Rescuing reptiles or funding the problem?

Exactly. No matter how you get that animal from the pet store (free or paying) it leaves an empty cage to fill up. Oftentimes a good development will turn out bad in the long run: For example, my Petsmart used to carry ferrets...badly. They would stuff eight of them in a cage meant for 2-3 and no one really wanted to deal with them since they bit (too excited and too many wresting matches most likely). Recently, I was thrilled to see that no one was buying their ferrets and they finally stopped carrying them! Yay for the ferrets!
Unfortunately, that meant they were out one of their 'high price' animals and they started selling snakes to make up the lost revenue. :mad: It started ok with kingsnakes one to a cage, but last week they got in two juvenile Ball pythons and put both in the same cage with one half log hide and a small water dish (and a very outdated info card). I tried talking to them, but of course they 'couldn't do anything about it'.

In the end, you just have to take a deep breath, look the other way and walk out.

I think it all depends on the situation - so sometimes was my vote. I do not like to buy animals from pet stores, I try to keep to supplies. But I always end up looking around to see what kind of critters they have. If they have one thats not being taken care of and kept properly I will give them my :twocents:, and end up going back multiple time to check on it. Sad. If I have the knowledge and the means to take it in I will, if I don't I start going through a network of animal lover friends to see if someone can rescue if I'm not able. 9 times out of 10 the petstore will give you the animal at no charge just to shut you up and keep you from stirring the pot so to say. I tend to be a bit loud so the other customers hear how badly the animals are being kept and the store owner/managers, etc. don't like that very much. Too flippin bad for them. Those critters deserve better. I have rescued my share of critters from potbelly pigs to parakeets, dogs, cats - I could go on all day with this...:D Sorry this post was sooo long winded.

I am constantly amazed by the absolutely terrible reptile husbandry that I see at the pet stores around here. I went to one the other day and there was a red tail boa for "$99 with all accessories, no health guarantee". They had it housed in a tank with no hides, no temperature or humidity gauge, filthy water and a (as far as I could tell) non-temp regulated HEAT ROCK as the only source of warmth. The snake was so sickly looking, skinny as hell and with stuck shed all over his/her body. Meanwhile there was a book right next to the freakin cage explaining in great detail the proper way to house boas. I wanted so badly to take that little guy home with me but A) I can't support a store that treats their animals that badly and B) I don't think I could afford the vet bills it would take to get the animal back to health!
So my vote on this is NO. I bought my first (and only right now) BP from a local pet store and she had mites right off the bat. She's fine now and the pet store actually did a pretty good job of taking care of the rest of the snakes they had that had mites also but in the future I will be purchasing my snakes from either a recommended breeder or a pet store that specializes in reptiles like Zoo Creatures.
just my :2cent: later y'all!

we cant go around "saving" every poorly treated animal in every single pet store cuz not only would the pet stores profit in the end but our living areas would look like zoos(or bigger ones than they are now).

many times the "tortured" reptile leaves the pet store only to go home to some impulse buyer who continues the same poor husbandry practices as the store they purchased it from.

because of this i think that pet stores should only be able to sell animal supplies and never live animals. now how this can be done is up to whoever can and or will do this. its very unlikely and im sure many people will disagree with my opinion but after working at a big chain pet store for a couple years this is how i feel.

i feel that animals should be sold by breeders who are passionate about and love their animals. and if it means that all of us would need to get permits then so be it. the ones who go out of their way to get the permits are most likely the ones who will love and care for properly the animals that they are breeding.

now i know that there are pros and cons to the way i feel but its also never gonna happen so no need to jump all over my fantasy world...