PETSMART vs PETCO | Who has better REPTILE care?

Thought it'd be interesting to check out both a local PetSmart and Petco to see how their reptile care differs. Of course all locations are different, but in general I feel like these stores are a good representation of most that I've been to. Which one do you think had the better care?

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Pickles Pets
PO Box 14473
Lenexa, KS 66285

[whenthanossnapoof]

The leopard geckos at petco didn’t seem like they had enough fat. The tails were slim and they also looked very slim. The tails are supposed to be big and puffy with fat. Plus it looked like ALOT were in that cage...

The leopard geckos at Petsmart slept so I couldn’t examine them much so I don’t know if they were okay or not. But petco should do a little bit more of a better job and at petco also gave them greens but they eat bugs.

[sageexotics]

HOLD ON. They put pink toe tarantula as ADVANCED??? They’re the easiest thing to care for in the whole store! That’s not even an exaggeration!

And TURTLES are BEGINNER?? Smh

[cnp]

It depends on the individuals that work there. Honestly doesn’t even matter about the managers. I worked at petsmart and I basically Tun the pet care department not my manager. We always take sick animals to the vet, feed everyday, do deep cleans weekly etc. At the same time I have friends that work at petco too and they know about their animals and so they take good care of them. But of course not every store will be the same

[andrewsjolander]

who thought that it was okay for petco to sell savannah monitors?

[suttonsmith]

I purchased a Leopard Gecko from petsmart and they said that there was no point for me to have a humidity box for him????

What was the point in lying 😂

[noah]

Could you do one for small animals please

[ArmednotTriggered]

I was just at Petco and the employee said something snide to me about the betta implying that I didn't know what I was doing. I responded, "This betta has torn fins and is stressed beyond belief. He is going to be living in a 5 gallon heated and filtered tank. You don't get to take the high ground as long as you pass off these pitiful bowls as okay for fish and just told that couple that Blue Buffalo was the best food on the market." I swear they act like working there is an instant degree in animal care.

[alscritters]

It all depends on the store, the manager and employees make the biggest difference. I heard bad and good stories of bot petco and petsmart. I have two good petcos near me, everything is clean, I am more of an aquarium and reptile hobbyist and the water quality is pristine at the 2 petcos near me.

That being said, LFS or local pet stores are not much better. I have seen bad family own pet stores as well as good ones. Usually people generalize that LFS or local pet stores are better, but you have to realize that isn't true and just like chain pet stores it varies. In terms of the care, Petco and Petsmart have really good requirements in terms of paper, but it is up to the employees and manager to carry out those things.

[calicokitty]

Someone at my local Petsmart told me that it was completely fine that their ball pythons humidity was at 10%. My friend said that’s the angriest she’s seen me. 😂

[kataratify]

I get supplies from both. Personally, the Petsmarts near us tend to take better care of the animals in question. Our Petco still has leopard geckos on sand (and usually 5-6 babies with only 1 hide). Also those hermit crabs - urgh. painted shells = very very bad. I'd personally much prefer rescue or going straight to the breeder. I do have 2 pets from Petco - a corn snake who's around 12 years old and a 2 year old leopard gecko (who is no longer on sand)

[StickyFeets]

We all know as animal lovers that supporting the pet purchases from these big box stores only hurts them in the long term, but let’s face it...we’re animal lovers for a reason and sometimes you just want to help that one individual. Part of being human

[jessicawilson]

I think that a lot of this depends on the individual locations as well as how updated the location is. Some PetSmarts have well trained employees in PetCare who have pets themselves and know how to care for each animal, however some locations hire people just because they need an employee. Another big difference is that newer locations have the ability to create proper living environments for each animal, they can make larger habitats and bigger tanks. Older locations don't always have this and to update the store would be a total shutdown of that location and would require transporting all of the animals to other locations. Although I don't agree with a lot of what Pet Stores are doing, it really depends on the location and the actual employees, not just the overall company.

[Cryptic_Zie]

I feel like Pet Smart cares more about animals

They even let adoption companies bring in dogs and cats that need good homes

We got my sisters cat from on of these events at Pet smart

:)

[maemarbles]

I think the Petco was better. I got my leopard gecko from Petco and they seemed to take good care of their reptiles, as the cages were clean, etc.. It varies a lot from what I've seen. As you said, it depends on the manager.

[lindseykay]

I would say petsmart but Petco does have better reptile supplies...my opinion.

[goldengungirlz]

I'm a bather and sales floor associate at a micro pet smart store. We only sell fish at our store which I'm happy about and I'm proud to say that when they are in our store they are well taken care of. :)
Cant speak for their journey before they got here though.

[freddlylebean]

Title:Who has better Reptile Care? Petco or Petsmart.

Me: *No*

[peytonebbets]

So your saying not to buy animals from petco nor PetSmart so we just leave these animals there to suffer? Like what is wrong with buying/saving/giving an animal a home?

[foxtrot]

I only bought my dragon indo from petco because I felt bad on how he was raised and I wanted to give him the best life possible. And I have I have never seen a happier healthier and more loving beardi.

[checklatestvidfornewchanne]

Petsmart recently redid most of their reptile terrariums. They are much better as with selling almost all juveniles or younger they use reptile carpeting,