this wuation is for people who have or are working at petsmart or petco?

Question

ok........do you guys carry wild caught reptiles...like gartersnakes , as in like do you order them wild caught...or do u get them from a breeder...thanks for answering

Answer 1

I once worked for Petsmart, and know someone who works for Petco. It may vary from store to store, but the Petcos in my area buy from a dealer. This dealer buys from other breeders. Petsmart bought mainly from a dealer also, but some of their bearded dragons and other animals came directly from a breeder. But when buying from a dealer who buys and resells, they have no control over whether or not the animals are captive bred or wild caught. These large chain pet stores have a buyer who handles the accounts, and really only care about profit margin, not the health and well being of the animals, or where they came from. To them, if it looks good on paper and is profitable, then they will go for it. And wild caught are usually cheaper than captive bred. I know that the Russian and Greek tortoises at Petsmart and Petco are wildcaught since these much cheaper than captive bred, as well as their aquatic turtles. And so are their green anoles, ribbon snakes, and garter snakes, since these are not commonly bred in captivity. I'm sure this is true for many of the smaller, cheaper lizards. Due to Australian laws, any animal from Australia, such as bearded dragons, are always captive bred, since they don't allow the capture and exportation of their native wildlife. And leopard geckos will most likely be captive bred. I always recommend buying from a reputable breeder before a pet store.

Answer 2

Most large chain stores claim that all animals are captive bred, but they are buying from authorized wholesalers and jobbers- who are almost always buying them from someone else, who usually got them from someone else, etc.

The store can make the claim 'we specify that all animals must be captive bred', but they cannot really enforce that at all levels of the process. You can tell some of them are wild caught by the parasite load they have, etc.

Also, in general, ANY ADULT animal you buy from a big chain was wild caught- captive breds are almost sold when young.

And save yourself the trouble- talking to the staff there means they will tell you what they are told, and no one there has the authority to change anything or research the real history of any specific animal.

Answer 3

Hi

When I was young(like 20) I worked at a private owned pet store that only had wild caught animals. I complained once, and I quit. The animals were in bad condition, and I helped care for them using some of my check. I soon quit, after school and thus now I am a vet.

Answer 4

Petco and Petsmart get from wholesalers. The wholesalers absolutely DO get wild caught animals, despite what they may claim.

I've seen frog eyed geckos (taratoscincus scincus) which I KNOW are wild caught, as well as russian tortoises and mountain horned dragons and savannah monitors, which are almost always wild caught

Answer 5

I do not work for either of these, but I believe my local PetSmart carries captive-bred reptiles.

Answer 6

Captive Bred only at my store, Petsmart

Answer 7

petco i believe uses a breeder

Answer 8

if you can help it do not buy from either place. Buy directly from the breeder or dealer yourself and save the mark-up

Answer 9

I do not work there but on all their signs on the tanks the lizzards are in it says captive bread