After she got out the only snake that looked healthy and handed it to me, I asked if I could please see the other snake (the one with the poorest shed) and she explained to me that she had trouble getting it to eat so I probably didn’t want that one.  Again, I didn’t say anything and after a few moments of inspecting the animal, I asked if I could have a spray bottle of water please.  She didn’t seem to know what I was planning on doing, but she ran off and grabbed a water bottle for me.  Needless to say, an hour later I had helped close to 12 different animals finish their sheds without any mishaps and was feeling pretty good about what I was doing.  Not only did the store manager stay and watch and ask me questions while I worked, but other employees walked up, listened, and asked questions as well.  By the end of it I was explaining the humidity needs of the snakes and how spraying them when they go into shed or offering a moist hide box would help them shed much better.

Now, given in most situation I’ve never experienced such a positive reaction from the PetCo employees when I’ve tried to correct mistakes or husbandry issues, but I’ve also never approached it in the same way I did in this situation and it made me think.  How often do the more knowledgeable in our industry scoff those who don’t know?  How often do we blame PetCo for all of the atrocities their animals face? And how often do we reach out and kindly try to approach them and teach them how to better the care of their animals and ultimately, improve their sales of healthy individuals?  Unfortunately, from what I read on most forums, I think that the last question has fewer “yes” responses than the others.

What I learned from this experience is that maybe we CAN make a difference when it comes to these types of establishments.  Yes, they are a competitor and take money from the small breeders like myself, but I’ve always preached that we should be in this for the animals and not for the money.  Doing the right thing pays off and in this instance I’ve been greeted with smiles ever since and in a month I haven’t seen another unhealthy looking animal.

Moral of the story: Next time you’re in PetCo and see some atrocious husbandry, don’t immediately scoff the negligence of those running the store.  Instead, try to educate them and excite them about the animals their caring for and approach it in a positive, polite, and somewhat quiet manner and see what happens, and this is coming from a guy who is banned from multiple PetCos and PetsMarts around the country. lol.

Until next time, try and get out there and make a positive impact on the herpetocultural world.  Whether it be as simple as removing a few eyecaps at a PetCo, or as elaborate as going to a school classroom or contributing to USARK, make it count!