BP not Eating

[Thomas S]

I do go to Pet Stores at least 2 times per week, and all of them only have 1 hide for snakes in them do to limited space, i guess? I know now you need 2 obviously, but as a Early potential buyer at the time, i believed that the pet stores i visited had it "right"... so new BP owners should be aware of any advice or visual examples given by Pet Stores, yes???

[Zincubus]

I do go to Pet Stores at least 2 times per week, and all of them only have 1 hide for snakes in them do to limited space, i guess? I know now you need 2 obviously, but as a Early potential buyer at the time, i believed that the pet stores i visited had it "right"... so new BP owners should be aware of any advice or visual examples given by Pet Stores, yes???

Na .. you’re best doing loads of research many pet store assistants know less than zero about snakes or only give misinformation out .

One of our local stores had a viv containing about 7 young snakes !

Even more incredible is there was a mix of Royal pythons and baby Boas !!

One hide had two snake heads protruding .. one Royal and one Boa !!

To the untrained eye they were all happy as Larry but I doubt that all the Royals were eating regularly ( if at all ) .


Many still sell the snake , viv/tank and a heat mat but no thermostat. (Plus they sell those useless, plastic stick-on Exo Terra thermometers ! )


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[Bogertophis]

I do go to Pet Stores at least 2 times per week, and all of them only have 1 hide for snakes in them do to limited space, i guess? I know now you need 2 obviously, but as a Early potential buyer at the time, i believed that the pet stores i visited had it "right"... so new BP owners should be aware of any advice or visual examples given by Pet Stores, yes???

Yes. As Zinc already noted, pet stores are there to SELL things. Very few of them know what they're talking about when it comes to proper snake care- the employees are mostly doing what they're manager has told them & have little or no other experience with snakes at all. I've seen absolutely atrocious care of snakes in pet stores, which is why I seldom go in them any more. If they were receptive to education I'd try though, for the sake of the snakes.

And as far as pet stores making sales: Consider that they may want to sell you a snake that gets much bigger than you really want or can handle, just so you'll be back buying more food all the time, or new enclosures when it outgrows them. Remember that pet stores have a lot of "overhead" (costs of running a "brick & mortar" storefront) so they need to make sales to stay open, much less make a profit. Rather than tell you the BEST products for your pets needs, they're going to want to push whatever they have in their store. Never forget that... Their "advice" is profit-motivated.

Some of them (employees or managers/owners) may mean well, but do your own research anyway- don't risk your pets doing what you see them doing.

[Hugsplox]

Yes. As Zinc already noted, pet stores are there to SELL things. Very few of them know what they're talking about when it comes to proper snake care- the employees are mostly doing what they're manager has told them & have little or no other experience with snakes at all. I've seen absolutely atrocious care of snakes in pet stores, which is why I seldom go in them any more. If they were receptive to education I'd try though, for the sake of the snakes.

And as far as pet stores making sales: Consider that they may want to sell you a snake that gets much bigger than you really want or can handle, just so you'll be back buying more food all the time, or new enclosures when it outgrows them. Remember that pet stores have a lot of "overhead" (costs of running a "brick & mortar" storefront) so they need to make sales to stay open, much less make a profit. Rather than tell you the BEST products for your pets needs, they're going to want to push whatever they have in their store. Never forget that... Their "advice" is profit-motivated.

Some of them (employees or managers/owners) may mean well, but do your own research anyway- don't risk your pets doing what you see them doing.

Painfully accurate explanation of what goes on, especially at the big box stores, but sometimes just as bad if not worse at smaller pet shops. My local reptile place has stopped me from buying things a few times and given me some DYI advice or a cheaper product that works just as good. That's why I keep going back. They're breeders and know what works and what expensive products I can skip on and still provide the same level of care.

My opinion is if you can find a shop that tries to get you not to spend money, that's the shop where you should be spending your money.

[Thomas S]

Before i bought my 1st and only BP, i asked A LOT of questions..I remember 1 pet shop employee telling me that these are good questions that i was asking and as she was answering them only after searching her phone for a few seconds, but she was trying..I also was told not to buy some of the Reptile Habitat Enclosure "Kits" because they contained things i did not need, or cheap versions of the temperature/humidity guages, lighting, bedding and so on, they were being quite honest, that really surprised me...

[Hugsplox]

Before i bought my 1st and only BP, i asked A LOT of questions..I remember 1 pet shop employee telling me that these are good questions that i was asking and as she was answering them only after searching her phone for a few seconds, but she was trying..I also was told not to buy some of the Reptile Habitat Enclosure "Kits" because they contained things i did not need, or cheap versions of the temperature/humidity guages, lighting, bedding and so on, they were being quite honest, that really surprised me...

Yea sometimes you can find a good deal on a "kit" but they're a tad misleading to a new keeper. I think a lot of folks see "snake kit" and assume it has everything that they need in it, only to find out later that they're missing stuff or got equipment that isn't ideal, those stick on temp/humidity gauges are a good example. Now I've purchased kits on sale at box stores before, but only because I was getting the enclosure cheaper than if I bought it by itself.

I hate to keep bragging on my local reptile place, but what they do is do bulk orders on 10 gallon tanks, and then they create their own starter kits out of them with appropriate sized hides, good substrate, digital gauges, I mean a dream set up for a hatchling snake. Of course they grow out of that 10 gallon relatively quick, but it's a great and safer way to get people into the hobby.

[Thomas S]

Yea sometimes you can find a good deal on a "kit" but they're a tad misleading to a new keeper. I think a lot of folks see "snake kit" and assume it has everything that they need in it, only to find out later that they're missing stuff or got equipment that isn't ideal, those stick on temp/humidity gauges are a good example. Now I've purchased kits on sale at box stores before, but only because I was getting the enclosure cheaper than if I bought it by itself.

I hate to keep bragging on my local reptile place, but what they do is do bulk orders on 10 gallon tanks, and then they create their own starter kits out of them with appropriate sized hides, good substrate, digital gauges, I mean a dream set up for a hatchling snake. Of course they grow out of that 10 gallon relatively quick, but it's a great and safer way to get people into the hobby.

[mlededee]

Thomas S, I know your snake has taken several meals now. However, this is great advice and might also help you convert your snake onto frozen/thawed if you choose to try that.

[Bogertophis]

Thomas S, I know your snake has taken several meals now. However, this is great advice and might also help you convert your snake onto frozen/thawed if you choose to try that.

This reminds me of some posts (by Deborah, I think?) along the same lines, including the last desperate measure of taking a snake for a 30 minute ride in the car to basically change things up, & also a discussion of some research about doing a thorough cleaning of their enclosure. Good stuff! I like his explanation & it bears repeating. We all have to become snake psychologists.

(As far as the "ride in a car" technique, I've never tried that & wouldn't be eager to do so- you also have to think about the weather- if it's cold, any exposure could backfire. My initial reaction to the idea was that it sounded crazy, but after watching this video above, it sorta fits the same idea and this video explains it far better than previous observations & speculation did.)

[Thomas S]

A good deal on a snake "Kit" is one thing, How about a good deal on a BP? The Pet------ store near me has a Black Pastel just like my BP for $49.99! I paid $149.99 + $50.00 shipping for my Pastel, I think im going to get seriously sick....