baby bp rescue

Well, I went to Pet Co today to buy my monthly supply of f/t's and as always, I looked in on the BP's...

There were five in the glass enclosure but one of the babies stuck out like a sore thumb. It obviously wasn't eating and had a shed cap over the top side of his/her body. I really can't recall ever seeing a snake so pathetically skinny.

Anyway, I asked one of the employees why the snake wasn't eating and he told me straight up that they were all fed today <sigh>

I really want to help this little guy out but it's a commitment I'm not sure I have time for - the two I have keep me plenty busy. I do have a several small tubs for him/her and a small shoe box rack that would do him/her well, but I'm wondering what my alternatives are before I break down - will talking to management there even help? Does anyone have any experience with Pet Co and getting them to care for the animal properly? Thanks!

I know a person that used to work at Petco, and they told me that in order to save money, they turn the heat for the herps off at night. It makes me so mad that they would let animals die rather than pay the extra money to keep them healthy. I dont really know if I would rescue him, I know its sad but if he is sick he could infect your others bps, and it would allow for Petco to get more WC animals and treat them wrongly. Its really a sad thing to see animals taken care of so poorly and only for profit. The more I learn about Petco and other big pet stores like it, the more I hate them.

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Originally Posted by Noek

Well, I went to Pet Co today to buy my monthly supply of f/t's and as always, I looked in on the BP's...

There were five in the glass enclosure but one of the babies stuck out like a sore thumb. It obviously wasn't eating and had a shed cap over the top side of his/her body. I really can't recall ever seeing a snake so pathetically skinny.

Anyway, I asked one of the employees why the snake wasn't eating and he told me straight up that they were all fed today <sigh>

I really want to help this little guy out but it's a commitment I'm not sure I have time for - the two I have keep me plenty busy. I do have a several small tubs for him/her and a small shoe box rack that would do him/her well, but I'm wondering what my alternatives are before I break down - will talking to management there even help? Does anyone have any experience with Pet Co and getting them to care for the animal properly? Thanks!

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Please do not buy that snake because it will only give them more money to bring more in.I know its hard to not try and help it but they are run by a corp and they can not change thier rules no matter what you tell them.So in a nutshell avoid buying any reptile from petco ;)

Unfortunately I think when it comes to chain stores there is probably not much that you can do. You could try talking to the manager about that particular BP, but in general I believe that they have guidelines that they have to follow which are given by the corporate offices....

If you try to talk to the manager, maybe they will pull that particular BP and give it some much needed help. Otherwise I wouldn't buy it, all that does is allow that store to fill that space with another potentially unhealthy BP. I think that it is completely unfortunate how some of the chain stores treat their animals. Personally I don;t even shop at any of the chain stores anymore, there are a number of really really nice mom and pop type pet stores near me that I buy my pet supplies from.

Unfortunately, the only thing you really can do is not buy it. Granted you may save one snake, but you will endanger more in the future if you support idiotic corporations like PetCo.

You won't change PetCo corporate policy but it never hurts to send head office a well worded letter explaining why you won't give that store a dime of your hard earned money. For companies like this you need to speak their language...and that's cold hard cash.

If you feel comfortable doing so, you might also want to take that store manager over to the ball pythons and explain to him/her that the reason you will never shop there again or encourage a friend to is directly because of their poor treatment of these snakes. No need to get angry or get yourself kicked out of the store, just make it very plain that poor treatment of snakes = loss of business for them. Maybe if they hear this message enough times it might actually sink in (we can always hope.)

I'd talk to the store manager and see what he's like. Down where I'm at, the PetCo we have has a good staff and a great manager that keeps these things in order and does what he needs to when an animal gets sick. Bringing up the subject to management never hurts anyone.

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I will go in today and see if there is anyone I can talk to about the snake.

I know right now that if they blow it off, that snake is coming home with me.

thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Noek

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I will go in today and see if there is anyone I can talk to about the snake.

I know right now that if they blow it off, that snake is coming home with me.

thanks again!

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Well then, get your QT tub set up first because there is a very great chance that they will blow you off or give you lip service. Petco is not in the pet-care business; they are in the money-making business.

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Originally Posted by Noek

I know right now that if they blow it off, that snake is coming home with me.

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Giving money to people that abuse animals is not "rescuing'....it is supporting people that abuse animals.

Do you think buying the animal will prompt the store to keep them better? No, they will continue to keep them the way that they do now...with hopes that you come and 'rescue' another one.

Their treatment of the animal is sad and cruel but just put it out of your mind and never walk into the store again....

...or if you want...stand by the cage and tell everyone that walks by about how horrible the store cares for their animals....until they toss you out ;)

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

Do you think buying the animal will prompt the store to keep them better?

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Absolutely not. Whether I buy the animal or it dies, it will eventually be replaced by another.

Going in this afternoon to check the status of the animal. If it's not eating, I am going to offer to help and see what they say.

I went through the same thing after visiting a mom/pop type store. They had 3 BPs, a RTB, a rainbow boa, and a blood python all together in about a 20 gallon container. All of them looked severly dehydrated and all of them were laying on top of each other. It was heartbreaking.

I'm not defending PetCo...

However; It's not just corporations like PetCo that sometimes don't do what's best for the animal. How many breeders out there do you think there are that don't take very good care of their animals and just want to turn a profit?

To be quite hnest I think it has more to do with what kind of PEOPLE are at the store.

I personally have bought two reptiles, both snakes, at PetCo.
My California King is extremely healthy, never misses a feeding, never bitten me, loves being held, perfect personality.

My BP, which I JUST got from the same PetCo, was fat, seemed shy of course, but wasn't displeased when he was held. He ate right away after just having him for 4 days. He has shiny skin, perfect eyes, and is very strong. He;s got a great personality.

BOTH snakes came with a full list of needs, care sheet, and info sheet. I also was given the Vets name, address and phone number that did bi-weekly check-ups on their animals.

So before everyone here starts ranting and getting angry and throwing blame to a particular entity, think about it.

I am SURE there are some PetCo's out there that don't really care and just want to make sales and i'm sure there are breeders out there that do the same.

Corporate offices may dictate certain guidelines, however, they do NOT make daily visits to every store! It's up to the store managers and employees to treat the animals with care! NOT a guy in a suit 1500 miles away!

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

Giving money to people that abuse animals is not "rescuing'....it is supporting people that abuse animals.

Do you think buying the animal will prompt the store to keep them better? No, they will continue to keep them the way that they do now...with hopes that you come and 'rescue' another one.

Their treatment of the animal is sad and cruel but just put it out of your mind and never walk into the store again....

...or if you want...stand by the cage and tell everyone that walks by about how horrible the store cares for their animals....until they toss you out ;)

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LOL! I have actually been asked to leave a Petland before. I agree with the other posters. Please do not buy this animal out of pity. It is a vicious cycle that will only continue until people show that they won't continue to support this behavior. Much like the puppy mill industry/pet stores that sell them.

If you end up taking it home, which I am not advocating, make sure you quarantine for a good long time. It could likely have parasites/ other issues. Wouldn't want it to spread to your healthy animals.

Good luck with the situation. If the employees don't do anything, ask for the phone number of the district animal care person, they may be able to do something about the lack of concern for their snakes.

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Originally Posted by Karbon

I'm not defending PetCo...

However; It's not just corporations like PetCo that sometimes don't do what's best for the animal. How many breeders out there do you think there are that don't take very good care of their animals and just want to turn a profit?

To be quite hnest I think it has more to do with what kind of PEOPLE are at the store.

I personally have bought two reptiles, both snakes, at PetCo.
My California King is extremely healthy, never misses a feeding, never bitten me, loves being held, perfect personality.

My BP, which I JUST got from the same PetCo, was fat, seemed shy of course, but wasn't displeased when he was held. He ate right away after just having him for 4 days. He has shiny skin, perfect eyes, and is very strong. He;s got a great personality.

BOTH snakes came with a full list of needs, care sheet, and info sheet. I also was given the Vets name, address and phone number that did bi-weekly check-ups on their animals.

So before everyone here starts ranting and getting angry and throwing blame to a particular entity, think about it.

I am SURE there are some PetCo's out there that don't really care and just want to make sales and i'm sure there are breeders out there that do the same.

Corporate offices may dictate certain guidelines, however, they do NOT make daily visits to every store! It's up to the store managers and employees to treat the animals with care! NOT a guy in a suit 1500 miles away!

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I agree that its not just the big pet stores that dont take care of their animals. I just have a question, how long have you had your snakes from petco? i had two, a corn snake and a bp, that for the first month I had them were awesome, eating well, gaining weight, etc., but then suddenly died because of RIs they got at petco. I KNOW it wasnt because of me, my husbandry is perfect, I made sure I did research before I bought them. I just didnt do enough research to know to go a breeder instead of trusting petco. Maybe its just my local petco, but I just think that they dont care or are too scared of the herps to take proper care of them. If thats the case then they should just not carry them. Also, its not just the herps that are suffering, the other day I saw three hamsters in a cage togther, and two of them had their eyeballs chewed off by the other one in the cage. And these hamsters were out on the floor, for sale! How do the petco workers not see that? or they just dont care, maybe.... I dont know. I just really dislike stores like that. Sorry, my rant is over.