dealers, and ill-prepared and irresponsible owners. We go to great measures to ensure that PetSmart has no association with these types of activities, organizations or people.

>Despite all of our efforts, we know that some people will never agree with our position short of us discontinuing sales of (_) or other pets. In these cases, we’ll simply have to agree to disagree.

>Thanks again for sharing your concerns with us.

>Sincerely,

>(_)
>Customer Support Team
>PetSmart
>> Anonymous
obviously not speaking for every petsmart, just the one in my neighborhood. they know nothing about fish. they sold me a hamster that died 2 days later. their shelves are never stocked properly. there's lots of dead fish in the tanks. they're pricey. but they're the best pet store i've got in the area. the other places have horrible selection as far as food, bedding, and all that, and they mistreat their animals. so i'm stuck dealing with petsmart.
>> Anonymous
>>238572
so they didn't know for sure when they were getting more animals... OH GOD HOW STUPID.
>> gizmogal !MmLOyiCYJs
they give better and cheaper haircuts than our local groomer, and my dog likes them better.
>> Anonymous
I can't believe this thread is still around.

I got fired for being too slow. I just couldn't stand trying to rush through, I would do shit like give the rats extra veggies (protip: 5 rats need more than a solo dwarf hamster) and I would talk to the animals and try handle each one to see if they were okay. So I ended up being an hour behind or so and not as speedy as the main girl. I was one of the disillusioned people who thought that it would be something to get me into the pet field, but I realized it's just another corporate retail job, with slightly different aspects. And I also decided that I definitely don't want to work with animals - I'd much rather just keep that as a hobby.

Anyway, not a bitter ex-employee story - they're not a horrible store (in this area). Lots of ignorance just depends on various employees.
>> Geoff the brilliant
I like petsmart over petco. decent prices and a lot of freshwater fish. But there's this cool place in oregon called world of wet pets. Great store to go to. I bought my sponge filter there there. They have danios for 10 for one dollar and the even have red bellied piranhas there.
>> Anonymous
Mine is okay but I think they should stop selling cats/dogs/rabbits/guinea pigs/chinchillas.

But really, depends on the store. Not everyone has incompetent employees, and not everyone has perfect Cinderella employees.
>> Anonymous
>>241705
Not a Petsmart if it's selling cats and dogs.
>> Anonymous
Well, they don't sell cats and dogs necessarily, but they do allow the local shelter to have a certain day where they can bring some dogs and cats in to adopt out.

I love going up there on Saturdays and playing with all the puppies XD