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Heh, title says it all.
Went to a pet store the other day, looking for a bubbler and maybe some anachris. Well i noticed in their fish section they had about 5 hatchlings all together in what looked to be about 10 gallon tank, only about a quarter of water, 5 guppies, and a baby frog.... (set up looked nice, but knowing what i know now, it's not good for them) they also had 2 big ones in another tank but about the same size... two 5 inchers in a 10 gallon tank, just cruel. Went to talk to them about their set up, and what were they feeding him. When it came to veggies, he said, and i quote " it's not really good to give aquatic turtles veggies, they only eat meat and shouldn't be given anything else, only land turtles eat veggies"

... yeah
-nuff said

i know, these pet store people are morons, once i turn 16, i'm going into petsmart and getting a job to set it all straight!!!

Ive noticed the same thing at the petstores. At petsmart they used to have all their turtles in a huge tank but now they have them in like a shallow pond that they built for them. Very low water and full of plants.

At petco its worse because they have them in a huge tank like thing but the water is super dirty. I dont think they are running a filter for it. Also, nothing is in it but the turtles, no plants or anything, only plain concrete.

The Pet Stores Around Where I Live, Are Filled With Nothing But Uneducated People, It Makes Me Sick To Hear Some Of The Incorrect Information They Tell Their Customers.

Fortunately the pet stores around here (Mesquite Texas) don't sell turtles at all. Not Petco or Petsmart. They only sell turtle supplies. I'm really glad they don't try to sell turtles based on what I know now about how hard it is to maintain a healthy environment. If they were to ever start selling turtles I would object.

Elliott, while I admire your dedication...you are only one person! Go conquer the world!

I agree with you all that pet store empolyees are horrible, but they don't have to go through training for it so they just don't know... I personnally think they should have too, but that is my opinion...

At the local Petco here, it just opened, and they have one guy who is pretty knowledgable about Turtles, wanted to make sure I was feeding it right etc. Other people.....well we will just say they don't know jack.... You really have to watch what they tell you. They told me my 7" Turtle would be fine in a 20 Gallon TURTLE tank!! We are working on getting a 30 Gallon fish tank set up, then will look for a larger Rubbermaid container until my hubby gets working again and we can afford to upgrade to a larger tank.

I actually went to a pet store in Long Island this weekend and was totally surprised at the knowledge the workers there had for the section they were caring for - fish, turtle, rodents, etc. First of all, none of the workers were teenagers - they all looked over the age of 30.

Not only did they know their stuff when asked a question, it was obvious by the way they kept their turtles. They had two turtles - one about 4 inches and the other about 3 inches - in a 90 gallon tank with two separate basking areas and plenty of water depth. There was no gravel in the tank. I've seen too many pet stores with several 4 inch turtles in a 50 gallon tank with gravel and less than 3 inches of water depth.

I don't think I've ever seen an adequate setup for RES in a petstore, NY or elsewhere. Which store did you go to?

I went to an exotic pet store and saw the same thing-Too many res cramped in a small tank with little water and lots of plants. Also, the pet store employee told me that when my res grows to an adult, i should let it go into a canal, becasue thats what many people do, and that he'll be happy there. How sad! And now my mother thinks i should do that just because she thinks the pet store employees "know about the animals". ugh >_<

steve wrote:I don't think I've ever seen an adequate setup for RES in a petstore, NY or elsewhere. Which store did you go to?

It was Pets Warehouse in Copiague, LI. I was very surprised to see the tank setup they had since, like you, I'd never seen an adequate setup for the turtles. The larger turtle was basking and the smaller one was "floating" in the water, legs all stretched out, watching me. He looked so cute!

My local pet store (Petland) has three 7 inch turtles in a 10 gallon tank. The water is about 1.5 inches and the basking area takes up half of the tank. Their shells never get water on them. For the people thinking, oh I should go and buy all of their turtles and rescue them, STOP! You see, I thought that, I rescued the two turles in the 10 gallon at the time, then it gave the store enough money to get 3 turtles. The best way to save the turtles is to stop buying them from places that keep them in inadequate housing. Tell the store owner, how bad thier set up is, how to fix it, and that b/c of this you're going to spend a lot more money and buy it online from a humane dealer. Sure the however many turtles in pet stores right now will continue in torture, but we won't be bringing in more and more turtles into torture.

Well just my 14 year old mind unwinding.

I'm not defending petco, but I don't think they bother much with the right set up because the turtles don't last there much. (at least in mine they don't) they are bought by the end of the week. and i guess it makes it easier to pick out a turtle if there isn't much plants. I do like the fact that they have enough water to swim in, though even though they have their ubv light, i don't think they have a basking light

I guess the person above me makes a good point. they know people are going to buy the turtles so they don't bother with the right setups. it sad that people look at them as money makers ensted of the living breathing creatures that they are.

the petco i go to knows what there doing (sometimes) they hav two 6inch male res in a 120 gallon tank! what a surprise!