Online Links and Deals :: Are you a Petco or Petsmart shopper?

[reptile dude007]

Some people call petco petkill.

[imderanged]

I think it has alot to do with the indvidual store. These big chains have these stupid rules that come down from corperate headquaters. They tell them exactly how to set up all the enclosures and tanks down to the smallest detail, and they base it on looks more then how the animals should be cared for. But the the employees at the Petco near me are really great to be honest. One employee in particular knows alot about all kinds of herps and has been really helpful. The last time I was in he took me in the back and showed me the animals they hadn't put out yet and we talked about red beardies and tortoises. I happen to know that the people from corporate came in to the store and told him to put sand in the juvinile Leopard Gecko enclosure (it looks pretty, but can kill them) and he refused. He put the carpets right back in.

[dianimal]

I shop at two different petcos and one petsmart. My boyfriend and I try to go to any of the two that we see along the way whenever we go out. Only one out of the three carry red ear sliders and that was petco. I think they had 4 6 inch sliders in an inadequately sized tank. As far as customer service goes both are pretty bad. When I asked one of the workers if they had any anacharis he said yeah and ended up giving me two differenct bunches of plants I went in a couple days later and asked a different guy and told him what happend. He apologized about the first guy and said that they've been out of anacharis for a few weeks. He asked me what kind of pet I had and told me that he himself had a red ear slider. He then said that I could put any kind of plant inside the aquarium and it would be fine. Apparently he knew that from personal experience. He fed his slider hotdogs because apparently "those guys are garbage disposals and will eat anything". After hearing that I wanted to put him in a garbage disposal myself

[jskpinoy]

its kinda true tho; they eat a lot of things that are not food, but i wouldnt call them a bad name like that.... cuz mine was eating PH tablets, gravel, water neutralizer stones, even biting on the basking rock... wierd... and about the bad customer serivice, i wonder if they give proper training to workers there, or do they just hire semi-knowledgable people and let them learn little by little...

[Kallistos]

I personally like Petsmart more for local/online shopping. The prices are cheaper and their price match in store is nice. The employees at the store by my house are pretty friendly and helpful and their animals are well-cared for.

[ChocoTurtle]

None yet, but I think I would go to Petsmart if i need anything since its closer to my house

[PcBuilder14]

Petsmart, because petco is to far. I've never been to a Petco.

[Raphulk]

like what imderanged said.
it really depends on the individual store down where i live, and probably everywhere else

some petco's are poorly managed and have random crap everywhere (not literally)
petsmart near me also sucks.

but eversince i have had turtles i noticed petsmarts and petcos everywhere i go and i go in sometimes. ive been to some REALLy nice ones with GREAT customer help, and soem where they just go there because they have to work.

big difference.

i do own a petperks card though for petsmart

[Fuzzy Hamster]

We don't have any Petco stores around here, just Petsmart, Aquarium Services (a.k.a. Big Al's) and the odd PJ's Pets.

We rarely go to PJ's (distance & cost), but make regular trips to A.S. and Petsmart. We have 2 Petsmart locations that are relatively close, fairly clean, knowledgable, and competitive (especially on Nutro cat food with the petperks card).

We actually adopted one of our cats, Panda, from a 3rd Petsmart that is a little further away than the other two stores. Petsmart (at least here) does not sell cats or dogs. They provide space in their stores for local non-profit animal rescue & shelter groups that charge an "adoption fee". The fee (~$150) helps them stay in business but also includes a vet visit, shots, spaying/neutering and a Petsmart coupon book (which included a free bag of any brand cat food ~3.5kg)

[RaytheonLiszt]

After price matching bigal's price of $73 for my XP2 (compared with the regular price of $150!), Petsmart has my business for sure
Plus, it's cleaner and newer then my local petco...

[TMNTmommie]

PETCO! It's better in my opinion but neither has very much turtle stuff or very knowledgeable staff....

[Bladedvixen]

Petco for a very off the wall reason.

petco will sell me feeder rats for my ball python. I prefer to feed live prey because it is 100% natural and offers more nutrition than the traditional frozen rodents (freezing food removes many tiny but essential vitamins).

Petsmart cannot sell feeders because of a lawsuit by PETA some time back. Now at petsmart you have to sign a contract any time you buy a rat that basically reads "this animal is a pet and not food" -- after getting many petsmart employees frothing at the mouth about how cruel and unnatural feeding a live rat to a snake was I swore I would never shop at a petsmart again.

Some people cannot grasp the concept of "Circle of life"

[Raphulk]

i used to love petsmart over petco in my area because of how the stores were kept, but after seeing some changes in my petco, i think its an even tie.

check out the petco caresheet i found at my store:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=

[marisa]

I was in a Petco on Sunday and one of the RES for sale had an obvious ear abcess, which I pointed out to the staff. I was told that it had been drained twice and had come back. When I asked the person if the turtle had been given any antibiotics, it was like a light went off in the person's head. I'm hopeful the staff person will bring it to his supervisor's attention. (He assured me that he would.)

[nickyds23]

Petsmart is horrible where I live.
They have several RES in a tiny thing that they should be keeping snakes or something in and they have the turtle pellets in like a cat dish with no filter in the water.
THey have a turtle dock in there but the water's so low it doesn't even float.
I've complained to the people that work there and called he corporate office.
I've been boycotting petsmart for about 6 months.
Petco, on the other hand, has an enormous tank with around four turtles in it and this huge basking rock thing on the side of the tank for them to climb up on.
The two guys I've seen working in that department really seem to know about the animals and care.