Pastel Ball Pythons at Petco

Anyone ever seen any pastels at Petco? I know they do not sell them reguarly but sometimes pastels get mixed in the batch. I have personally got a pastel from there for regular price and today I saw another beautiful baby pastel. Anyone have any input on this? Should I buy the pastel I saw today (on sale for 50 bucks) and sell it for higher price?

Petco orders their snakes from a large industrial breeding company or something and the companies that send them these snakes just send them in mass bulks. Sometimes they would just throw in something special or what not and they really wouldn't care since they are still making some money.

I spoke to petco employees and one of them said that he saw a pied ball python end up in the batch and once he saw it he bought it for himself. Sometimes you'll see a lot of other reptiles that are cool morphs at petco too all on sale for the same petco price.

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Originally Posted by CeLLLLL

Petco orders their snakes from a large industrial breeding company or something and the companies that send them these snakes just send them in mass bulks. Sometimes they would just throw in something special or what not and they really wouldn't care since they are still making some money.

I spoke to petco employees and one of them said that he saw a pied ball python end up in the batch and once he saw it he bought it for himself. Sometimes you'll see a lot of other reptiles that are cool morphs at petco too all on sale for the same petco price.

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i work at Petco and I can get a good discount on this. Should I buy it and resell it? I have heard of baby BP looking like pastels and getting darker as they get older, so I am sceptical this is an actual pastel. Any word on this?

Maybe if you have a picture of it other people could give their advice because their probably a lot more experienced and can tell off the bat what kind of baby it is.

The one my friend got was pretty easy to tell because pied don't change that much i guess. Either way, maybe you could hide it or buy it and take it home and then if its not, bring it back to the store and put it back on sale.

I don't know about Petco, but at Petsmart they seel "fancy" Ball Pythons (as well as just regular BP's), which I'm assuming are various morphs...

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Originally Posted by alittleFREE

I don't know about Petco, but at Petsmart they seel "fancy" Ball Pythons (as well as just regular BP's), which I'm assuming are various morphs...

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how much are the prices of normals and fancys there?

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Originally Posted by CeLLLLL

how much are the prices of normals and fancys there?

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Fancies are $250 and normals are $80.

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Originally Posted by alittleFREE

Fancies are $250 and normals are $80.

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So Petco basically takes those "fancies" and compiles them all in to one tank with the "regulars."

hint hint.....

the place near me breeds their own in el paso so they only have normals. if its a pastel then buy it and sell it and go buy a high quality one from a better breeder

Yes, I bought a Pastel at Petco last June. I was going in for feeders and happened to look in the BP tank and saw something that looked out of the ordinary. It was much brighter than a normal. I asked them to see the little guy and I knew it had to be a mistake. I ended up taking him home for $ 80.00. What a steal. Here is a pic.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7294/zander1152010.jpg

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

Yes, I bought a Pastel at Petco last June. I was going in for feeders and happened to look in the BP tank and saw something that looked out of the ordinary. It was much brighter than a normal. I asked them to see the little guy and I knew it had to be a mistake. I ended up taking him home for $ 80.00. What a steal. Here is a pic.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7294/zander1152010.jpg

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Wow that is a steal! I always keep an eye on the ball python displays to make sure nothing special got thrown in. No such luck here though.

Wow, nice find CeeJay... that's not only a pastel, but a rather good looking one! :gj: They don't sell BPs here in San Francisco, since there's a restriction on selling boas & pythons... but a few miles away in San Mateo county it's allowed, so I might have to start checking Colma Petco for hidden gems. ;)

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Originally Posted by CeLLLLL

I spoke to petco employees and one of them said that he saw a pied ball python end up in the batch and once he saw it he bought it for himself. Sometimes you'll see a lot of other reptiles that are cool morphs at petco too all on sale for the same petco price.

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I doubt that, I bet it was a good ringer that he mistook for a pied, unless you saw it somehow?

So should Iget this pastel? With my employee discount I can get it for $40 bucks. I have a 20 gallon cage right now with another pastel BP (from Petco) and since they are bgoth fairly small I can put them together comfortably for a little while but I think I will have to sell one eventually.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

So should Iget this pastel? With my employee discount I can get it for $40 bucks. I have a 20 gallon cage right now with another pastel BP (from Petco) and since they are bgoth fairly small I can put them together comfortably for a little while but I think I will have to sell one eventually.

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Take a picture, and then we can give a more solid answer... hard to say without seeing the snake first. ;)

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

Take a picture, and then we can give a more solid answer... hard to say without seeing the snake first. ;)

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It is light light yellow, more light yellow than the one I have. I compared it to the others in the cage and their is an enormous noticable difference. I'll try and take a pic tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

It is light light yellow, more light yellow than the one I have. I compared it to the others in the cage and their is an enormous noticable difference. I'll try and take a pic tomorrow.

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Cool. :gj: If it really is a nice looking pastel, of course you should go for it!

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Originally Posted by CeLLLLL

Maybe if you have a picture of it other people could give their advice because their probably a lot more experienced and can tell off the bat what kind of baby it is.

The one my friend got was pretty easy to tell because pied don't change that much i guess. Either way, maybe you could hide it or buy it and take it home and then if its not, bring it back to the store and put it back on sale.

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No way is a pied going to get thrown into others by mistake :colbert:.You must have never seen a real pied if you think they dont look differant then others :rolleyes:

The idea that breeders will just accidentally sell a visual morph to Petco as a normal is a stretch to say the least. There are lots of light colored normals with blushing out there. Neither the light color or the blushing makes them a pastel.

As far as your idea of buying this light colored normal from Petco just to try to turn around and sell it as a Pastel (when its not)... I would NOT recommend it. It would be a pretty difficult task not to mention the permanent damage you will do to your reputation when the buyer figures out they got ripped off.

And to the guy who believes a Petco employee found a Pied ball in a Petco batch, I have this fantastic ocean front property in Missouri that I would love to discuss with you via PM.... :D

I have seen pastels on occasion at my petco but they are priced accordingly. The sign said pastel and it was priced at $250.00. They knew what they had in that instance. It was definately a pastel too. I figured they got it from someone who knew what they had.

Mike....So you are saying my snake in my pic is a Normal? Come on dude...

I went to other Petcos the same time I bought my PASTEL and noticed 2 other stores selling them as PASTELS (meaning the price tag said Pastel) and were priced at 150.00. I was lucky enough to get one at a store where they didn't know what they had. In the 3 years I have been going to Petco for feeders, this has only happened once.

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

Wow, nice find CeeJay... that's not only a pastel, but a rather good looking one! :gj: They don't sell BPs here in San Francisco, since there's a restriction on selling boas & pythons... but a few miles away in San Mateo county it's allowed, so I might have to start checking Colma Petco for hidden gems. ;)

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Thanks Lolo. He's been great. Definitely look around. You never know when one will pop up.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

So should Iget this pastel? With my employee discount I can get it for $40 bucks. I have a 20 gallon cage right now with another pastel BP (from Petco) and since they are bgoth fairly small I can put them together comfortably for a little while but I think I will have to sell one eventually.

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If it looks anything like mine then do it. Snap a pic and post it so we can see. 40 would be a crazy deal.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

Mike....So you are saying my snake in my pic is a Normal? Come on dude...

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Sorry, I don't recall saying anything about your snake.

If you are asking me if I think your snake is a pastel, my answer would be I don't know cause you haven't shown me enough. Sure the color and blushing looks like it could be a pastel but without seeing its belly and eyes, I can assume nothing more then a lighter then usual normal.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

I was lucky enough to get one at a store where they didn't know what they had.

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Just my thoughts on this if it were in fact a pastel... Buying something at a price that is way lower then it should be, obviously due to human error in my book is theft, and not exactly something to brag about. Hopefully the poor employee that made the mistake didn't loose their job.

EXCUSE ME!!!! The snake was in the tank with the other NORMALS and the price tag on the outside said 80.00!!! SO NOT ONLY ARE YOU SAYING I AM A LIAR BUT NOW A THIEF. GET THE F OUT OF HERE!!! Ill brag about it all I want. MORON.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Sorry, I don't recall saying anything about your snake

Just my thoughts on this if it were in fact a pastel... Buying something at a price that is way lower then it should be, obviously due to human error in my book is theft, and not exactly something to brag about. Hopefully the poor employee that made the mistake didn't loose their job.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Just my thoughts on this if it were in fact a pastel... Buying something at a price that is way lower then it should be, obviously due to human error in my book is theft, and not exactly something to brag about. Hopefully the poor employee that made the mistake didn't loose their job.

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Unfortunately your morals and values don't have much of a home in the business world.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

Unfortunately your morals and values don't have much of a home in the business world.

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Can you believe the audacity??? Unbelievable.

Here is your eye pic if you need any more proof let me know genius.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5174/zandereyes.jpg

Mike

When you go to Target or whatever and the price tag on a DVD is marked 10.00 but it rings up at 20.00 do you pay the 20.00 because you think it would be stealing???? Something to think about.

Eve...if the snake looks anything like the one in my pic, Go ahead and get it. Check the eyes too. They are like a yellowish green.

Forty bucks is a great deal to 99.999 percent of the world....Except Mike. He would think you were a thief too.

Here is another pic of my guy the day I bought him. You can use it as a reference.

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6429/firstdayc.jpg

Let us know.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

EXCUSE ME!!!! The snake was in the tank with the other NORMALS and the price tag on the outside said 80.00!!! SO NOT ONLY ARE YOU SAYING I AM A LIAR BUT NOW A THIEF. GET THE F OUT OF HERE!!! Ill brag about it all I want. MORON.

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All right now, no need for name calling here. Not acceptable:colbert:

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Originally Posted by joepythons

No way is a pied going to get thrown into others by mistake :colbert:.You must have never seen a real pied if you think they dont look differant then others :rolleyes:

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I'm not saying it was thrown in there by mistake. I have no idea how it was there nor do I stand behind his story. All I'm doing is passing a story on because it related to the topic. I know how a pied looks like and I'm sure he wouldn't buy it the day he saw it if he didn't think it was worth more than a normal.

ps. I don't know the guy but that's what he told me. Maybe I could ask him for a picture if I ever visit the same petco again.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

And to the guy who believes a Petco employee found a Pied ball in a Petco batch, I have this fantastic ocean front property in Missouri that I would love to discuss with you via PM.... :D

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Send me the PM :D

I personally wouldn't go around telling lies to random strangers. Maybe this petco employee enjoys that in life, but why would he go out of his way to tell me something like that.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Sorry, I don't recall saying anything about your snake.

If you are asking me if I think your snake is a pastel, my answer would be I don't know cause you haven't shown me enough. Sure the color and blushing looks like it could be a pastel but without seeing its belly and eyes, I can assume nothing more then a lighter then usual normal.




Just my thoughts on this if it were in fact a pastel... Buying something at a price that is way lower then it should be, obviously due to human error in my book is theft, and not exactly something to brag about. Hopefully the poor employee that made the mistake didn't loose their job.

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lol, wow. you need to get out more.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

Mike

When you go to Target or whatever and the price tag on a DVD is marked 10.00 but it rings up at 20.00 do you pay the 20.00 because you think it would be stealing???? Something to think about.

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from what I can see, he probably would. lol

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

Yes, I bought a Pastel at Petco last June. I was going in for feeders and happened to look in the BP tank and saw something that looked out of the ordinary. It was much brighter than a normal. I asked them to see the little guy and I knew it had to be a mistake. I ended up taking him home for $ 80.00. What a steal. Here is a pic.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7294/zander1152010.jpg

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$80 is a pretty normal price for a male pastel off a breeder. The fact that Petco sells normals for $80 is unreal.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

Unfortunately your morals and values don't have much of a home in the business world.

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My customer base would disagree with you. These aren't used cars, they are animals. A reputation to do the right thing in every transaction is what its all about grasshopper.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

EXCUSE ME!!!! The snake was in the tank with the other NORMALS and the price tag on the outside said 80.00!!! SO NOT ONLY ARE YOU SAYING I AM A LIAR BUT NOW A THIEF. GET THE F OUT OF HERE!!! Ill brag about it all I want. MORON.

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Sounds like somebody is a little trigger happy, and feeling a little guilty. I personally couldn't care less about what sub par things you choose to brag about, I was only providing food for thought.

By the way, I suggest that you review the TOS for this website newbie.

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Originally Posted by CeeJay

Forty bucks is a great deal to 99.999 percent of the world....Except Mike. He would think you were a thief too.

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I have had the pleasure of doing business directly with some of the biggest names in the business. I guess some of them are in that 1% too so thanks for the compliment. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Agent73

$80 is a pretty normal price for a male pastel off a breeder. The fact that Petco sells normals for $80 is unreal.

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this was the same thing i was thinking..

Great for the OP and the other poster that they've found pastels at petco.. but the animals that end up there were obviously wholesaled off for some reason (breeder didn't need or want them, breeder couldn't sell them themselves, they were extra males, they weren't as nice, whatever). Petco and petsmart get their animals from specific places, not private breeders.

I'd always recommend supporting a breeder you know and trust and will stand behind their animals rather than going to a big box pet store.

What would happen if that animal (like so many others it seems..) had a problem? RI, mites, whatever -- petco isn't the golden standard for customer service.

I would like to just remind everyone that name calling will not be tolerated at anytime. Feel free to continue the discussion however refrain from name calling and any reference to swear words.

Thanks everyone!!

I wouldn't buy a Pastel off Petco, it's the most common morph. Save your self a few more dollars and you could get a really nice Pastel with your choice of male or female of a private breeder. Also as other people have mentioned, it could be infected with something like mites.

Is not that $80 for a Pastel at Petco is cheap. Is that $80 for a normal at Petco is WAY over priced. You are taking the wrong approach when analyzing this.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Sounds like somebody is a little trigger happy, and feeling a little guilty. I personally couldn't care less about what sub par things you choose to brag about, I was only providing food for thought.

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Trigger happy??? No. I don't appreciate you attacking me for no reason. Yes you attacked me by basically calling me a thief. I don't appreciate you force feeding your opinion on how I acquired my purchase as if it were the absolute truth. I don't appreciate you assuming you know how I am feeling. Who do you think you are? Who are you to judge me? I suggest you stop providing food for thought. You are not very good at it.

Ummmm.....wow.....

Mike, if you think that the bigger breeders aren't going to turn down or take advantage of a deal, then you don't know them as well as you think that you do.

In RETAIL, it's not up to the buyer to correct the retailer on their pricing. It is entirely up to the retailer to HONOR the price that they have a product listed at, even if it's marked incorrectly. It's the LAW. I know this, because I used to work in retail many, many years ago, as a scanning coordinator in a large grocery chain, and we were audited by the State for this very thing. And it doesn't apply to just grocery.

For you to make the leap and accuse someone of being dishonorable because of a retailer's mistake....wow! Good thing you don't live in a glass house.

For the OP - be sure that what you're seeing isn't just a really nice high yellow normal like this one:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...BaileeJan6.jpg

And actually it is PetCo's policy to honor mis-marked products. If a tag is left up on a product (usually dog food) after a sale is over and a customer attempts to buy that product, the price is lowered to the sale price. Same with animals. Because it's PetCo's fault if something is mis-marked.

PetCo also honors competitors coupons and will do price matches for PetSmart.

How do I know this? I'm the dog trainer at a PetCo and have worked there for 4 years. Someone help me.... :P

I have to agree with mike here. There is no way they accidently threw a pied in a shipment to petco. A pastel is very understandable however because they can be very similar to a normal. I have seen some normals that have better colors than pastels.

You can get male pastels for around $100 breeding size. So yes $40 would be a steal especially if it were a female. I'm not buying into the pied at petco however thats just ridiculous. Thats like sayin I went through the McDonalds drive thru earlier and ordered a 99 cent double cheezburger and they accidently gave me a filet mignon....Come on now

A unusually yellow color does not automatically make a snake a pastel. It could be a normal with just brighter than normal coloring.

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Originally Posted by Agent73

$80 is a pretty normal price for a male pastel off a breeder. The fact that Petco sells normals for $80 is unreal.

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Ditto.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

My customer base would disagree with you. These aren't used cars, they are animals. A reputation to do the right thing in every transaction is what its all about grasshopper.

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So working at Petco, we have a cage with about 7 or so ball pythons. They are on sale right now for $50. You think i have some sort of duty to remove the pastel from the enclosure, bring it to the register and say "charge me $250 for this" ???

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Ummmm.....wow.....

Mike, if you think that the bigger breeders aren't going to turn down or take advantage of a deal, then you don't know them as well as you think that you do.

In RETAIL, it's not up to the buyer to correct the retailer on their pricing. It is entirely up to the retailer to HONOR the price that they have a product listed at, even if it's marked incorrectly. It's the LAW. I know this, because I used to work in retail many, many years ago, as a scanning coordinator in a large grocery chain, and we were audited by the State for this very thing. And it doesn't apply to just grocery.

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I love when people throw around the "IT's THE LAW" phrase because this gives me a chance to correct them (usually).

Let's say a product is in the wrong place, priced wrong, and a customer chooses to buy the product based solely on that perceived cheaper price. Does the retailer hhve to honor the cheaper proce? NO! It is not the law because an advertisement for something is not a contract.

Most retailers will honor the price however because we know that customers are usually whiny little babies. They will moan and groan until they get their way, spewing logic like "it's the law." It gets quite annoyoing dealing with these people on a daily basis.

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Originally Posted by CeLLLLL

I'm not saying it was thrown in there by mistake. I have no idea how it was there nor do I stand behind his story. All I'm doing is passing a story on because it related to the topic. I know how a pied looks like and I'm sure he wouldn't buy it the day he saw it if he didn't think it was worth more than a normal.

ps. I don't know the guy but that's what he told me. Maybe I could ask him for a picture if I ever visit the same petco again.

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Maybe he is one of those story tellers :P.

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Sounds like somebody is a little trigger happy, and feeling a little guilty. I personally couldn't care less about what sub par things you choose to brag about, I was only providing food for thought.

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You would get "trigger happy" too if some random stranger came up with an out of this world nonsense remark like yours too. I mean, where does someone even begin to process that kind of remark? I paid much less under the "normal" going rate for my Chihuahua...so are you saying I should have told the seller, "I'm sorry but I cannot accept it for that price, it's just way too low and I feel like I should tell you that you are low-balling yourself by selling it for this price?" NO WAY! What percentage of ppl do you think would actually go out of their way and do this? I mean, are you for real? Seriously...are you?!

He was not complimenting you.

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Originally Posted by EvesFriend

I love when people throw around the "IT's THE LAW" phrase because this gives me a chance to correct them (usually).

Let's say a product is in the wrong place, priced wrong, and a customer chooses to buy the product based solely on that perceived cheaper price. Does the retailer hhve to honor the cheaper proce? NO! It is not the law because an advertisement for something is not a contract.

Most retailers will honor the price however because we know that customers are usually whiny little babies. They will moan and groan until they get their way, spewing logic like "it's the law." It gets quite annoyoing dealing with these people on a daily basis.

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It is the law that if a product - with matching UPC label is priced one price and rings up another - that they have to match the price on the shelf.

If Petco puts a pastel in with normals and has a sign with ball pythons priced at $xyz price - they have to honor that price. It IS the law.