PETCO does what to ball pythons?!

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Originally Posted by pythonlover 17

: (does petco really starve their bp's so you'll buy them?if they do isn't that animal abuse and isn't that illegal?!: (

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Was this a hit and run post? I'm also curious where you got this information.

The snakes in my local Petco all seem to be in very good condition. I bought my BP there and he has been awesome. I feed every Sunday which was the feeding schedule that they had him on. He has never missed a meal and is very healthy. My corn that I got from there was also fed every week. When I got her they said that she had not eaten in 2 weeks, but food was offered weekly.(baby corn) She has been eating fine for me after I found the trick to getting her to eat. Those of you who have had baby corns know how much fun it is to get them to eat sometimes. I think it depends on the store location, but I highly doubt that they are going out of their way to starve them.

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Originally Posted by pythonlover 17

: (does petco really starve their bp's so you'll buy them?if they do isn't that animal abuse and isn't that illegal?!: (

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I think that the person that posted the information about employees instructed not to feed ball pythons did not mean that the store was trying to get sympathy or rescue sales. I think that the point was that the store owner knew that ball pythons could live many months without eating and he reasoned that he could sell them before they starved to death and could save a few dollars that way.

As much as I hate Petco I can say I have a friend who works there and everytime I've been in there to say hi to her, I always check out the animals in the store. I can say that the Petco by me does take care of their reptiles pretty good along with most of the other animals... except fish. I also see a bunch of sick and or dead fish.

A snake breeder buddy of mine works for Petsmart and he's in charge of the small animals. I kid you not he's fired others over for not feeding the reptiles and other animals correctly. He doesn't play around and he now has it a rule that he is the only one who can feed the reptiles now. This makes him not really have a day off, but I can tell you those snakes, frogs, lizards ALL live the best life in a petstore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythonlover 17

: (does petco really starve their bp's so you'll buy them?if they do isn't that animal abuse and isn't that illegal?!: (

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This post makes sense no absolutely:weirdface

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Originally Posted by mricyfire

This post makes sense no absolutely:weirdface

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lmao

As a result of this thread I went to the Petco nearest me, which is a place that I never go to at all. I looked at the Leopard geckos. Their tank was clean and the temperatures and humidity were good. They had half log hides ( not the best, but at least they have hides). They have a clean bowl of water and a dish of giant meal worms. Their are too many geckos in the tank but the overcrowding wasn't criminal. The real problem is that they were skinny as death camp survivors,every one of them. No fat at all in the tails or body. I looked at the ball pythons. The tank was clean and the temperature and the humidity were correct. There were no hides at all in the tank. They were so crowded together that they were forced to be in a single pile.They were all thin and flat looking. I suspect that each Petco is only as good as the team consisting of ownership,management and employees is. But this is how I found this particular Petco. Also other than the cashier I saw no employees.

who starts these posts!

i wouldn't say they starve them their husbandry bites but i don't think they would intentionally starve any of their snakes
i did buy one as sort of a rescue snake i was gonna get a beardie for my brother but i saw the bp had a horrible shed and was still eating pinkies when it was ready for fuzzies so i bought him out of pity for him he's the best little bp i could ask for

P.S. this was at a petsmart

The petco in Midland, Mi was the worst. BP's were hardly moving and skinny, mite infested, over crowded with no hides, feces everywhere. The other animals were barely making it either. Good thing it shut down a few months ago. :/