Pretty Upset (Explaination & Questions)

[KayleighBrown]

So i've been saving up and had gotten my tax return money, and I was going to go to the reptile store in Manhattan and purchase that beautiful lesser male I've been eyeing for months. The other day when I went there to finally purchase him, the owner of the store told me he had suddenly fell ill and had been re moved to the back of the store. He took me back to see him, and wanted to try and feed him infront of us. We stood there and watched as he pulled the tub out, and he was skin and bones. The owner told us he had been eating, but would throw it back up, and had diarrhea also. I was very ticked off, this snake was so beautiful before, and now it's wasted away into nothing. And I'm wondering why he didn't bother taking it to a vet to see if he had internal parasites or a disease. This opened my eyes and made me begin to think that if this one snake was ill it's possible whatever other snakes he is living near can catch it too. I don't think I'm going to be getting my snakes from him anymore. My husband and I ended up leaving the store after he tried to feed the lesser, the lesser was striking but wasn't striking to eat. I was really emotionally upset and had to leave the store before this person saw me cry.

My female pastel Persephone finally ate on her own, two african soft fur mice/rat fuzzies or whatever they're called. The owner of the reptile store warned me that snakes can become spoiled on them and wouldn't want anything else, and I'm now massively afraid Persephone has been expecting or waiting for that one kind of rodent, and so hasn't been wanting to take normal rats dead or alive when offered to her. But she ate on her own after months of having her and I'm happy. We did get her a new hide, which is very small and compact, because I feared it was a security issue she may have been having with her previous hide exposing her too much. So I am hoping it was just a security issue and not the spoiled on food scenario.

I had rescued a baby female spider ball, who owner was going to put in the freezer because he didn't like the fact that she had a spider wobble. The freezer? Really? How cruel can people be? I don't think the spider wobble is that serious of an issue, I also think it's adorable, but is it possible for me to breed the wobble out of the spider with time and selection? Like if I breed spiders that have a less noticeable wobble together? What can I do to reduce it? And what exactly causes the wobble? Was it do to inbreeding? Or is it just a genetic flaw? She hasn't taken anything since I brought her home, and she's skinny. You can feel her spine, and her skin is loose and wrinkly. Her previous owner quite honestly didn't know enough about how to care for snakes, or quite simply didn't care about her health.

[John1982]

It sucks about the lesser male but unfortunately most pet stores are all about the money so if it can't be fixed in house it goes untended. I wouldn't worry too much about your girl getting stuck on ASFs, at least she's eating on her own - that would be one less worry in my mind. I breed norwegians and ASFs for my animals and have yet to have anything get addicted to african soft furs. At the most I may have an animal skip 2-3 meals after a decent stretch feeding on ASFs but they seldom go more than that before pounding norwegians again. As for the wobble, there's not really anything you can do. Some get worse, some get better, some stay the same. What everyone seems to agree on is that it cannot be bred out of the morph.

[T&C Exotics]

With the pet store.... Honestly the reality is that to them it is not worth it to spend the money on a vet for an animal like a snake. It cuts into profits quite a bit...

With the spider... All spiders wobble and it is just part of the genetics. They have been around since 1999 so inbreeding is not the cause of it. It will be there no matter what. Anything that has the spider gene will wobble as well.

Now to the feeding... Odds are that the snake just was not secure enough and should be all good now that you have changed out the hide.

[KayleighBrown]

Thank you both for enlightening me on the feedings and the wobble, I really do appreciate it. I honestly do think the wobble is very adorable and my husband is in love with our new Spider female. We've named her Artemis

[Gerardo]

I love spiders. Not saying all petstores are bad but all the ones ive been to it seems the almighty dollar comes before the health and care of the animals.

[Slim]

Takes me about 2 minutes to determine the difference between a pet store and a pet shop when I walk in the door. More than one Ball Python is a tank, it's a pet store. Animals are well cared for and well presented, it might be a pet shop...

[PitOnTheProwl]

The cost of business sucks some times.................

[bcr229]

The cost of business sucks some times.................

Yes it does, which is why I want to stay firmly on the hobby side of breeding. Once you transition to a business your animals become lines on a balance sheet. When they get sick you have to make some very tough decisions about what to do when the cost of treatment exceeds the cost of replacement.

[cMac]

I know the shop you are talking about and for your sake I highly suggest hitting up the expo coming up next month (March 2nd) in Kansas City. I'm sure you will be able to find a VERY healthy and most likely less expensive lesser there. You might even find another morph you like even more for around the same price. You can usually find great prices there and many of the breeders are willing to make a deal, especially on a single gene male. And just a reminder if you've never been to an expo, "internet pricing" and "expo pricing" can vary greatly. For example: male clowns were going for $450-$500 at the january one. I bet you could find a lesser male (if available) in the $100-$150 range. Maybe even less.

Heres a link for the expo
http://coldbloodedexpos.com/kc-reptile-show/