This might be a bit off topic, but I feel it would be nice to share.

Today me and my wife were doing a bit of herp shopping. Looking around at some new cold blooded friends that might be added to our collection of beauties one day. As of now we are looking at a few Leopard Geckos and possibly a Bearded Dragon at some point in time... most likely after I move all of my animals into a new "center" we're building for them, out of the glass and into nice new racks

Things went well for the first little while... A local petsmart has several very colorful and vivacious pets that have been treated with great respect and care. We love the King snakes and are hoping to find a few new BP's (providing they remain in budget and space ). All in all it was an fun and enlightening experience.

It was later that I was greatly depressed. After leaving the aforementioned store we took a trip into our mall which also has a little shop that has a few herps. What we saw was rather heartbreaking... Though we did see a few beautiful herps (A very colorful milksnake, a stripped King, a very interesting BP, and a very well behaved Rainbow Boa) it was the condition in which we found them that hurt. Several of the animals had very large bit marks which had sealed... some recently, others fresh.. Not even one of the water bowls had any water at all, and worst off was the Boa. A young boy who had looked at the king snake we had out asked to hold the Boa. Since I've heard they can be temperamental I offered to take it out for him. I'd rather risk my hands and not jerk if bitten than allow a young kid whip the poor animal around. Upon taking it out my wife pointed out a shocking situation.

The moment I took the animal out she noticed small "Balls" dotting the animal's neck all the way to it's tail. Mites. And hundreds of them. The poor critter seemed almost excited to be leaving the enclosure. We brought his condition up as soon as I realized she was right. The attendant was terrified of the snakes and informed a manager. We were also allowed to get the other animals some fresh water which did make me feel better... Sadly the manager didn't show much concern at all for the Boa. I had a nice few mites riding around with me after that, ick, and ended up needing a good scrub to make sure MY animals didn't end up with them.

We are going to go back in for the next few days and try to silently keep a tab on the little guy. We pray that our appeals were taken seriously...

My rant for the day, thanks for listening lol and our prayers stay with everyone.