Sad story at Petland...

So theres a Petland 2 blocks from my house here and everytime I go in me and my girlfriend will look at the puppies and what not and eventually look at the snakes and other reptiles just to see what they have. Well there is an adult ball python there right now and they've had him/her (unsexed) for a couple months now. The thing is, They've got it in a 15 gallon aquarium with no hide, just a big water bowl and a small simple branch and on top of that they're using rabbit pellets (food) for substrate! The real heartbreaker is it has a retained eye shed and a nasty one at that! According to the GM of the store it's retained 2 sheds worth of eye caps and it just looks horrible. I have no interest in buying the animal but what kind of treatment would be needed to remove such old eye caps. i'm sorry to have to post another sad thread about petco, petland or any other major corperate petstore and how they don't take care of their animals but I really feel hurt by the way this snake is living. And it's Husbandry conditions...

I've tried to give helpful tips to get the shed off such as the warm damp pillow case or a lightly rubbing a warm wash cloth down the direction of the scales and even contributed facts that these animals thrive in burrow's in the ground in africa and how important a hide box is to them...Yet they never take any advice and put it into action.

What kind of treatment would be needed to take care of a retained eye cap like this..(2 sheds still on)?

Sadly the wont give it a hide, because then no customer would be able to see it.....sad sad sad......I hate Petland.....

Yeah, but still I even told them if they just put some fake vines on the branch just to give him SOME KIND of security in there ya know? I'm just concerned about the eye though.

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

So theres a Petland 2 blocks from my house here and everytime I go in me and my girlfriend will look at the puppies and what not and eventually look at the snakes and other reptiles just to see what they have. Well there is an adult ball python there right now and they've had him/her (unsexed) for a couple months now. The thing is, They've got it in a 15 gallon aquarium with no hide, just a big water bowl and a small simple branch and on top of that they're using rabbit pellets (food) for substrate! The real heartbreaker is it has a retained eye shed and a nasty one at that! According to the GM of the store it's retained 2 sheds worth of eye caps and it just looks horrible. I have no interest in buying the animal but what kind of treatment would be needed to remove such old eye caps. i'm sorry to have to post another sad thread about petco, petland or any other major corperate petstore and how they don't take care of their animals but I really feel hurt by the way this snake is living. And it's Husbandry conditions...

I've tried to give helpful tips to get the shed off such as the warm damp pillow case or a lightly rubbing a warm wash cloth down the direction of the scales and even contributed facts that these animals thrive in burrow's in the ground in africa and how important a hide box is to them...Yet they never take any advice and put it into action.

What kind of treatment would be needed to take care of a retained eye cap like this..(2 sheds still on)?

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As sad as it is even if you went in their with some more advice its going to go in one ear and out of the other.

I know, I don't plan on telling them anything else but. It's just that when somebody like you or myself or anybody on this forum see's the conditions that these animals have or are in it really really hurts. I don't even want to see their reptiles anymore for the fear of being heart broken in some way.

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

I know, I don't plan on telling them anything else but. It's just that when somebody like you or myself or anybody on this forum see's the conditions that these animals have or are in it really really hurts. I don't even want to see their reptiles anymore for the fear of being heart broken in some way.

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You are very true,thats why i do not go to pet store in peoria they are the slum lords(houses) of the pet stores:mad: .I only visit 2 pet stores in the whole state of Illinois,one is owned by a freind of mine and the other is owned by a freinds father.They do not allow anything to be mistreated ever and anything that is sold the buyer is told the truth of how to care for them.

I would just ask them "Since your facility refuses to take the advice given to properly care for this Ball Python, cut me a deal on the price and I would be willing to care for it and try to un-do the stress caused my inproper housing.." that is if you were interested in rescuing him.

Is their no animal protection organisation where you live?
In the UK we could get the RSPCA involved with authority to remove animals and or shut the damn store.

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Originally Posted by TheAudOne

I would just ask them "Since your facility refuses to take the advice given to properly care for this Ball Python, cut me a deal on the price and I would be willing to care for it and try to un-do the stress caused my inproper housing.." that is if you were interested in rescuing him.

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If everyone did this at every pet store like this one it would not achive anything.They will just buy more and keep them in the same bad conditions and you would become there pigeon for buying this once they are sick animal from them.

I have a sad Petco story:

My hubby and I were looking at the ball pythons one day and the first one we picked up had a big gash in its side near the tail and it's body was very lumpy. Not egg lumpy (she was a hatchling) and not soft lumpy, but HARD lumpy. Like bones. I don't think it was her bones, and I don't think it was bones from a meal, because I've never felt that on a snake before. It was so sad. I told the people and they took her and said they would take her to the vet. But who knows if they really did or not. They probably just put her back in the cage after we left.

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Originally Posted by kurgan

Is their no animal protection organisation where you live?
In the UK we could get the RSPCA involved with authority to remove animals and or shut the damn store.

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In Illinois we have someone who says they investigate pet stores when they have complaints filed against them.Once the investigator gets to the pet store he is given a gift(money) to look away from the truth.I have reported one pet store numerouse times and nothing is ever done to them.There dogs have PARVO and they are still allowed to sell them without treating them to prevent it from spreading to the other dogs.At least once a month there is a story in our local paper of this same pet store being sued for selling sick dogs.They payoff the person sueing them and continue selling the rest.To tell you the types that buy dogs from them are,they pay $800 for a schnoodle(shnaozuer(spelling) x poodle mix :eek:.We went to the local pound awhile back and found a full blooded rotti for $75 and this included her being spayed.These people think they are getting a HYBRID:rolleyes: ,its a MUTT.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

In Illinois we have someone who says they investigate pet stores when they have complaints filed against them.Once the investigator gets to the pet store he is given a gift(money) to look away from the truth.I have reported one pet store numerouse times and nothing is ever done to them.There dogs have PARVO and they are still allowed to sell them without treating them to prevent it from spreading to the other dogs.At least once a month there is a story in our local paper of this same pet store being sued for selling sick dogs.They payoff the person sueing them and continue selling the rest.To tell you the types that buy dogs from them are,they pay $800 for a schnoodle(shnaozuer(spelling) x poodle mix :eek:.We went to the local pound awhile back and found a full blooded rotti for $75 and this included her being spayed.These people think they are getting a HYBRID:rolleyes: ,its a MUTT.

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Look at yorkie poos. Yorkie poodle bred together to produce this thing. It is the cutest dog I have ever seen. I got one for my girlfriend last week.

Has anyone tried making a complaint to Humane Society or ASPCA or somesuch about stores like this Petland place. I mean, c'mon: Anyone who spent three minutes reading a caresheet, then looking at this sort of deal should be able to do something.

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Originally Posted by digcolnagos

Has anyone tried making a complaint to Humane Society or ASPCA or somesuch about stores like this Petland place. I mean, c'mon: Anyone who spent three minutes reading a caresheet, then looking at this sort of deal should be able to do something.

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Does the humane society have rules against pet stores? The majority of snakes in them are in and out within a week's time tops. I am not saying it is right to keep them in these conditions, but you know. If there were something they could do, about something as small as having no hides and be overcrowded, then almost every pet shop in America would be closed down.

* I am in no way saying no hides or overcrowding has no effect on BP, but it is minor compared to some things that could be neglected i.e. feeding, heat

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

Look at yorkie poos. Yorkie poodle bred together to produce this thing. It is the cutest dog I have ever seen. I got one for my girlfriend last week.

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Yorkie-Poo's are adorable, yet if you got it from anyone advertising it as such you probably over paid. To my knowledge they are still mutts that someone made up the creative name "Designer dogs".
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Yorkie-Poo's other than people getting ripped off for BIG BUCKS! Mixes make excellent pets, but people should not have to pay an arm and a leg for a label.
By the way we like puppy pics too.:)

In my pet store they have at least one hide per animal. They also usually keep each animal seperately. Sadly, I think some of the hides supplied are innadequate, sometimes they're too small for the adults to fit under and sometimes they provide hardly any cover. On the whole though it's pretty good. I also don't have anything good to say about the RSPCA and reptiles, they're more concerned with the fluffly, cute things.

All pedigree dogs were mutts once. To be a new breed a pedigree cross would have to , amongst other things, be shown to breed true - a f1 bred to a f1 will not produce another yorki-poo or whatever but something slightly different - you would need to set up a breeding programme to create a true breeding strain of 'yorki-poo'.
But why not just a happy mutt from the pound? :)

I would like to vouch for the Petco in Beaumont, Texas.


I have been there sever times recently to look at their balls. Granted, they do have 3, I'd say about 6 month old, balls in a small, maybe 10g, terrarium but the high and low temperatures are spot on and the humidity is almost perfect. There's no hides but the substrate, some kind of repty bedding, is always clean. I handled every snake they had at the time and none had belly rot or any other visible conditions. All were a healthy weight and very active. No eye sheds what so ever. The water was also clean. All the snakes appeared to be healthy. I talked to one of the employees, who has cared for balls and has a red tale boa, and he said the snakes come from a vendor near Dallas and that the snakes all regularly eat once a week. I'd say those arn't perfect conditions for the balls but its not quite what I expected after hearing all the horror storys.

Just goes to show you that they're not all bad!
Austin

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

So theres a Petland 2 blocks from my house

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so have you contacted the spca? if you are willing to take the time to publicly complain about them... are you willing to privately contact someone who CAN make a difference?

Yeah...

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Originally Posted by Austin Smith

I would like to vouch for the Petco in Beaumont, Texas.


I have been there sever times recently to look at their balls. Granted, they do have 3, I'd say about 6 month old, balls in a small, maybe 10g, terrarium but the high and low temperatures are spot on and the humidity is almost perfect. There's no hides but the substrate, some kind of repty bedding, is always clean. I handled every snake they had at the time and none had belly rot or any other visible conditions. All were a healthy weight and very active. No eye sheds what so ever. The water was also clean. All the snakes appeared to be healthy. I talked to one of the employees, who has cared for balls and has a red tale boa, and he said the snakes come from a vendor near Dallas and that the snakes all regularly eat once a week. I'd say those arn't perfect conditions for the balls but its not quite what I expected after hearing all the horror storys.

Just goes to show you that they're not all bad!
Austin

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The fact that it isn't as bad as some others shouldn't preclude it from using basic and vital standards of snake husbandry such as hide IMHO. That's inexcusable.

I have found a way to get through to some people/stores, but takes some time. You basically befriend the owner of the store or a worker who has some clout, and then slowly start helping them modify their keeping techniques; eventually they learn that it's actually best for the animal and eventually, their sales. I have gotten to be pretty good friends with several pet store owners in the Buffalo area, and thy respect Mark and I giving them advice and care tips if confused about something.
Spouting off and telling the owner/worker off, is never productive (we have tried that too, lol.) Just makes you look like a butt.

i agree jen... i've done the same https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/7/hippie.gif

We should call ourselves "The Negotiators"!

hahahahaha no let's call ourselves "the befrienders"

:D

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

Yorkie-Poo's are adorable, yet if you got it from anyone advertising it as such you probably over paid. To my knowledge they are still mutts that someone made up the creative name "Designer dogs".
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Yorkie-Poo's other than people getting ripped off for BIG BUCKS! Mixes make excellent pets, but people should not have to pay an arm and a leg for a label.
By the way we like puppy pics too.:)

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I paid $500 for it as a 6 week old puppy. Pics are to come tomorrow right after I get back from Tim Bailey's with my new het albino!

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Originally Posted by kurgan

The fact that it isn't as bad as some others shouldn't preclude it from using basic and vital standards of snake husbandry such as hide IMHO. That's inexcusable.

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You know why they do that, right? Because if there were hide boxes in the cages, no one would ever be able to see the snakes to buy them. A lot of people aren't smart about snake behaviour and think that if the cage "looks" empty, then they must not have any of that animal in stock. Granted, people who are that dumb about snake behaviour have no right buying a snake in the first place, but you know major pet stores don't care who they sell to or how much the person knows or doesn't know. They just wanna make a buck. I wouldn't say it's inexcusable because I've seen worse - MUCH, MUCH worse...but it's not exactly optimal conditions. A "friend" of mine - and I use that term VERY VERY loosely - had 10 snakes with males and females housed together, no hides, either no water or urates in the water, urates and poo EVERYWHERE. You opened the door to his trailer and the first thing that hit you was the horrible smell! So I'd say clean bedding and water is a step up, yeah? Not to mention being properly fed. I had to call the Houston ASPCA on a pet store in my area because the ball pythons there had old shed that was stuck on, no water bowls in the cages at all, nothing in the cage except a branch, and the snakes were so thin, it was like looking at a snake skeleton. Their skin was so shrunken around their bones that I thought they were dead and decomposing! Sorry to keep goin on, but I really think you're just nit-pickin a bit.

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Originally Posted by Collins2602

you know major pet stores don't care who they sell to or how much the person knows or doesn't know. They just wanna make a buck.

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please remember... not all pet stores have sub-standard conditions for their snakes (and other animals) although you did say 'major' pet stores.

and... some breeders are the same. they don't care who they sell to as long as the person pays them. i've bought directly from four breeders so far and neither even asked me if i had a set up for the critters.

I hear what you are saying and it sounds like things certainly could be a lot worse (and indeed are at many/most stores) but I still think that 'others are much worse' is not a good reason for not doing better. It sounds like the store is reasonable with staff who certainly do seem to care so why not bring it up with them.

The PetCo here in Toledo uses hides for a lot of their cold blooded creatures. They are backless hides so that the snake or lizard can enter the hide and feel secure yet the client can see through the glass into the hide. Quite a nice compromise I think.

I was at a Petland yesterday and they had a 15g with three BPs in it and a log hide you could see through both sides. There was a lovely reduced in there... stargazing like there was no tomorrow. I asked one of the poeple if he always did that and he said, "Yeah, it's really weird isn't it? Would you like to see him?"

:( No, I don't want to see him and give MY snake IBD too! As soon as he said no he just walked away and ignored me :(

I didn't say the IBD part, I just said no, but still. He'd keep on trying to sell a sick BP and keep it by a columbian boa and two other balls... unacceptable!

That's sad

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Originally Posted by mousch

I was at a Petland yesterday and they had a 15g with three BPs in it and a log hide you could see through both sides. There was a lovely reduced in there... stargazing like there was no tomorrow. I asked one of the poeple if he always did that and he said, "Yeah, it's really weird isn't it? Would you like to see him?"

:( No, I don't want to see him and give MY snake IBD too! As soon as he said no he just walked away and ignored me :(

I didn't say the IBD part, I just said no, but still. He'd keep on trying to sell a sick BP and keep it by a columbian boa and two other balls... unacceptable!

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umm....sorry....IBD?? Could you remind me what that is please?

Inclusion body disease (IBD) - one of the most serious of snake illnesses. It is a virus that affects only boids (pythons and boas) Snakes can be carriers without showing any symptoms (usually boas) IBD is highly contagious and always lethal. Symptoms include listlessness, stargazing, (holding the head upright at odd angles for extended periods of time) snake unable to right itself if placed on it's back, regurgitation, retention of shed skin and paralysis. Always quarantine new snakes! (From the General Herp FAQ)

i actually have something nice to say about the petland i was just in. they happened to be out of bp but there was the tank and there was other snakes in other tanks. i was suprised to find that all the tanks had at least one hide and not the hollow logs but actually hides and not right at the front of the tank but most were in the back of the tank. theres was no urates or shed or anything that needed to be cleaned, the water looked fresh and clean.they also had thermonters and humidity gages they could of been a little closer the the temps they needed but each species had its own setting with different reading as if someone was trying to do something right. this was the second time i stopped and looked at their reptiles and was suprised to see that it looked like someone was caring about the critters we love so much.

djslurp1200

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

so have you contacted the spca? if you are willing to take the time to publicly complain about them... are you willing to privately contact someone who CAN make a difference?

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just checking in... did you contact them?

actually I was planning on doing so today on my break...I've just been busy as heck helped out moving a friend, work, all kinds of craziness but I'm going to call today on my lunch break. I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome.

***Update***


I sent an e-mail to their animal cruelty department.

to who's animal cruelty department? spca or the store?

spca...

pretty much just told them the situation and that i just wanted to see the animals taken care with the proper husbandry. That way atleast the customers who come in and buy doesn't look at how they are taken care of the petstore and get mislead on how to care for the animal...


I just want to see the animals taken care of... I'm not saying every pet store or petland is the devil. I just want the animals to be taken care of with the proper husbandry.