PROOF that pet stores know nothing...

i went to the pet store today and I look in the ball python tank and heres what was in the tank for it: Bark substrate, one fake plant, water bowl.

THATS IT !

they didnt even give a BALL PYTHON any place to hide !!

its a shame...

Poor girl or guy!

PROOF that one pet store doesn't know how to take care of a BP...

but saying that they know NOTHING and that ALL pet stores know nothing is rather ignorant....

Elitist attitudes are fine, I feel the same way when I go to most pet stores and bemoan how they take care of their ball pythons, but I've found a few who take extraordinary care of their animals.

It summer, no need for blanket statements :)

That's a shame.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about Petcos, however, I was quite surprised by the decency in which the one near my apartment took care of their scalekids. They were well-taken care of, had multiple hides, and had fresh water each time I've been in there. Granted, they had multiple kids in enclosures, however, there were "adequate" amounts of hides, and the enclosures were at least 40gallon. Considering they were young, and I realize that they want to sell them quickly, I was quite surprised. -Shrugs.- I guess not all of the Petco horror stories run through the entire chain.

ALL petstores by me are terrible.


15 BP's in a 10 gallon tank. 1 hide. Empty water bowl. No heat.

Albino burm. Horrible RI. Won't treat it. Too expensive. Let the person who buys it treat it.

3 adult corns in a 20 gallon. One laid eggs. Took the eggs out and put them in a plastic kritter keeper all jumbled up with no heat. Eggs were fertile. No all went bad.

Adult kingsnakes and baby cornsnakes housed together. Couldn't figure out how the baby corns managed to "escape" and not be found.

Constantly recommends un-needed junk equipment to newbies because they have a "no return" policy.

Workers "don't do snakes" so forget about asking to have one taken out of the cage to look at it.

Mites are harmless. They won't infect your other snakes.

Fruits and vegetables in a bowl for the iggys, and the beardies, AND THE MONITORS!

Water monitor means the lizard needs to be kept in an aquarium full of water. They are after all "water monitors".

Boas, ball pythons, and burmese pythons all kept together in 10 gallon tanks.

Ball pythons, savannah monitors, and sulcattas all in one 20 gallon tank on sand. Hey, they're all from Africa, right?

I gave up a long time ago on petstores. It's too depressing to see the way they take care of the animals and if you make a suggestion, they tell you they "know what they are doing".

I'd have to agree, most pet stores don't know much (to say the most) about reptiles/snakes. I bought my bp at superpets and she was housed with two other bp with only an overthe tank light, bowl of water, and a plant. They acted like they knew alot about snakes and told me only to keep her tank at 78-80 F & that she had ate that day. Nothing about the sex, where she came from, how old, etc. They just acted like I was stupid.
Since they do specialize in other pets (mainly dogs and cats) I shouldn't expected much from them.

But Not all pet stores are like that. A reptile shop just opened near me (We bought our macklot from them) and they are awesome. They check daily the temps of all the reptiles, feed them properly, have hides and everything basic that the reptiles need, and they even have just some display animals (that they would never sell). The staff is friendly and helpful, they probe the snakes properly, are willing to answer any questions that they can, and they breed all the mice and rats there. I just wish more places were like that.

So sorry for the long post. But I just thought I'd share my experiences.

most petstores put so many in a tank because they are going to be sold any ways, they know those are not forever homes for them. But I do agree most pet stores do give snakes horrible care. But the petco in germantown, vet pets, and hollywood petstar gives their snakes very good care.

If the customer can't see the product they are less likely to buy the product and since the store is trying to sell the product...
Not that I condone it but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Hamsters are solitary creatures though they put many in a tank together, technically they also overstock their fish aquariums, their bird cages...

A Petco near my house (there's like 5 within 20 minutes of me) never cleans their cages. I always see the same poopoo week after week. Really disgusting.

I think a lot of places that keep multiple types of animals put the mammals and birds on the top of the maintenance list seeing as what kind of messes they are capable of making. The reptiles get left at the end considering they don't get busy and run out of time to do them, and then they see that they were fine for that one day they didn't get done, so another day goes by, and another, and the next thing you know, all their water has evaporated and they've gone without for a few days. I think that's how it goes at a store here in Houston that sells puppies, kittens, birds, fish, and reptiles. None of the reptiles had water and you could see the evaporation lines on the dishes. The leopard gecko babies were overcrowded, with a couple nice fat ones, and all the rest malnourished and weak. :(

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I think a lot of places that keep multiple types of animals put the mammals and birds on the top of the maintenance list seeing as what kind of messes they are capable of making. The reptiles get left at the end considering they don't get busy and run out of time to do them, and then they see that they were fine for that one day they didn't get done, so another day goes by, and another, and the next thing you know, all their water has evaporated and they've gone without for a few days. I think that's how it goes at a store here in Houston that sells puppies, kittens, birds, fish, and reptiles. None of the reptiles had water and you could see the evaporation lines on the dishes. The leopard gecko babies were overcrowded, with a couple nice fat ones, and all the rest malnourished and weak. :(

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That's why you have different people for different departments. I swear, hire more people. I'd love to work in the reptile section of Petco. I think they'd see a huge sales increase if I was hired. :P

I think that saying that all 'pet stores' know nothing about caring for reptiles is incorrect. Large chain pet stores lite Petsmart and Petco don't specialize in reptiles, so they don't focus too much on them. There are some pet stores that specialize in reptiles and snakes, and their staff is generally knowledgable about the care of these animals. Also take into consideration that their goal is to sell these animals and they may not be able to provide perfect husbandry due to lack of space. Just because one pet store is bad about their care doesn't mean that they all are.

okay, not all pet stores are...but ne way...in that same tank they had 3 BP's and no hides....so the snakes were just curled up in the corner....i could work at the pet store that i got my snake from but idk if i want to...

Go into Slither and Swim in West Haven CT.


They specialize in reptiles.

If you can stand the smell and actually get in the door, you will be amazed at the filth and overcrowding and housing of incompatable species in some of the setups they have there. A lot of the animals don't even have a heat source.

The albino burm right in the front has such a severe RI that it wheezes, blows out fluid, and can't close it's mouth all the way due to the infection. They know it's extremely sick and their response is that it would cost too much to treat it so the owner won't bring it to the vet. They are hoping someone pays the $400 to buy it before it ends up dying.

That is so sad, that poor snake. I can understand pet stores neglecting things like that but not a reptile shop. They need to be shut down, if they can't even do basic care, in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by SPJ

Go into Slither and Swim in West Haven CT.


They specialize in reptiles.

If you can stand the smell and actually get in the door, you will be amazed at the filth and overcrowding and housing of incompatable species in some of the setups they have there. A lot of the animals don't even have a heat source.

The albino burm right in the front has such a severe RI that it wheezes, blows out fluid, and can't close it's mouth all the way due to the infection. They know it's extremely sick and their response is that it would cost too much to treat it so the owner won't bring it to the vet. They are hoping someone pays the $400 to buy it before it ends up dying.

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I wish I lived closer; I would go in and give them a piece of my mind...

The place I got Orpheus from use to be a reptile only store. Dealing only with Retiles and the like. :carrot:

Went in a week ago to get supplys for my new comer and what do I see fish and furries every where. The reptiles had moved to a little corner in the back.
:confused:

Then the crying started. 10 to 15 hatchlings in on big tank no I said NO substrate and one hide. All had stuck sheds and poop every where. :soapbx:

Then the Beardie's same thing and also with the carpets and the Burms. :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r:

Give them away if your not going to take care of them or stop selling them sorry :cens0r: :taz: :fork:

You do get some bad stores, but yes, there are good ones around too! Around my area there are a few that host reptiles (About 5 stores) and the care and setups are nice!

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

The place I got Orpheus from use to be a reptile only store. Dealing only with Retiles and the like. :carrot:

Went in a week ago to get supplys for my new comer and what do I see fish and furries every where. The reptiles had moved to a little corner in the back.
:confused:

Then the crying started. 10 to 15 hatchlings in on big tank no I said NO substrate and one hide. All had stuck sheds and poop every where. :soapbx:

Then the Beardie's same thing and also with the carpets and the Burms. :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r: :cens0r:

Give them away if your not going to take care of them or stop selling them sorry :cens0r: :taz: :fork:

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i like the animation after every comment... :sweeet:

The thing that a lot of people don't realize is that just like there are good pet stores and bad pet stores, there are also good breeders and bad breeders. If a bad pet store that is open to the public and inspected by the health department in most communities has snakes in filthy, crowded conditions .... how do you think a bad breeder that has a private facility that no one ever sees is going to keep his/her animals ... and the kicker is that those are the guys/gals that usually have the "deals" that everyone loves to take advantage of.

There is a lot of overhead in buying caging for every single animal you produce, buying hides, vet bills, feeding every single snake every single week, paying people to help keep your facility clean ... the "good guys" need to charge what they charge to cover the overhead of running a top notch operation ... the "bad guys" could not care less if they house multiple snakes in a single tub in a rack, don't provide hides, clean cages when they get to it ... they are just making their money moving snakes as fast as they can with low low prices .... so next time you see a "great deal" on the classified somewhere think about how that animal might have been kept? ... Maybe in a 15 gallon tank with one hide and no water ... piled on top of 10 other snakes ... maybe covered in feces and old sheds .... maybe next to a cage with an adult snake with RI .... I know what you’re going to say … oh no Adam, surely that doesn’t happen with high end morphs … LMAO … you bet it does! … Just something to think about. ;)

Sorry for going off topic, but private breeders are not immune from the same problems pet stores have ... do your home work before you buy ... from ANYWHERE!

-adam

So basically ask for reputable breeders or pet shops and don't just look for the best deal...

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Originally Posted by Grim91Z

So basically ask for reputable breeders or pet shops and don't just look for the best deal...

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Bingo..

Also know what bad husbandry is and don't think that you will be doing the animal a favor by getting it. The store will only replace it with another one. :cens0r:

Buy from a good breeder or from a store that sells quality/cared for animals. the extra money you spend getting from a good breeder save you on vet bills and dieing animals.

I dont even buy feeders from that store any more. They dont even get my smallet order.

I plann on buying them out one day and doing it right. :zerb:

This is my main issue with chain stores but mainly with fish. More importantly saltwater fish. I dont buy (sw fish) from chains as a result of this kind of behavior.

I think that the only thing "chain" stores are good for is supplies. I wouldn't get any animals from a chain store. I would either go to a breeder or a specialty store for the animal itself.

You get what you pay for...

I hafta give props to a local reptile store (well, local 20 miles away), Amazon Reptile Center in Montclair. We'll be buying ratties there for Cleo since the local reptile shops don't carry ratties small enough cleo (she's on rat weanlings...small adults are still a bit too big), so drove out this weekend to get her ratty (awesome hobby store out there too we go to all the time, so it's no hardship).

Anywho, I noticed they had a sticker on their front door, kinda likes this:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/6/mites.gif

And they are only reptile store that I've seen that houses all snakes, including all those itty bitty baby CH bp's, each in their own deli cup...stacks and stacks of them! And they all look good...each cup has it's own little water cup that actually has water!

Good folks...=) I hadn't noticed the "no mites" sticker brefore, but I cracked up when I saw it, hehe...

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Originally Posted by cassandra

You get what you pay for...

I hafta give props to a local reptile store (well, local 20 miles away), Amazon Reptile Center in Montclair. We'll be buying ratties there for Cleo since the local reptile shops don't carry ratties small enough cleo (she's on rat weanlings...small adults are still a bit too big), so drove out this weekend to get her ratty (awesome hobby store out there too we go to all the time, so it's no hardship).

Anywho, I noticed they had a sticker on their front door, kinda likes this:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/6/mites.gif

And they are only reptile store that I've seen that houses all snakes, including all those itty bitty baby CH bp's, each in their own deli cup...stacks and stacks of them! And they all look good...each cup has it's own little water cup that actually has water!

Good folks...=) I hadn't noticed the "no mites" sticker brefore, but I cracked up when I saw it, hehe...

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ur luck-E

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Originally Posted by rmune0750

ur luck-E

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And I can spell and punctuate!

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Originally Posted by cassandra

And I can spell and punctuate!

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im joking...u think i care about grammar on a forum...this isnt school...cool ur jets!

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Originally Posted by cassandra

And I can spell and punctuate!

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It's unnecessary to needle other members that way.

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Originally Posted by rmune0750

im joking...u think i care about grammar on a forum...this isnt school...cool ur jets!

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You may not care about grammar on the forum...and that is totally your prerogative. However...since the forum is solely about communication through the written word, you might want to re-think how you approach it. If you'd like other members to take you more seriously, and if you'd like to be able to have people understand your jokes and expressions....then paying more attention to grammar and spelling might be a really good idea.

Up to you, though. ;)

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Originally Posted by JLC

It's unnecessary to needle other members that way.



You may not care about grammar on the forum...and that is totally your prerogative. However...since the forum is solely about communication through the written word, you might want to re-think how you approach it. If you'd like other members to take you more seriously, and if you'd like to be able to have people understand your jokes and expressions....then paying more attention to grammar and spelling might be a really good idea.

Up to you, though. ;)

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gotcha :sweeet:

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Originally Posted by cassandra

You get what you pay for...

I hafta give props to a local reptile store (well, local 20 miles away), Amazon Reptile Center in Montclair. We'll be buying ratties there for Cleo since the local reptile shops don't carry ratties small enough cleo (she's on rat weanlings...small adults are still a bit too big), so drove out this weekend to get her ratty (awesome hobby store out there too we go to all the time, so it's no hardship).

Anywho, I noticed they had a sticker on their front door, kinda likes this:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/6/mites.gif

And they are only reptile store that I've seen that houses all snakes, including all those itty bitty baby CH bp's, each in their own deli cup...stacks and stacks of them! And they all look good...each cup has it's own little water cup that actually has water!

Good folks...=) I hadn't noticed the "no mites" sticker brefore, but I cracked up when I saw it, hehe...

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That's only an hour away from me, I'll have to check that place out some time.

They don't have a huuuuge selection, but it's a good store. I still like LLL in Oceanside/Escondido better, but even LLL doesn't house all their snakes seperately - gotta give Amazon props for that. =)

Cleo likes their rats. :snake: :blowkiss: :chew: :rat:

Hmmm, I found another place in my area. http://www.reptilesunlimited.com/ Might have to check this place out tomorrow just to window shop.

There is a good petstore here. They have great animals but the owner is a real jack butt. They house everything thing except some baby lizards seperately. Only one I know of though. I went to a pet store the other day and in a single cage they had anoles, green tree frogs, fire belly toads, and some "leopord" geckos which were actually chinese cave geckos. Some pet stores need to be closed down....

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Originally Posted by Grim91Z

Hmmm, I found another place in my area. http://www.reptilesunlimited.com/ Might have to check this place out tomorrow just to window shop.

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Ok, so I checked this place out... It's the best reptile place I've been to so far (even better than my local one). They do a mediocre job of housing (most separate, they have water bowls and at least one hide for most of the reptiles). They're prices were OK, cheapest snakes were 50 bucks for baby Kings and Corns. No invertebrates. :( They had good deals on feeders, though. All the reptiles SEEMED healthy. The Beardies and Iggys were all active (I love how Beardies follow my hand with their head).

I still have to hit up the place Cass mentioned. I'm just not ready to drive 40 miles in my 13MPG car, with no AC in 90 degree weather, only to window shop.

My opinion, Ive seen good and bad in all of the ones Ive been too..
Talk to the associate nearby, if that doesnt work, go to the store manager, if that doesnt work, district manager...Keep going, write letters if you must.

PetCo is a WalMart for animals, its NOT going to go bankrupt from the few reptile keepers boycotting...The best way to get it thru to them, is to TAKE THE TIME TO TALK TO THEM.

Just my 2cents