# Pets At Home Licence To Sell Reptiles And (Live Food)



## -MikeG- (Dec 11, 2009)

OMG i have bought some locusts from Pets At Home in warrington just to see if they were good quality and jesus! first of all being such a well know pet shop i thought yeah they'll be great but how wrong was i! i got my mrs to get them and she dosnt have a clue and when i saw them i felt sorry for the poor things. only 2 were alive just, they stank to high heaven and they charged me £2.30 for them! it has been 6 hours and the couple which are holding on for dear life are just no use to nobody and will not be feeding them to my dragon and am going to take them back tomorrow. If this is how they keep there food just think on for thos poor poor reptiles that they will be selling. its terrible, these kids are going to get a great pet have it die if they dont research and there parents are going to be frustrated at the kids as why they died and well they did do what there supposed to do (as most prob pets at home told them to) and they will not experiance the thrill and excitment of owning and caring for a great pet for a while untill they do realise that these big names are not a good choice. plus word will get out and its hard enough trying to convince parents that it will be great to own such a fab pet let alone people telling them, "oh i got one of those from pets at home and mine died and so on" so just a word of warning please do research and take propper care for your reptiles. Please. tell you what if i see them not taking propper care im going to throw the book at thes money grabbing buggars.


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## daveplymouth (May 26, 2009)

you cant tar everyone with the same brush! some small privately owned rep shops are just as bad if not worse, its the way it is theres some people on here who say the local pets at home is good and others say its bad i have no oppinion as we have one in plymouth but it dont sell reptile stuff well it didnt when i last went in there anyways.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I've bought live food from a local place before without checking, got home and realised most of the tub was dead. The place I always use now hand picks them all out of a bag in front of you so you're guaranteed good ones. Takes longer but definitely the way to do it.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

my local pets at home have the best locusts in the area. Although they like everyone else around here seem to have a short supply at the moment


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## queenquack (Apr 6, 2009)

tip: check they are alive wen u buy them!! and wen send parents to buy, tell them wat to look for.

i agree [email protected] selling reptiles is BAD NEWS!!!
admittidly some branches have got some very knowledgeable people working there but unfortunatly the majority of stores dont bother employing any1 with sence. i have heard horror stories about people buying the small furries and being give the wrong advise!!!

i went into my local and the tanks on display had the finest sand substrate i have ever seen! scary shit. i havent bought any live food from them as my small local pet shop stocks some brill live foods. 

the trueth is that these big coperations just dont care about the little things they sell as long as they sell them! i dont belive in young children owning reptiles unless mum/dad is knowledgeable in the area.

there isnt much anyone can do unfortnatly because cruelty cases only seem to be limited to certain stores. people who are really passonate about it should go and scope out there own stores, and document any bad practices and report them. xx


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

-MikeG- said:


> OMG i have bought some locusts from Pets At Home in warrington just to see if they were good quality and jesus! first of all being such a well know pet shop i thought yeah they'll be great but how wrong was i! i got my mrs to get them and she dosnt have a clue and when i saw them i felt sorry for the poor things. only 2 were alive just, they stank to high heaven and they charged me £2.30 for them! it has been 6 hours and the couple which are holding on for dear life are just no use to nobody and will not be feeding them to my dragon and am going to take them back tomorrow. If this is how they keep there food just think on for thos poor poor reptiles that they will be selling. its terrible, these kids are going to get a great pet have it die if they dont research and there parents are going to be frustrated at the kids as why they died and well they did do what there supposed to do (as most prob pets at home told them to) and they will not experiance the thrill and excitment of owning and caring for a great pet for a while untill they do realise that these big names are not a good choice. plus word will get out and its hard enough trying to convince parents that it will be great to own such a fab pet let alone people telling them, "oh i got one of those from pets at home and mine died and so on" so just a word of warning please do research and take propper care for your reptiles. Please. tell you what if i see them not taking propper care im going to throw the book at thes money grabbing buggars.


Always good to visually check them ..... Or you could always get them elsewhere - thought you had bought them from another shop recently that were fantastic ? :whistling2:


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## mariex4 (Oct 19, 2009)

im from blackburn and i know what you mean i got some hoppers and crickets and when i got home they were 2 hoppers alive but there was a bigish spider in there aswell but the crickets were dead to ,i have bought my live stock from this guy on ebay and what a fantastic job it was, heres the link 

Live Food LOCUSTS CRICKETS MEALWORMS WAXWORMS Livefood on eBay (end time 20-Dec-09 18:06:18 GMT)

buy any 3 tubs for £6.90 and free p/p
no matter how big or small .

yes when i got them the brown crickets looked dead but withing 5 minutes they were all alive just the cold from posting the kinda shut down my fruit fly starter was great and my back crickets im going to get my live food from him now as his stock is great and theres a hell of alot more than what shops sell


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

I check every single box I get of anything make sure half the box aint dead. I do this even when I go to the best reptile shops. I travel long distances for rep stuff so do get locusts from everywhere.

Like I said tho PAH have the best in the area. Ive spent hours talking to the guy in there he nos his stuff  They go thru every box when they arrive sort out the dead ones get them fed and rehydrated before they even sell them. There very helthy looking locusts. I brought a tenners worth the other day (About 60 Large/Extra Large) from my local petshop and was losing 3-4 a day. I spend alot of money here on my fish and on rep kit and hes normally excellent. It just proves that no matter where you go how much you spend your always going to get a bad batch

Its starting to p**s me off that people tarnish every shop because theyve had one bad experience. Every week theres several threads slaggin off PAH. Whilst I agree they shouldnt be selling certain reps UNLESS they have the right people in place the fact is that in some shops they do. I no also that in the past the guy in my local PAH has refused to sell beardies to certain people due to what theyve said/how theyve acted in shop


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## mariex4 (Oct 19, 2009)

well im sorry but when the one in blackburn keep there live food in a wall unit with a light im sorry thats just killing them quicker other places ive been to have there live food on shelfs so they last longer ,now if b/burn PAH were so good why keep live in a wall unit with light hmmmmmm makes me wonder if they are clued up on reptiles and there live food


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## draconiz-666 (Dec 7, 2009)

my local pets at home recently started selling live food, i went to them cos for some reason none of the local pet shops had locusts small enough for my lizards. the member of staff i spoke to actually knew his stuff and said they're getting beardies in. _to be honest, a big chain like that finally recognising reptiles as pets is a good thing and they're more likely to have to go through a lot of checks to stock reptiles and give advice. smaller pet shops dont have a reputation to worry about so say silly things like i over heard 'it wont get much bigger than that' about a young water dragon about the size of a gecko. and 'they like large crickets cos they like to bite the heads off and finish it off later' about anoles eating crickets twice the size of their head.
_
i only went once tho cos since then i've discovered its far more reliable to buy livefood online (when the postmen arent on strike)

i also noticed they keep them in a wall unit, but i cant see it as a problem, the food i had was pretty lively, and if they were kept out in the open they're more likely to get a draught or dropped by some kid picking them up and shaking them - plus they allow you to take animals in PAH and i wouldnt like the idea of a dog sniffing around at my locusts!


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

mariex4 said:


> well im sorry but when the one in blackburn keep there live food in a wall unit with a light im sorry thats just killing them quicker other places ive been to have there live food on shelfs so they last longer ,now if b/burn PAH were so good why keep live in a wall unit with light hmmmmmm makes me wonder if they are clued up on reptiles and there live food


If things arent right then theres a guy on here thats from PAH speak to him and raise your concerns. Im sure he will find this thread.

Im not saying there all brilliant cos lets face it there not but there are actually some very good shops out there


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## RENT-A-GOAT (Oct 25, 2009)

Have bought quite a few boxes of the xl locusts from my local pets at home (canley, coventry) and they have alwys been excellent very livley, eaten greens i have put in and with a minimum of 10 in each box I have had a couple of 11's and 1 of 12) with no dead ones on purchase or until the last one was fed to the dragons they seem to be good value as well. Each time I have gone in to my local [email protected] I have been asked to wait for them to get the reptile person to come over and serve me and each and every time I have been asked general questions of interest and care about my dragons and the reptile person there seems to want to give the best service he can and he hasnt failed so far unlike the 2 independants I have been to where i have walked out with no live food as it was all substandard with bodies in the boxes and higher prices. I just wish I could find a local source of silk worms.


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

Ooh a Pets at home thread, i think i shall settle down for a good read i've being dying to see a thread on [email protected] , there just isn't enough of them these days:whistling2:


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

yeah - might go to store of OP's complaint and write a 3 page report on my findings - that'll teach em..............:whistling2:


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

ginnerone said:


> Ooh a Pets at home thread, i think i shall settle down for a good read i've being dying to see a thread on [email protected] , there just isn't enough of them these days:whistling2:


lol exatcly my point. Its a case of who acn say the worst possible thing tarnish all with the same brush and disregard the good things theyve done.

Go to search forums and Type PAH and search million of posts wil come up... well maybe not millions but you no what I mean


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

Big Red One said:


> yeah - might go to store of OP's complaint and write a 3 page report on my findings - that'll teach em..............:whistling2:


 I agree with Big Red One, they may be brilliant or they may be totally diabolical, what use is whining going to do?, i recal a few months ago there was 4 different [email protected] threads on page one of the lizard section and in my opinion they are usless, anti-constructive and i don't see how they will help anyone, afterall there's been that many of them WE ALL KNOW that there are some good and some bad.
they just clutter up the forum and stop people who need help getting seen, this is my opinion though and as it's not on Tokays it'll probably be totally disregarded, people only listen when i talk Tokays but i think some times it pays to look and not just scan past these kind of posts. they defeat the entire object of the forum, i'm sure it does say lizard help and advice and all thats happening is loads of people arguing about a pet store,
i suggest it be moved to the feeder section or the off topic chat, that way people with REAL concerns may get helped.:devil:


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

yep like I said im also getting peed off with it

Do you no the name of the guy on here thats from PAH?


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## MrMike (Jun 28, 2008)

SteveCourty said:


> yep like I said im also getting peed off with it
> 
> Do you no the name of the guy on here thats from PAH?


I know the name of the member who works for [email protected], but I think I remember him getting pissed off with the constant threads about them. If he wants to post I'm sure he will.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

was just thinking to let the member from blackburn have a word. TBH i dont blame the bloke It pees me off and I dont work for them


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## Skooba (Oct 24, 2009)

[email protected] in Stoke-on-Trent is top class, no probs at all


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## -MikeG- (Dec 11, 2009)

Just been back to [email protected] and was asking them some seriouse questions, there answer to the dead locusts were "people dont know that were selling live food and so we have had them for a while plus we cant feed them due to the moisture and will kill them quickly" i then asked where they get there food and they said they get them from monks. he then brought me out a new box whic did look a little better but they were supposed 5ths and still smelled a little and were massive so i decided to take them as at least they were alive just so ic ould feed them up and i will chop legs and head off so itls like a worm for my beardie. there supposed to be getting the reptile in near march 2010 so i will return and keep you all posted as to how there keeping them. its nice to see people care for them and leaving posts as this is all new to me. Cheers guys


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

-MikeG- said:


> Just been back to [email protected] and was asking them some seriouse questions, there answer to the dead locusts were "people dont know that were selling live food and so we have had them for a while plus we cant feed them due to the moisture and will kill them quickly" i then asked where they get there food and they said they get them from monks. he then brought me out a new box whic did look a little better but they were supposed 5ths and still smelled a little and were massive so i decided to take them as at least they were alive just so ic ould feed them up and i will chop legs and head off so itls like a worm for my beardie. there supposed to be getting the reptile in near march 2010 so i will return and keep you all posted as to how there keeping them. its nice to see people care for them and leaving posts as this is all new to me. Cheers guys


 Hi Mike, i don't mean to be rude but, don't waste your time, i think i'm right in saying a good 80-90% of users won't even read it as they are sick of seeing [email protected] threads, i wouldn't have read it my self only i was bored and fancied putting a sarcy remark (sorry LOL). I'm glad you got some resolve from your issue but seriously there are hundreds of threads like this and they all say the same thing, most of us just get bored of reading the same stuff. Find a pet shop you like and post a good thread about them, this is way more constructive and i love reading about good pet shops so it'll get my attention.:2thumb:


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## suez (Jul 8, 2007)

-MikeG- said:


> Just been back to [email protected] and was asking them some seriouse questions, there answer to the dead locusts were "people dont know that were selling live food and so we have had them for a while plus we cant feed them due to the moisture and will kill them quickly" i then asked where they get there food and they said they get them from monks. he then brought me out a new box whic did look a little better but they were supposed 5ths and still smelled a little and were massive so i decided to take them as at least they were alive just so ic ould feed them up and i will chop legs and head off so itls like a worm for my beardie. there supposed to be getting the reptile in near march 2010 so i will return and keep you all posted as to how there keeping them. its nice to see people care for them and leaving posts as this is all new to me. Cheers guys


there is no point to chopping off heads and legs your beardie needs to hunt his food.crix small bad anyway so i cant see the problem there just make sure you you gut feed them before feeding to your pet.
in the colder weathwr it is much more difficult to keep livefood alive even just in the trasnsit period.check your food before you buy it.
I am fed up with hearing about [email protected] i have one not so far away from me and the animals (so far as they have just started to sell)are very clean and correctly heated.more so than some pet/rep stores i have visited


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## kingg6661 (May 26, 2008)

ok up front that S**t is getting so boring now end of the line is yer that some pets at home are goos some are babd end off y are so many people puting threads up every day i think people get the hint after lke 5 get put up my local on in beckton london i my self went in there a began to question the staff there as if i was a newbie and there were spot on same with on in letchworth and stevenage hertfordshire so get over this shish why are people still baniing on about it , if u gona moan find one of the old threads and B***h on then insted of making a new one and boring people to death


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## James D (Nov 17, 2008)

Do you really need to be a reptile buff to know a dead locust when you see one? If they smelt that bad, they must have been fairly decomposed and therefore obviously dead. I don't think 'they knew nothing about reptiles' can be used as an excuse in this case.



SteveCourty said:


> Do you no the name of the guy on here thats from PAH?


I work for PAH, but there are several members on here that do. Many of them tend to keep quiet about it due to the negativity most members show towards the company.

The livefood in my store is always good quality. If there are a couple dead in a box they get discounted 50%, any more than that and they are removed from sale.



MrMike said:


> I know the name of the member who works for [email protected], but I think I remember him getting pissed off with the constant threads about them.


If I'm the one you're talking about Mike, I did indeed get a little peeved.
I tend to read through most of the PAH threads, but very rarely comment on them.
It seems that once someone has an idea in their head, it's very difficult to change their mind so I tend not to try on here much any more.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

as stated in here and several other threads on the PAH issue I have actually defended my local store on there reps likewise as you say there locusts are brilliant I go there above any other shop in the area


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## Bradders100 (Feb 3, 2008)

To be fair, Most shops I've been to, if they are coing close to another order, you will find a few more dead ones.

At my place, we actualyl shrink off the bug grub stuff and try to replace it and take out dead bodies etc, if the box ends up having barely any in, we shrink for own use or half price if theres still a decent amount in there

You cant escape finding a crappy box every now and then :\


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## olivine (Feb 5, 2009)

Strange how the OP is happy to slate one pet shop, but happy to recommend another that several other members on here have expressed reservations about....:whistling2:


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## Dynamos Dragons (May 23, 2009)

You know what any shop that sells dead bugs obviously has issues wheather it be getting old stock or they dont look after it, however most shops at some point will end up with a dead one or 2. The shop i used to use (before buying online) had stacks of boxes to choose from. The amount of time ive seen kids in there shakeing the boxes whichs obviously kills some of the occupants. The best advice is "GET IT YOURSELF OR TELL SOMEONE WHAT TO LOOK FOR". I meen how hard is it to say to someone "get a box of large locusts for me and for christs sake if none are moving dont get it" :bash:
I now use livefood.co.uk and have done for a while, even them every once in a while(not very often at all) ill get a box im not happy with and a quick email/photo or whatever and they are decent enough to send me another box or replacement which makes up for the bad one. I go through so many boxes, bags, even my own roaches of livefood due to having so many babys that need feeding. It costs me a fortune but when i work out the percentage of good to bad from what is delivered etc, the good percentage is around 98% . Which in my opinion is pretty damm good...

So for me livefood.co.uk is the one:notworthy:


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

olivine said:


> Strange how the OP is happy to slate one pet shop, but happy to recommend another that several other members on here have expressed reservations about....:whistling2:


 well spotted, by all means air your veiws ans slate a shop if you must but to brand an entire chain of shops as rubbish just because 1 shop isn't up to scratch is a bit narrow minded if you ask me, if you had an issue about a damaged box of chocolates from somewhere like asda i doubt you would start whining and moaning that the entire asda chain is despicable for offending your eye's with such a disgrasefull and will full attempt at shoe horning secondrate goods into your possetion. look at the bigger picture ffs, they aren't all bad, some good some bad but tbh i have seen alot more post's in support of them rather hating them.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

think you hit the nail on the head there mate


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## -MikeG- (Dec 11, 2009)

Yes i see your point as not to slate a big chain just by one bad tub but you see we are dealing with live insects/animals/reptiles not a box of chocolates. i was concerned that if they couldnt keep the locusts, then how the hell they will keep the reptiles, and as i said we will see when they get them in. i am going to start buying online .. livefoods.co.uk i have came accross but was unsure on buying online but as you've recomended them to be so good i will give them a try  thankyou


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## Jasoon (Dec 14, 2009)

My mum went to pets at home for me and got a tub of locusts for me, they charged her £2.50 and there was only 6 small sized locusts in there..
I think I'll be sticking to the Ark for now on


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## Leeann_ (Mar 29, 2007)

I nipped in to my local Pah for a gander one day cos I had heard they do live food, I got a tub of xlrg locusts there was one dead but there was still about 10 alive. I got to the till and the girl gave me them for 50% off : victory:
They were still fresh and I got more than my local pet shop, so I was pleased at getting my tub for £1.15.

Leeann


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

well, life is like a box of locust, you never know what your gonna get !!!!
apart from you do know they will be locusts.


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

mariex4 said:


> im from blackburn and i know what you mean i got some hoppers and crickets and when i got home they were 2 hoppers alive but there was a bigish spider in there aswell but the crickets were dead to ,i have bought my live stock from this guy on ebay and what a fantastic job it was, heres the link
> 
> Live Food LOCUSTS CRICKETS MEALWORMS WAXWORMS Livefood on eBay (end time 20-Dec-09 18:06:18 GMT)
> 
> ...


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## celicachi (Sep 16, 2009)

pets at home are expensive, they're only £2 a box at my local rep shop in norwich


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

i get 3 generously filled boxes for a fiver at my local, although they don't last long with my critters chomping them down.


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## -MikeG- (Dec 11, 2009)

ginnerone said:


> well, life is like a box of locust, you never know what your gonna get !!!!
> apart from you do know they will be locusts.


LOL!!! HE HE HE :lol2:


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## liam.b (Sep 2, 2006)

ginnerone said:


> well, life is like a box of locust, you never know what your gonna get !!!!
> apart from you do know they will be locusts.


haha, in my local pets at home they are ok with livefood and reps, although a couple of the beardies were abit skinny and all thy sell are beardies,leos and herman tortoise you would have thought they could get atleast those right >_>


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

yours still sell hermans i thought the tort people got them banned from selling them


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## liam.b (Sep 2, 2006)

SteveCourty said:


> yours still sell hermans i thought the tort people got them banned from selling them


lol obviously not....


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## James D (Nov 17, 2008)

No PAH store sells tortoises any more.


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

I thought not the tort people complained of lack of ventilation as they were kept in vivs so PAH put in a load of ventilation and then the tort people complained that itd get to cold in there stores. They just kept going until they found something!


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## kingg6661 (May 26, 2008)

are people still ranting on about this come on man end off this threads bore me and im sure othere , but as also stated there are more good threads on here about PaH then bad so can people stop moaing all over one box of locust we get them at work but i dont go grumbering to the nation oh i had a bad tub of locust no one every use them ohh noooo its rather dull and its boring many apeople 

ok ill calm down now :whistling2:


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## liam.b (Sep 2, 2006)

well they had them in last week??? 0_o in the chichester one


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## James D (Nov 17, 2008)

liam.b said:


> well they had them in last week??? 0_o in the chichester one


They most definately shouldn't have had.
All tortoises went back to supplier quite some time ago....


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)




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## walkerman (Mar 12, 2010)

i have to agree our [email protected] is one of the worst reptile specailest i no they have improved big time with there live foods but!!!!!!! we sold a chap a brearded dragon with our care sheet ect.. he then we to pet at haome and they sold him this basking bulb he then came and asked my parnter what was wrong with this bulb as it was reachin temps of well over 100 so he went had a look at the set to find hed been sold 150w blub for a 2ftx18x15 tank we asked if he told the assinat the size of the tank and he had.

we went to pets at home manager to ask how this could have happened to find that the boy put in charge had no prev with reptile and had attended a 5 day course in not sure how i fee most sorry for us the customer or those bein held responalbe after a five day course i have been keeping reptiles for ten yrs and still learning....i think it is stupid to sell if there is no experianced hands :bash:


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## r3dg3cko rob (Aug 18, 2009)

I have to say I was quite impressed by my local [email protected] just bought my two leos from the one in Huntingdon. The chap was very aware of what he was doing and they were housed well, gave good advice and answered all of my questions confidently. He said there are only two members of staff who can sell reptiles at that store and was asking lots of questions about temps and hides etc before he'd sell me the geckos.

On the other hand... we have a 'garden and leisure' store in Huntingdon as well who currently have what looks like a 2x1 viv with 4 or 5 juvnile leos on calci sand, the vivs are crawling with crickets and look to be heated with bulbs not matts (obviously can't be certain of that tho)

we also have a new small indipenndant shop in the town that looks like someonnes rep collection in a shop, I went in asking about vivs and animals and he didn't have a clue, everythinng he quoted me for was twice the price i'd found on the internet - I was asking what morph Leos he could get hold of and he rang his supplier (while I was there) saying that he had a chap who wanted a morph gecko???? wtf!!!

I'm a million miles off being an expert but after only a few days of research on the interweb I knew what morphs were etc... Shocking what some people get away with.

PAH's animals were lively and healthy and speaking to the chap I felt confident they had been well looked after.


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

The place I used to get them only ever had one size available and was opening tubs to feed to their livestock! I asked them why they did this and they said that they did not use enough to have their own boxes...so just took a few out of the ones there and sold the rest...I have not bought any from there since.


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## smaug (Apr 12, 2009)

not sure if I should be slagging off or praising [email protected] TBH. I went on about a month ago and saw a gorgeous beardie in there, all reds, oranges and pinks, absolutley stunning. Now I already have a male so I asked what sex this one was thinking if female I could put them in together. I didn't tell the girl selling this just asked and she told me 100% female. Great!!!! Paid my cash, got it home, put it into a spare small viv until I could introduce her to Spot. Few days later I put them both outside viv in neutral territory and what happens? New arrival starts head bobbing and black bearding. Time to upend it!!! Yep - male. Now I'm not a happy bunny, have had to buy a whole new set up coz we have fallen in love with Phoenix. [email protected] did give them their due offer for me to take him back and refund me but as I said, we've fallen in love. So what is the outcome? Thank You [email protected] - they will give me (FOC) a female dragon when one comes in................hmmmmmmm that will be 3 dragons. Addictive stuff


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## Nicky_KM (Feb 7, 2010)

2.30!? The Pets At Home near me charges 3.00!! :evil:

The one thing I don't like about them selling exotics and supplies now is that their staff don't seem to be all that clued up on the animals they already have, and I fear they'd sell them to people left right and centre without making sure the customer is educated on the species and has the proper housing etc to care for whichever they buy. (This may not be the case elsewhere, but it is here.) 

Not to keen on that shop to be honest, I tend to just stick to buying the regular chinchilla stuff etc from there. Wouldn't be too keen on the exotics purely for those reasons.

But I will say this though, the set ups they had for beardies weren't half bad, better done than some pet shops, but looks can be deceiving! Just make sure whatever you buy has been cared for properly too, would be interesting to ask some in depth questions to see how much they really do know.


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## fiona_951 (May 27, 2008)

I work at Pets At Home and this thread makes me sad =(

Come to the one in Newbury and we'll treat you lovely =) And we know our stuff about reptiles. Haha Well, only a few of us are trained on them at the moment but we're nice people, please don't hate us. =(


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## Mrs Dragon Wolf (Oct 28, 2009)

-MikeG- said:


> OMG i have bought some locusts from Pets At Home in warrington just to see if they were good quality and jesus! first of all being such a well know pet shop i thought yeah they'll be great but how wrong was i! i got my mrs to get them and she dosnt have a clue and when i saw them i felt sorry for the poor things. only 2 were alive just, they stank to high heaven and they charged me £2.30 for them! it has been 6 hours and the couple which are holding on for dear life are just no use to nobody and will not be feeding them to my dragon and am going to take them back tomorrow. If this is how they keep there food just think on for thos poor poor reptiles that they will be selling. its terrible, these kids are going to get a great pet have it die if they dont research and there parents are going to be frustrated at the kids as why they died and well they did do what there supposed to do (as most prob pets at home told them to) and they will not experiance the thrill and excitment of owning and caring for a great pet for a while untill they do realise that these big names are not a good choice. plus word will get out and its hard enough trying to convince parents that it will be great to own such a fab pet let alone people telling them, "oh i got one of those from pets at home and mine died and so on" so just a word of warning please do research and take propper care for your reptiles. Please. tell you what if i see them not taking propper care im going to throw the book at thes money grabbing buggars.


*You know I get sick of reading things like this on the Internet .............. it is so damned easy to sit at a computer and slag this person, that store off, this pet shop off ................. if you have concerns take it up with the store manager, keep records and follow them through ................. for all the rest of us know you yourself could own a small shop and [email protected] have maybe recently moved into your area and taken a slice of your business away, or a relatives business.

We bought our first beardies and the our first set up from [email protected], the staff were young keen and well informed, the girl who dealt with us checked us out thoroughly on our knowledge of beardies, gave us great advice, and was not willing to let us walk out the store with both set up and beardies at the same time ............ she would have lost our sale rather than let that happen ................. we were not going to do it that way anyway, but it was good to know. There animals were well looked after, were healthy and handled daily by the staff members assigned to them.

I will admit their live food is not the best in the world and we subsequently sourced better live food locally ......... but that is one of the drawbacks of a huge retail store outlet, the central buying means that sometimes it would be better sourced at a local level for each store.*


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## Craigbaines (May 28, 2009)

does warrington sell rep's? iv never seen any in there? :/ 

i know they have cricks n tht.


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## Dragon Wolf (Oct 27, 2009)

*Question?*

If people don't like [email protected], why do you keep going in there?

In the past when I've not liked a shop [any shop], I simply didn't go back in there!!


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Mrs Dragon Wolf said:


> *You know I get sick of reading things like this on the Internet .............. it is so damned easy to sit at a computer and slag this person, that store off, this pet shop off ................. if you have concerns take it up with the store manager, keep records and follow them through ................. for all the rest of us know you yourself could own a small shop and [email protected] have maybe recently moved into your area and taken a slice of your business away, or a relatives business.*
> 
> *We bought our first beardies and the our first set up from [email protected], the staff were young keen and well informed, the girl who dealt with us checked us out thoroughly on our knowledge of beardies, gave us great advice, and was not willing to let us walk out the store with both set up and beardies at the same time ............ she would have lost our sale rather than let that happen ................. we were not going to do it that way anyway, but it was good to know. There animals were well looked after, were healthy and handled daily by the staff members assigned to them.*
> 
> *I will admit their live food is not the best in the world and we subsequently sourced better live food locally ......... but that is one of the drawbacks of a huge retail store outlet, the central buying means that sometimes it would be better sourced at a local level for each store.*


I have to agree with this. Everyone slags off [email protected]. But the reality is that there are many other pet shops that are far worse in my experience. Everyone feels that they can just slag them off because they are a multi-national. Yes, there may be shortcomings but as a relative newcomer to the rep retail scene they are ready to learn. They have tried to put safeguards in place, only selling animals when their trained personel are present. Sometimes these staff are "lacking". As an employer myself I know it is dificult to get rid of incompetant staff. But the store manager should respond to any reasonable concerns. 
The fact is, as a reptile keeping community, we need a large and commercial voice such as [email protected] to promote our hobby. The government loves to regulate and listens to the RSPCA who disapprove of reptile keeping. Need I say more?


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## Dean Cheetham (Jun 1, 2009)

I think the [email protected] branch i go to in farnborough is brilliant for live food, i always go there for mine always fresh and they restock like 3 times a week. Also there animals are in good conditions, all have sufficient living space(Temp of course), only thing i dont agree with there is that i think the leo's are being sold to young, or are just to thin for sale.
But other then that they are fairly good :2thumb:


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## MrMike (Jun 28, 2008)

jools said:


> The fact is, as a reptile keeping community, we need a large and commercial voice such as [email protected] to promote our hobby. The government loves to regulate and listens to the RSPCA who disapprove of reptile keeping. Need I say more?


This point has been raised on these threads before (by Mal I believe) and it is a valid point. Some people don't realise how under threat this hobby is and having [email protected] on-side could be a big advantage against the propaganda spreading antis.


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## GothGirl (Apr 9, 2008)

The one in wakefield is good, only just started selling reps, the livefood is cheap at £2.20 and its good quality and you get a lot in it.

The only thing I disagree with is loose substrates, but thats just because I'm addicted to Lino. : victory:


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## Dynamos Dragons (May 23, 2009)

I couldnt be bothered to read this whole thread but thought i would just say that *most *shops buy there livefood prepacked with bran as food, so the shop just stacks it and sells it. I used to send my misses to get my bugs but she would always pick up the boxes with dead ones in as there was less chance of escapees and less to jump around in the box and freak her out :bash::bash::bash:
The morale of this story is get your own bugs and pick the tubs yout self :2thumb:


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## Ninjaaa23 (Jan 22, 2010)

im surprised the employees arent scared of livefood


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## gtm15782 (Aug 24, 2008)

most of them are and thats why it gets neglected




Ninjaaa23 said:


> im surprised the employees arent scared of livefood


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## Ninjaaa23 (Jan 22, 2010)

gtm15782 said:


> most of them are and thats why it gets neglected


thought so not been in [email protected] for years now can u guess why:lol2:


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## gtm15782 (Aug 24, 2008)

every [email protected] I have been in has been terrible, and the livefood was the least of my worries, turtles with no UV, leos on sand and no humid hides, snakes on wood chippings with wet mice just dumped in there.

I'm sure there may be a few good ones around but in my experience they have not got a clue:banghead:


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## Ninjaaa23 (Jan 22, 2010)

gtm15782 said:


> every [email protected] I have been in has been terrible, and the livefood was the least of my worries, turtles with no UV, leos on sand and no humid hides, snakes on wood chippings with wet mice just dumped in there.
> 
> I'm sure there may be a few good ones around but in my experience they have not got a clue:banghead:


i agree although some employees know what thy are doing but thats sadly the smallest majority


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## neep_neep (Oct 18, 2007)

gtm15782 said:


> every [email protected] I have been in has been terrible, and the livefood was the least of my worries, turtles with no UV, leos on sand and no humid hides, snakes on wood chippings with wet mice just dumped in there.
> 
> I'm sure there may be a few good ones around but in my experience they have not got a clue:banghead:



You must be thinking of a different chain - [email protected] does not, and has never sold turtles or snakes : victory:


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## gtm15782 (Aug 24, 2008)

Sorry I meant tortoise (I all ways do that lol) but unless I was really drunk I have seen them stocking both types of reps.
Admitedly I have only seen snakes in 1 but I have seen tortoises in a couple of them.
And as previously stated was not impressed with what I saw.

As I said just going off my experience and have not been for a while but I know what I saw.


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