It's clear to me that they are recommending housing multiple geckos (crested and leopard geckos) together so they can sell more "mill" bred reptiles. So disgusting. I have a coworker looking to get a leopard gecko for her son and knowing that I'm a reptile lover she came to me and I gave her A LOT of advice including staying away from Petsmart and Petco as well as checking out your leopard gecko care video 😊
Staying away from pet stores is definitely good advice. my first reptile was a blue tongued skink and I got him from a pet shop- he had mites and was eating only dog food (and even now refuses to eat bugs and vegetables) the humidity was also far too low so going to a breeder is definitely the way to go imo lol
I'm guessing the Petstores in my area do things differently cuz I got both my igaunas and geckos from a PetSmart and Petco I never had a problem you honestly just got to be careful and go in knowing your stuff
@@anotherhuman3866 eh like it or not there gonna be around for years to come even if a few people stop supporting them there to in grained in the pet hobby thousands get there pets and animal supplies from them daily beside not everyone can afford a reptile from a breeder.
Had a friend ask me why his kid's Leopard Geckos were not doing well. First question, are they being housed together? Answer, yes. You'll never guess where they purchased them. Thankfully with proper information, they are both thriving now! Care Guides - Not!
We have a new exotic pet store that's pretty decent sized space-wise. I overheard a customer asking why they didn't sell any actual animals. The reply was "we want people to have healthy happy animals, we do have a list of various local breeders but you need to take a two day free course on the animal you are intending to buy before you can buy." When I asked they said the short course covered basic husbandry and expectations, costs etc from actual professionals either breeders or vets not some 16/hr kid on their first job. That it was their condition for allowing breeders to use them as a resource for customers.
I was the live animal department manager for the other big chain pet store for a few years. I had spent a few years working in exotic stores and took this opportunity when it came up and it nearly ended my love of keeping reptiles. The constant battle with regional and corporate management on what animals we had to carry and how we had to house them to display the products they wanted to push was a nightmare. I am so grateful that I had a few dedicated employees who worked tirelessly to keep these enclosures as clean as we possibly could, and I had a GM who did not restrict how often we took animals to the vet and what we spent on the care.. but it was still a soul-crushing experience. I exited the hobby entirely at the same time I left the job and did not start keeping reptiles again for nearly a decade.
So awful that the higher ups want the horrible keeping and try to force it down the ladder. i think the top at the corporate ladder are aware and purposely making their customers lose their animals, so that they can return and buy another one. More reptiles = more money. I really dont think they dont have money to hire some to just google their care instead of just blindly guessing. Its so awful how moneyhungry people will do anything for their greed
Yeah it's rough some days luckily the company I work for puts more correct care into animals and has the right to refuse selling animals to customers without proper enclosures and set ups, we do still have to push buying products onto the customers super hard and our store is not cheap. To give an example of the animal/ price mark up we're selling a parrot you can buy for max 300$ online instead for 800-900$ it's insane. Where I work doesn't have any pamphlets BUT our managers and some employees are very well versed in the animals we have available so it's a nice environment to be in for the most part.
I actually work as a manger at Petsmart, and every last person I have trained in the care of pet's I've told them what I know and have learned. I have bashed the reptile carpets, told everyone to not sell them, told them not to sell the calcium sand to anyone instead to get children's play sand that's better with a mix of soil. Even going as far as drilling into people that the kits we have are only starters, and these animals need much bigger when they are adults. All dragons need 4x2x2 or larger, ball pythons need 4x2x or larger, leopard geckos are much happier in 20 gallons or larger with oddly some of them liking to climb on things. That or mine are just freaks that love to climb. This video just makes me want to contact upper management and tell them these things need to change and this is why. It may be my hill to die on but I don't want to see carpets, calcium sand, tanks smaller then 20 gallons or care guides like this in our stores ever again.
PetSmart employee here: First of all thank you for being a good manager who knows what they’re talking about. Lord knows this company needs them. Also my leo loves to climb too! It’s weird because I never saw him trying to climb before I brought him home from work (normally I wouldn’t buy from a pet store but I loved working with him so much that I had to have him). My guess it’s probably because there unfortunately wasn’t much vertical space at PetSmart. I’m saving to upgrade his tank from a 36x18x12 to 36x18x18 because climbing is literally his favourite activity besides sleeping and he’s gotten really good at it.
I'm the assistant manager of an even smaller chain than your main competition, but I do the same. For example, the same 6 bags of calcium sand has sat on my shelf the entire time I've worked there. I all but refuse to sell it, and my other employees and managers know not to either. That's just one of many examples. We're required to CARRY certain things, but we are absolutely not going to SELL them without making it abundantly clear that they are dangerous. Another one is that crushed walnut shell junk. I also make sure that my employees tell anyone who buys a live animal from us that they need to spend time doing research on their own because there are a lot of nuances to every species.
I just got an adult Leo that spent his life in a 10 gallon. I upgraded him to a 20 long right away, wish I could have gone bigger but sure will asap. I went with heating pad and Halogen, now he comes out more and is starting to thrive :)
You have too much faith in humanity, Adam. As a pet store worker (and ex-worker of one that sold live animals, reptiles included), I'm sorry to say that most people don't give a damn about their animals and proper care or even spending 5 minutes on Google to read a random care guide. I've heard it all. From never misting a bearded dragon's enclosure and wondering why its tail is rotting, through keeping leopard geckos in fish tanks without any source of heat and feeding snakes wild mice, to the most ridiculous ideas like feeding a water tortoise veggies and fruits only. It makes me so angry and helpless, cause I have the knowledge, I'd like to gently present it and they often get angry at me for wanting to help. I wish people really cared. Reptiles are not home decor, nor cool pets to show off on pictures, only to neglect them when nobody's looking. Internet and all it's endless knowledge is at the fingertips, but so many still decide to shut their minds. It's just sad.
I have the exact same experiences. I stg I don’t get paid enough for the stress that hearing about people neglecting animals gives me. Just today I had someone asking about lighting/heating for a full grown beardie and when I asked them what size tank they had they pointed to a 40 gallon enclosure… of course I couldn’t convince them to go bigger because that’s “too expensive”. I wanted to tell them that I will literally buy the old tank from them if they’ll upgrade but I’m not allowed to say that type of stuff to customers unfortunately.
Was that the chain featured in this video or the other? What were your experiences working there? I'm collecting stories, trying to change the culture of the one I work at. The more testimonials I have the better.
It’s so sad to know that there are pet owners that don’t give a shit about the animal they are supposed to care for. I mean I’ve always known they were out there, but it’s sad to heard a firsthand account of how these people really are. All I can hope is that their pet gets a better home, and that people like me can take them in (preferably before damage is done) I always do extensive and mostly unnecessary research and meet my pet’s needs, I wish these people could at least do the bare minimum.
I just keep watching videos because I dont want to get one until I feel ready, which may be never at this point. I just want to give my pet a good home.
I have a pet Ball python. I had to try and find a thermostat because the one I had croaked suddenly. My local Petsmart MANAGER didn't have a CLUE what a thermostat was -- he kept pointing to the thermometers. I pulled out my phone, and attempted to educate him. After staring at the info for a second, he said "We don't carry those," and walked away.
Almost all of my managers treat the store like they were trained to, retail. A good manager should be directing you to the other employees who actually handle the animals.
Insane how many chains/stores in general that don't even carry thermostats, and I'm surprised Adam didn't mention the lack of them being recommended. My local Petco carries exo terra ones, but charge $60-80. You can get them online for $20-30.
I bought my OG ball python 8 years ago at petco-the person there said oh they’re fine at room temp…no worries! It’s a testament to how resilient they are that he lived long enough for me to do actual research and now he’s living like a king in a 4x2 bioactive pvc with UVB, halogen basking spot and tons of clutter.
At my store we literally only have the Exo Terra thermostats that go up to 100w. It’s been working fine for my leopard gecko but I will never understand how or why we don’t have more thermostats. It makes people think it’s just an afterthought. Ps: I’m so sorry to hear about your poor python :(
I grabbed a bunch of these guides about a year ago to do a video like this (I also had a couple of older petco guides from when I lived in the states), but every time I tried to get started on it, I would get so upset, I'd set it aside to work on something less depressing. It's so irresponsible. One of the guides (bearded dragon, I think) switched to chameleon care for 2 paragraphs. It would have been funny if it wasn't so frustrating. Do better Petsmart (and Petco).
@@listenup7284 Comedy is subjective so I can't comment on that, but why is there an incentive to bash big companies? First off, big companies don't really care because they are too busy making fat stacks; not to say employees or some stores don't, for many working with pets is a dream job and they love to do their own research, but at the end of the day, they are just trained for a basic retail job. At the end of the day PetSmart and Petco are going to chug along just fine. Secondly, do you think bashing big companies is going to INCREASE the likelihood of getting a big corporate sponsorship? Like I know you are probably just trolling, but I just don't understand what you get out of comments like this. If you hate the video don't watch it. If you want to defend PetSmart please discuss how Adam is wrong about temperature gradients or cohabiting male geckoes. If you want to argue, here enjoy a random internet person interacting with you, I hope it was worth your time. Have a yourself a lovely day.
@@listenup7284 They don't have to sell you a sponsor because they just sold you an animal, and all their expensive accessories. By that logic, if the PetSmart was perfect, nothing would change, and they would out compete all the smaller reptile shops right? Also "successfully" only refers to sales, so sure. Puppy mills "successfully" sell dogs, but it is not the best thing for the dogs.
Awfully convenient that the big corporate buisness mass supplying and indiscriminately selling reptiles gives horrible advice that would leave you with one or more dead lizards requiring replacement....just terrible. Though admittedly I thought they'd be worse (minus the horrible multiple tankmate advice because that's just awful). Also, I'd be down for the 90s care guide reviews lol.
I could watch you tear petsmart apart all day, I recently went to a petshop and saw him cohabbing Axolotls with Plecos, and had he other Axies on pebbles. I explained he should switch them to a fine sand and removing the Pleco because it will suck on the Axies slime coat. He basically brushed me off ;-; It hurt so much to feel ignored when It was such a low effort fix. What I'm annoyed with is these petshops pass city inspections, they need to pass a welfare inspection!
I use to work at a Petsmart. The anger you receive from a person who has no real reptile experience who truly believe that reptile carpet is the only way… It’s amazing. I tried to help a customer recently (not as an employee- just in there for emergency crickets) and the downright SCOLDING I got from that employee. Like- chill out friend. I got my info from a legitimate zoologist- where the heck did you get yours?! 😑
My BIL works at a Petco on the East Coast. He personally tosses most of these care guides in the trash when they get them. He's huge into rodents and herpetology and he's happy to give real, practical advice when people come in. These guides and their antiquated nonsense need to go the way of the dodo. In fact, get rid of these and try to bring back the dodo. They seemed cute. #ComeOnScience
Years ago I worked for petsmart when we'd have to print care guides out on Ye Olde Xerox. We were required to keep the care guide holders full. We were also supposed to use them with every sale. Wouldn't you know my crew forgot every time. Shucks. Some how or another I could never quite figure out why the more problematic ones wouldn't print. We'd just take our master copy we corrected and copy that and put them out. DM never knew, and since like maybe 5 people ever look at those things no one ever complained either 😉
@@lemonnpuff8737 your customers weren't coming in complaining that their pets weren't dying off despite following the care guides? 😅 good job prioritizing the animals, we love to see it.👏👏👏
@@whenimonmymoon6822 back in the day we had an in at corporate. One of our PCMs from our store got promoted and while he couldn't make miracles happen he did change things for the better Our claim to fame is that our district asked to test and pilot digging substrates that holds moisture for the hermit crabs to reduce loss.. We wanted proper enclosures too but at least we got them off aquarium gravel.
I work at Petsmart and I can tell you, at least in my case, I ALWAYS tell people not to house males together, that goes for most animals that aren't cats and dogs.... Also, I recommend your youtube channel to EVERYONE who buys a reptile from me. As a corporate company, I have zero say on what some suit in Texas prints in those pamphlets, but they do at least deter people who want to buy a bearded dragon and put it in a 10 gallon. (I say no to a lot of people trying to buy pets).
Most of my coworkers at Petsmart also care about reptiles and tell people to throw them into the trash and recommend youtube channels or forums like WWR. Incase anyone was wonder employees recently had a feedback opportunity for petsmart corporate and they got absolutely railed on their animal sourcing and care guides and they said "we now have a corporate policy for the petcare staff to make adjustments as they see fit
@@alliecornelison7270 that's actually amazing to hear! As an assistant manager for a smaller chain, our district manager is the one who approves of any housing/care changes, and if we want to carry a species we've not previously had, we have to jump through a few hoops to prove our set up is sufficient- they will literally cancel entire orders otherwise. It's still not ideal, but it seems to be leaps and bounds better than what I've read and heard about the big chains. I'm glad they're deciding to finally let store level management make changes! I know I do what I do because of my love for animals, so I find it hard to believe the vast majority of pet store, store-level managers are any different. Meaning that could be a hugely positive adjustment
Would be very interested in seeing your review of the Kingsnake/Milk Snake pamphlet. Your videos and Snake Discovery's videos on the.... incorrect practices and promotions of Petsmart as a company (not individual stores or individual employees to clarify) have been very enlightening and have actually encouraged me to go to reptile expos and look into respectable breeders, and it's been a huge help!
I appreciate you doing your own input on this. I can imagine how many people see these as proper guides but then may stumble upon your video on what is right and wrong. Don't apologize for talking too much, you're helping a lot of people keep reptiles alive.
I am a PetSmart manager, and I have been telling people not to trust these for years. I have written my own little note cards with sources that customers can research these pets and better educate themselves. I try to educate everyone I can, and if I ever feel the pet is going to an unsafe home, I deny the sale. I hate corporate and I never follow their suggested sales tactics. I’m there for the pets not for the paycheck. I actually work 2 jobs because this is my PASSION. And if I can help change the industry from the sales point, I can help save little lives. I just wanted to try to at least let y’all know there’s employees out there who really really do care and research and love their jobs.
I currently work at a petco (quitting due to health reasons, I actually love my job) and our new GM actually wrote proper care guides for everything we sell. Goldfish, reptiles, bettas, saltwater tanks. Everything. She’s a crested gecko breeder and adores them with everything in her heart… to the point of writing a 26 page care guide for them. Everything I’ve seen at petsmart… hm.
I think videos like these are necessary so people can understand that those care guides aren't the best. I, as a parent, who has purchased 2 different reptiles for my daughter, made the decision to look up the species online. I read up on them, where they come from and how to house them. Then I went on to UA-cam and came across creators such as yourself to get first hand knowledge of the do's and don'ts. Then I went out purchased what it needed and then purchased my reptile. I no longer have my first pet, sadly it passed but my mbk is thriving going on 2 years and of course I'm the one taking care of it now, but from my first experience this was expected. Thanks for all your tips and reviews and keep doing what you do.
Comments might get spicey, but I'm going to share anyways.. I used to work as a Petcare specialist at a Petsmart for years, and honestly the number of animals I took home because they wouldn't sell or couldn't sell for any reason at all (or because someone brought them back hurt or injured...95% of the time they didn't even know what they were signing up for...) oh man I was up to my eyeballs in tanks doing my own little side rehab. Went head first into education and became a licensed vettech and will NEVER GO BACK, but grateful for all the experience trouble shooting tough/geriatric and juvenile cases! Nice post Adam!! Love this idea ❤ just wish they'd do right by the animals at the end of the day! Thanks for sharing.
I worked at PetSmart for almost 15 years. I was there for the first reptiles and the first rodents. And several iterations of the habitats. I researched obsessively and did everything I could to keep animals healthy and happy. But I swear, corporate didn’t care about results, they wanted care by the (poorly written and wrong) book. Like hermit crabs. The manual said sand. I switched them to coconut coir and suddenly loss (death) plummeted. They made me change it back. Didn’t matter that the animals stopped dying, the tank had to “look right”. Years after I quit they finally switched to coconut coir. I eventually quit when I couldn’t take it anymore. Customers who thought it was their right to torture and kill animals and corporate management that supported it. I’ve been out for 12 years now and I’m starting to miss the critters. I think a crested gecko is in my future. Be kind to pet store employees. Most of us really did care, we just have it beaten out of us by stupid policies.
As a PetSmart employee: I straight up don’t give people care guides from the store without going through it and correcting info as I’m explaining everything. I also like to give them some online sources if they’ll take it (including your videos!). Thankfully my managers do the same thing so I don’t have any risk of getting in trouble lol
@@dakotabulter9523 That is insane! I think we have a loose structure/guideline we have to follow but as long as it’s a reasonable amount I never get complaints. The only time we go by the books is when our very particular district leader comes😬
Petsmart employee here as well! Our petcare department is pretty strict with our animals too. We usually don't follow the guides either because a lot of them have a bunch of wrong information. We've actually blacked out some of the wrong info in all of the guides, like the guide for bettas say they don't need a heater and can live in a bowl, etc. I've had to fight several customers trying to house a gecko and a snake or a gecko and a bearded dragon together. Some customers want to put a crested gecko in with a chameleon and 7 anoles in a 10 gallon because they don't want to get a big tank but want a bunch of animals. Sometimes my managers are on my side but other times my manager has forced me to sell animals that ended up being returned dead, sick or barely alive because they weren't in the proper habitat. Also my managers have been mad at me because I've been telling people to buy a lot of stuff either from Amazon or the Dollar Store because everything is SO much cheaper online. I don't care if my managers are mad at me because we're short staffed and I'm probably one of if not the best pet care associate they have. They can write me up but I also happen to know that they've been breaking some rules that could get them fired.
Petsmart employee here as well! Our petcare department is pretty strict with our animals too. We usually don't follow the guides either because a lot of them have a bunch of wrong information. We've actually blacked out some of the wrong info in all of the guides, like the guide for bettas say they don't need a heater and can live in a bowl, etc. I've had to fight several customers trying to house a gecko and a snake or a gecko and a bearded dragon together. Some customers want to put a crested gecko in with a chameleon and 7 anoles in a 10 gallon because they don't want to get a big tank but want a bunch of animals. Sometimes my managers are on my side but other times my manager has forced me to sell animals that ended up being returned dead, sick or barely alive because they weren't in the proper habitat. Also my managers have been mad at me because I've been telling people to buy a lot of stuff either from Amazon or the Dollar Store because everything is SO much cheaper online. I don't care if my managers are mad at me because we're short staffed and I'm probably one of if not the best pet care associate they have. They can write me up but I also happen to know that they've been breaking some rules that could get them fired.
I have a crested gecko that was kept with six other males in a 12 by 12 by 36 cage. When I adopted him, he was down a leg, his tail was chewed off (not dropped, another gecko tried eating his tail then he dropped it!), and all of his crests were gone, even on his eyes- and he seems to have issues seeing. I got him when he was 7 years old, so 7 years in those conditions. He is literally more scar than gecko, no pattern at all. He still gobbles down his food, even two years later, because he's afraid of another gecko getting it first and not having enough to eat. Captain Ahab is a prime example on why you never, ever, cohab males.
I work as a pet care associate in the Holland store and I'm appalled by the misinformation that is in the guides. I'm going to be going through all the pamphlets on the website today and making a Google Docs 'form' to add corrections and I'll bring it in to work and try my hardest to either get the store to listen to me or I'll take it to corporate. I know I'm just one employee but I'm going to remain hopeful that I can at least get them to take a look into this. Even if they don't I'm going to keep trying to at least inform people about this stuff and if it costs my job then at least I lost it while trying to make a change. Plus I'm getting fairly fed up with the store's management anyways Anyways, thank you so much for making this video and making many other informational videos and wish me luck 🤞
It's simply baffling to me how bad some petstores are. Where I live, there are very strict guidelines for animal husbandry and pet store employees are very well trained in general and even more so in their specialty. Someone who is clearly not knowledgeable about the animal they like to purchase, will not be able to just buy it, but will be informed thoroughly beforehand. If the employees don't feel that you are serious about keeping the animal correctly, they will refuse to sell it. And they are doing their best to keep the animals in store as good as they possibly can - fully planted low stock tanks, bioactive terrariums exceeding the minimal space requirements, etc. One of the biggest chain pet stores has posters up, translating to "they don't need a cage, they deserve a habitat". It's as insane as it is awesome.
"You suck!" I'm hoping all of your "you sucking" got the importance across about not having 2 male's of either geckos housed together. I can't imagine the horror of finding your new geckos dismembered the next morning. As you said, hopefully the new owners AND the sales associates did more research about the species they were interested in. Great video Adam!
I'm the assistant manager of a pet store (not PetSmart or Petco), and I'm "the reptile guy" there, which is insane because outside of breeding some anoles, I'm entirely just a hobbyist. Speaking solely of the chain I work for, the care guides aren't something store level employees can change. However, our personal temperature recommendations and "guides" seem to be a little better. I'm also glad you mentioned something about "doing your own research", because that's exactly what my parting message is to everyone who buys a reptile or amphibian from me- I'm no expert and don't do more than advise the best that I can. I have even researched with a customer on a few occasions for reptiles I've never personally dealt with (such as a sand boa), while they were in-store. Certain things bother me about how we keep our reptiles on the sales floor, but it is at corporate level and a potential write up/termination to not comply. It's nothing major, but I'd assume a lot of large chain locations are the same- so I wouldn't blame store level employees. And in saying that, I like that everything was directed at PetSmart the company rather than their employees. I work where I work because I love helping people with their pets, as well as interacting with animals daily, and that seems to be the general consensus for most of the other pet store folks I've met. Training for reptile and amphibians (and even arachnids) specifics is definitely an issue though, and even the best intentions can end with death or serious injury.
Might want to put a warning on the Crested Gecko one saying that their feed will attract fruit flies in the summer. There are local pet stores here with people who actually know something about the animals sold there. The only time I bought a reptile from a box store was when I saw a really healthy, really active Russian tortoise. I bought him before somebody who hasn't done their research did.
as a current petsmart employee (im considering applying at my exotics veterinary office for multiple reasons) i have read them and its sadly corporate... at my store many of us dont give the care guide or we will cross off the incorrect information, it can vary per store which deffinitely sucks... i can atleast thankfully say that both stores ive worked in have been knowledgable about all of our animals and we do our research, encourage pet owners doing their own research, and FREQUENTLY shout to corporate to make the guides better and more accurate (again these are atleast the 2 stores ive worked in). i do appreciate theses videos, i even recomend your channel and other reputable ones to pet owners
I didn't work at PetSmart specifically, but I've heard mixed things, like employees aren't allowed to say that their guides are wrong? Where I worked, it was a smaller chain, but I would always tell people to do their own research too. Of course it could be difficult with stubborn customers, but I liked having an excuse to learn about so many species so I could give general info if the circumstance allowed. I'd also try to warn of the poor products, since they're so available.
I LOVE Diamond! Just got our 16 year old a Leo and this Mama has done her own research! A rabbit hole…. So much to learn but I’m up for it. You are one of the UA-cam channels I have been watching. Thank you so much for your info! So appreciated!
My kid's been saving up for a leopard gecko for a while. We tend to cover things like food and vet care, but the initial expense of the animal and its habitat is on her so we have time to research and set things up. We did this a few years ago when she wanted a snake--we researched good snakes for beginners, settled on a corn snake, and we've had him for two and a half years and love him. We're getting the gecko next weekend at a reptile expo. I'm really appalled by the care guides suggesting cohabitation--one of the first things I learned for both snakes and geckos was that cohabiting was something to typically avoid, especially with males.
I just got a leopard gecko about a month ago (the first reptile I have kept in 20 years) - for a while i was thinking to get one from PetSmart but I am happy I rescued one from someone who had too many because I know they took care of her.
although petsmart doesnt exist in the uk there is pets at home. thankfully the one local to me doesnt sell reptiles anymore but as a fishkeeper the fish care is shocking. they have a dumb fish stocking system that makes no sense, dont follow cycling guidelines, mix incompatible fish with each other [ fin nippers with longfin fish etc ], dont properly quarantine, have really cloudy dirty tanks with little stimulation for the fish and the fish are so unhealthy [ ich, flukes , infections, black fungus on the tetras, gasping mollies etc ] selling big fish like common goldfish, clown loaches and chinese algae eaters for little tanks and the poor care of the feeder bugs lmao they sell insect food for the feeders but the feeders are half starved
I work at a big chain pet store as a groomer. I just want to say yes, these are so stupid. But most employees, at least at my location, own and understand we need to change these for the benefit of our reptiles. But we don't decide what they put in their pamphlets unfortunately. But we as a little bit of that company try to make a little difference for our reptiles. I also hate the mill breeding! But feel bad for the pets that sit there for so long and not get a home. They won't just stop breeding and those pets dont deserve it, but they do deserve a good life. Double edge sword 😓
I work at one of the big box chain pet stores. Obviously I can't control the care guides or the products sold but I do try to guide people interested in keeping reptiles--e.g. discouraging keeping them in groups for the most part. Thankfully I don't think most people even bother with the care guide pamphlets.
I work at Petsmart...when you said you were going from the crestie pamphlet to the leo it was just *"oh no."* On the bright side, I'm fairly sure the beardy care guide still says something stupid like a 40g is fine for their adult size. When even our sales tag that goes on the habitat display has "upgraded" to saying 55g minimum. So while it's not really a death sentence, there's definitely guides that are still vastly more old school than those two
Not all Petsmarts are alike I swear lol I work at one and I try my best to give people up to date info on any lil critter they want, I also make sure they don’t buy useless crap (red lights, expensive bulbs, crappy gimmicky products). I’ve tired to even show other employees websites/UA-cam channels to get better care info for the animals we carry. Maybe the company isn’t the best but there are people who work here that know what they are doing and care about the well-being of the animals.
Could you do one for Petco too? I am wriggling my way up the ladder and the more ammunition I have to combat our specific guides and policies is invaluable. These companies only see themselves. They take advice from a handful of veterinarians on staff and are insulated from the outside world of exotic animal keeping. This has caused them to entirely miss the strides we are making in the hobby. In order to disrupt the status quo I need stats, research and company specific examples. I have the data, I need more examples. Hope the success of this video prompts you to follow it up. I recommend your channel to every person who speaks to me about beardies, leopard and crested geckos. Thanks for your tireless work to improve the hobby and educate the public.
I absolutely love that you like to spread positive vibes! Also I enjoyed watching you get frustrated over this because it shows your passion and care for animals. 💓 Can't wait for more videos like this! I really hope these companies see videos like this and up their game. Or get shut down.😝
I worked at Petsmart for about a year in the pet care department. It was so aggravating how restricted we were in these animals' care. For example, I had to pay out of my own pocket to set up an air stone system in our "feeder" goldfish tanks. Our fish loss went down by over 10% but did I ever get rewarded or reimbursed? No, because I was technically breaking protocol. Thankfully my manager was a huge reptile fan, and despite seeing the lowest sales of all the animals, our reptiles were probably the best cared for in the whole store. Our manager also refused to stock chameleons because of the horrible conditions they sit in on the reptile wall. The only saving grace was that as a pet care associate I was allowed to refuse sale of any live animal for any reason. The worst part was that I had to learn a lot about proper reptile husbandry from my manager, as my "training" hardly mentioned reptiles at all.
Me again. We got ours from Petsmart and Oscar was in with another, which now makes us think to change the name to Ossa. But the gal who helped us was knowledgeable on Leo’s because she has them. But also told us we couldn’t gender confirm until he was older. We,got a 20 gal and put tile over 95% of the reptile carpet that the setup came with. She also suggested bio substrate but we are waiting until Oscar gets bigger and I get him a 40 gal. We’re sticking with Oscar for now. Oscars’s Oasis was a cartoon my kiddo and I watched and loved when he was younger. Thank you again!
Hey Adam! I just mailed you a bunch of guides my petsmart had. A bunch of species I know you keep like whites tree frog and red footed tortoises and a bunch more. Tuck them away for a rainy day! I really liked this video ❤️
I can’t say the same for cresteds because I’ve never owned any, but for leopards, the sex of the geckos being housed together often doesn’t matter. Even females will fight. My first time owning leos, I housed two females, and they fought. So you’re either going to end up with scratched up, bleeding, or dead geckos, or you’re gonna end up with lots of unwanted babies you weren’t prepared for once they get old enough.
I love that yer Canoodian like me , it's awesome to have advice from my fellow countryman. I've watched a bunch of your videos and they're awesome. I'm from London, there's not much out here for reptiles as far as I know. I'm definitely gunna venture out to ya sometime. It'll be nice to support local small time Canadian business. It'll be a while till I can get a little reptile buddy but hopefully it'll happen someday. I've been wanting a beardy for ten years but I've kept up my knowledge on the care of them to make sure I know what to do when the day at last comes! Cheers 🍻
i always recommend to avoid stores like Petsmart, Pet Supplies ans Petco Ect... If you wanna do the pet store route, find a private or small business pet stores. I have one in my town and they love their reptiles and care for them like kings and queens. They also run a rescue side for reptiles and small mammals. Small/private pet stores ive always had a far better experience for. But Breeders are still number 1!
So, I work at Petsmart and most of us who are very experienced in reptiles disagree with the care guides. As well as the care. But honestly we can’t do anything about it since it’s corporate, it pisses us off
I agree with what you’ve said in this video, however I don’t understand how a company as large and with as much money as PetSmart can’t hire someone who either knows about the animals that the care guides are written about or at the very LEAST can do even basic research on them so that they’re giving out 100% correct care information. The only reason I can see as to why they *don’t* do so is because they want to sell multiple animals to each customer as another person said in a comment to this video. Therefore, I agree with both that other person and yourself in declaring PetSmart “top dogs” to be *disgusting* in the worst way. Putting profit ahead of animal welfare is so wrong I can’t even begin to describe it accurately. Not only that, but as you said there’s going to be parents trying to make their kids happy, only to have to see them devastated because one pet killed the other or both got severely injured fighting one another - which can lead to death or huge vet bills to get them to *hopefully* recover. I just can’t understand how anyone can do business this way without feeling guilty and ashamed to be connected to a company that doesn’t care enough about the lives of the animals they’ve chosen to sell in their stores to at the very least have correct care guides. I can understand not having an expert on every animal on hand to answer questions and give care advice, but these pamphlets aren’t going to give people the information they need to allow a crested or leopard gecko to reach 15-20 years old. Too many people think that because the store they’re buying an animal from has care guides and employees to get information from that they can just take their word on how to care for that animal and not have to do any of their own research when they should be doing their own research BEFORE getting a species that’s unfamiliar to them. PLEASE do your OWN research BEFORE getting an animal! Then, once you have gotten the animal, do MORE research. I still research things about the different animal species I keep, take notes, adjust my care if necessary and then research some more. The animals have no way to tell us if we’re doing something wrong besides getting sick or dying and by that point it’s often too late to correct the situation. Please, please, PLEASE do your own research as often as you can or need to so your animal can live as happily as possible for as long as possible. ETA: I rewatched this and had to say something about putting 2 male geckos together. These people often don’t know how to tell males apart from females so even if it said don’t house two males together you could end up with 2 males anyway unfortunately. This is also a huge issue when buying from places like this. Well-established breeders know what they’re doing when it comes to sexing their animals (usually anyway) and will be able to ensure you don’t end up with the wrong sexes if you plan on cohabiting them. If you have to get a pet from a place like PetSmart for whatever reason, please do the proper research on them, including how to tell males from females. It could be life or death for the geckos and doesn’t take too much time nowadays.
I used to annotate and edit those care guides during my slow shifts when I worked at petsmart. One of the hardest things at that job was trying to persuade customers that the "official" store resources weren't good sources of information
As someone who works at PetSmart I do my best to steer people away from the care guides and try to implement my own experience and knowledge into pet parents. I let them know that just because there's a picture of the animal on this tank doesn't mean it's suitable for it, or just because you read online that your bearded dragon can eat veggies doesn't mean you can feed them that exclusively. I will deny sales sometimes if I feel as if the situation is particularly stressing for the animal. But at the end of the day there's only so much I, a little guy in the vastness of PetSmart's chain of employees, can do to make much of a difference. You can give customers all the resources in the world and they still choose a bowl for their betta to live in. Sometimes I show them places online (if there isn't anyone else in line) where they can get good feeder insects, proper diets for things like Crested Geckos, etc. A lot of people who shop with us don't realize that reptiles at least are a long commitment. I suppose the same goes for rodents... I wish we didn't sell animals at all most days.
I think that the only prepared diet petsmart sells is zoomed and Hikari (which has sugar). I’ve never seen repashy Or Pangea (or Lugarti or the semi new Leapin Leachies formula). I don’t like the starter kits for any reptiles offered by Zoomed or Exo Terra. There’s a guy in my area who has opened a pet store. He said he was getting multiple calls for reptile products so I recommended checking out reptile basics, Pangea, Josh’s Frogs, pet tekk, Bio Dude, and some local companies for products. Also told him about Arcadia UVB.
As someone who used to work at PetSmart it is CATHARTIC to hear someone I respect and trust saying the same things I said when I worked there. Would LOVE to see more of these, please!
Was at a PetSmart over the weekend, mentioned to the employees their ball python enclosures were in the 30% humidity range, all three had badly stuck sheds and looked dehydrated, was brushed off with “ it’s feed day, and were under staffed!” Two of them were in chameleon enclosures with no hides or substrate 🤦♂️
Do Petco next. I work there and have experienced a mix of things working there along with what customers say. There is a PetSmart about two blocks away from us and all our customers say our aquatic and reptile section is better so I'm just curious.
My personal opinion as a former bird person (and before that a turtle person) is that if you _must_ pick between the two stores, Petco is marginally better. I know at our local Petco employees did their best to counter the worst ideas of corporate (they too were bird people, and knew what good care looked like). That said we have better local non big box store pet shops, so there's not much reason to go buy from the corporate animal torturers.
@@birchtree2274 that’s great to hear! While I worked there, my fellow staff members also adored the birds. We had a green cheek that we had to keep in the back because he was too young to sell yet so everyone got attached to him as he would climb on people while they did dishes and would squak at us. We were all saddened and happy when he got to go home. He luckily went to a couple who has experience with birds and bird friends waiting at their house for him. It was great to see
Your videos are all fantastic and have inspired me to own a snake and have certainly pushed me to do my own research for the best care practices! I bought a used Kages enclosure for when it gets full size and didn't notice until I got home with it, but it's got a Wickens Wicked Reptile sticker on the corner! Small world! Keep up the good work!
When I used to work at Petco, I would literally tell clients the info was all crap & write out a proper care guide for them. I wanted to just make my own to give out to people but we would've gotten in trouble. One of the bosses said I could handwrite them though. So I felt better about that. I HATE how the pamphlets aren't regulated.
I am no advocate for petco. But I have to say i was impresses with the store by my house. The manager explained he loves reptiles so he goes above and beyond. Even the 2 tegu were kept well and were reasonable. Hats off to this 1 store. Lol
I work at a PetSmart and can confirm our care sheets suck. We had a one on one with someone who looks after all stores in Alberta (at least) and I brought up how a bunch of the care sheets have wrong info which could harm reptiles/amphibians/tarantulas etc. and that I could show him right now and it would only take a second . He brushed me off and said get your store leader to message me. again I said I could just show you right now. He brushed me off again. So in my experience upper management doesn't care. According to him they got there info from vets so it doesn't need adjusting ...
My crestie uses her water dish to soak in prior to shedding. She has never had a problem with stuck shed, only once there was a miniscule bit of shred on her crest that I brushed off. She's only a baby, about 8 months old. I don't know how she learned to soak before a shed, but whatever she's doing seems to work.
You can get close to 10 if you live southern AZ I’ve seen it close to 10% humidity. Good video great information. Every time you talk about crested geckos I want one.
The temperatures/humidity and cohabitation reflect the way they keep them in store. People ask less questions that way. Also it's telling parents what they want to hear. If mummy and daddy hear that they need to drop more than a car payment to get each kid their own gecko and gecko habitat they either get mad and demand one habitat and two geckos anyways (and the manager makes you choose between doing it or loosing your job) or they go somewhere else. I cannot emphasize enough how many parents I royally peeved off by telling them they either needed multiple habitats or multiple pets (think guinea pigs) when they thought they could get a birthday pet for $50. If anyone wants to hear my "the parents effed around and found out" story about sweet little boys and hamsters let me know.
Lmao at the boys and hamsters thing. My high school bff (that I haven't seen since we got 18) had a hamster and pretty much killed it by forgetting about it while playing video games. Oof. At least my (mostly outdoor because big yard and all) meowmeows can find food elsewhere and entertain themselves if I'm out of commission for a day or two. Not that I don't care but they straight up neglect ME sometimes 🤣
@@cerberaodollam I'm going to tell the hamster story. I was the pet care manager and I was a damn good one, but I didnt have ultimate say. I was explaining to parents of two little boys that thehamsters they wanted each needed their own cages or they would fight and kill each other. Parents threw a fit demanding one cage and went to the store manager when I wouldn't sell them. They got two Syrian hamsters for one cage. The next day two very sheepish parents and two very sad little boys came back with a box and a bag. I was the only one there who could help them. The bag contained a headless hamster, the box a very fat happy hamster. They wanted to return them and get a two new ones and a second cage. I asked if they wanted to keep the living hamster since he was actually friendly towards people and healthy. The older boy looked at me with the most haunted look on a child I've seen while his little brother sniffed. "No." He said fighting tears. "My hamster is a murderer." The parents actually winced. Unfortunately for those little boys and that hamster they had to learn the hard way. Good news is they bought absolutely everything I suggested the second time around. I brought both the hamsters to the office and handed them to the store manager, told him what happened, and said "that's why I said no. I'm the only one on the floor, can you set the live one up in isolation? Someone needs crickets." And left him to it. I was mad a lot working there, but that one still sticks and it was 15 years ago.
I am going to make a video one day about the top UA-camrs that have a positive impact on the reptile keeping community and you will definitely be on that list, Adam. Always talking about how we can do better. Your videos are the bee’s knee’s.
their competitor petco is sadly the only shop around. there is a locally owned pet shop twice as far away but they dont take cards for how little I buy. the local store also takes a quarter tank of gas while the petco takes very little gas to get to. petco is 10 minutes away while Saluda River pet company is like 20-30 minutes away. Saluda river has better quality crickets and better quality enclosures for the animals they plan to sell, but the quality of supplies just isn't better enough to go far out and get cash for the crickets I buy from there. I hate living in a small southern town
I currently work at Petsmart and spend much of my time tell customers that those pamphlets are for the most part unhelpful and consistently wrong. I actually recommend your channel to everyone I sell reptiles to. And on the topic of the conditions of the enclosures for the animals in the stores, at the one that I am a manager at, all of the issues with the health of the animals is directly due to the negligence of the corporate offices.
I formally worked at Petsmart, specifically in Petcare. The state that a lot of our animals came in was heartbreaking. Anytime we had someone interested in an animal, I was always very clear about the care they would need and encourage your videos for reptile care, Leopard Gecko specifically for leopard gecko care, and specific small animal youtubers for hamsters, chins, or guinea pigs. For birds, I did my own research because I had no personal experience with. If someone had a question I couldn't answer, I would ask an associate I knew had more information, or be honest and say I don't know and that would need to be Googled. Me and my team always made sure that no matter how much crying or screaming someone did, if they weren't seen as the appropriate home for that animal, we would not be sending them home with it. Part of why I left was corporates involvement in our animal care and giving into the customers. I couldn't do it.
I worked at a PetSmart for a few months back when I was in my late teens... we did a "dead run" every morning for fish that didn't make it through the night. This was nothing different than any other pet store--what was different, if any fish died throughout the day, we were told to leave them in the tanks along side the living fish we were trying to sell. It wasn't until closing time that we took the dead out... this allowed them to keep better inventory--supposedly.
Thank you for this video. Ik it is old in yt age but I got my crestie 3 days ago from petsmart and even though I don’t have to worry about the 2 male situation, I heard a few things to tweak for the best care. Also my care guide was not that good looking pamphlet it was a typed up word document on printer paper, a little different regarding humidity and temp and didn’t talk about cohabitation at all. So they don’t even have consistency within their company on how to care for them.
Id honestly not advise to keep any leos together of any gender unless you are breeding and have a better understanding of their behavior. My male saw my female and hit the glass at full speed wanting to kill her. Yeah that care guide is gonna get a lot of geckos killed...
I usually get my feeder insects at a local pet store but I was out and really needed some so I went to petco. Some of the enclosures were OKAY but none of them were great. They had like 10 red eared sliders, that they can’t even legally profit off of, in like a 40 gallon tank. They looked almost full grown too. I feel so bad for the animals but I know that buying them is an even worse idea
I have 2 Cresties, not sure what genders they are. I bought them at the hamburger, pa expo and I house then together. I have had them together since they were a couple weeks old. I have been monitoring them and they are fine. I will obviously separate them if any aggression shows. They have been doing great. I don't know what to do, they will not eat insects no matter what I do. I have separated them and tried to feed them, only one took it, and that was only once.
I strongly recommend separating them ASAP, especially since you don’t know their genders! They will likely fight and/or breed sooner or later. I have seen countless cases of geckos seeming fine for years, then snapping and seriously injuring or killing each other. How big is the enclosure?
We use unbleached paper towels as a substraight for our bearded. Mahatma do you think. We have the bottom lined with several layers of cardboard, then a bunch of layers of paper towels. She walks around on the substrate very little and has pooed in there exactly once. Generally, she poos in the bath...or on the tile floor when she's walking around. That brings me to another question. Is the tile floor okay? It's pretty darn cold but she doesn't seem to mind it and she can get off it if she wants.
On the crested gecko the two is a misprint. It's supposed to be one. PetSmart employee's are told to put out those care sheets and the misprint one's are mixed in with the corrected one's
Thankfully my local chain pet store, Petsense, typically has… decent care (at specifically my local one. No telling for the rest)? I mean it could do with some major upgrades, but it’s overall fine for temporary housing. They still get the animals from a mill though. :T Edit: scratch that, I just remembered the poor crestie that lived off of crickets for months because they couldn’t get proper crested gecko diet. Nobody would buy the poor thing- I stopped by once a week and watched it slowly grow. Got pretty attached to it. The one they have now is younger, so either somebody finally bought it, or the sketchy diet caught up with it. I think they had created gecko diet in there last time I looked, so at least there’s that.
I never ever recommend our pamphletd to new owners. I do all I can to properly educate cudtomers on proper care. Petsmart doesnt educate their employees its up to us to do that on our own time. Its literally like target and walmart. Its all about prophets. I am lucky enough to work in a store where my fellow workers do what we can to properly educate people and if we tslk people out of a beardie because they dont want to biy the proper uvb (which thank god we finally sell arcadia at petmsart) then so be it. We also refuse sells if its clear they wont do whats recommend for the pets care. Yes alot of stores dont do this but dont lump all the stores into the same batch. Some of us actually do care and actually do educate ourselves and try to help these animals.find proper homes
Pretty sure he's bashing Corporate and their uneducated, profit-driven policies, not individual stores. No matter how well-educated and caring an individual store's managers and employees are, there's only so much they can do before Corporate fires them all and replaces them with more compliant people.
I definitely think he's bashing corporate as well instead of stores like yours or mine where we generally care for the well being of these animals and do our best to make sure people have the best info to care for their animals. I don't know if you can but I've been taking our animal guides and have been blacking out false information like housing geckos together that way people don't think it's okay. I haven't gotten in trouble for it yet because I've been using that as an opportunity to educate customers on why some of the info is blacked out.
How do you feel about these care guides?
Hi did u know that jesus bled and died on the cross so we have a chance to go to heaven repent before its too late and remember jesus loves u ❤❤❤❤
@@brickstarsfun8698 we appreciate it, but this is a reptile video....
@FluffiAnimates aww thats so kind that u apericiate it
It's clear to me that they are recommending housing multiple geckos (crested and leopard geckos) together so they can sell more "mill" bred reptiles. So disgusting. I have a coworker looking to get a leopard gecko for her son and knowing that I'm a reptile lover she came to me and I gave her A LOT of advice including staying away from Petsmart and Petco as well as checking out your leopard gecko care video 😊
Staying away from pet stores is definitely good advice. my first reptile was a blue tongued skink and I got him from a pet shop- he had mites and was eating only dog food (and even now refuses to eat bugs and vegetables) the humidity was also far too low so going to a breeder is definitely the way to go imo lol
I'm guessing the Petstores in my area do things differently cuz I got both my igaunas and geckos from a PetSmart and Petco I never had a problem you honestly just got to be careful and go in knowing your stuff
@@meta7958 while that's true its still better not to support them
I got my leo from petsmart because I was on a budget and he is healthy(small in length but plump) and is soon moving into a 30 gallon bio tank.
@@anotherhuman3866 eh like it or not there gonna be around for years to come even if a few people stop supporting them there to in grained in the pet hobby thousands get there pets and animal supplies from them daily beside not everyone can afford a reptile from a breeder.
Had a friend ask me why his kid's Leopard Geckos were not doing well. First question, are they being housed together? Answer, yes. You'll never guess where they purchased them. Thankfully with proper information, they are both thriving now! Care Guides - Not!
We have a new exotic pet store that's pretty decent sized space-wise. I overheard a customer asking why they didn't sell any actual animals. The reply was "we want people to have healthy happy animals, we do have a list of various local breeders but you need to take a two day free course on the animal you are intending to buy before you can buy." When I asked they said the short course covered basic husbandry and expectations, costs etc from actual professionals either breeders or vets not some 16/hr kid on their first job. That it was their condition for allowing breeders to use them as a resource for customers.
I was the live animal department manager for the other big chain pet store for a few years. I had spent a few years working in exotic stores and took this opportunity when it came up and it nearly ended my love of keeping reptiles. The constant battle with regional and corporate management on what animals we had to carry and how we had to house them to display the products they wanted to push was a nightmare. I am so grateful that I had a few dedicated employees who worked tirelessly to keep these enclosures as clean as we possibly could, and I had a GM who did not restrict how often we took animals to the vet and what we spent on the care.. but it was still a soul-crushing experience. I exited the hobby entirely at the same time I left the job and did not start keeping reptiles again for nearly a decade.
Petco
So awful that the higher ups want the horrible keeping and try to force it down the ladder. i think the top at the corporate ladder are aware and purposely making their customers lose their animals, so that they can return and buy another one. More reptiles = more money. I really dont think they dont have money to hire some to just google their care instead of just blindly guessing. Its so awful how moneyhungry people will do anything for their greed
Yeah it's rough some days luckily the company I work for puts more correct care into animals and has the right to refuse selling animals to customers without proper enclosures and set ups, we do still have to push buying products onto the customers super hard and our store is not cheap.
To give an example of the animal/ price mark up we're selling a parrot you can buy for max 300$ online instead for 800-900$ it's insane.
Where I work doesn't have any pamphlets BUT our managers and some employees are very well versed in the animals we have available so it's a nice environment to be in for the most part.
I actually work as a manger at Petsmart, and every last person I have trained in the care of pet's I've told them what I know and have learned. I have bashed the reptile carpets, told everyone to not sell them, told them not to sell the calcium sand to anyone instead to get children's play sand that's better with a mix of soil. Even going as far as drilling into people that the kits we have are only starters, and these animals need much bigger when they are adults. All dragons need 4x2x2 or larger, ball pythons need 4x2x or larger, leopard geckos are much happier in 20 gallons or larger with oddly some of them liking to climb on things. That or mine are just freaks that love to climb. This video just makes me want to contact upper management and tell them these things need to change and this is why. It may be my hill to die on but I don't want to see carpets, calcium sand, tanks smaller then 20 gallons or care guides like this in our stores ever again.
PetSmart employee here: First of all thank you for being a good manager who knows what they’re talking about. Lord knows this company needs them. Also my leo loves to climb too! It’s weird because I never saw him trying to climb before I brought him home from work (normally I wouldn’t buy from a pet store but I loved working with him so much that I had to have him). My guess it’s probably because there unfortunately wasn’t much vertical space at PetSmart. I’m saving to upgrade his tank from a 36x18x12 to 36x18x18 because climbing is literally his favourite activity besides sleeping and he’s gotten really good at it.
Keep fighting the good fight brother. I'm working on it at the other one
I'm the assistant manager of an even smaller chain than your main competition, but I do the same. For example, the same 6 bags of calcium sand has sat on my shelf the entire time I've worked there. I all but refuse to sell it, and my other employees and managers know not to either. That's just one of many examples. We're required to CARRY certain things, but we are absolutely not going to SELL them without making it abundantly clear that they are dangerous. Another one is that crushed walnut shell junk. I also make sure that my employees tell anyone who buys a live animal from us that they need to spend time doing research on their own because there are a lot of nuances to every species.
I just got an adult Leo that spent his life in a 10 gallon. I upgraded him to a 20 long right away, wish I could have gone bigger but sure will asap. I went with heating pad and Halogen, now he comes out more and is starting to thrive :)
We need more Employees and lower management to have balls and stand up like you did... This can be applied to every job/work place :) kudos
You have too much faith in humanity, Adam. As a pet store worker (and ex-worker of one that sold live animals, reptiles included), I'm sorry to say that most people don't give a damn about their animals and proper care or even spending 5 minutes on Google to read a random care guide. I've heard it all. From never misting a bearded dragon's enclosure and wondering why its tail is rotting, through keeping leopard geckos in fish tanks without any source of heat and feeding snakes wild mice, to the most ridiculous ideas like feeding a water tortoise veggies and fruits only.
It makes me so angry and helpless, cause I have the knowledge, I'd like to gently present it and they often get angry at me for wanting to help.
I wish people really cared. Reptiles are not home decor, nor cool pets to show off on pictures, only to neglect them when nobody's looking. Internet and all it's endless knowledge is at the fingertips, but so many still decide to shut their minds. It's just sad.
I have the exact same experiences. I stg I don’t get paid enough for the stress that hearing about people neglecting animals gives me. Just today I had someone asking about lighting/heating for a full grown beardie and when I asked them what size tank they had they pointed to a 40 gallon enclosure… of course I couldn’t convince them to go bigger because that’s “too expensive”. I wanted to tell them that I will literally buy the old tank from them if they’ll upgrade but I’m not allowed to say that type of stuff to customers unfortunately.
Was that the chain featured in this video or the other? What were your experiences working there?
I'm collecting stories, trying to change the culture of the one I work at. The more testimonials I have the better.
@@soupkabukii It's a shame, that 40 gal could've been an awesome axolotl tank IMO.
It’s so sad to know that there are pet owners that don’t give a shit about the animal they are supposed to care for. I mean I’ve always known they were out there, but it’s sad to heard a firsthand account of how these people really are.
All I can hope is that their pet gets a better home, and that people like me can take them in (preferably before damage is done)
I always do extensive and mostly unnecessary research and meet my pet’s needs, I wish these people could at least do the bare minimum.
I just keep watching videos because I dont want to get one until I feel ready, which may be never at this point. I just want to give my pet a good home.
I have a pet Ball python. I had to try and find a thermostat because the one I had croaked suddenly. My local Petsmart MANAGER didn't have a CLUE what a thermostat was -- he kept pointing to the thermometers. I pulled out my phone, and attempted to educate him. After staring at the info for a second, he said "We don't carry those," and walked away.
That is so sad!
Almost all of my managers treat the store like they were trained to, retail. A good manager should be directing you to the other employees who actually handle the animals.
Insane how many chains/stores in general that don't even carry thermostats, and I'm surprised Adam didn't mention the lack of them being recommended. My local Petco carries exo terra ones, but charge $60-80. You can get them online for $20-30.
I bought my OG ball python 8 years ago at petco-the person there said oh they’re fine at room temp…no worries! It’s a testament to how resilient they are that he lived long enough for me to do actual research and now he’s living like a king in a 4x2 bioactive pvc with UVB, halogen basking spot and tons of clutter.
At my store we literally only have the Exo Terra thermostats that go up to 100w. It’s been working fine for my leopard gecko but I will never understand how or why we don’t have more thermostats. It makes people think it’s just an afterthought.
Ps: I’m so sorry to hear about your poor python :(
I grabbed a bunch of these guides about a year ago to do a video like this (I also had a couple of older petco guides from when I lived in the states), but every time I tried to get started on it, I would get so upset, I'd set it aside to work on something less depressing. It's so irresponsible. One of the guides (bearded dragon, I think) switched to chameleon care for 2 paragraphs. It would have been funny if it wasn't so frustrating. Do better Petsmart (and Petco).
Personally, I think both should banned from having animals of any kind. Even the mammals they carry are in less than great conditions.
These care guides get animals killed. Why does it matter to you if someone calls petsmart out on their shit? They should know better
@@listenup7284 Comedy is subjective so I can't comment on that, but why is there an incentive to bash big companies?
First off, big companies don't really care because they are too busy making fat stacks; not to say employees or some stores don't, for many working with pets is a dream job and they love to do their own research, but at the end of the day, they are just trained for a basic retail job. At the end of the day PetSmart and Petco are going to chug along just fine.
Secondly, do you think bashing big companies is going to INCREASE the likelihood of getting a big corporate sponsorship?
Like I know you are probably just trolling, but I just don't understand what you get out of comments like this. If you hate the video don't watch it. If you want to defend PetSmart please discuss how Adam is wrong about temperature gradients or cohabiting male geckoes. If you want to argue, here enjoy a random internet person interacting with you, I hope it was worth your time.
Have a yourself a lovely day.
@@listenup7284 They don't have to sell you a sponsor because they just sold you an animal, and all their expensive accessories. By that logic, if the PetSmart was perfect, nothing would change, and they would out compete all the smaller reptile shops right? Also "successfully" only refers to sales, so sure. Puppy mills "successfully" sell dogs, but it is not the best thing for the dogs.
@@listenup7284 Selling animals successfully doesn't mean properly caring for them or providing the proper care information.
Awfully convenient that the big corporate buisness mass supplying and indiscriminately selling reptiles gives horrible advice that would leave you with one or more dead lizards requiring replacement....just terrible. Though admittedly I thought they'd be worse (minus the horrible multiple tankmate advice because that's just awful). Also, I'd be down for the 90s care guide reviews lol.
I could watch you tear petsmart apart all day, I recently went to a petshop and saw him cohabbing Axolotls with Plecos, and had he other Axies on pebbles. I explained he should switch them to a fine sand and removing the Pleco because it will suck on the Axies slime coat. He basically brushed me off ;-; It hurt so much to feel ignored when It was such a low effort fix. What I'm annoyed with is these petshops pass city inspections, they need to pass a welfare inspection!
I use to work at a Petsmart. The anger you receive from a person who has no real reptile experience who truly believe that reptile carpet is the only way… It’s amazing. I tried to help a customer recently (not as an employee- just in there for emergency crickets) and the downright SCOLDING I got from that employee. Like- chill out friend. I got my info from a legitimate zoologist- where the heck did you get yours?! 😑
My BIL works at a Petco on the East Coast. He personally tosses most of these care guides in the trash when they get them. He's huge into rodents and herpetology and he's happy to give real, practical advice when people come in. These guides and their antiquated nonsense need to go the way of the dodo. In fact, get rid of these and try to bring back the dodo. They seemed cute. #ComeOnScience
Good for him!
Years ago I worked for petsmart when we'd have to print care guides out on Ye Olde Xerox. We were required to keep the care guide holders full. We were also supposed to use them with every sale. Wouldn't you know my crew forgot every time. Shucks. Some how or another I could never quite figure out why the more problematic ones wouldn't print. We'd just take our master copy we corrected and copy that and put them out. DM never knew, and since like maybe 5 people ever look at those things no one ever complained either 😉
@@lemonnpuff8737 your customers weren't coming in complaining that their pets weren't dying off despite following the care guides? 😅 good job prioritizing the animals, we love to see it.👏👏👏
@@whenimonmymoon6822 back in the day we had an in at corporate. One of our PCMs from our store got promoted and while he couldn't make miracles happen he did change things for the better Our claim to fame is that our district asked to test and pilot digging substrates that holds moisture for the hermit crabs to reduce loss.. We wanted proper enclosures too but at least we got them off aquarium gravel.
I work at Petsmart and I can tell you, at least in my case, I ALWAYS tell people not to house males together, that goes for most animals that aren't cats and dogs.... Also, I recommend your youtube channel to EVERYONE who buys a reptile from me.
As a corporate company, I have zero say on what some suit in Texas prints in those pamphlets, but they do at least deter people who want to buy a bearded dragon and put it in a 10 gallon. (I say no to a lot of people trying to buy pets).
Great to hear
@@WickensWickedReptiles Oh, and of you have a mailing address I can send you the guides you don't have, like bearded dragon or tortoise.
Maybe you could write corporate and warn them.
Most of my coworkers at Petsmart also care about reptiles and tell people to throw them into the trash and recommend youtube channels or forums like WWR. Incase anyone was wonder employees recently had a feedback opportunity for petsmart corporate and they got absolutely railed on their animal sourcing and care guides and they said "we now have a corporate policy for the petcare staff to make adjustments as they see fit
@@alliecornelison7270 that's actually amazing to hear! As an assistant manager for a smaller chain, our district manager is the one who approves of any housing/care changes, and if we want to carry a species we've not previously had, we have to jump through a few hoops to prove our set up is sufficient- they will literally cancel entire orders otherwise. It's still not ideal, but it seems to be leaps and bounds better than what I've read and heard about the big chains. I'm glad they're deciding to finally let store level management make changes! I know I do what I do because of my love for animals, so I find it hard to believe the vast majority of pet store, store-level managers are any different. Meaning that could be a hugely positive adjustment
Would be very interested in seeing your review of the Kingsnake/Milk Snake pamphlet. Your videos and Snake Discovery's videos on the.... incorrect practices and promotions of Petsmart as a company (not individual stores or individual employees to clarify) have been very enlightening and have actually encouraged me to go to reptile expos and look into respectable breeders, and it's been a huge help!
I appreciate you doing your own input on this. I can imagine how many people see these as proper guides but then may stumble upon your video on what is right and wrong. Don't apologize for talking too much, you're helping a lot of people keep reptiles alive.
I am a PetSmart manager, and I have been telling people not to trust these for years. I have written my own little note cards with sources that customers can research these pets and better educate themselves. I try to educate everyone I can, and if I ever feel the pet is going to an unsafe home, I deny the sale. I hate corporate and I never follow their suggested sales tactics. I’m there for the pets not for the paycheck. I actually work 2 jobs because this is my PASSION. And if I can help change the industry from the sales point, I can help save little lives. I just wanted to try to at least let y’all know there’s employees out there who really really do care and research and love their jobs.
GoHerping reviewed the guides last year as well; I'm surprised PetSmart hasn't changed anything. Would love a comparison to 90's care guides!
I currently work at a petco (quitting due to health reasons, I actually love my job) and our new GM actually wrote proper care guides for everything we sell. Goldfish, reptiles, bettas, saltwater tanks. Everything. She’s a crested gecko breeder and adores them with everything in her heart… to the point of writing a 26 page care guide for them.
Everything I’ve seen at petsmart… hm.
does she give out the guides? i would love to distribute some through the rescue i volunteer that
I think videos like these are necessary so people can understand that those care guides aren't the best. I, as a parent, who has purchased 2 different reptiles for my daughter, made the decision to look up the species online. I read up on them, where they come from and how to house them. Then I went on to UA-cam and came across creators such as yourself to get first hand knowledge of the do's and don'ts. Then I went out purchased what it needed and then purchased my reptile. I no longer have my first pet, sadly it passed but my mbk is thriving going on 2 years and of course I'm the one taking care of it now, but from my first experience this was expected. Thanks for all your tips and reviews and keep doing what you do.
Comments might get spicey, but I'm going to share anyways.. I used to work as a Petcare specialist at a Petsmart for years, and honestly the number of animals I took home because they wouldn't sell or couldn't sell for any reason at all (or because someone brought them back hurt or injured...95% of the time they didn't even know what they were signing up for...) oh man I was up to my eyeballs in tanks doing my own little side rehab. Went head first into education and became a licensed vettech and will NEVER GO BACK, but grateful for all the experience trouble shooting tough/geriatric and juvenile cases! Nice post Adam!! Love this idea ❤ just wish they'd do right by the animals at the end of the day! Thanks for sharing.
I worked at PetSmart for almost 15 years. I was there for the first reptiles and the first rodents. And several iterations of the habitats. I researched obsessively and did everything I could to keep animals healthy and happy. But I swear, corporate didn’t care about results, they wanted care by the (poorly written and wrong) book. Like hermit crabs. The manual said sand. I switched them to coconut coir and suddenly loss (death) plummeted. They made me change it back. Didn’t matter that the animals stopped dying, the tank had to “look right”. Years after I quit they finally switched to coconut coir. I eventually quit when I couldn’t take it anymore. Customers who thought it was their right to torture and kill animals and corporate management that supported it. I’ve been out for 12 years now and I’m starting to miss the critters. I think a crested gecko is in my future. Be kind to pet store employees. Most of us really did care, we just have it beaten out of us by stupid policies.
As a PetSmart employee: I straight up don’t give people care guides from the store without going through it and correcting info as I’m explaining everything. I also like to give them some online sources if they’ll take it (including your videos!). Thankfully my managers do the same thing so I don’t have any risk of getting in trouble lol
Same. I work there but hate their practices. Does your store have a limit on the substrate you can use???? Ours is 1/3 an inch😓🙄
@@dakotabulter9523 That is insane! I think we have a loose structure/guideline we have to follow but as long as it’s a reasonable amount I never get complaints. The only time we go by the books is when our very particular district leader comes😬
I hope you are the store I applie too lol
Petsmart employee here as well! Our petcare department is pretty strict with our animals too. We usually don't follow the guides either because a lot of them have a bunch of wrong information. We've actually blacked out some of the wrong info in all of the guides, like the guide for bettas say they don't need a heater and can live in a bowl, etc. I've had to fight several customers trying to house a gecko and a snake or a gecko and a bearded dragon together. Some customers want to put a crested gecko in with a chameleon and 7 anoles in a 10 gallon because they don't want to get a big tank but want a bunch of animals. Sometimes my managers are on my side but other times my manager has forced me to sell animals that ended up being returned dead, sick or barely alive because they weren't in the proper habitat. Also my managers have been mad at me because I've been telling people to buy a lot of stuff either from Amazon or the Dollar Store because everything is SO much cheaper online. I don't care if my managers are mad at me because we're short staffed and I'm probably one of if not the best pet care associate they have. They can write me up but I also happen to know that they've been breaking some rules that could get them fired.
Petsmart employee here as well! Our petcare department is pretty strict with our animals too. We usually don't follow the guides either because a lot of them have a bunch of wrong information. We've actually blacked out some of the wrong info in all of the guides, like the guide for bettas say they don't need a heater and can live in a bowl, etc. I've had to fight several customers trying to house a gecko and a snake or a gecko and a bearded dragon together. Some customers want to put a crested gecko in with a chameleon and 7 anoles in a 10 gallon because they don't want to get a big tank but want a bunch of animals. Sometimes my managers are on my side but other times my manager has forced me to sell animals that ended up being returned dead, sick or barely alive because they weren't in the proper habitat. Also my managers have been mad at me because I've been telling people to buy a lot of stuff either from Amazon or the Dollar Store because everything is SO much cheaper online. I don't care if my managers are mad at me because we're short staffed and I'm probably one of if not the best pet care associate they have. They can write me up but I also happen to know that they've been breaking some rules that could get them fired.
Yoooo, I love the new beginning! I had to watch it like 5 times. Great video 👊
Would love to see you review the rest. Great video. Ya it's crazy about 2 males.
Thanks!!
I have a crested gecko that was kept with six other males in a 12 by 12 by 36 cage. When I adopted him, he was down a leg, his tail was chewed off (not dropped, another gecko tried eating his tail then he dropped it!), and all of his crests were gone, even on his eyes- and he seems to have issues seeing. I got him when he was 7 years old, so 7 years in those conditions. He is literally more scar than gecko, no pattern at all. He still gobbles down his food, even two years later, because he's afraid of another gecko getting it first and not having enough to eat. Captain Ahab is a prime example on why you never, ever, cohab males.
A lot of their reptiles also have pre-existing health conditions due to either genetics or bad feeding practices early on.
I work as a pet care associate in the Holland store and I'm appalled by the misinformation that is in the guides. I'm going to be going through all the pamphlets on the website today and making a Google Docs 'form' to add corrections and I'll bring it in to work and try my hardest to either get the store to listen to me or I'll take it to corporate. I know I'm just one employee but I'm going to remain hopeful that I can at least get them to take a look into this.
Even if they don't I'm going to keep trying to at least inform people about this stuff and if it costs my job then at least I lost it while trying to make a change. Plus I'm getting fairly fed up with the store's management anyways
Anyways, thank you so much for making this video and making many other informational videos and wish me luck
🤞
Please do the rest of the care guides 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Ok!
It's simply baffling to me how bad some petstores are. Where I live, there are very strict guidelines for animal husbandry and pet store employees are very well trained in general and even more so in their specialty. Someone who is clearly not knowledgeable about the animal they like to purchase, will not be able to just buy it, but will be informed thoroughly beforehand. If the employees don't feel that you are serious about keeping the animal correctly, they will refuse to sell it. And they are doing their best to keep the animals in store as good as they possibly can - fully planted low stock tanks, bioactive terrariums exceeding the minimal space requirements, etc. One of the biggest chain pet stores has posters up, translating to "they don't need a cage, they deserve a habitat". It's as insane as it is awesome.
"You suck!"
I'm hoping all of your "you sucking" got the importance across about not having 2 male's of either geckos housed together.
I can't imagine the horror of finding your new geckos dismembered the next morning.
As you said, hopefully the new owners AND the sales associates did more research about the species they were interested in.
Great video Adam!
I'm the assistant manager of a pet store (not PetSmart or Petco), and I'm "the reptile guy" there, which is insane because outside of breeding some anoles, I'm entirely just a hobbyist. Speaking solely of the chain I work for, the care guides aren't something store level employees can change. However, our personal temperature recommendations and "guides" seem to be a little better. I'm also glad you mentioned something about "doing your own research", because that's exactly what my parting message is to everyone who buys a reptile or amphibian from me- I'm no expert and don't do more than advise the best that I can. I have even researched with a customer on a few occasions for reptiles I've never personally dealt with (such as a sand boa), while they were in-store. Certain things bother me about how we keep our reptiles on the sales floor, but it is at corporate level and a potential write up/termination to not comply. It's nothing major, but I'd assume a lot of large chain locations are the same- so I wouldn't blame store level employees. And in saying that, I like that everything was directed at PetSmart the company rather than their employees. I work where I work because I love helping people with their pets, as well as interacting with animals daily, and that seems to be the general consensus for most of the other pet store folks I've met. Training for reptile and amphibians (and even arachnids) specifics is definitely an issue though, and even the best intentions can end with death or serious injury.
Might want to put a warning on the Crested Gecko one saying that their feed will attract fruit flies in the summer.
There are local pet stores here with people who actually know something about the animals sold there. The only time I bought a reptile from a box store was when I saw a really healthy, really active Russian tortoise. I bought him before somebody who hasn't done their research did.
as a current petsmart employee (im considering applying at my exotics veterinary office for multiple reasons) i have read them and its sadly corporate... at my store many of us dont give the care guide or we will cross off the incorrect information, it can vary per store which deffinitely sucks... i can atleast thankfully say that both stores ive worked in have been knowledgable about all of our animals and we do our research, encourage pet owners doing their own research, and FREQUENTLY shout to corporate to make the guides better and more accurate (again these are atleast the 2 stores ive worked in). i do appreciate theses videos, i even recomend your channel and other reputable ones to pet owners
Please do more of these ❤ it helps raise awareness about how bad these big stores are.
more coming!
I used to work for PetSmart I never recommended those guides. I always recommended that every pet parent research before you buy.
Good to hear!
I didn't work at PetSmart specifically, but I've heard mixed things, like employees aren't allowed to say that their guides are wrong? Where I worked, it was a smaller chain, but I would always tell people to do their own research too. Of course it could be difficult with stubborn customers, but I liked having an excuse to learn about so many species so I could give general info if the circumstance allowed. I'd also try to warn of the poor products, since they're so available.
@@WickensWickedReptiles I was the only one to own reptiles there and I brought a wealth of knowledge to that store.
E mail so adorable
I LOVE Diamond! Just got our 16 year old a Leo and this Mama has done her own research! A rabbit hole…. So much to learn but I’m up for it.
You are one of the UA-cam channels I have been watching.
Thank you so much for your info! So appreciated!
My kid's been saving up for a leopard gecko for a while. We tend to cover things like food and vet care, but the initial expense of the animal and its habitat is on her so we have time to research and set things up. We did this a few years ago when she wanted a snake--we researched good snakes for beginners, settled on a corn snake, and we've had him for two and a half years and love him. We're getting the gecko next weekend at a reptile expo. I'm really appalled by the care guides suggesting cohabitation--one of the first things I learned for both snakes and geckos was that cohabiting was something to typically avoid, especially with males.
I'd love to see more Petsmart care guide reviews - especially on Ball Pythons and other snakes
I just got a leopard gecko about a month ago (the first reptile I have kept in 20 years) - for a while i was thinking to get one from PetSmart but I am happy I rescued one from someone who had too many because I know they took care of her.
although petsmart doesnt exist in the uk there is pets at home. thankfully the one local to me doesnt sell reptiles anymore but as a fishkeeper the fish care is shocking. they have a dumb fish stocking system that makes no sense, dont follow cycling guidelines, mix incompatible fish with each other [ fin nippers with longfin fish etc ], dont properly quarantine, have really cloudy dirty tanks with little stimulation for the fish and the fish are so unhealthy [ ich, flukes , infections, black fungus on the tetras, gasping mollies etc ] selling big fish like common goldfish, clown loaches and chinese algae eaters for little tanks and the poor care of the feeder bugs lmao they sell insect food for the feeders but the feeders are half starved
I work at a big chain pet store as a groomer. I just want to say yes, these are so stupid. But most employees, at least at my location, own and understand we need to change these for the benefit of our reptiles. But we don't decide what they put in their pamphlets unfortunately. But we as a little bit of that company try to make a little difference for our reptiles. I also hate the mill breeding! But feel bad for the pets that sit there for so long and not get a home. They won't just stop breeding and those pets dont deserve it, but they do deserve a good life. Double edge sword 😓
I work at one of the big box chain pet stores. Obviously I can't control the care guides or the products sold but I do try to guide people interested in keeping reptiles--e.g. discouraging keeping them in groups for the most part. Thankfully I don't think most people even bother with the care guide pamphlets.
THANK YOU! Finally a video on those terrible PetSmart guides. Thank you.
Hope you enjoy!
goherping made a video on it to
I work at Petsmart...when you said you were going from the crestie pamphlet to the leo it was just *"oh no."*
On the bright side, I'm fairly sure the beardy care guide still says something stupid like a 40g is fine for their adult size. When even our sales tag that goes on the habitat display has "upgraded" to saying 55g minimum. So while it's not really a death sentence, there's definitely guides that are still vastly more old school than those two
lol, I just filmed part two where I rip to shreds the beardie care guide last night, video drops soon.
Please more, seeing you being passionate about reptiles is fun, it even had Diamond at attention.
Please make more videos like this! You are helping me to find right reptile for me. Love your content,keep up!
Not all Petsmarts are alike I swear lol I work at one and I try my best to give people up to date info on any lil critter they want, I also make sure they don’t buy useless crap (red lights, expensive bulbs, crappy gimmicky products). I’ve tired to even show other employees websites/UA-cam channels to get better care info for the animals we carry. Maybe the company isn’t the best but there are people who work here that know what they are doing and care about the well-being of the animals.
Could you do one for Petco too? I am wriggling my way up the ladder and the more ammunition I have to combat our specific guides and policies is invaluable.
These companies only see themselves. They take advice from a handful of veterinarians on staff and are insulated from the outside world of exotic animal keeping. This has caused them to entirely miss the strides we are making in the hobby.
In order to disrupt the status quo I need stats, research and company specific examples. I have the data, I need more examples.
Hope the success of this video prompts you to follow it up.
I recommend your channel to every person who speaks to me about beardies, leopard and crested geckos. Thanks for your tireless work to improve the hobby and educate the public.
I absolutely love that you like to spread positive vibes! Also I enjoyed watching you get frustrated over this because it shows your passion and care for animals. 💓
Can't wait for more videos like this! I really hope these companies see videos like this and up their game. Or get shut down.😝
I worked at Petsmart for about a year in the pet care department. It was so aggravating how restricted we were in these animals' care. For example, I had to pay out of my own pocket to set up an air stone system in our "feeder" goldfish tanks. Our fish loss went down by over 10% but did I ever get rewarded or reimbursed? No, because I was technically breaking protocol. Thankfully my manager was a huge reptile fan, and despite seeing the lowest sales of all the animals, our reptiles were probably the best cared for in the whole store. Our manager also refused to stock chameleons because of the horrible conditions they sit in on the reptile wall. The only saving grace was that as a pet care associate I was allowed to refuse sale of any live animal for any reason. The worst part was that I had to learn a lot about proper reptile husbandry from my manager, as my "training" hardly mentioned reptiles at all.
Me again. We got ours from Petsmart and Oscar was in with another, which now makes us think to change the name to Ossa. But the gal who helped us was knowledgeable on Leo’s because she has them. But also told us we couldn’t gender confirm until he was older. We,got a 20 gal and put tile over 95% of the reptile carpet that the setup came with. She also suggested bio substrate but we are waiting until Oscar gets bigger and I get him a 40 gal.
We’re sticking with Oscar for now. Oscars’s Oasis was a cartoon my kiddo and I watched and loved when he was younger.
Thank you again!
Hey Adam! I just mailed you a bunch of guides my petsmart had. A bunch of species I know you keep like whites tree frog and red footed tortoises and a bunch more. Tuck them away for a rainy day! I really liked this video ❤️
My face when the office clip played lmaooo wasn't expected that at all haha
I'd love more of these videos! I also love how chill Diamond is - such a good lizard!
Review all the cage guides! It’s such a big difference from the 90s and even early 2000s
I can’t say the same for cresteds because I’ve never owned any, but for leopards, the sex of the geckos being housed together often doesn’t matter. Even females will fight. My first time owning leos, I housed two females, and they fought. So you’re either going to end up with scratched up, bleeding, or dead geckos, or you’re gonna end up with lots of unwanted babies you weren’t prepared for once they get old enough.
Really like how you get so passionate about the lives of these reptiles.
I love that yer Canoodian like me , it's awesome to have advice from my fellow countryman. I've watched a bunch of your videos and they're awesome.
I'm from London, there's not much out here for reptiles as far as I know. I'm definitely gunna venture out to ya sometime. It'll be nice to support local small time Canadian business.
It'll be a while till I can get a little reptile buddy but hopefully it'll happen someday. I've been wanting a beardy for ten years but I've kept up my knowledge on the care of them to make sure I know what to do when the day at last comes! Cheers 🍻
hope to see you at an expo sometime
i always recommend to avoid stores like Petsmart, Pet Supplies ans Petco Ect... If you wanna do the pet store route, find a private or small business pet stores. I have one in my town and they love their reptiles and care for them like kings and queens. They also run a rescue side for reptiles and small mammals. Small/private pet stores ive always had a far better experience for.
But Breeders are still number 1!
So, I work at Petsmart and most of us who are very experienced in reptiles disagree with the care guides. As well as the care. But honestly we can’t do anything about it since it’s corporate, it pisses us off
wicked!
I agree with what you’ve said in this video, however I don’t understand how a company as large and with as much money as PetSmart can’t hire someone who either knows about the animals that the care guides are written about or at the very LEAST can do even basic research on them so that they’re giving out 100% correct care information. The only reason I can see as to why they *don’t* do so is because they want to sell multiple animals to each customer as another person said in a comment to this video. Therefore, I agree with both that other person and yourself in declaring PetSmart “top dogs” to be *disgusting* in the worst way. Putting profit ahead of animal welfare is so wrong I can’t even begin to describe it accurately. Not only that, but as you said there’s going to be parents trying to make their kids happy, only to have to see them devastated because one pet killed the other or both got severely injured fighting one another - which can lead to death or huge vet bills to get them to *hopefully* recover. I just can’t understand how anyone can do business this way without feeling guilty and ashamed to be connected to a company that doesn’t care enough about the lives of the animals they’ve chosen to sell in their stores to at the very least have correct care guides. I can understand not having an expert on every animal on hand to answer questions and give care advice, but these pamphlets aren’t going to give people the information they need to allow a crested or leopard gecko to reach 15-20 years old. Too many people think that because the store they’re buying an animal from has care guides and employees to get information from that they can just take their word on how to care for that animal and not have to do any of their own research when they should be doing their own research BEFORE getting a species that’s unfamiliar to them.
PLEASE do your OWN research BEFORE getting an animal! Then, once you have gotten the animal, do MORE research. I still research things about the different animal species I keep, take notes, adjust my care if necessary and then research some more. The animals have no way to tell us if we’re doing something wrong besides getting sick or dying and by that point it’s often too late to correct the situation. Please, please, PLEASE do your own research as often as you can or need to so your animal can live as happily as possible for as long as possible.
ETA: I rewatched this and had to say something about putting 2 male geckos together. These people often don’t know how to tell males apart from females so even if it said don’t house two males together you could end up with 2 males anyway unfortunately. This is also a huge issue when buying from places like this. Well-established breeders know what they’re doing when it comes to sexing their animals (usually anyway) and will be able to ensure you don’t end up with the wrong sexes if you plan on cohabiting them. If you have to get a pet from a place like PetSmart for whatever reason, please do the proper research on them, including how to tell males from females. It could be life or death for the geckos and doesn’t take too much time nowadays.
I used to annotate and edit those care guides during my slow shifts when I worked at petsmart. One of the hardest things at that job was trying to persuade customers that the "official" store resources weren't good sources of information
As someone who works at PetSmart I do my best to steer people away from the care guides and try to implement my own experience and knowledge into pet parents. I let them know that just because there's a picture of the animal on this tank doesn't mean it's suitable for it, or just because you read online that your bearded dragon can eat veggies doesn't mean you can feed them that exclusively. I will deny sales sometimes if I feel as if the situation is particularly stressing for the animal. But at the end of the day there's only so much I, a little guy in the vastness of PetSmart's chain of employees, can do to make much of a difference. You can give customers all the resources in the world and they still choose a bowl for their betta to live in. Sometimes I show them places online (if there isn't anyone else in line) where they can get good feeder insects, proper diets for things like Crested Geckos, etc. A lot of people who shop with us don't realize that reptiles at least are a long commitment. I suppose the same goes for rodents... I wish we didn't sell animals at all most days.
I think that the only prepared diet petsmart sells is zoomed and Hikari (which has sugar). I’ve never seen repashy Or Pangea (or Lugarti or the semi new Leapin Leachies formula).
I don’t like the starter kits for any reptiles offered by Zoomed or Exo Terra.
There’s a guy in my area who has opened a pet store. He said he was getting multiple calls for reptile products so I recommended checking out reptile basics, Pangea, Josh’s Frogs, pet tekk, Bio Dude, and some local companies for products. Also told him about Arcadia UVB.
Definitely do more of these, educating the community and exposing the corporations are always good things. Love what you do!
As someone who used to work at PetSmart it is CATHARTIC to hear someone I respect and trust saying the same things I said when I worked there. Would LOVE to see more of these, please!
Liked to say YES for all the care guide reviews, more current ones and the 90s ones
Was at a PetSmart over the weekend, mentioned to the employees their ball python enclosures were in the 30% humidity range, all three had badly stuck sheds and looked dehydrated, was brushed off with “ it’s feed day, and were under staffed!” Two of them were in chameleon enclosures with no hides or substrate 🤦♂️
As much as this solidifies "don't buy from big chain stores", I would love to see more of these
Do Petco next. I work there and have experienced a mix of things working there along with what customers say. There is a PetSmart about two blocks away from us and all our customers say our aquatic and reptile section is better so I'm just curious.
My personal opinion as a former bird person (and before that a turtle person) is that if you _must_ pick between the two stores, Petco is marginally better. I know at our local Petco employees did their best to counter the worst ideas of corporate (they too were bird people, and knew what good care looked like). That said we have better local non big box store pet shops, so there's not much reason to go buy from the corporate animal torturers.
@@birchtree2274 that’s great to hear! While I worked there, my fellow staff members also adored the birds. We had a green cheek that we had to keep in the back because he was too young to sell yet so everyone got attached to him as he would climb on people while they did dishes and would squak at us. We were all saddened and happy when he got to go home. He luckily went to a couple who has experience with birds and bird friends waiting at their house for him. It was great to see
Your videos are all fantastic and have inspired me to own a snake and have certainly pushed me to do my own research for the best care practices! I bought a used Kages enclosure for when it gets full size and didn't notice until I got home with it, but it's got a Wickens Wicked Reptile sticker on the corner! Small world! Keep up the good work!
When I used to work at Petco, I would literally tell clients the info was all crap & write out a proper care guide for them. I wanted to just make my own to give out to people but we would've gotten in trouble. One of the bosses said I could handwrite them though. So I felt better about that. I HATE how the pamphlets aren't regulated.
I am no advocate for petco. But I have to say i was impresses with the store by my house. The manager explained he loves reptiles so he goes above and beyond. Even the 2 tegu were kept well and were reasonable. Hats off to this 1 store. Lol
I work at a PetSmart and can confirm our care sheets suck. We had a one on one with someone who looks after all stores in Alberta (at least) and I brought up how a bunch of the care sheets have wrong info which could harm reptiles/amphibians/tarantulas etc. and that I could show him right now and it would only take a second . He brushed me off and said get your store leader to message me. again I said I could just show you right now. He brushed me off again. So in my experience upper management doesn't care. According to him they got there info from vets so it doesn't need adjusting ...
My crestie uses her water dish to soak in prior to shedding. She has never had a problem with stuck shed, only once there was a miniscule bit of shred on her crest that I brushed off. She's only a baby, about 8 months old. I don't know how she learned to soak before a shed, but whatever she's doing seems to work.
You can get close to 10 if you live southern AZ I’ve seen it close to 10% humidity. Good video great information. Every time you talk about crested geckos I want one.
The temperatures/humidity and cohabitation reflect the way they keep them in store. People ask less questions that way. Also it's telling parents what they want to hear. If mummy and daddy hear that they need to drop more than a car payment to get each kid their own gecko and gecko habitat they either get mad and demand one habitat and two geckos anyways (and the manager makes you choose between doing it or loosing your job) or they go somewhere else. I cannot emphasize enough how many parents I royally peeved off by telling them they either needed multiple habitats or multiple pets (think guinea pigs) when they thought they could get a birthday pet for $50. If anyone wants to hear my "the parents effed around and found out" story about sweet little boys and hamsters let me know.
Lmao at the boys and hamsters thing. My high school bff (that I haven't seen since we got 18) had a hamster and pretty much killed it by forgetting about it while playing video games. Oof.
At least my (mostly outdoor because big yard and all) meowmeows can find food elsewhere and entertain themselves if I'm out of commission for a day or two. Not that I don't care but they straight up neglect ME sometimes 🤣
@@cerberaodollam I'm going to tell the hamster story. I was the pet care manager and I was a damn good one, but I didnt have ultimate say. I was explaining to parents of two little boys that thehamsters they wanted each needed their own cages or they would fight and kill each other. Parents threw a fit demanding one cage and went to the store manager when I wouldn't sell them. They got two Syrian hamsters for one cage. The next day two very sheepish parents and two very sad little boys came back with a box and a bag. I was the only one there who could help them. The bag contained a headless hamster, the box a very fat happy hamster. They wanted to return them and get a two new ones and a second cage. I asked if they wanted to keep the living hamster since he was actually friendly towards people and healthy. The older boy looked at me with the most haunted look on a child I've seen while his little brother sniffed. "No." He said fighting tears. "My hamster is a murderer." The parents actually winced. Unfortunately for those little boys and that hamster they had to learn the hard way. Good news is they bought absolutely everything I suggested the second time around. I brought both the hamsters to the office and handed them to the store manager, told him what happened, and said "that's why I said no. I'm the only one on the floor, can you set the live one up in isolation? Someone needs crickets." And left him to it. I was mad a lot working there, but that one still sticks and it was 15 years ago.
I am going to make a video one day about the top UA-camrs that have a positive impact on the reptile keeping community and you will definitely be on that list, Adam. Always talking about how we can do better. Your videos are the bee’s knee’s.
their competitor petco is sadly the only shop around. there is a locally owned pet shop twice as far away but they dont take cards for how little I buy. the local store also takes a quarter tank of gas while the petco takes very little gas to get to. petco is 10 minutes away while Saluda River pet company is like 20-30 minutes away. Saluda river has better quality crickets and better quality enclosures for the animals they plan to sell, but the quality of supplies just isn't better enough to go far out and get cash for the crickets I buy from there.
I hate living in a small southern town
I currently work at Petsmart and spend much of my time tell customers that those pamphlets are for the most part unhelpful and consistently wrong. I actually recommend your channel to everyone I sell reptiles to. And on the topic of the conditions of the enclosures for the animals in the stores, at the one that I am a manager at, all of the issues with the health of the animals is directly due to the negligence of the corporate offices.
When I was a kid my parents and I were victims of the petsmart outdated care info… so many fish….
So sorry to hear this
I wonder if petsmarts PR team will respond to this in any way... like by fixing any of their care sheets.
I formally worked at Petsmart, specifically in Petcare. The state that a lot of our animals came in was heartbreaking. Anytime we had someone interested in an animal, I was always very clear about the care they would need and encourage your videos for reptile care, Leopard Gecko specifically for leopard gecko care, and specific small animal youtubers for hamsters, chins, or guinea pigs. For birds, I did my own research because I had no personal experience with. If someone had a question I couldn't answer, I would ask an associate I knew had more information, or be honest and say I don't know and that would need to be Googled. Me and my team always made sure that no matter how much crying or screaming someone did, if they weren't seen as the appropriate home for that animal, we would not be sending them home with it. Part of why I left was corporates involvement in our animal care and giving into the customers. I couldn't do it.
I worked at a PetSmart for a few months back when I was in my late teens... we did a "dead run" every morning for fish that didn't make it through the night. This was nothing different than any other pet store--what was different, if any fish died throughout the day, we were told to leave them in the tanks along side the living fish we were trying to sell. It wasn't until closing time that we took the dead out... this allowed them to keep better inventory--supposedly.
Thank you for this video. Ik it is old in yt age but I got my crestie 3 days ago from petsmart and even though I don’t have to worry about the 2 male situation, I heard a few things to tweak for the best care. Also my care guide was not that good looking pamphlet it was a typed up word document on printer paper, a little different regarding humidity and temp and didn’t talk about cohabitation at all. So they don’t even have consistency within their company on how to care for them.
Should you use a uvb light or a heat lamp for gargoyle geckos?
Id honestly not advise to keep any leos together of any gender unless you are breeding and have a better understanding of their behavior. My male saw my female and hit the glass at full speed wanting to kill her. Yeah that care guide is gonna get a lot of geckos killed...
I once found a care guide I don’t rember where from but it said to keep a iguana in a 20 on calci sand
That is so sad
When I saw your beardie with money I giggled. 😆 He will owning the bank soon! 😆
I usually get my feeder insects at a local pet store but I was out and really needed some so I went to petco. Some of the enclosures were OKAY but none of them were great. They had like 10 red eared sliders, that they can’t even legally profit off of, in like a 40 gallon tank. They looked almost full grown too. I feel so bad for the animals but I know that buying them is an even worse idea
I'd definitely be on board with more care guide reviews-modern or historical.
This is a video I can relate to. I used to work in a major pet store chain and these guides are never truly accurate and it was very frustrating
I have 2 Cresties, not sure what genders they are. I bought them at the hamburger, pa expo and I house then together. I have had them together since they were a couple weeks old. I have been monitoring them and they are fine. I will obviously separate them if any aggression shows. They have been doing great. I don't know what to do, they will not eat insects no matter what I do. I have separated them and tried to feed them, only one took it, and that was only once.
I strongly recommend separating them ASAP, especially since you don’t know their genders! They will likely fight and/or breed sooner or later. I have seen countless cases of geckos seeming fine for years, then snapping and seriously injuring or killing each other. How big is the enclosure?
We use unbleached paper towels as a substraight for our bearded. Mahatma do you think. We have the bottom lined with several layers of cardboard, then a bunch of layers of paper towels. She walks around on the substrate very little and has pooed in there exactly once.
Generally, she poos in the bath...or on the tile floor when she's walking around.
That brings me to another question. Is the tile floor okay? It's pretty darn cold but she doesn't seem to mind it and she can get off it if she wants.
Would definitely love to see more of these guides reviewed! It would also be neat to see reviews of petcos as well if you wanted to :)
On the crested gecko the two is a misprint. It's supposed to be one. PetSmart employee's are told to put out those care sheets and the misprint one's are mixed in with the corrected one's
Then I guess one of those employees needs to spend a few minutes and weed out the misprinted ones.
Thankfully my local chain pet store, Petsense, typically has… decent care (at specifically my local one. No telling for the rest)? I mean it could do with some major upgrades, but it’s overall fine for temporary housing. They still get the animals from a mill though. :T
Edit: scratch that, I just remembered the poor crestie that lived off of crickets for months because they couldn’t get proper crested gecko diet. Nobody would buy the poor thing- I stopped by once a week and watched it slowly grow. Got pretty attached to it. The one they have now is younger, so either somebody finally bought it, or the sketchy diet caught up with it. I think they had created gecko diet in there last time I looked, so at least there’s that.
When I was 14, I got kicked out of a petco for alerting a manager to the sickly condition of their reptiles… proudest moment of my life. XD
I never ever recommend our pamphletd to new owners. I do all I can to properly educate cudtomers on proper care. Petsmart doesnt educate their employees its up to us to do that on our own time. Its literally like target and walmart. Its all about prophets. I am lucky enough to work in a store where my fellow workers do what we can to properly educate people and if we tslk people out of a beardie because they dont want to biy the proper uvb (which thank god we finally sell arcadia at petmsart) then so be it. We also refuse sells if its clear they wont do whats recommend for the pets care. Yes alot of stores dont do this but dont lump all the stores into the same batch. Some of us actually do care and actually do educate ourselves and try to help these animals.find proper homes
Pretty sure he's bashing Corporate and their uneducated, profit-driven policies, not individual stores. No matter how well-educated and caring an individual store's managers and employees are, there's only so much they can do before Corporate fires them all and replaces them with more compliant people.
I definitely think he's bashing corporate as well instead of stores like yours or mine where we generally care for the well being of these animals and do our best to make sure people have the best info to care for their animals. I don't know if you can but I've been taking our animal guides and have been blacking out false information like housing geckos together that way people don't think it's okay. I haven't gotten in trouble for it yet because I've been using that as an opportunity to educate customers on why some of the info is blacked out.