rediculous excuse of a pet store owner

So, I feed my female live mice (as that's all she will eat, trust me I've tried), and last week I bought 4 mice from this local pet store, if you can call it that. Anywho, I tried feeding her early in the morning and she wouldn't eat, so I decided to try later on that night. I keep the mice in 2 double stacked 5 gallon buckets "while they are waiting." I come back home later on that night to try and feed and notice that one of the mice is just plain old dead.

So, I try to feed the others and noticed that she was very interested and just wouldn't strike them. I have already had issues w/ returning things to this pet store (apparently EVERYTHING is 'all sales final'), and asked the lady if they return/exchange/refund anything w/ mice. She politely said no. When I told her that I myself had done absolutely nothing to these mice and the one was just dead when I came back, she told me and I quote "well maybe when the mouse saw the snake it could have had a heart attack and died." She said that with a straight face. :taz: IMO if such a thing can really happen, wouldn't the mouse have died fromshell shock" inside the tank, not in the bucket 3-4 hours later? I was just wondering if anyone here has a similar rediculous pet store owner excuse, or if this is even remotely possible. I personally believe that the pet store owner is completely full of poop.

I don't know what to tell you about the mice, but trying to feed your snake multiple times in a short time period will only make it refuse further. If your snake refuses, wait a week(7 days) and try again. If you feed live, unfortunately you have to keep the mice around for a while.

i was in a petsmart and I heard and employee tell a customer the snake ate crickets.... and on a different day that the turtle could live in your house with your dogs and cats fine (wandering the house.. not in a cage)....:rolleye2::rolleye2::rolleye2:

A lot of pet stores (both local and the big chains) can be pretty ignorant when it comes to animals, especially reptiles and anything to do with them. It sounds like she was just being a sarcastic b- I mean witch :D I have never heard of mice having a "heart attack" before. The only way it might have is if your snake actually struck at it or bit and released and it was an old mouse or a mouse with a health problem and it couldn't handle it. Either way it sounds like it was the pet store's fault (indirectly) for selling "defective" mice. Unfortunately there's probably not much you can do about it. You have to go with what you get.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

I don't know what to tell you about the mice, but trying to feed your snake multiple times in a short time period will only make it refuse further. If your snake refuses, wait a week(7 days) and try again. If you feed live, unfortunately you have to keep the mice around for a while.

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I definitely second this. I know it's tempting to try and feed again right away, but it really can cause them to refuse food and get more stressed. Wait at least a few days, but a week would probably be best. And yup, it can be a pain keeping the live mice around for that long but...you gotta do what ya gotta do :P

Offer once, wait 5-7 days is the golden rule.


as for a rat/mouse heart attack. they don't have heart attacks then scared they bite like lil bastards. and rats hurt the worst.

Most places will NEVER take back live mice. Too much risk of illness being brought back.
Stress from being put into a snake cage, carted around from the store and put into a double stack of 5-gallon buckets is enough to kill a mouse. Plus.. what was in the buckets previously? What was it cleaned with? What air flow is there in it? Was the mouse dropped into the snake cage or the bucket?
It's not necasarily the mouse being defective, they CAN be delicate little animals, and any of the aboce could easily have killed it. I've had small rats die on the drive home from ???? stress? excess heat? heart attacks? alien probing? Who knows? Rodents are always dicey and can die from nearly anything.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

It's not necessarily the mouse being defective, they CAN be delicate little animals, and any of the above could easily have killed it. I've had small rats die on the drive home from ???? stress? excess heat? heart attacks? alien probing? Who knows? Rodents are always dicey and can die from nearly anything.

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This is true :D I was just referring to the most obvious causes based on what the op said...but you are right. I should have brought that up :oops:

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Originally Posted by temec

i was in a petsmart and I heard and employee tell a customer the snake ate crickets.... and on a different day that the turtle could live in your house with your dogs and cats fine (wandering the house.. not in a cage)....:rolleye2::rolleye2::rolleye2:

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A petco here had crickets in with some garter snakes (it was either that or corns).

Any time I look at any just about any small fuzzy animal small enough for a snake to eat, I call it snake food. I was at petsmart once and I said that about a hamster and the lady goes "Oh snakes can't eat hamsters." I didnt say anything and just walked away. :D:D

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Most places will NEVER take back live mice. Too much risk of illness being brought back.
Stress from being put into a snake cage, carted around from the store and put into a double stack of 5-gallon buckets is enough to kill a mouse. Plus.. what was in the buckets previously? What was it cleaned with? What air flow is there in it? Was the mouse dropped into the snake cage or the bucket?
It's not necasarily the mouse being defective, they CAN be delicate little animals, and any of the aboce could easily have killed it. I've had small rats die on the drive home from ???? stress? excess heat? heart attacks? alien probing? Who knows? Rodents are always dicey and can die from nearly anything.

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Thats what I was going to suggest, something either in the bucket, or if they were in a bucket with another bucket put into it from the top it may not have had enough air.

To sort of stave off future problems, why not get a small sterilite tote, fit it out with a bit of hardware cloth on the sides and make a temporary holding bin. Get your mice a few days before you feed, give them fresh water and food, and that way you know you are feeding well fed well hydrated mice. :gj:

I think we use the same pet store.

I can't tell you how many times this same thing has happened to me. I actually stopped going to the pet store nearest my house because the employees there act disgusted if they have to pick up mice and put them in a box for me. On more than one occasion I have found dead mice in the box as soon as I get them home.

To go along with what you were saying, no mice I have ever purchased were stressed out by being in the same cage as a snake. 9 times out of 10 the mice in my snake cage end up eating away at the grass and plants and climbing tree limbs the entire time.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Most places will NEVER take back live mice. Too much risk of illness being brought back.
Stress from being put into a snake cage, carted around from the store and put into a double stack of 5-gallon buckets is enough to kill a mouse. Plus.. what was in the buckets previously? What was it cleaned with? What air flow is there in it? Was the mouse dropped into the snake cage or the bucket?
It's not necasarily the mouse being defective, they CAN be delicate little animals, and any of the aboce could easily have killed it. I've had small rats die on the drive home from ???? stress? excess heat? heart attacks? alien probing? Who knows? Rodents are always dicey and can die from nearly anything.

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The petstore that this story comes from is not a chain, it's local. I actually have sucessfully taken back mice to petco before. The buckets are buckets that I always use for mice, when I have to "babysit" them for a few days. I routinely disinfect them each time. There are also holes in the buckets for said ventilation.

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Originally Posted by M&J in NC

I think we use the same pet store.

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You're in NC. I'm in fayetteville...the store I go to is called All About Pets, the only place in town that sells live, besides this one in the ghetto that charges like 2.00 for mice that are barely bigger than hoppers.

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Originally Posted by Enser54

Thats what I was going to suggest, something either in the bucket, or if they were in a bucket with another bucket put into it from the top it may not have had enough air.

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There are air holes in the side of the buckets for ventilation

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

I don't know what to tell you about the mice, but trying to feed your snake multiple times in a short time period will only make it refuse further. If your snake refuses, wait a week(7 days) and try again. If you feed live, unfortunately you have to keep the mice around for a while.

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I usually do wait, but this time I was just seeing if I'd get a possibly better feeding response at night since BPs are nocturnal anyways.

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Originally Posted by JeffJ

Offer once, wait 5-7 days is the golden rule.


as for a rat/mouse heart attack. they don't have heart attacks then scared they bite like lil bastards. and rats hurt the worst.

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I second that, I HATE rats. They are so much more bold than mice and have an attitude like "where's that snake? i'mma bite him!!"

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

To sort of stave off future problems, why not get a small sterilite tote, fit it out with a bit of hardware cloth on the sides and make a temporary holding bin. Get your mice a few days before you feed, give them fresh water and food, and that way you know you are feeding well fed well hydrated mice. :gj:

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I guess that is kinda what I do w/ the buckets. I mean I clean them out everyday that I have the mice for feces/urine and I do give them fresh water and feed them. You better believe that I wanna make sure those little "mouseburgers" are real nice and juicy whenever my snake decides she wants to eat.