Keeping different species of snakes together?

Went to a local pet store today...I was disappointed. They had been doing pretty ok with their husbandry in the past, but today the place stunk, and in the reptile cages there were pieces of shed skin everywhere.
What bothered me most, though, was that with the adult ball pythons they are keeping some kind of carpet python (forgot what it was exactly), and with the adult boas they are keeping a tiger reticulated python.
...Isn't it pretty likely that one of these groups is going to eat the other? I know it's bad enough to house the same species together, but this was crazy. :O
I feel bad for the snakes. :(

VERY BAD IDEA!!! Boas can carry IBD which is certain death for pythons. I would steer clear of that place. I understand pet stores have to keep multiple snakes in enclosures due to space but multiple species, particularly mixing boas with pythons, should never be done.

It's also incredibly rare but there are photos online of a boa which ate a ball python cage mate and then died itself.

I hate that sort of thing in pet stores. I realize that space is an issue, but they could put 2 smaller cages in the same space and not look like idiots.

Another reason I say the age of brick and mortar pet stores is over, especially for herps. Never ran across a good or clean one.

I've heard carpet pythons often don't get along with member of their own species!

Yeah, that's just wrong.
IMO, 1 snake = 1 enclosure. (Unless breeding)

But I've seen horrific co-habitations in pet stores and even zoos. I was actually in a pet store a couple of weeks ago, and they were housing a corn snake with a brazilian rainbow boa. Uggghhh.

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Originally Posted by Krista

Yeah, that's just wrong.
IMO, 1 snake = 1 enclosure. (Unless breeding)

But I've seen horrific co-habitations in pet stores and even zoos. I was actually in a pet store a couple of weeks ago, and they were housing a corn snake with a brazilian rainbow boa. Uggghhh.

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There are not enough D: faces in the world

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

There are not enough D: faces in the world

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:rofl::rofl:

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

There are not enough D: faces in the world

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My thoughts exactly.
And when confronted, they basically told me that I didn't know what I was talking about. :rolleyes:

I wish chain pet stores would just sell supplies. They really shouldn't have animals IMO. Too many don't take care of them.

There's a pet store up the road, little family owned joint, that seems to do relatively well with their snakes. All of the employees seem to really like them, so they take good care of them. I think a couple of them could use an extra rat every week, but other than that and some old shed in an empty cage, I was actually impressed with them. One snake to a cage, no mixing of species, that sort of thing.

This is the kind of thing that makes me reeaaaally want to open my own reptile/exotic pet store. Every time I go into a pet store (chain or small) I see things I would improve on. Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot you can do other than try and educate the employees. And most of the time they are not going to listen.