# Ask a former Petco employee!



## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

I'll answer any and all questions honestly about my specific store (the Baltimore location). I no longer work there, though I hope to return in the next month or so.


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## valen1014 (Jan 20, 2013)

The other day I saw a cute baby molly in one of the display tanks. I heard that sometimes they'll give them away for free because they aren't really allowed to sell them anyways. Would it have been weird if I had asked if I could have it (really it was just a wee little fry)? would they have given it to me?


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

It honestly depends on the store and manager. There's no harm is asking if the fish is for sale (point out that it's a wee baby!) because typically we don't order fry. However, sometimes we do get entire shipments of tiny fish. We're always unhappy to receive shipments like these, since the fry die more readily than larger fish. They typically don't arrive in good condition. 

They may or may not have given the fish to you, but such a small widdle thing may have warranted a discount. If you do a bit of research and approach it politely, my store will usually allow things like that.


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## VJM (Feb 7, 2013)

What's the company policy on care for the live animals? Did you see that policy adhered to? Did you find it adequate?


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## LinkLover (Apr 3, 2012)

What is the official in-store care policy on Bettas? I have been told what it is supposed to be by a regional manager where I live (Washington), but I'm curious what they actually tell the employees.


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## purplecandle (Mar 3, 2013)

I have 3 petco in my area. Most of the time the fish look great, but I have always wondered.....

Why are all the fake aquarium plants plastic and not silk? My store occasionally has maybe 2 silk plants to choose from and then the other 30 for sale are cheap, tacky, plastic plants. Why isn't it at least 50/50?

No offense to people who like plastic plants (sometimes they are adorable). I just prefer silk as the flow better in water, fill space better and they just look better to me. 

Also, why is the decor always the same? They never seem to have something new. Maybe every other year I spot something new.

Oh...I almost forgot, why are the sand colors so limited? White and sometimes black...if they even have sand. At one store I asked for black sand, this was the response I got, "we don't usually get professional fish keepers in here, so we don't carry sand". 

I am unsure what asking for sand and being professional (I am not professional) have to do with each other???


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=130372 What do you think about this? It sounds like a common problem. Why don't they take better care of them?


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

VJM said:


> What's the company policy on care for the live animals? Did you see that policy adhered to? Did you find it adequate?


What do you mean by "company policy". Do you mean the overarching policy? All Petco stores are supposed to focus on pet care above everything else, except perhaps customer service. The animals are supposed to be clean, fed, watered, and in an appropriate habitat. We have a certain amount of feeding that's required (that for some animals is far too often), a certain kind of habitat (that's often not ideal), and a certain amount of animals allowed in each tank (that's terribly over-crowded). However, my store in particular tries it's best to adhere to the rules and policies while giving our animals the best environment possible. But no, I don't personally believe the policies are adequate. I don't really think that it would be possible to house all of the animals perfectly and still make money, which is why the company cuts corners with overcrowding and indecent habitats. My store does try to improve these conditions and we usually order less than other stores. We often buy the right kind of bedding/hides/etc. ourselves sometimes, but we will get in trouble if the habitats aren't up to company standard.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

What section did you work in most (aquatics? checkout?) Do you know what supplier was used for the fish? How many shelters/rescues did your store work with? Why aren't the tanks monitored more closely for dead fish? It's gross to go in to buy and see dead ones in every tank!

How do they hire? Is knowledge of animal care taken into consideration? Seems most employees don't care or have no clue.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

i know your getting many questions but is there anything the individual employee or even regional store can do about those tiny tanks the stores like to call aquariums? it does refer to selling half gallon tanks to an extent but more to do so with those that are 0.3g or even those that cant hold more than a cup of water.


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

LinkLover said:


> What is the official in-store care policy on Bettas? I have been told what it is supposed to be by a regional manager where I live (Washington), but I'm curious what they actually tell the employees.


If I'm going to be perfectly and absolutely honest, I was never told anything about our in-store betta care by ANYONE. I don't remember what the training videos said exactly, but I took it upon myself to change cup water and feed the bettas every day without any direction.

They were fed every day by the aquatics specialist, and sometimes even got treats (usually bloodworms) but they typically aren't treated for illnesses and the GM didn't tell the regular animal care employees to feed them or take care of them. I think I was the only one changing the water, though I believe someone has taken over that task - we have a new fish guy and the bettas usually look lovely when I visit, with very little debris in the cups. 

There is a small chance I simply don't remember what my manager told me about them, but I was never reminded to take care of the bettas, unless they had just be shipped to us (we got them out of those tiny torture baggies as fast as humanly possible).


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

purplecandle said:


> I have 3 petco in my area. Most of the time the fish look great, but I have always wondered.....
> 
> Why are all the fake aquarium plants plastic and not silk? My store occasionally has maybe 2 silk plants to choose from and then the other 30 for sale are cheap, tacky, plastic plants. Why isn't it at least 50/50?
> 
> ...


It's all cost, to be honest. Silk plants are vastly more expensive for the store to pull off the shelf and most of the plants we can order for the actual displays are plastic. We can't get discounted silk plants very easily. Though usually the tanks are decorated with products that are for sale (the driftwood, plants, and decorations are typically for sale if you ask), fake plants can't be resold once they're taken out of the packaging and put in a fish tank. 

And actually at my store we have a ton of sand options, so that's probably just your district. We have at least six colors available at all times (white, red, black, blue, etc.).


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

MattsBettas said:


> http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=130372 What do you think about this? It sounds like a common problem. Why don't they take better care of them?


We simply do not have the time or resources. 
Usually there is only one aquatic specialist in the store, if there even is one. If there are multiple, employees simply have to take a quiz to become aquatics certified. It's not easy, but it's just a test! We don't usually have to demonstrate our capabilities for a manager or anything like that. 

However, I believe that if they can't be given adequate care, we should stop ordering them. My store has been ordering less and less, just enough that we can sell most of them relatively quickly. Changing water in 50-100 cups every day is a daunting task, and very overwhelming for one person to tackle. Many aquatic specialists are more concerned with the tanks, that people tend to gravitate towards more, just because they tend to look more impressive. But it can be hard enough just to keep the 20+ tanks clean and healthy.

Sometimes it is simply that the bettas are entirely ignored, but more often it's lack of man power.


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

registereduser said:


> What section did you work in most (aquatics? checkout?) Do you know what supplier was used for the fish? How many shelters/rescues did your store work with? Why aren't the tanks monitored more closely for dead fish? It's gross to go in to buy and see dead ones in every tank!
> 
> How do they hire? Is knowledge of animal care taken into consideration? Seems most employees don't care or have no clue.


I worked at the register the most, but I was certified in almost every realm of the store, and I did do a fair amount of animal care (though mostly birds, reptiles, and small animals). I do not remember the supplier, but I can ask when I next visit. I believe we got fish from multiple sources. 

I don't believe we work with any rescues directly (except for Maryland Pet Rescue, that supply the cats at the front of the store). We do adopt out animals that are released to us or animals that were sick and have recovered. But they are hard to re-home since we're a small store and they typically sit in the back until we can tell someone about them. 

The tanks are actually monitored fairly closely at my store, but usually only by one employee at a time. At my store the manager checks for dead fish three times a day (sometimes only twice) and we still have dead fish from time to time. It's mostly a matter of rushing and missing them which is why they'll sometimes be there for a couple hours before they're retrieved. If a fish is sitting there for days, however, it's negligence. Some species of fish do eat their dead fairly fast though. 

You do not need experience to be hired, as the training is intensive. However, if the employee doesn't care about animals/their job and they don't do research outside of the workplace, they tend to be very ignorant. My co-workers were actually very well informed, as we all care a lot about animals and treating them well. Not all stores are so lucky. I think we need to alter our training methods. I did have a decent amount of experience when I was hired and the job definitely taught me a lot. But I doubt that is usually the case.


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

nel3 said:


> i know your getting many questions but is there anything the individual employee or even regional store can do about those tiny tanks the stores like to call aquariums? it does refer to selling half gallon tanks to an extent but more to do so with those that are 0.3g or even those that cant hold more than a cup of water.


We can't do anything at all, except for make sure that we don't let people buy them. There's a Superman "betta tank" available at my store right now that can't be more than 10oz. I almost cried when I picked it up. It's almost as small as the cups the bettas come in. We just have to make sure we're educating people, which doesn't happen at many Petcos. Usually they're more focused on making money. But my store has realized that to get stupid things like tiny tanks off the shelves we just need to totally ignore them and not sell any. Which we do. We always recommend a 2G or larger for bettas (which is still too small imo, but to each their own).


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

ashleigheperry said:


> We simply do not have the time or resources.
> .......... more often it's lack of man power.


I think that is the biggest problem. At "my" Petco the people are all too busy stocking shelves, doing inventory, etc. that the actual animals take a back seat. When illness strikes everyone gets it and then they are really short handed. They have to work while sick!


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

ashleigheperry said:


> We can't do anything at all, except for make sure that we don't let people buy them. There's a Superman "betta tank" available at my store right now that can't be more than 10oz.


Those things are horrible! Fortunately not big sellers. They started at $20 and now they are $5 :lol:


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

my petco actually takes care of their bettas they have a lot of bettas and a lot of different kinds they are all healthy and happy (i have never seen a dead one before) and they only keep like three baby bettas at a time.. my petco is way better than my petsmart


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

I have a question!! are any petco's in canada?? :3


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## eemmais (Oct 28, 2012)

I've seen a couple things online about the petco/petsmart animal suppliers. Apparently they are terrible to their animals, throwing mice into boxes, squishing hamsters...I don't want to go into details. What do you think about this?


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## cookiemonster3180 (Mar 6, 2013)

I think that is absolutely horrible! Nothing bothers me more than animal cruelty and they shouldn't hurt those poor animals!


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

eemmais said:


> I've seen a couple things online about the petco/petsmart animal suppliers. Apparently they are terrible to their animals, throwing mice into boxes, squishing hamsters...I don't want to go into details. What do you think about this?


If you ask me, I say:

*UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!*


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## eemmais (Oct 28, 2012)

Yeah, I think so, too. There are a couple videos by PETA about. If you are very sensitive about this kind of stuff, don't watch it. They are terrible.


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

I love animals so much I would squish them all in a giant HUG


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

eemmais said:


> I've seen a couple things online about the petco/petsmart animal suppliers. Apparently they are terrible to their animals, throwing mice into boxes, squishing hamsters...I don't want to go into details. What do you think about this?


Though many of our stores get animals from mills such as this, I don't know if ours does (I believe our birds come from a relatively small breeder, but the manager doesn't share the origins of the other animals and I never thought to ask until after I quit). I will try and find out, though, and let you all know. I can imagine our mice, rats, and other rodents come from mills though. They occasionally arrive ill/injured and aren't properly socialized. But I won't jump to conclusions. I'll find out asap. 

And I personally think it's disturbing and horrible. I wasn't as aware of these issues when I was employed at Petco, and it saddens me greatly. I'm unsure if I'll ever feel comfortable working there again if I find that we do source our animals from a mill. Supporting mills is awful.


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## eemmais (Oct 28, 2012)

Thank very much for your input. I agree that mills are disgusting. I too would not want to support petco if I knew that their rodents come from mills. It's good to know that some people in the pet industry actually care about the pain that animals go through, and not just getting some cash.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

ashleigheperry said:


> We can't do anything at all, except for make sure that we don't let people buy them. There's a Superman "betta tank" available at my store right now that can't be more than 10oz. I almost cried when I picked it up. It's almost as small as the cups the bettas come in. We just have to make sure we're educating people, which doesn't happen at many Petcos. Usually they're more focused on making money. But my store has realized that to get stupid things like tiny tanks off the shelves we just need to totally ignore them and not sell any. Which we do. We always recommend a 2G or larger for bettas (which is still too small imo, but to each their own).


than k you very much for the reply. thats good to hear that your store tries to keep those "tanks" sitting on the shelf for as long as possible without being sold. a local petstore sells the mini bow prisons that only hold 1 cup of water ($6 each :evil.

how well does the 2g tank minimum suggestion go along with most customers? i know some models are more expensive and certain buyers would rather buy the death traps than spend a few more dollars on a decent sized tank.


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

nel3 said:


> than k you very much for the reply. thats good to hear that your store tries to keep those "tanks" sitting on the shelf for as long as possible without being sold. a local petstore sells the mini bow prisons that only hold 1 cup of water ($6 each :evil.
> 
> how well does the 2g tank minimum suggestion go along with most customers? i know some models are more expensive and certain buyers would rather buy the death traps than spend a few more dollars on a decent sized tank.


Honestly I usually recommend even larger, so that way a 2G is an "affordable downgrade". 5G is my typical recommendation, and during our sales that usually goes over very well. We do sell a lot of large bowls though that are 1-2G, but I always highly discourage keeping them in bowls/similar containers and I explain that they need a heater, even if they opt for water changes instead of a filter.

The 2G and 5G kits that come with filters for about $25-40 are our best selling betta tanks, because that's what we push. We explain that the entire set up including food, rocks, heater, etc. will usually be about $50 from our store and most of the time people either agree to it or leave without the fish. But I'd rather they not get the animal if they're not willing to house it properly. The Aqueon Aquarium Mini-Bow 2.5 Gallon Acrylic Aquarium Kit is only $30 and all they need is a heater and decorations (and the fish) after that.


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## Hail0788 (Feb 14, 2013)

At my petco I was looking for females bettas with different tails. I talked to an employee about what kind of females they get and she said sometime they can get EE females but mostly its just VT's and CT's. Is this true? Do yall ever get any other kinds of tails besides VT's and CT's?


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

Hail0788 said:


> At my petco I was looking for females bettas with different tails. I talked to an employee about what kind of females they get and she said sometime they can get EE females but mostly its just VT's and CT's. Is this true? Do yall ever get any other kinds of tails besides VT's and CT's?


Pshhhhhhh we get all kinds and they are usually labeled wrong (most are put in VT cups, we never get enough of all the different cup variations for each kind). 
My store gets deltas, super deltas, crowntails, veiltails, elephant ears, kings, halfmoons, plakats, dragonscales etc. 

They're usually sold as the wrong kind but we get a fairly large range!


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## Hail0788 (Feb 14, 2013)

ashleigheperry said:


> Pshhhhhhh we get all kinds and they are usually labeled wrong (most are put in VT cups, we never get enough of all the different cup variations for each kind).
> My store gets deltas, super deltas, crowntails, veiltails, elephant ears, kings, halfmoons, plakats, dragonscales etc.
> 
> They're usually sold as the wrong kind but we get a fairly large range!


You are talking about females right?


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

Hail0788 said:


> You are talking about females right?


Yup! Both genders. 
Females are a bit more less varied than males in stock, but we usually have at least a couple of each. I know we get female VT, CT, HM, and DT regularly.


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## GhostFeather (Jun 23, 2011)

One of my pet Petco peves is their plants!!!
Why do they pass off non-aquatic plants as aquatic plants,at our store none of the staff even know the difference!!!
I have contacted the main headquarters(even threatened to contact the BBB,about false labeling)they just get real smart with me about it.
Just,the other day a lady was looking at the Bamboo plants and asking about them,I told her the ones at Petco would end up dying because they are to short and the leaves were way to far under the water.
I told her she could bigger and better ones at Walmart a lot cheaper.
Just riles me up when people work in places like that and have no clue what they are talking about!!!
It is not just Petco,I can be the Aquatics section of a lot of stores worse nightmare!!!!
Sorry about the rant!!!!
Bill


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

GhostFeather said:


> One of my pet Petco peves is their plants!!!
> Why do they pass off non-aquatic plants as aquatic plants,at our store none of the staff even know the difference!!!
> I have contacted the main headquarters(even threatened to contact the BBB,about false labeling)they just get real smart with me about it.
> Just,the other day a lady was looking at the Bamboo plants and asking about them,I told her the ones at Petco would end up dying because they are to short and the leaves were way to far under the water.
> ...


This is actually one of my all time hugest pet peeves when it comes to my store and any other store (besides bad animal care). I constantly had to correct my co-workers when it came to plants! Especially the bamboo ugh don't even get me started. It's honestly lack of education (which should be coming from the management and company, not just the employees themselves). Employees are told they're aquatic plants confidently, so most works aren't going to ignore company policy or do outside research. It's so frustrating. 

Some of the "aquatic plants" we sell aren't even stored in water. Like seriously it's obviously not aquatic. Blah, I absolutely agree with you. I've actually made my own care sheets for people before related to plants!


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## GhostFeather (Jun 23, 2011)

My hat's off to you!!!
It is refreshing to know that a Petco employee actually cares!!!
I guess it is true"If you open enough Oysters, you are bound to find one pearl".


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## ashleigheperry (Mar 1, 2013)

GhostFeather said:


> My hat's off to you!!!
> It is refreshing to know that a Petco employee actually cares!!!
> I guess it is true"If you open enough Oysters, you are bound to find one pearl".


Aw. 
Thank you so much! It's not just my own dedication (well, maybe the plant research is) but I did come from a store that was very focused on animal care. Though we went through some very incompetent managers (department managers, not the GM), their faults were always their management skills - we had a reptile and fish specialist who really knew what they were talking about but just weren't ready to lead a staff. 

They really got me interested in treating all of our animals properly past protocol. I started doing my own research and I learned so much! I remember the first time the aquatic specialist told me bamboo wasn't suitable for aquariums. I started looking up all of our plants immediately.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

ashleigheperry said:


> Honestly I usually recommend even larger, so that way a 2G is an "affordable downgrade". 5G is my typical recommendation, and during our sales that usually goes over very well. We do sell a lot of large bowls though that are 1-2G, but I always highly discourage keeping them in bowls/similar containers and I explain that they need a heater, even if they opt for water changes instead of a filter.
> 
> The 2G and 5G kits that come with filters for about $25-40 are our best selling betta tanks, because that's what we push. We explain that the entire set up including food, rocks, heater, etc. will usually be about $50 from our store and most of the time people either agree to it or leave without the fish. But I'd rather they not get the animal if they're not willing to house it properly. The Aqueon Aquarium Mini-Bow 2.5 Gallon Acrylic Aquarium Kit is only $30 and all they need is a heater and decorations (and the fish) after that.


thats a very good store policy that particular store has. i do think its also worth while that the "cheap" customers get turned away if they cant bother to get a proper decent setup. none of the stores here locally have such great policies. they dont mind them buying deathtraps and as usual improper traing is the word of the day. 

i have no particular case against 5g tanks though i dont have much space for 5g or larger. i dont mind 2.5g minimum but i do prefer 3.4g better than 2.5. i do have a 5g tank (that i chose though no space for a 10g) to keep 2 bettas in. i have no issues with it and its pretty easy to maintain, if not a bit time consuming to gravel vac.


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