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Pokie1
11-13-2004, 10:18 PM
Rating: Negative

Problems: Initially, Ts found to be in bare and dry critter keepers with dryed cotton in the bowls. One had a leg missing, but they were still selling it at full price.

Went in several times and spoke with store employees about the problems. I bought an A. Seemanni from them, but they did not know what it was called or how to care for it, except to say that they do not "do Spiders" and hand me a caresheet for G. rosea. I asked for a stock list but they did not have one and could only give me a couple of common names.

Last time I visited 11/13/04 things had gone from bad to worse. They had 3 T.s all kept in swamplike conditions with dirt, brownish cotton and insect guts in the mire that were now all 3 T.s homes. I talked to the "expert" there and asked some questions cuz he admitted that he "knows a lot" about T.s. I asked for the scientific names of the stock, but he did not know. I looked at one G. rosea (the only healthy looking one) and asked the sex. Answer I got was "I dunno that kinda stuff." I asked when was the last moult? "I dunno" Then I showed him how the spider (G. rosea) is standing in 3/4 inch of water/mud and that this was not the way they should be kept. I informed him that the dirt and cotton needed to come out of the water dish and the water needed to go in it, and that the substrate (mud)needed to be replaced with clean and dry substrate. He stared at me, rolled his eyes and then walked away without saying another word. I decided to rescue the healthy one and brought it home with me.

Aaargh! Should anyone have to rescue pets from neglect at pet stores? Shouldn't they fix problems when they are pointed out? Should they be offering sick/injured animals for sale? I think that Olympia Petco is poorly managed/staffed with people who obviously don't know anything about their stock and am furious that they neglect animals like this? Pics of my rescued Ts enclosure (as it was in Petco) are attached.

Pokie1
05-28-2005, 09:50 PM
It has been most of a year since I rescued Sunset. Conditions at that store were bad for many months.

However, the last time I visited, they not only had cleaned up the critter keepers, each spider had it's own temp controlled enclosure with fresh substrate, water bowls without cotton etc. They even had gotten in some fresh stock like Avic Avics, which were never available before.

Therefore, I am pulling two of the pics to save space and congradulate The Olympia Petco for vastly improving their care of arachnidae.

Pokie1

Snipes
05-29-2005, 07:51 PM
The petco in West Seattle is pretty good. I told them that avics are arboreal so giving them something to climb would be a good idea. The next time i was there, wood pieces and fake plants. They had water bowls, appropriate substrate and the temps and humidity were good. They try and i am pleasantly surprised. I hope these two Petcos become standard.

Tzitzimitl
12-14-2005, 05:07 PM
I go into the Oly Petco regularily to buy crix. I bought my first two t's from them, back when they still kept them in individual Kritter Keepers, but after the swampy mess phase. As the OP noted, there have been substantial improvements.

The staff are willing to listen to suggestions- they had a two inch A. seemani with a five-inch water bowl, and they changed it when I mentioned it was too big for the spider.

They were able to provide me with a list of available t's, and the bowls now have aquarium gravel in them, not cotton. At my last visit, someone had even put a fake plant in the A. seemani tank.

I have never had a problem with any of the staff. They have always been polite and willing to listen to anything I have to say. It might help that I'm a regular, though.

The two issues I'd mention is that both times I've purchased a T, the person helping me was arachnophobic and could barely get it into the box. The avic I purchased actually escaped and ran up my arm to my back. Should I buy one there again, I'm going to ask for someone non-phobic.

The other problem is that they keep several crix in there at all times. While I understand how busy it is to work retail, it is a little worrying. I'd give them a four out of five overall.