General Care Discussion :: Petsmarts care sheet

[steve]

I also question the "vet assured" statement. I've read before that most vets get only limited and basic training regarding reptiles and exotics. They should get a herp vet to provide this kind of information. Surprisingly, I've found that Petco has some decent caresheets printed out at their stores.

Anyway, congrats on the good job!

[missibsu]

well nothing has changed yet...save the congrats for when they actually decide to do something about it, lol. If they don't, I'll just hound them again. Since getting my turts I have turned into this small time activist. Ha, in a way I even annoy myself sometimes.

[sonyj]

Missi, that was the same response that I got from them as well. We will see if any of us get another response.

[Gracie8899]

I went into Superpetz the other day -they had RES for sale which I have never seen there before. There were five 6"-7" RES in a 55 gal tank not even halfway filled up with no UVB ( sunlight bulb) for them- I also had to inform the young man that one of the turts looked like the beginning of shellrot - When I first saw the turtles- I was all kind of mumbling under my breath and then my non-shy 7 yr old daughter went running to the nearest employee (which was the young man I spoke to) and proceeded to tell the guy they were not taking care of thier turtles properly - I about wet my pants laughing -she was a bit upset at the people also (it was cute) She said they really should go to pet school LOL and second I volunteer at my daughters school & Monday I was in a class that had a RES as a class pet -She (the turt) was around 7 inches and was in a 10 gal tank with about 4 inches of water -it was all I could do not to shake this teacher -- I wish people would learn more about the pets they have and the pet stores would be more PET SMART- Thanks for listening to my venting.

[Gracie8899]

Dear Missi,
Thank you for your recent email about the care sheet.
We will forward this email to the appropriate department to have them correct any misinformation we have posted on the website.
If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us again.
Sincerely,
Cathy
PetSmart.com Customer Experience

MISS YOU MAKE ME PROUD TO BE A TURTLE OWNER - KUDOS TO YOU!!!
I hope they take you seriously.

[missibsu]

Gracie, you should print off a care sheet or two for RES and take it to the teacher. A lot of people are misinformed when it comes to the care that they need.

Along with my rant to petsmart yesterday, I gave away one of my old 10 gallon tanks to a lady who has a painted turtle. She had no clue what she was doing. I also took her some care sheets. I'm sure she was overwhelmed, but she did promise to contact me if she needed anything else. I have high hopes for her. She knows the 10 gallon won't last her long, but it's a lot better than what she had.

[fish21]

great job missibsu. ***** you got five stars for the day.(LOL)

fish

[tissigirl]

Even my herp vet printed out a care sheet for me when I took Mr. Turtle in to see her. It wasn't from this site, but it did not give any mis-information like the PetSmart one! This site gave me the same information that my vet gave me PLUS some.

[missibsu]

Well, it's like my dad said, Petsmart is in it to make money. They do have vets at some locations, so they tell people to do things wrong and make even more money, plus they get the people to spend money on things that they don't need. Pathetic that commercialism has led to that kind of thing.

[tissigirl]

I don't think they are doing it on purpose. I think they are just misinformed. Hopefully they will listen and correct the problem. They are very knowledgeable with most of their other animals they have.

Just out of curiosity, what did you all say when you sent them the letter?

[missibsu]

I'm at school, so I can't access the letter right now, but I will copy and paste it when I get home...it'll be late. I was nice, but I was direct. I tried to avoid words that made it sound like my opinion, and state the information as fact, so that it wouldn't be doubted.

[Gracie8899]

Thats a great idea Miss -Thanks I will take them to her - now why did I not think of that -LOL

[missibsu]

Thats a great idea Miss -Thanks I will take them to her - now why did I not think of that -LOL

Because you were thinking of other things, lol.

Here is a copy of the email that I sent:

I am concerned about the care sheet that posted on your website in regards to Red Ear Sliders. Some of the information posted is incorrect and could lead someone to provide inadequate care for their pet.

For people who care for turtles beyond pets, hobbyists and breeders, the rule of thumb is 10 gallons per inch of shell. Providing a space with 'enough water to be completely covered' is not enough.

I would also like to mention that the use of aquarium gravel in the set up is not healthy. These turtles are often inclined to eat the gravel and it becomes impacted. The only way to have it removed is through surgery.

The temperature that should be provided for your turtle is around 78F for hatchlings, and 75F for turtles over one year. The basking temperature should be ten degrees higher and no more than 90F. The water temperature should not fluxuate at night, and should be held stable with an aquarium heater. A fluxuating temperature can lead to respritory illnesses that can only be treated by a vet.

For your guidance there are two very reputable online resources with care pages.
www.redearslider.com
www.austinsturtlepage.com

I recommed both when rewriting your care sheet.

Missi

[tissigirl]

That sounded very good. You weren't pushy at all and just gave them the facts.

[comills]

You have to bascially be able to write a book on how to correctly care for red ear slider turtles. These people just pawn these poor animals off to people who don't know any better. Obviously there is alot of corporpate greed.