Petco Ball Python "caresheet"

well i managed to print out a caresheet of our BP's from the petco from where i work at. i gotta admit some of the info sounds reasonable but you judge to see how it is:

Ball Python
Python regius

Ball pythons are named for their habit of curling themselves up into a tight ball with their heads pulled firmly into the center when they are nervous. Ball pythons are carnivorous animals, and they are mostly active at night.

*a few question inserted here for the customer to answer to see if the BP is right as a pet for them*

Average size: 4-5 feet long

Life span: up to 30 years with proper care

Diet: Thawed, appropriate frozen size rodents, warmed to room temperature

Feeding: Feed adult snakes every two weeks, or as needed; juveniles once or twice a week

Feed in a separate tank so that your snake does not associate your hand or the cage being opened with feeding

If feeing your snake live rodents, do not leave them unattended. Live rodents can injure the snake, sometimes fatally.

Housing: Size - 20-gallon tank or larger to accommodate normal behavior and exercise.

Substrate - Aspen shavings, mulch-type commercial material; unbleached paper towels, soil, dampened sphagnum moss, and bark; pelleted paper; avoid gravel and artificial turf(too harsh for skin)

Habitat - Provide a hiding area just large enough for your snake to fit inside and a branch or shelf to climb on

Temperature - Temperature gradient (up to 95 F. for the warm end and 78 F. for the cool end); recommend radiant heat; use an incandescent light or ceramic heater as primary heat source, use an undertank heater as secondary source

Lighting - Snakes need a photoperiod light cycle; provide 8-12 hours of light daily; do not leave white light on at all times; to view snakes at night use a black or infrared light

Water - Provide a bowl of clorine-free water large enough for the snake to soak in

Do not house different species of reptiles together

Recommended Supplies:

Habitat with secure lid Thermometer and Humidity gauge
Appropriate substrate Hiding or retreat area
Large Water Dish Incandescent light or ceramic heater
Light timer Infrared or black light
Book about ball pythons undertank heat source


Normal Behavior and Interaction: Searches its habitat when hungry, appearing alert and even restless

May refuse food; can go several weeks without feeding

Will remain quiet in the hide box or coiled up for long periods of time; should display an alert demeanor when disturbed

As snakes get ready to shed, eyes will turn a milky blue over the course of a few days and body color will start to dull and develop a whitish sheen

Habitat Maintenace: Clean out water dish and replace water daily

Remove feces daily, or food if not eaten immediately

Thoroughly clean the tank at least once a week: set snake aside in a secure habitat; scrub the tank and furnishings with a 3% bleach solution; rinse throughly with water, removing all smell of bleah; dry the tank and furnishings; and add clean cage carpet

Grooming and Hygiene: Snakes will regularly shed their skin; if old pieces of skin remain after shedding, mist the snake and gently rub off the old skin

Always wash your hands before and after touching your snake or habitat contents to help prevent salmonella and other infectious diseases

Signs of a healthy animal

• Active and alert
• Clear eyes
• Healthy skin
• Eats regularly
• Regular shedding of skin
• Sheds skin in one complete piece

Common Health Issues
Dermatitis:
Symptons or causes- Blisters; rapid shedding caused by an unclean habitat or one that is too cold or damp.
Suggested action- Clean the cage and lower humidity. Consult your exotic animal veterinarian.

Respitory Disease:
Symptoms or causes- Labored breathing. Mucus in mouth or nostrils. Can be caused by a habitat that is too cold or damp.
Suggested Action- Keep snake warm and dry. Consult your exotic animal veterinarian.

Stromatitis:
Symptons or Causes- White, cheesy substance in the mouth; loss of teeth and appetite
Suggested action- If untreated, can be fatal. Consult you exotic animal veterinarian.

Ticks and Mites:
Symptoms or causes- Parasites on skin, can transmit diseases.
Suggested Action- Consult your exotic animal veterinarian

Red Flags

• Unusually frequent or infrequent shedding
• Lethargic or reluctant to eat
• Abnormal feces
• Difficulty shedding
• Vomiting
• Bumps or spots on skin
• Labored breathing
• White, cheesy substance in mouth

I think it is a round about good care sheet, sure you can pick out a few things, but in general it's good.

It's not too bad, but I've never seen these in the PetCo near me. They sell BPs, so maybe I'll go ask their expert how to care for them. If anything is wrong I'll argue until I'm forced to pull out the Official PetCo caresheet, followed by Ball Pythons in Captivity. It should say "Don't keep more than 1 snake in an enclosure. also, but that would negate their instore care.

according at the top of the caresheet, this caresheet was developed and approved by a qualified veterinarian.

I feel bad for the baby BPs in the Petco near me. All in one tank of course, but worse there's only one hide for 2 or 3 of them, old pieces of a bad shed all over the place as well as on the animals themselves.

i caught a petco employee bull:cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ting a customer.... she asked what sex they were and he said they were too young to tell...... they were over 2 feet long so yeah.... you can pop hatchlings and probe after that..... i told the customer that they were prolly all males for that price. silly petco

There are actually quite a few minor problems in that sheet, nothing glaringly wrong but still should be corrected. But that doesn't surprise me because they would try to leave out anything that would 'incriminate' the store method of keeping. Sigh.

I worked at Petco and often when I explained proper husbandry for an animal, the customer would ask "but your [animal type] is [improper condition]". I was taught to say that they get sold pretty quickly so they really aren't in those conditions very long. Which is true for some animals and not for others. I'm not saying I agree with everything Petco does, please don't get me wrong :)

Also, if caresheets aren't readily available, customers can either ask for one to be printed for them, or they will be referred to petco.com where all caresheets are available for printing.

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Originally Posted by icygirl

Also, if caresheets aren't readily available, customers can either ask for one to be printed for them, or they will be referred to petco.com where all caresheets are available for printing.

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Or... they could join ball-pythons.net, that's what I did. I did buy my BP at a local Petstore, but no caresheet could've answered some of the questions I've come up with.

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Originally Posted by BigCeC43

Or... they could join ball-pythons.net, that's what I did. I did buy my BP at a local Petstore, but no caresheet could've answered some of the questions I've come up with.

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Yeah I bought mine at Petco (and shes a girl) and I didn't get a care sheet. Luckily I stumbled upon this site and have a healthy, happy snake.

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Originally Posted by Nikki0326

Yeah I bought mine at Petco (and shes a girl) and I didn't get a care sheet. Luckily I stumbled upon this site and have a healthy, happy snake.

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Hey what part of CT are you from?, if you don't mind me asking (dont worry I'm not going want to meet and be friends, lol)

We got our male normal BP from a Petco. They had care sheets for all the animals in a rack at the end of the reptile area. I think my husband found the one on BP's himself and we took it with us. The employee who assisted us was helpful with information (she has a BP, too). We also got a book, and joined here. This is by far the best source of information of course. But the only complaint we would really have about Petco is having 5 - 6 BP's in one tank (15 - 20 gal, I think). They were all 1 1/2 to 2 feet in size.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigCeC43

I feel bad for the baby BPs in the Petco near me. All in one tank of course, but worse there's only one hide for 2 or 3 of them, old pieces of a bad shed all over the place as well as on the animals themselves.

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My petco is just as bad i went in the other day and felt sorry for the bp. They had 4 in a 10 gallon tank with temp on both side sitting around 100 and no humidty. One of then look so awful if i had the money i would have bought them.

wow i was just thinking about posting the care sheet for ball-pythons from petco to to see how accurite or good they actually are. looks like you beat me to it

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

But the only complaint we would really have about Petco is having 5 - 6 BP's in one tank (15 - 20 gal, I think). They were all 1 1/2 to 2 feet in size.

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reason they house so many in a tank is because its temporary housing and people seem to forget that yea i feel bad that we do it, but you have to remeber petstores thrive on sellling animals and animal supplies to, i mean look at the hamsters too they are supposed to be solitary and only house one by itself.
and also if y9ou have a bunch of animals that you are selling you arent gonna put one snake per cage or one hamster per cage you would run out of room for all your other animals.

not saying its right but stating the facts of how a petstore thinks

Yeah but there are other things they could handle better besides housing em all together. I doubt the humidity and temps are kept where they are needed, esp during shedding. Thats why even though I haven't had many problems with the girl I bought there, I will def buy from a breeder when I add to my collection.

i havent had an problem wth shedding bps but i would suggest going to a breeder anyway since they say that we get cbb bps most of them seem to be wc for the fact that they always come in with ticks and mites and it takes me a month or so to get rid of them in order to sell the bps i am the reptile specialist at my petco.

a pet store is just that: a store. their main concern is how well they do financially. if business is good then nothing is wrong. a couple dead animals are just write offs. private breeders are the way to go for quality healthy animals.


i work in a reptile department in a pet store and i always recommend breeders and reptile shows. who cares about 1% commission! :eek:

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Originally Posted by Monty

i havent had an problem wth shedding bps but i would suggest going to a breeder anyway since they say that we get cbb bps most of them seem to be wc for the fact that they always come in with ticks and mites and it takes me a month or so to get rid of them in order to sell the bps i am the reptile specialist at my petco.

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You have got to be kidding me. You suspect the BP's at your Petco are wild caught? We learned about all those sorts of issues AFTER we got our BP from a Petco. So we later asked and they said they were bred in captivity. Our snake visited the vet and got a clean bill of health. But we didn't do a fecal. Should we?

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Originally Posted by Scooby

My petco is just as bad i went in the other day and felt sorry for the bp. They had 4 in a 10 gallon tank with temp on both side sitting around 100 and no humidty. One of then look so awful if i had the money i would have bought them.

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That is horrid. Did you say anything to an employee?

i think the BP's at our petco are captive bred since we get them from zoo med, but im not completely sure. most of the time people ask for a caresheet on these guys but i fix the small problems on there before handing it to them.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

You have got to be kidding me. You suspect the BP's at your Petco are wild caught? We learned about all those sorts of issues AFTER we got our BP from a Petco. So we later asked and they said they were bred in captivity. Our snake visited the vet and got a clean bill of health. But we didn't do a fecal. Should we?

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well if they arent wild caught then how do you explain all the ticks i pull off week after week and mites i kill day in and day out and all the substrate changes i do just about every other day. i hate that we have to use aspen bedding i wish i could just use paper towels or newspaper till i get rid of the mites.

and most of the time when they come in they are all dehydrated so it takes me about a month to get them back up to health in order to sell them. and my managers tell me im wasting my time and should just sell them. and i say why if we sold unhealthy animals they would be returned or the people wouldnt know what to do.

o well im done ranting here yea and i also tell people to go to breeders or reptile shows. but if someone really wants the animal that day im not gonna deny them. and i've never got commision for anything although i complain about that all the time with all the tanks and things i sell but i also let people know to go to the dollar store or loews or home depot for stuff that they could get there cheaper then at the store

I personally will never purchase any pet from any large chain pet stores! Everytime i walk in those places the cages are so crowded and dirty with poo and dirty water bowls. Its amazing that they sell as many as they do! I get all my herps from local breeders that know what they are doing and actually care for them as if they were going to keep them all for themselves. :rockon:

Buying from Petco should be considered a rescue.

The people who work there are nice but usually pretty ignorant about specific species. Sure, the 'reptile expert' might know 'a lot' about 'reptiles'- as in more than your average guy walking down the street- and the bare minimum to keep several species alive for <6 months. But they don't know much, beyond their sometimes flawed care sheets (which I am sure they are told to memorize), about any one species. The Petco guy told me that I need a UVB bulb for a ball python. He might have been trying to sell me crap I don't need to make money but I really think he thought that was right.

In the end I bought all the equipment I needed from Petco and then went to a breeder.

wow hes an idiot if he told you that. i only tell people to get a uvb light for only uvb specific animals.

and i have ball pythons so if someone comes in for them i give them all the basics and i even tell people to buy what they need and set it up before they actually buy the animal and look around most of the time they come back to me. i guess cuz im an honest person about the animals if they are unfit to sell i wont sell them and ill send them some place else to look. till i get the problem fixed like all the snakes that came in this week had mites will my manager tried to sell one and i told her not to and she was askin why and i showed her and she went oh ok. so now im treating them it wasnt a bad infest but still its an infest.

o well im off my soap box.