Do pet stores help or hurt the snake hobby?

[jschwe]

Having worked at a Petsmart, I know that some employees can be truly knowledgeable and concerned with giving pets proper care. However, experience has also taught me that employees can have no idea what they are talking about and still be very good at SOUNDING like they do. I have seen way too many people authoritatively give entirely the wrong information to well meaning pet owners. This is IMO the biggest (arguably solveable) pet store problem.

[h00blah]

Having worked at a Petsmart, I know that some employees can be truly knowledgeable and concerned with giving pets proper care. However, experience has also taught me that employees can have no idea what they are talking about and still be very good at SOUNDING like they do. I have seen way too many people authoritatively give entirely the wrong information to well meaning pet owners. This is IMO the biggest (arguably solveable) pet store problem.

I agree. When I went to Petco to get a small water bowl for the babies I received a while back, I told them I use paper towels and keep them in tubs with heat tape. The guy told me that snakes need to burrow so I should buy aspen bedding. Then the guy told me that they need a "basking hot spot" so I'll need a heat lamp as well. He didn't try to sell me a fish tank to go with the heat lamp. Maybe he just didn't really listen to the response I gave him about using tubs lol. Or maybe he didn't know what that meant .

To answer the original question about whether pet stores hurt or help the snake hobby, I don't think there's a definite answer. Not all of them are the same, much like not all breeders are the same. Some are filled with REALLY knowledgeable people who care about the animals and dedicated a lot of time to learning about them. Some have folks who barely know anything about an animal outside of what they read in the company care sheet. There are people who breed reptiles or claim to breed them who sell sick, deformed, mite-infested, or injured snakes without warning. You can't lump them all into one category due to the diversity.

To the OP, giving your money to the pet store who kept your new snake in poor conditions merely opened space for another animal to live in the same conditions. Buying the snake allows the cycle to continue. Kudos for giving him a proper home though . At least 1 snake will enjoy a good warm home to himself .

[ds1091]

The ball pythons at my local petco have visable mites and very bad sheds. And the petsmart near me feeds their large hatchlings pinkie mice. They really have no clue how to care for reptiles and their employees have the nerve to say i shouldnt own snakes because i keep them in racks.

[CaGirl5]

My local petco had crickets in the cages of their ball pythons and red tails...

[Gerardo]

We've got quite a few horrible pet stores here, but we've also got a few really good ones. The owners personally breed balls and other herps and the employees are knowledgeable. One of our local Petsmarts the reptile department manager is definitely very knowledgeable and I see him at some of the shows. I think it just depends on how the store is run and the knowledge of the owner and employees.
Imo in a retail situation where the product is a living thing, you can't put profit first over all else, the animal's well beings should be above all else.

I agree 100% but thats not always the case. My bp had a respiratory infection and scale rot when i "rescued" him from that pet store.