Very Bad Petstore Enclosures?!

I went into the pet store today to get my mouse every week like I always do, same store, I've noticed this before but never said anything about it.

The BP's there have no hides, they just have a water bowl and repti bark. and I don't even think they are heated, I don't know about that cause I didn't see the bottom of the tank though. Isn't this a no-no though? :colbert:

How do the snakes live like this? :confused:

they are prolly VERY stressed out

Even worse I went to my local pet-store in the middle of this summer....smelled something & there was a dead ball-python in one of the tanks with the water bowl Bone-Dry.

I told the only clerk their (a kid) as I left that one of the ball-pythons needed some water . At that point there was nothing I could of done. Just terrible. It was a smaller pet store chain & i really did not want to get into arguments so I let it rest that day.

luckily at my petco they a actually have an employee that knows what they are doing with their reptiles

Petco's are very hit and miss. The one I usually go to does a pretty good job with their reptiles. The enclosure are clean and temps and humidity are within parameters. Some of them are really horrible though. Their is a small pet store near me that is just terrible with their reptiles. Enclosures and water bowls are filthy. The people their have refused to take a snake out of a tank because they didnt like snakes. If they won't take them out then how are they cleaning and feeding and such. It's a shame when that happens. Unfortunately if you buy an animal to get it out of there it just gives them money to buy more.

you have to keep in mind pet stores are trying to sell these animals.if they put hides that most of us call proper,the customer would never see the animals.i went to a tropical fish pet store and they had the best idea ive seen.they have a hide that is pushed up against the front of the glass where they can hide in a dark spot but on the customers side of the glass there is the second hide attatched so if someone wants to see all they have to do is remove the hide from the outside.i wish i could better explain wat they had but i thought it was a excellent idea

It's a good argument as to why pet stores shouldn't be allowed to sell most pets.... or even exist for that matter.

So, pet stores shouldn't exist, so then the average consumer would never be exposed to anything so the hobby wouldn't exist? Great idea.

ball pythons in pet stores can be a learning experience. the temps. are always different, poor humidity and poor feeding schedules. But most pythons make it. Snakes have been on this earth for a long time due to their ability to adapt.

look at the ones at the pet stores as "adapting" till they meet their special owner and hopefully he/she will have more time for them.

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Originally Posted by stormwulf133

So, pet stores shouldn't exist, so then the average consumer would never be exposed to anything so the hobby wouldn't exist? Great idea.

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I have never been in a pet store that kept their animals in any conditions that even resembled something proper. They keep their $400 mixed-breed puppies crammed into tiny kennels, their $60+ kittens in small cages, etc.... everything they keep is overcrowded.

I understand that they can't keep them under optimum terms, but people see 3 red-eared sliders in a ten gallon tank, then think that's adequate housing for a turtle.

Pet stores encourage impulse buys, which is NEVER a good idea with a pet. I can also safely say that pet stores had pretty much nothing to do with my decision to get into snakes, and I bet the same can be said for most of the folks here.

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Originally Posted by Butters420

you have to keep in mind pet stores are trying to sell these animals.if they put hides that most of us call proper,the customer would never see the animals.i went to a tropical fish pet store and they had the best idea ive seen.they have a hide that is pushed up against the front of the glass where they can hide in a dark spot but on the customers side of the glass there is the second hide attatched so if someone wants to see all they have to do is remove the hide from the outside.i wish i could better explain wat they had but i thought it was a excellent idea

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If I remember right, it's zilla that makes those hides. They're magnetic.

Maybe pet stores didnt make some of us want snakes, but they made thousands and thousands of people world wide want them, and that is what sparked the hobby. It never would have existed if there was no market.

And don't speak for all pet stores. You can not generalize.

I have a few local pets stores,

petsmart is horrible about their snakes, but they only keep two at a time, and it's months between them getting more in.

THe one down the road I love, All snakes are kept one to two in a tank, and it's not cause they only have a few. They have 20 some odd tanks of snakes, one or two in a tank, hides, heat, water dishes, the works. Every animal in the place is never over crowded. The bunnies, rats, hamsters, gerbils all have adequite space food, water, and everytime i go in, someone is cleaning out one tank or another. The place has birds, fish, kittens, puppies, snakes, lizards, etc, and you wouldnt know because it only smells like water (lots of koi tanks near the front) They even copped up to their own mistake, they put two adult ball pythons they thought were female together, and they locked up. so that pair doesn't get sold, they go back to a local breeder to take care of. I love buying from them because i know they care for the animals, even the feeders.

The third place, they have hides and over head heat, but the place is mess and dirty. They guys who run it are very knowledgable about snakes, but don't really care to take care of the ones in the store. Their rats are over crowded in a back room, you have to ask for the size you want and it's never the same size ever time. I sent my husband to get medium rats and each time he's come home with what looks to me like jumbos. Sure enough, last time i went in, he pulled out a 'medium' rat from the biggest rat tank. when i said that was too big for my girls, he said 'ma'am, how do you expect them to get bigger if you don't feed them bigger prey?' needless to say, I never went back

Yeah the local petstores around me all have no hides in their BP enclosures...and they wonder why their snakes never eat....:mad:

If that's how your local store treats their snakes then you really should consider whether you want to give them any business at all, even to buy feeders.
I don't want to sound too dogmatic but surely the only responsible place to buy reptiles from are specialist reptile stores or breeders?
As for dogs and cats in pet store cages? An entirely inappropriate environment, luckily something I've never seen in the UK (I was horrified on a trip to a US pet store (maybe PetSmart?) to see kittens crammed into cages like battery hens and puppies locked in pens. Breeders or animal shelters are the only acceptable places to get dogs or cats IMHO.

I got Nyoka from a petsmart and they took really good care of all their reptiles at this one. They had a feeding schedule they gave me recording a feeding every 4-5 days, the snake wasn't timid or anything, is very friendly and eats f/t for me. I guess I just got lucky. Since I've done more research about breeders I've decided to go with one of the breeders on here for my next snakes.

My thought on this has always been the same - it's all well and good to bash bad pets store or disreputable breeders/vendors but in the end, it's your responsibility to be a well informed buyer and to know the basics at least about the care requirements of any species you wish to own. If you don't know what a healthy snake looks like, you won't know you are buying a sickly looking one. If you don't know the right questions to ask the seller, you won't have that information when you come here looking for help if things go funky. If you didn't set up correctly for this new animal, you are creating a situation where the chance for a successful experience are lessened.

Be a smart buyer. Do your research first. It's worth it for you and for the next creature you want to own. :)

I went to a pet store another store over and guess what they have for bedding? They have pine bedding and a heat rock for heat. I told them that pine is bad for snakes and he told me "that i don't know anything" I told him that I have a Male Pastel at home. He just said "Well it doesn't matter that they'll be sold in a week or two and it shouldn't be too long on the pine". WTF is with these people. My local pet store even though I won't buy another Snake from them they are helpful and they do feel bad about my first snake dieing. I'll buy my supplies from them or online. My rats come from them though. They always have small rats in stock and I told them I'll need one small rat a week.