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I've read some "nasty talk" about pet shops and lack of knowledge regarding turtle care on the forum. I live in the capital district area of New York State and I have found staff at a chain pet store (PetSmart) to be helpful and the owner of a local pet shop (Eddie's Aquarium) to be quite knowledgeable and friendly. She took the time to help me when I first got the hatchlings 10 months ago and remembers me when I return to her store....she always asks how the turtles are doing. In her store I found Hikari Reptile Turtle Sticks. There are three colors of sticks in the package, each containing a different nutrient. I believe this food is what made my turtles strong. Based on advice from pet store personnel, I purchased the correct UV lighting and the correct "dark" lighting for night. I don't know what I would have done without the pet store "people" whe I first got the turtles. I hope I am not alone and some of you will share positive stories about pet shops. I realize turtle owners in different areas will have different experiences. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share. Also, I want to purchase one of those turtle filters when I move my babies to a new and larger aquarium. I would like some advice from anyone who has used one of these filters. Thanks.

I agree, not all petstore people are mindless, brainwashing morrons,
Some acutally do care about your pets

The pet store where i got tito from was a family owned store
that cared so much for there pets

They helped me, told me all the information i need, and surprisengly, didnt try to sell anything to me

They acutally said "you can buy that cheaper online" (and you could)
Even though it was cheaper online(im talking about filter, and lights)

I still bought it from them, because they cared about me.

I want to say again that this is the only pet store i know that i respect
Who knows there might be more out there

We're not describing ALL pet shops as bad, just generally. It's great you know some pet shops that take good care of the turtles, not much of us do.

dark lighting? Why would a turtle need dark lighting?

Lmao
I was wondering about the dark lighting too XD

They dont need no dark lighting


I have thing clamp lamp that had glow reflectors, so at night it glows

Better than being pitch black

But no Dark Light

It's always nice to hear about good petstores! They are out there but unfortunately there aren't enough of them. Usually the big chains are the ones that are more likely to have the clueless employees with the bad advice. But there are always exceptions.

There are some good pet stores here in scotland but also some bad ones like pets aquarium in prestwick which I was talking about in my thread (Bad shop) but there are lots of good ones like:
Acorn pets-ayr
Acorn pets-Irvine
Pets at home-ayr
pet shop ltd-kilmarnock
Dobbeys-ayr

The worst thing about pet shops here in Scotland is they don't have RES .

Definitely do NOT use dark lighting at night, not only is it unnecessary in some cases it's dangerous. I read a thread somewhere that red lighting could cause blindness.

I'm not sure if that's true either (about red light causing blindness). I know the blacklight bulbs that are used for dayglo stuff can cause eye damage, but the night time bulbs that are sold in pet stores are totally safe and are best used for animals that require more warmth during the night time, which a RES shouldn't really need as long as they have a good water heater in their tank.

I know not all pet store employees/owners are bad, and some, but very few know a thing or two about reptiles.

But most dont. Simply put, i dont trust them, and I think that before large chains like petco and petsmart hire 'specialists' in reptiles or fish, or any other animals for that matter, should take a test on them. Not some little 10 minute "are turtles cold blooded?" type test, but something harder.

A 17 year old shouldnt have to correct a 30+ year old "reptile specialist" in petco that a 20 gallon tank and fluval 2 filter for an adult yellow bellied slider is not going to be the last upgrade that the girl (customer) is ever going to buy, or a diet of reptomin (pellets) alone is not adequate and that the turtle he is selling the young girl is not a male, but a female..that just aint right

I've been to a few 'okay' pet stores, most of them specialzed in reptiles, knew a ton about snakes, but kind of lacked the common sense that you shouldnt keep a soft shell turtle with a Red eared slider, but hey, they did keep all their turtles with UVB lighting, offered them the correct food, eh I guess somethings are just too good to be true around here..

..all the petcos and petsmarts i've been too, well..I just feel like slapping the dummys who work there, especially when some guy brings a tied up iguana that he caught in his backyard in a small shoe box and shows it to the pet supermarket employees and all they do is laugh and one of them goes "yeah man i had like 7 of those things, they dont live long, mine died in like a year"

In the end, toss out the idea that not all pet store employees are bad and dont go to ANY of them for help if you have just got a new animal. Join a forum and ask people who have been keeping them for longer than you, that or ask a vet, do internet research, or read some books.

ptcake, you got lucky, and I am glad you did..

What do you mean by "turtle filters"? We all use fish filters here.

there are filters by zoo med that are supposidly meant for just turtles, although im sure they work fine in any aquarium.

I bought one of those Zoo Med turtle filters before I adopted my turtles (and before I found this site). It works okay but it is way too small for an adult RES or any aquatic turtle for that matter. You're better off getting a cannister filter like the Rena Filstar XP3 or the Fluval 405 or something similar.

i have one of the turtle filters actually, and it sucks.
sorry if i just offended anybody, but it does.

They work okay for small turtles, and tanks under 20 gallons, but not for anything bigger than that.

And yes, those filters suck...get a fish filter atleast 3x stronger than reccomended and you should be fine.

Lol..seriously, I just laughed. I can't imagine why anyone would want a small canister filter like that anyway let alone those small ones that suction cup inside the tank. It's just misleading.