sad story

well yesterday i was at a really big pet store looking for a ribbon snake and i looked over into this display tank and there was the cutest little red tail boa but he had no light, no hide and he was on this sand substate curled up on this crystal rock thingy, it made me so mad

Call your local govt's humane society/organization. They get money to go out and investigate these types of problems, so utilize their services when you see stuff like that.

im seriously thinking about it. i hate the way some pet stores treat their animals. some pet stores (the smaller ones) usually take care of them pretty well. but the bigger ones are too busy and they never have time to take care of them the way they should

Doing that would be good karma and all it takes is one phone call...that snake will thank you.

I was at a reptile store over the 4th and saw an entire store that had their snakes on corn cob litter and cage lights without any barrier to protect the snakes from rubbing against them. The bulbs were mounted to the top on the inside and hung down. To top it off, these cages are made by the reptile store and they sell them this way too.
There also was not any hides in their cages either.

The only thing with stores that sell reptiles that like to hide a lot, is that its harder to sell and animal that the customer can't see, which is why many of them don't keep hides in the cages. Its just the way it is. I've actually asked my local shop that same question, and they said they provide a hide if the animal shows signs of stress, but those that adjust to it and feed fine generally stay out in the open.

It's somewhat understandable that they do need to show the animals they are selling, but what's the harm in the consumer asking for them to take them out to show them instead of always exposing them? They could simply put a sign by the enclosure that says to ask to see the animal....

exactly and somebody who REALLY is intrested in a animal will ask to see it, therfor i think they should always have hides.