Advice wanted on purchasing thin python....

It's one of the hardest decisions to make.
If you buy it they will replace it with another snake they might mistreat the same way.

If you don't buy it they may possibly kill it and order a replacement.

From your perspective buying from a local breeder or good petstore will most likely result in a happier and heathier pet with no major issues.

There are no easy answers - only choices.


del

A lot of chain pet stores have a corporate policy of only feeding the snakes f/t food and the stores in my area only sell animals that have been eating. I appreciate the fact that they are trying to sell the best, easiest to care for animals. It does tie the hands of employees when it comes to dealing with problem feeders. A lot of times they are willing to adopt those snakes out.

Teaching a pet store that it's ok for animals not to be keep properly, or be in deplorable conditions and they will still get sold evern at a discount is not the way to go, it only reinforces the message that it is ok, it might even become a business tactic at some point :rolleyes:

You can't save them all and people need to educate the stores not buy those animals because they ALWAYS get replaced.

I work for a Petco and I'm asking you to call corporate on this. If this snake is that thin it should not be on the floor. It should be in the back under vet care and fed live. Please call corporate.

please animal control and/or corporate before visiting again. sounds like little nakey needs help immediately.

Really sad for this poor skinny snake, it's a really common problem. Snake Discovery made a really good video on what to do if you see a poorly kept animal in a pet store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN8IwQX_mdk

It's important not to buy any animal from a big chain pet store because you feel sorry for it, as this encourages the business to get another animal that will suffer in the same way and supports the vicious cycle. Instead, to summarize the video, here is what you should do:

Step 1: Ask to speak to a manager in the store and tell them that the snake needs vet care
Step 2: Go back in about a week and check on the snake, if nothing has changed, call the corporate head office and express your concerns
Step 3: Go back in about a week and check on the snake, if there is still nothing that has changed take to social media. Take photos and videos of the animals and post them on the company's Facebook page, Twitter, Google reviews, wherever you can. Get the word out there. If the company hasn't taken any steps to deal with it by then they probably will if it goes public.

If you don't think the animal can last that long you can also go through these steps faster.

I have also seen YouTube videos of people talking to managers in pet stores and adopting animals that are in bad condition for free to bring them back to health, so that's another option. The important thing is that you should not reward the business for not caring for their animals properly by paying. It's much better to try to push them to make a systemic change through the steps outlined above.