Petsmart is popular in Delaware. Here, only the managers know actual specific petcare information. Unless you're extremely lucky, the most an associate will know is where specific items are and what's completely ironic about that the cages are extremely well-kept. They use repti-carpet in all the cages, there's always abundant food and water. So in essence, they're very attractive.

Which leads me to my most recent visit today. There was a group of kids trying to buy a chinese water dragon, which was horrible because they had to all pitch in just to purchase the lizard... and common sense even for a sales associate would be to tell them to come back once they did enough research and had enough money... But instead she conned them into buying a large kritter keeper, which came with two small containers that could be used as food and water dishes...

Need I say more?

What I don't understand is... How could they provide their employees with a giant employee workbook but not a few basic caresheets on the animals that they'll be working around?

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Live. Love. Laugh. :)

They do provide caresheets. In fact, they are suppose to hand them out with every animal they sell. The problem lies with the associates themselves. THEY need to read the caresheets when they are informing someone on how to care for the animal, but most just wing it and try to make the sale. Even at the store I work at, I have had customers come in on a monday or Tuesday and tell me they boiught this, that, and the other thing for "x" animal only to have me tell them to bring back this, that, and the other thing to be replaced with the items they do actually need.

If petstores actually had someone assigned to each department all the time, and didn't allow "floaters" to cover areas, things would be much better. Unfortunantly, the employees on the schedule are depicted by the earnings for the week. often times this means that there just aren't enough employees on to cover each department.

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home meaning Maryland? If so, please tell me which one so I can avoid it.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I too would also like to know which store. Also, Shell, are you really opening a petstore? if so it's great to know there may be one local where the animals are actualy looked after.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

I would love to, and do plan to, but not something I can do right now...

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well hopefully someday, i understand the not right now, 90% of the animals I want are "not right now". someday...

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Home for Matt = Bismarck, ND

I haven't been to a pet store in nearly a year and I feel I am much better off.

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No no, this is the House of Sund Pet Center in Bismarck, ND (the name comes from the previous owner). They never were a great place. I haven't been to many local places in MD, but most of the PetSmarts and PetCos I've seen are pretty much like any other I've seen. Though there is this local place in the mall in Columbia that sucks pretty bad. There's another place near Glen Burnie called Sea Save that's actually quite awesome. They only deal with aquariums though, but they're actually a very very respectable place.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Tom's Tropicals in Fallston/Kingsville off Route one in MD Use to be really nice, but I have not been there since the new owner took over about a year ago.

If you read most of the care guides at PetsMart and Petco, they are minimum requirements for the animal the day you buy it, The iguana care guide is a sick joke at best, and the bird guides are HORRIBLE. The minimum cage size for most of them won't even let them turn around and flap.

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“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny…'"
- Isaac Asimov



TKE:TT:118

I can't speak on behalf of the bird guides, but if they are anything like the reptile guides, they likely are extremely inaccurate.

When people purchase reptiles from me, I give them a link to HC. I also take the time to stand there and offer any advice on the species being sold that I know.

I am allowed to turn away sales if I don't feel the person purchasing the animal is going to care for it properly. I exercise that ability far more than my managers prefer.

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