Deceased Cornsnake at Local Pet Supermarket

[wolftrap]

I bought my last batch of frozen rats at a local big box store called Pet Supermarket. I'm not sure if these stores are anywhere else in the states or whatever, but I live in Texas, the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

On my way to the rat freezer, of course I decided to stop and check out all the live animals they have (ferrets, cats, etc), especially the snakes. They had an albino cornsnake, and I've been really looking into colubrids, so I hunker down and try to find the snake - and it's in the corner, belly-up, unmoving.

Naturally I was very unnerved so I went to the front desk and told the young man at the register that their cornsnake was dead. He proceeded to brush me off, saying "nah, snakes are really lazy, it's normal for them to be laying around not moving, etc", but after I urged, he checked it out.

Obviously the snake was deceased. When I asked him whether or not it was dead, he nervously explained that he was surprised and that they had just gotten that male about three weeks prior, and after thorough examination, the snake was fine to sell, they'd even checked it that morning...

I dunno why I made this thread, but it was very jarring! I know stuff happens but you'd think that pet store employees check on their animals much more routinely, especially if they're on display to be sold?? I hope very sincerely that it wasn't a thoughtless husbandry issue or something they could have controlled...