rediculous excuse of a pet store owner

[M&J in NC]

I think we use the same pet store.

[babedizzle]

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.

[joshthaxton]

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.

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.

[joshthaxton]

I think we use the same pet store.

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.

[joshthaxton]

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.

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

[joshthaxton]

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 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.

[joshthaxton]

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.

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!!"

[joshthaxton]

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.

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.