Another fun PetCo visit...

Well, I've heard a ton of PetCo hooro stories on this forum so far, and now I can add to the list. Mine may not be too bad but I thought I would share. After my day was finished, I took a trip to one of the local PetCo store to get some mice (my BP will not eat the mice or rats I buy from the small breeder/reptile shop I got her from for some reason). I decide to wander on back to the reptile section to check out the selection even though I would almost never buy a snake from them and I saw the BP tank had multiple BPs in it with one hide. One snake was in the hide, and the other were slithering around trying to find a way out. I then proceeded to call the store attendant over and explain the situation to her and just how bad it can be for snakes/bp's. She was nice and took my advice to at least put another hide in the tank until they can find space for each of them. The employee also told me it was against their policy to have more then one snake in a container, but they just got them in and didnt switch them out. I doubt that story, however.

Well, thats just my reptile story for the day.......I hope I did some good for the poor BP's in that tank.........

I'm very glad they listed to you! I really wished they had them seprate. good Job! :gj:

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Originally Posted by Weber58

The employee also told me it was against their policy to have more then one snake in a container, but they just got them in and didnt switch them out. I doubt that story, however.

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I've had a lot of Petcos tell me that too when I tell them that they need to house their animals individually or that the cage is too small.

At least they put another hide in and listened to you! Some of the Petcos around me don't even listen...

I'd be suprised if that was against their policy... but even if it is, they need to enforce it and give staff additional training.

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I'd be suprised if that was against their policy... but even if it is, they need to enforce it and give staff additional training.

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I have yet to go in a Petco that houses all there snakes seperately. I've seen as many as six BP's to a cage at a time.

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

I have yet to go in a Petco that houses all there snakes seperately. I've seen as many as six BP's to a cage at a time.

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4-6 when I go.

When you think about all the different types of reptiles in there, the limited amount of space they have in there, and how quickly they turn over the balls, the only way to really compensate for it all is to place them together. They aren't specializing in ball pythons, or snakes for that matter - and just simply can't put them in their own seperate tanks. Im not saying it's the right to keep balls together in a bind in a collection.

At least they aren't there that long, and i know at my petco, they give them many hides to chose from, they are warm, they are fed, and they dont mix species. I would feel better about the whole situation if i knew they were teaching buyers that, even though the snakes in the store are together, they should not practice the same at home.

Our local Petco usually has 6-8 in a tank with one half log hide facing out.

At another local pet store they once had about 12 in 10G tank. One hide. They were laying in a pile!

Yup same here, these poor guys are in bad shape. i actuallly bought my BP from Petco, thankfully I got a good one (like playing the lottery).
Over the summer I went in to get mice for Ike and they had seven in a cage, hot and cold side temps were the same, humidity was ony about 45% and they were all only partially shed, looking miserable in a 10 gal tank's corner.
they had one that was Stargazing(poor thing), and one had the runs.
When I brought this to thier attention they said thier reptile expert wasn't in, so there was nothing they could do.:mad: I was bad...

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Originally Posted by cleveland180BP

I actuallly bought my BP from Petco, thankfully I got a good one (like playing the lottery).

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We bought our first Bearded Dragon at Petco, our first reptile. She's now about 7 months old, 19.5" and 500g!!!! I'm guessing we did OK.

I love Pet co! I think its great that they pay people to do stupid things with great animals. LOL its like where all the Village you know whats go.. LOL

The PetSmart where I bought my BP has limited space for reptiles. However, instead of overcrowding their tanks, they only order new ones each time one is sold. Seems like a fairly simple way to get around things. Although I know they have easy access to a breeder, so its simple for them to order something and get it the next day. Maybe some of the Petco's you guys are talking about can't do that, but it's still no excuse.

Everytime I go to Petco they never have their BP's separate or any other snake for that matter. One Petco I visited actually has a reptile expert on staff. He actually knew what he was doing. But most of the other stores don't.

To be fair to PetCo this ONE PetCo is doing something right...

While I don't personally believe in keeps BPs together in a tank, some people do. Personally I think everyone needs to make up their minds after balancing all the facts, and not just listen to someone because someone says so.

The petstore I love keeps their BPs all in one tank. Mostly because their store is the size of a postage stamp, but also the manager, a really great women who I could talk to for hours, has house BPs together since the 1970s. While I don't agree with her, talking to her, she does have her reasons for it, and while she listened to me, she is going to do what she believes if okay. Though she did day if a snake was being too dominant/or one was so small in stunted, she does believe in separating them.

I don't really see a problem with a pet store keeping ball pythons together. It is a temporary situation. It is pretty impractical to have a separate cage for every normal ball python when in a pet store setting IMO.

I went to Petco a few days ago and saw about 10 baby bps in a tank I'd estimate to be a 5 long and they were all frantic and moving around and streching out to the ceiling. A couple days later I went back to grab somthing else and they were all gone and I doubt they were all purchased that quickly. It's so sad.

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Originally Posted by pfan151

I don't really see a problem with a pet store keeping ball pythons together.

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The same problems apply that apply if it was at your house. Is it that hard to have a hatchling rack out there with one BP per tub?

Well as you all have stated, I have never seen BP's individually housed at ANY pet store that I have been to. And as it has been stated, it's a matter of space and logistics to the store. That doesn't make it right, but it's not done out of heartlessness.
I have to say, however, that I bought my BP from Petco, and the Vet was rather impressed that he was parasite free and rather healthy. He was a little under weight, but he's a great feeder so that isn't going to be a problem for long!
When buying any animal from one of the big names, it's a must to have already done your homework. That way you know what is normal behavior and what are signs of stress and illness.
I think the most disapointing factor in the Petco scenario is the lack of training that their employees receive. I actually got my own snake out of the tank they were in because they young guy there was afraid. He had been bitten a few days before because he was unaware of the whole shedding process, and distrubed a Ball while its eyes were milked over! This is how snakes get bad reps!! :salute:

everytime i go there are multiple in the tank..and i saw 3 BCI in the tank together also

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Originally Posted by cris78

everytime i go there are multiple in the tank..and i saw 3 BCI in the tank together also

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That's a good way to end up with less than 3 BCI's!

Was just thinking..... I would never house BP's together.....but I'm wondering what BP's living conditions are like in the termite mounds in the wild? I have the DVD, "Ball Pythons In the Wild" and it looks like they pull out one snake from each mound...but that could be editing?? Some of the termite mounds are huge and could conceivably house more than one snake. Also, when baby snakes emerge from their eggs, how long to they hang around before they disperse, in the wild? Do they all stay together in the mound for quite awhile? Anyone know?? :)

I was under the assumption that it is common practice for breeders to house multiple BPs together until they had shed about 10 times or so.. that being said, I never think it is OK.. too much risk of a food-fight, too much stress if one snake wants to be in the same spot as another in its cage. The best you can hope for at Petco is that they have their temps/humidity right; none that I have ever seen housed BPs seperately.. they do house their corns in rubbermands seperately though..

The reason them living together in the wild is so much different than housing them together in captivity is that they have the option to leave and go else where if they feel the need in the wild. If they are being dominated they can go somewhere else and get away from the problem. If they have other snakes trying to "steal" their spot they can go find another similar spot, or if they are more dominant make the other snake go find a similar spot. In a tank they cant do that because there isnt enough room, and there aren't likely to be many different areas with the same conditions.

Ya...that makes sense....the tanks in Petco's aren't usually very big at the best of times either...poor snakes.....thanks!

hey i work at a petco now i can only vouche for mine that is good with the animals because i take care of the snakes and reptiles and the bp's r in one tank but the tank is a huge in wall walk in multi level habitat i take care of all the reptiles i had one bad shed this month with them and they are all better then when i first started out there so im not vouching for all petco's just mine because i know the work and the care i put in to all the animals i spend about 3/4's of the day caring for the animals playing with them and handleing them and feeding them. the other 1/4 im running aruond doing stock or im on the register. but yes i have seen horrrrible petcos

(appending first entry) all of our animals also come from private breeders sept for the ferrets which come from marshells

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

The same problems apply that apply if it was at your house. Is it that hard to have a hatchling rack out there with one BP per tub?

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I keep all of my snakes separate, but that is impractical for a pet store. First off the animals need to be easily seen in a pet store setting in order to sell which in a rack is not really possible. Second, you can't really expect a pet store to spend $1000 on a rack for normal ball pythons that they are selling for $50. If it were a reptile pet store and they sold more than just normals maybe but not a petco type store. For a temporary situation in a pet store I don't see a problem with keeping hatchlings together. As long as they separate them to feed I don't have a problem with it. I know it is not the perfect situation but for the first poster to call it a "horror story" is a pretty big stretch IMO.

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Originally Posted by pfan151

I keep all of my snakes separate, but that is impractical for a pet store. First off the animals need to be easily seen in a pet store setting in order to sell which in a rack is not really possible. Second, you can't really expect a pet store to spend $1000 on a rack for normal ball pythons that they are selling for $50. If it were a reptile pet store and they sold more than just normals maybe but not a petco type store. For a temporary situation in a pet store I don't see a problem with keeping hatchlings together. As long as they separate them to feed I don't have a problem with it. I know it is not the perfect situation but for the first poster to call it a "horror story" is a pretty big stretch IMO.

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If PETCO took care of its ball pythons properly, you likely wouldn't see much of the ball pythons anyway. Normal ball python behavior is to hide away all day. If you're saying a rack is impractical because of price, then why do some PETCOs pay to have the gigantic "reptile dens" or whatever that have sliding out tanks, climate controlled, etc. that probably cost well into the $1,000s as they are even better than Cages By Design? I'm not saying "get a rack for every species," but it's really important IMO for ball pythons to have their own living space aside from breeding. As for temporary situation, I see snakes in there that have been there for eight months.
Horror story is actually fairly accurate at some PETCOs. The one I go to regularly for supplies and crickets used to be fairly good, but sometimes I would see ten hatchling corn snakes in a 12inx12in partition in their "reptile den" thing that I described above, and things similar to that. Currently there are about 8-10 ball pythons, all with some sort of bad shedding problems, in a partition about the size of a 20long. The only thing that they can hide in is a half-log up against the glass, so even if they did go in it, they can still be clearly seen, defeating its entire purpose.

Sorry, but I just don't agree with thrusting a dozen snakes in a 30" cage, which is something that I would NEVER do. The guy in charge of the reptiles even said that most of the ball pythons they get either A) won't eat or B) are "aggressive."

then they have over stressed there snakes we feed all our snakes in seperate cantainers and all of them will eat f/t mice no problems

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Originally Posted by Monty

then they have over stressed there snakes

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...Yeah. 12 snakes + 1 cage = stress.