Need some help here....

[Sekani]

Didn't know if there was an appropriate place to put this on this forum but I don't know where else to go with it.

I went to the pet shop in my home town last tuesday to get a mouse for onyx (my corn) and went down to their reptile section, just to have a look. I saw this little boa curled into the corner of the tank with half shed skin all over her and noticed that she had barely any water in her water dish. (No hygrometer or thermometer that I could see either.)

Now I couldn't just leave without saying something to them about it because as far as I know, snakes in shed need water right? and its not like it was coming off in one piece, it was all over her. So I said to them 'it looks like she's having awful trouble trying to shed there, you should probably give her a little more water' and the guy was saying 'oh we're spraying her twice a day, but she's shed twice since we got her about two weeks ago and we've been using the shed solution on her as well'. I didn't ask any more but its been on my mind.. so I had to go back in today to get a mouse and I went to see how she was and this is what I saw:


They never filled up her water bowl.. Like what?! This is two days later. So there was a dfferent guy working there and I said it to him that she needs more water. Got the exact same answer that they're 'spraying her twice a day'. Wouldn't little sprays of water just evaporate in that tank?
I had a red tail a good few years ago, she was actually my first snake and she had a shedding problem too and I used to put vaseline on her, give her baths, wet paper towels and slowly but surely I always got it off. This little thing has lots of shed on her head and she looks so uncomfortable and it's making me so sad! I don't know what I can do for her.....

[jason_ladouceur]

That's sad. It's clear from the picture that the cage is dry as a bone. Sadly there isn't much you can do. You could go back and be more pushy about the fact that they need to be more vigilant about the care that they give the animals they have for sale. You could even go as far as to call your local humane society or animal control and file a report. But unfortunately none of this will likely do much good. The sad thing is that with very minimal effort the staff there could easily remove the stuck shed from that boa and top up its water bowl. This you would think would be a no brainer if for no other reason than they are trying to sell that snake and no one in there right mind would buy it in that condition. If I were you I'd probably just find anouther store to buy feeders from and hope for the best for that boa, and all the other animals they have.

[Kensa]

I would have asked to talk to a manager. Any beginner reptile keeper can see that she is having shedding issues, and any NORMAL human being will know that keeping ANY animal with no water source is extremely inhumane.

I would have talked to a manager and expressed my opinions in a very polite, yet firm way. Maybe if there is a reptile or herp club in your area you could bring this to their attention and they may possibly know some different avenues to explore with issues like this.

Makes me extremely sad and disappointed in the human race to see animals kept in conditions like this.

And no healthy snake should shed twice in two weeks

[danojeno]

As was said, talk to the manager or owner. Also, if you have other options, buy the feed elsewhere. No sense supporting an operation that doesn't care for its animals.

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[Sekani]

I just sent an email to our local society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Its sad because its just down to the people who work there being totally uneducated about the animals they're dealing with. I find that seems to be the normal thing here in Ireland, noone seems to know about reptiles....

[_Rumbler]

Wow, I actually said out loud "awwwww poor little thing"...and I am a twenty seven year old man. That is absolutely horrible, and extremely inhumane. I know I will probably get flamed for saying this but I can't help it. If it were me, I would not be able to resist trying to get that boa from them somehow, and If I had to buy it at full price I would. I just can't see an animal like that and push it in the back of my brain. It will just eat me up. I know it would be supporting a horrible pet store and they would just replace that one with another, but I personally couldn't let that snake be in their care anymore if I walked In and saw that. I would get the snake from them, and then tell them if I EVER see another snake or any animal for that matter, in that kind of condition I will report them and even go as far as the animal cruelty route...but hey, that's just me and my two cents.

[_Rumbler]

I just sent an email to our local society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Its sad because its just down to the people who work there being totally uneducated about the animals they're dealing with. I find that seems to be the normal thing here in Ireland, noone seems to know about reptiles....

And kudos to you for sending that email. Sometimes the smallest measure is all it takes

[Hotsalza]

that is a hot! hypo! Id buy it! squeaky clean not a speck to be seen :oO and then go after there asses with that picture..post flyers whatever you got to do that's sooo said and there are no excuses!! I don't have employees lol and you will never ever see my boas in that condition! no excuse