I went to PetCo today to get some bird seed, and decided to check out their reptile setup, for kicks, particularly after hearing how people talk about how the box stores don't house their snakes properly.

First I noticed the red tailed boa they had. Small, and it was lounging half in and half out of its water dish. It struck me as odd, but I don't read the boa sub-forum here, so I didn't know if that was off or not. Good looking snake, though, I thought.

Then I looked at the BP tank. Sad...actually worse than I expected, despite what I read here. Four young snakes all in one tank (I have no idea how to assess how old they were, but they were quite small). Substrate of coconut fiber, soaking wet. One hide, which was a half log. None of the snakes were in it...there was one draped across the branch that was in there, and the other three were kinda tangled together. I assumed they were all grouped in the warm area. The glass was dripping with water, and only a stick-on analog thermometer was in the tank (reading 85...but that doesn't mean anything, necessarily). I didn't know how to assess the snakes' health, but I looked for a while at their eyes, noses, and mouths, looking for mites or a RI, but didn't see anything like that. The tank size itself seemed awfully large from what I've read here, but maybe the space wasn't such an issue, being shared among 4 snakes (if that makes a difference). I don't have any experience, so I couldn't tell if they were too skinny or not, but it sure struck me that they were having trouble being warm, if they preferred to lay out in the open rather than in the (substandard) hide.

Now, I don't have a snake (yet), but it didn't take much reading here to be able to see how much they were doing wrong. The BPs weren't roaming or anything, but I had to wonder how well they were feeding and all. If I actually had some personal experience, and not just knowledge from reading this forum, I might have questioned someone about their care, but without any real credibility, I was hesitant to do so. Besides, any regular employee wouldn't likely know anything, and what would my input mean to them, about housing them individually and meeting the other husbandry needs? I assume that their hope is to move them quickly enough that their husbandry doesn't make a difference...but with feeding being so tricky, I can't imagine how they could tell if one snake was feeding regularly and another wasn't...if they can't house them correctly, I doubt they could identify the snakes as individuals.

Sad. It made me want to buy them all just to get them out, but I'm not in a position to bring a single snake home, let alone 4 or 5...not to mention the correct housing I would need to purchase. Besides...buying them out would only encourage them to stock more...

It does make me feel good to know that I know enough to see what they were doing wrong and know how to rectify the situation...not to say that makes me an expert or anything like it, but the basic needs are pretty easy to understand, and this wasn't even close to an attempt to meet them. A lot of people here looking for advice may be doing things wrong, but not this completely.

I am very much looking forward to a snake of my own, eventually...I just need the space first.