Pet Store Experience

[DanSB]

I've seen multiple threads about people's pet store experiences on here today so I thought I would add mine. Except my experience is much different.

There is a reptile specialty store with two locations south of Sacramento Ca that I am sure anyone in the area knows about. They aren't perfect in their husbandry or care in every single aspect but they are in general very good.

I walked in to buy my crickets and saw a lovely little Panther baby hanging out in a 16x16x30 reptibreeze with basking and uvb lights. There was plenty of space and vines to climb on, the crickets were of the appropriate size and I also know they gut load with Repashy Bug Burger and other greens. The mist bottle was nearby and he is misted at least 3 to 4 times a day and the store itself is very humid to begin with. They also had drip system for drinking in between misting. There were also some Veiled babies in a similarly acceptable set up. In general they don't carry a lot of Chameleons and when they get them they move pretty fast.

Here is the kicker, I heard the worker talking to a guy who was looking at buying one of the chams with his kid. He explained how they eat, how they drink, humidity and temperature as well as lighting and environment requirements fairly close to the standard best practice you see around here. He emphasized how they are not very forgiving and if he wasn't sure about his ability to care for an lizard and provide detailed environments he should look into a more hearty (and cheaper) Gecko to see if it is right for him before he leaps into a chameleon.

Now with all this he didn't advise live plants nor do they keep live plants and some of the substrate choices are questionable. I say we complain and protest

Your pet store personnel will not know as much about chameleon husbandry as many of the members here unless it is their specialty. But every pet store worker should know the basics this guy knew and shared. Every pet store should provide the basic required care and be interested in the animal's health like this place is.

It isn't as pretty as a big box pet store and it isn't as cheap either but I will buy my supplies nowhere else in town for this very reason. It is a petstore where the animals are important and the people are knowledgeable and care.

In the times I have called them on husbandry issues they came back with opposing viewpoints (not necessarily wrong) very politely and never a snide defensive comment.

Either way I just wanted to illustrate good pet stores exist. All we see here are people complaining about the bad.

 

[kokom05lb]

We bought Angel at our local pet store. They mostly have reptiles and fish and some small animals (rats and such). Well, all of their enclosures look nice and everything. But then you look at the chameleons and omg its sad.

Last time we went there to look around was the last time we bought crickets from them. They had 4 adult veiled chameleons in the same 18x18x36 screen cage . Only thing in there was 4 of the fake plant vine thingys.

Then if you go to the last shelf on the back wall, there was 2 males in 2 different cages. No divider no nothing

 

[DanSB]

We bought Angel at our local pet store. They mostly have reptiles and fish and some small animals (rats and such). Well, all of their enclosures look nice and everything. But then you look at the chameleons and omg its sad.

Last time we went there to look around was the last time we bought crickets from them. They had 4 adult veiled chameleons in the same 18x18x36 screen cage . Only thing in there was 4 of the fake plant vine thingys.

Then if you go to the last shelf on the back wall, there was 2 males in 2 different cages. No divider no nothing

But is there a good Pet Store in town?

There are crummy ones everywhere, lets hear about any good ones you've seen! An example of what to look for and who to support!

 

[pwerfulyifu]

would this place happen to be called east bay vivarium?

 

[samelgert]

We bought Angel at our local pet store. They mostly have reptiles and fish and some small animals (rats and such). Well, all of their enclosures look nice and everything. But then you look at the chameleons and omg its sad.

Last time we went there to look around was the last time we bought crickets from them. They had 4 adult veiled chameleons in the same 18x18x36 screen cage . Only thing in there was 4 of the fake plant vine thingys.

Then if you go to the last shelf on the back wall, there was 2 males in 2 different cages. No divider no nothing

I went to the city last weekend a panther at petsmart and it was in a 12" 12" 12" vivarium I felt so bad for it. We as in the forums should all rebel against the Pet stores and make world war lll. Lol

 

[DanSB]

would this place happen to be called east bay vivarium?

Nope the only reason I'm not giving names is because I don't want the thread closed or it to be an ad.

 

[Cainschams]

There is an alright one in Frederick Maryland. They do have quite a few Senegals in one tank but they dont look too bad. Besides that they do give good basic husbandry information along with the good basic setup. I think they keep the plastic plants, substrated etc just to be able to sell it along with the other stuff in some stores. The store I am talking about didnt and they also didnt try and sell the waterfalls or any other unnecessary equipment. Its nice to know there are some decent stores out there.

They also like me coming in and showing my pics of chams, info I give them etc. All in all, a good store and their saltwater tanks are just amazing!!

 

[DanSB]

There is an alright one in Frederick Maryland. They do have quite a few Senegals in one tank but they dont look too bad. Besides that they do give good basic husbandry information along with the good basic setup. I think they keep the plastic plants, substrated etc just to be able to sell it along with the other stuff in some stores. The store I am talking about didnt and they also didnt try and sell the waterfalls or any other unnecessary equipment. Its nice to know there are some decent stores out there.

They also like me coming in and showing my pics of chams, info I give them etc. All in all, a good store and their saltwater tanks are just amazing!!

It is amazing to me having had worked in the pet industry when I was younger how some stores will jump on limited short term profits, ie selling equipment that doesn't add tot he animals health and well being to make a buck.

In the early 90s when I was selling pets the big box pet stores hadn't come in yet and took out all the little stores but there was fierce competition with at least 15 ma and pa stores in the area. We were different because the owner hired for expertise and it was mandatory that the animals wellbeing was more important than any sell. Not because of any great moral kindness (but it did play a part for sure) but because selling healthy happy animals who would be well cared for is the absolute best way to guarantee long term regular customers.

 

[AllFallDown]

Ah yes,
I meant to comment on this when you first posted.

Dan, thank you for saying something. You are absolutely right, we have been very negative (myself included) on many petstores lately. I am glad you reminded all of us that we cannot label all petstores in such a way. Most of our local ones have their strengths and shortcommings. Most petstores do as they usually have a particular specialty but also other stuff they carry.

Believe it or not, I think our local Petco is actually pretty good for the most part. Most of the people that currently work there really do engage with their animals and seem very interested. Many of the staff are very knowledgable- although many also think they know more than they actually do (I have gotten some interesting advice from them on reef keeping before). Occasionally you see some dude in there who just sees petco as the preferable alternative to McDonalds or Walmart, you recognize these people because their solution to every problem on the planet is some flashy additive. I would not feel comfortable getting chameleon advice from anyone at our petco- I do not think any of them have actually successfully kept a chemelon to a full lifespan, but many other animals I would (and I happen to know for a fact that they do take at least most of their non-fish animals in for vet visits when they get sick). I will also say that our local petco stopped carrying chemeleons because they felt it was too hard for people to accommodate them here. I did not get a sense that they stopped because they could not sell them- my sense was it was a perception about the animal's welfare given the climate here. I about died, not expecting that one. (then again, it could be the real reason was that they were not selling or they were getting too many returns or something... I try to think the best in people.) Now, their fish.... totally different story. They have drastically improved from 2 years ago when you would see floaters in every tank and untreated Ich every visit... Things have improved!

Our local small store. Great across the board for most animals. Problem: super super expensive. I hate doing business with them because they charge about double what everyone else wants for equiptment and such. Since switching owners prices have improved a little. I am not aware of anyone in there keeping chameleons (I have also not really asked anyone besides the owner) but I do get a sense that these people do read animal care materials on their lunch breaks and likely could give advice at least from an "academic" standpoint. Who knows, some might keep chams, I am not sure. They do not normally carry them. The owner did seem to have some experience with panthers, and seemed to have enough knowledge to at least form an opinion on the glass vs. mesh debate. I did not prod much at the time as he did not have chameleons.

Petsmart, never got a reptile from them. Their fish are usually ok, I do not see any problems with their reptile setups when I go in but I have also not looked closely. The staff are often very unfriendly and burned out though. I would be curious to know how fast they are moving their animals. Personally, I am very hesitant to buy reptiles from them. They may be ok but I would have to do my usual stalking the animals for a week and asking multiple staff lots of questions (I have a routine...).

We do have one local reptile specialist. I have yet to buy anything from him (I do plan to get a jackson's at some point). I can tell you all of his animals look fantasitic, all are in appropriate mesh cages with UVB and heat fixtures. I looked at his Jackson's cham one time. He looked very healthy, very active and actually quite friendly. He also stocked a good selection of reptile supplements. Also, his prices are actually pretty dang reasonable. I think his Juvenile/sub-adult jacksons has an asking price of like $79. The local petco, when they carry veileds, wants $89.99 for a baby veiled as I recall. Keep in mind, this county is listed as one of the most expensive places to live in the US (I think we might be on the top 10 list).

All the other petstores in the area I have been to are reef aquarium specialists and they are all very very awesome. Basically hobbyists that happen to own stores- you know the type. These people are not full of it. All have awesome reef setups (multiple set ups).

 

[AllFallDown]

It is amazing to me having had worked in the pet industry when I was younger how some stores will jump on limited short term profits, ie selling equipment that doesn't add tot he animals health and well being to make a buck.

In the early 90s when I was selling pets the big box pet stores hadn't come in yet and took out all the little stores but there was fierce competition with at least 15 ma and pa stores in the area. We were different because the owner hired for expertise and it was mandatory that the animals wellbeing was more important than any sell. Not because of any great moral kindness (but it did play a part for sure) but because selling healthy happy animals who would be well cared for is the absolute best way to guarantee long term regular customers.

There's the ticket. When I was a retail manager I worked in a highly competitive sales environment. I told my staff that I did not believe in upselling and that we were not sales people, we were consultants. Even told them to downsell customers if they felt it was appropriate. My conjecture was that while we might lose a couple of dollars per sale, we gained the trust of our customers and in the end made hundreds of dollars from each customer based on their loyalty. When I first took over, our store was the bottom of the district in terms of sales and profit margin. By the time I left, we were consistently number one or two in sales, and almost always number 1 in profit margin. All based on a non-sales, mutual benefit approach to things. It does work