I keep reading all these posts about the evils of the pet industry and the greedy, uneducated ways of pet store employees. I want to offer up a perspective to think about, argue, flame or simply ponder.
Pet stores are retail. I work retail right now. A fundemental aspect of retail is turning a profit. This alone should not be viewed as a bad thing. All retailers turn a profit if they stay in business. Its a simple cause/effect relationship; Turn a profit, stay in business; do not turn a profit, go out of business. I would challenge that even Pro Exotics is turning a profit, yet they are not viewed as demonic. So, the question should stay focused on the manner in which they go about generating those profits. A frequent point of contention with most pet stores is knowledge of the animals they sell.
Now we are getting to a valid subject. I am quite sure everyone on this board can tell at least one horror story about a pet store that gave them terrible information or a half-dead animal. This follows with another fundamental of retail; in any given market there are good stores, and ther are bad ones, there are knowledgable employees, and there are idiots. What I think we as a community need to accept is the personal responsibility to educate ourselves before we take on the care of another living creature. I can promise you this, if you rely on retail centers as you sole eductor you are totally at the mercy of that store's abilites or lack there of. If you are lucky, maybe you talk to one of the only people at Petco that can tell you exactly what you need, accurately and honestly. Or maybe you speak to the cashier who kept and Iguana in high school "but it died." The point is, much like your sav's diet, your educational resources should be varied. This will ensure you have a lot of information and can make educated decisions about your husbandry and needs.
Second, I think its important to mention the bulk of the animals sold at major pet stores. Monitors are not one of them. You will certainly see them, do not get me wrong, but the bread and butter of their animal sales are DOGS, CATS, FERRETS, turtles, frogs, geckos and snakes. And for many of their reptiles, the products they sell ARE NEEDED.
So, we can slam pet stores for trying to make money. We can call them evil for trying to sell reptile specific products that are more expensive. We can certainly challenge the quality of their knowledge. Or we can understand the last fundamental of retail I'll mention; People will pay a lot of money for convenience. If it has a label on it that says "use this for your turtle," and happens to cost $10 more than the same product at Home Depot, people will pay that so they do not have to load up the kids and make another stop at Home Depot. (But now I'm making generalizations...)
My advice is this. If you are in the market for a monitor, find a reputable breeder that specializes in Monitors. Research the different species you are interested in. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Then, set up your enclosure with the things you have determined you need. And once you introduce the animal to their new home, your work has just begun. Take advantage of pet stores to supply the items they can for you, but rely on YOUR knowledge of those needs, not theirs.
One post-script point. Just becasue they are "breeders" by claim does not make them any better, possibly not as good, as pet stores. Read some of the posts here about people who have visited Reptile Expos and spoken to various "breeders." Look for breeders with brick and mortor presence. ProExotics is a great example. They have an online presence and a retail store. You can visit their website and view pictures of their animals and facilities. Being able to do this will filter out the fly-by-night animal butchers who buy animals by the bucket and sell them by the pound.
Good Luck. Rant over.
Ed