PetSmart Near Me Has a BEL, Albino, Pied, and Banana. Not Happy With What I Saw.

[Stingray74]

Very surprised to see these morphs there while getting some fish food at Petsmart yesterday. And very pissed off to see the poor husbandry. All were babies and under 75 grams in a 72 degree tank with no visible hot spot. One small 10 gallon tank held a Banana, BEL, and Pied and all three were packed in a hide together. Another tank held an underweight albino and the snake was perched up on a fake vine trying to warm up with the overhead lights. Last tank held a normal that wouldn't stop frantically roaming the tank. It was VERY underweight and had visible loose skin.

I called over a staff member and started complaining about about what I saw. Staffer could've cared less about my concerns, so I just turned and walked out. I'm sending corporate an email today expressing my disgust for what I saw.

The prices of the snakes were as follows:
- BEL $499
- Pied $299
- Albino $299
- Banana $349
- Normal $39

[PitOnTheProwl]

with no visible hot spot.

You are right, you don't see UTHs. I know Petco has regulated belly heat and I am pretty sure PetSmart does to.

[ferrislongdog]

Unfortunately I do not believe Petsmart has the UTHs, at least not from what I've seen from working there. They have basking bulbs. Except some don't get night basking. So they just get cold. The tanks are itty bitty, smaller than 10 gal for the babies, we have a year and then some old ghost pastel enchi that's been in the store for over a year now in a 10 gal. While she eats well and gets through sheds okay and has the best temper I've ever seen, she's borderline obese and always shoved in her log all day and night. Don't get me started in how obnoxious the husbandry is, lol.




It's a very stressful location for the babies who can act out aggressively and strike the glass, or just are stressed and terrified and hiding. We lost one banana baby because it just withered away without eating besides force-feedings, and one we have now that is very very skinny and being treated with VERY unneeded betadine daily soaks for "mites" I now see are just natural freckles. He is force fed every pinkie meal, and always dehydrated. I am working on getting my managers informed on his freckles and already left two notes on it last night.




Also a normal we recently got who is striking at the glass. You can see the tiny space he has as the picture pretty much as the entire setup in it.No more space than what is shown. ]



The banana and the enchi are priced at $350.

[Stingray74]

You are right, you don't see UTHs. I know Petco has regulated belly heat and I am pretty sure PetSmart does to.

Hi Pit,
I was able to see through the bottom glass of the tank as the substrate was very thin and was shoved into one area of the tank. I couldn't see anything under there, but can't be sure. It was more like a 6 gallon tank that these all were in. Very sad indeed.

[cletus]

That's a big selection. I've only ever seen Fancy/Normals and Bananas there.

[zina10]

Sometimes you catch more flies with honey..

Offer your expertise. Ask to speak to a manager, introduce yourself and your credentials when it comes to reptiles. Respectfully offer some advice, printouts, caresheets etc.

They might blow you off..but you never know, you might just find a open ear and make a change for the better..

[Coluber42]

Re. the banana and its "mites" - have you tried showing anyone the freckles through a magnifying glass? I would think that would make it pretty obvious that they're coloration and not bugs. Poor little thing.

[Hlow87]

There is actually a beautiful pied bp at our local petsmart,also where i got our super fire pastel and butter pastel..i was so tempted to get the pied but cant afford the price tag right now anyways

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[ferrislongdog]

The "mites" banana I left notes about last night and today they've started to come to the consensus between me, and my two managers that know snakes better, that he's healthy minus the being skinny. Always feel free to tell a manager if there's something wrong and cruel. I go to them when I see something off and they always say or do something about it. When you have a big chain store it's not likely you'll have experts or professionals as managers or employees. My co workers are pre-vet, I'm just a meds student who reads a lot about animals haha. The managers are no experts either. Offer your opinions. Usually the snakes are healthy, they're just skinny because they're all fed once every seven days a meal that's too small. If you get them home and fed right, I bet they'll be just fine. None of the animals are in ideal situations, but a pet store doesn't have the time or resources to make it all perfect. The animals there are meant to stay very temporarily. And the normals fly off the shelves, the $119 pastels and very beautiful "fancy" balls do occasionally too.

Its the $350 ones that get stuck there way way too long. Then sickness can follow.

In conclusion: Always feel free to offer an opinion, they should be open to learn. If you come to us saying you're concerned about the wellbeing of an animal because x y and z, you should be heard. Just understand there are things we have NO control over.

[BPGator]

Isn't $299 for a pied a good price? Usually the price is jacked up high for normals and morphs at petsmart and petco.


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