Sad story at Petland...

[djslurp1200]

So theres a Petland 2 blocks from my house here and everytime I go in me and my girlfriend will look at the puppies and what not and eventually look at the snakes and other reptiles just to see what they have. Well there is an adult ball python there right now and they've had him/her (unsexed) for a couple months now. The thing is, They've got it in a 15 gallon aquarium with no hide, just a big water bowl and a small simple branch and on top of that they're using rabbit pellets (food) for substrate! The real heartbreaker is it has a retained eye shed and a nasty one at that! According to the GM of the store it's retained 2 sheds worth of eye caps and it just looks horrible. I have no interest in buying the animal but what kind of treatment would be needed to remove such old eye caps. i'm sorry to have to post another sad thread about petco, petland or any other major corperate petstore and how they don't take care of their animals but I really feel hurt by the way this snake is living. And it's Husbandry conditions...

I've tried to give helpful tips to get the shed off such as the warm damp pillow case or a lightly rubbing a warm wash cloth down the direction of the scales and even contributed facts that these animals thrive in burrow's in the ground in africa and how important a hide box is to them...Yet they never take any advice and put it into action.

What kind of treatment would be needed to take care of a retained eye cap like this..(2 sheds still on)?

[TheAudOne]

Sadly the wont give it a hide, because then no customer would be able to see it.....sad sad sad......I hate Petland.....

[djslurp1200]

Yeah, but still I even told them if they just put some fake vines on the branch just to give him SOME KIND of security in there ya know? I'm just concerned about the eye though.

[joepythons]

So theres a Petland 2 blocks from my house here and everytime I go in me and my girlfriend will look at the puppies and what not and eventually look at the snakes and other reptiles just to see what they have. Well there is an adult ball python there right now and they've had him/her (unsexed) for a couple months now. The thing is, They've got it in a 15 gallon aquarium with no hide, just a big water bowl and a small simple branch and on top of that they're using rabbit pellets (food) for substrate! The real heartbreaker is it has a retained eye shed and a nasty one at that! According to the GM of the store it's retained 2 sheds worth of eye caps and it just looks horrible. I have no interest in buying the animal but what kind of treatment would be needed to remove such old eye caps. i'm sorry to have to post another sad thread about petco, petland or any other major corperate petstore and how they don't take care of their animals but I really feel hurt by the way this snake is living. And it's Husbandry conditions...

I've tried to give helpful tips to get the shed off such as the warm damp pillow case or a lightly rubbing a warm wash cloth down the direction of the scales and even contributed facts that these animals thrive in burrow's in the ground in africa and how important a hide box is to them...Yet they never take any advice and put it into action.

What kind of treatment would be needed to take care of a retained eye cap like this..(2 sheds still on)?

As sad as it is even if you went in their with some more advice its going to go in one ear and out of the other.

[djslurp1200]

I know, I don't plan on telling them anything else but. It's just that when somebody like you or myself or anybody on this forum see's the conditions that these animals have or are in it really really hurts. I don't even want to see their reptiles anymore for the fear of being heart broken in some way.

[joepythons]

I know, I don't plan on telling them anything else but. It's just that when somebody like you or myself or anybody on this forum see's the conditions that these animals have or are in it really really hurts. I don't even want to see their reptiles anymore for the fear of being heart broken in some way.

You are very true,thats why i do not go to pet store in peoria they are the slum lords(houses) of the pet stores .I only visit 2 pet stores in the whole state of Illinois,one is owned by a freind of mine and the other is owned by a freinds father.They do not allow anything to be mistreated ever and anything that is sold the buyer is told the truth of how to care for them.

[TheAudOne]

I would just ask them "Since your facility refuses to take the advice given to properly care for this Ball Python, cut me a deal on the price and I would be willing to care for it and try to un-do the stress caused my inproper housing.." that is if you were interested in rescuing him.

[kurgan]

Is their no animal protection organisation where you live?
In the UK we could get the RSPCA involved with authority to remove animals and or shut the damn store.

[joepythons]

I would just ask them "Since your facility refuses to take the advice given to properly care for this Ball Python, cut me a deal on the price and I would be willing to care for it and try to un-do the stress caused my inproper housing.." that is if you were interested in rescuing him.

If everyone did this at every pet store like this one it would not achive anything.They will just buy more and keep them in the same bad conditions and you would become there pigeon for buying this once they are sick animal from them.

[Collins2602]

I have a sad Petco story:

My hubby and I were looking at the ball pythons one day and the first one we picked up had a big gash in its side near the tail and it's body was very lumpy. Not egg lumpy (she was a hatchling) and not soft lumpy, but HARD lumpy. Like bones. I don't think it was her bones, and I don't think it was bones from a meal, because I've never felt that on a snake before. It was so sad. I told the people and they took her and said they would take her to the vet. But who knows if they really did or not. They probably just put her back in the cage after we left.