Morphs at Petco now

[TKByrnes21783]

I was in my local petco returning some aspen that was infested with mites! Yea it sucks! I was looking at their balls and they have Pastels for $149.99 Sad example of one but it was a pastel. They also had a spider for $229.99 The poor thing was skinny and the worst looking spider I have ever seen. It also had a severe wobble. The snake's head was all over the place while trying to move around the display. I cant believe that they would buy a spider from someone that looked like that. Much less sell it!

[Anatopism]

I've seen a gorgeous pastel and stunning pinstripe at petco... but that was the one I worked at, that is now understaffed with only a single knowledgeable employee left. Even just the difference of 1 or 2 good employees can make or break a store. That said, petco has absolutely no say in the animals they order as far as quality of the morph is concerned. They order a snake from the vendor, and hope it comes in healthy. If there is a big enough issue with it, the animal can be sent back, but if it gets sent to a store with clueless employees, how willthey know what to look for? If it gets sent to a store with caring and knowledgeable employees, they'll set up the animal in quarantine like they're supposed to, go to a vet (if there is even a qualified vet in the area-- the area where I am at is extrememly limited and only for very basic procedures).

Not trying to defend chain pet stores, there are things I don't agree with about them either... but there are lots of factors at play.

[Reznor]

Seriously over-priced for critters that aren't the best example of a morph and has wobble - Petco sux. :/
Last time I went into Petco, I saw one of their normals that I liked - had really cool colors and nice blushing - but when I looked, there were mites crawling all over the poor things! I tracked down one of the managers and told them about the problem, did my best... I hope they did something about it. :/

[cmack91]

mine had pastels ONCE, and they were selling them as "fancy ball pythons"

[kendracandraw]

Petsmart and Petco can carry morphs, like Anatopism said 1 or 2 knowledgeable employees can really really help a store. I used to work at PetSmart and was talking to my boss about morphs, he said he could order them but they were so expensive that they usually sit for a long time. We hardly sold BP's while I worked there, we ended up having to trade snakes with another store because our had gotten too big for the enclosures we had.

[seeya205]

The best thing you can do is educate this stores! Print off the care sheet on this site: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet . You can also let them know about their Spider and that it's not suppose to have a wobble like that! Also note that all Spiders have a wobble, some are barely noticeable while others are really noticeable as in this case! You must do it in a nice manner and not as complaining or making a scene then they may listen! As a customer, you can choose to buy elsewhere as not to support a store like this unless they change. At those prices, you can get a nice example of the morph from a reputable breeder! The more people we educate, the better it will make the hobby in the future!!!

[TKByrnes21783]

I already have both of the morphs they have. i just think its sad. one of them.... my spider is crawling all over my pc as we speak!! lol

[Charlie And Lucy]

I've seen a gorgeous pastel and stunning pinstripe at petco... but that was the one I worked at, that is now understaffed with only a single knowledgeable employee left. Even just the difference of 1 or 2 good employees can make or break a store. That said, petco has absolutely no say in the animals they order as far as quality of the morph is concerned. They order a snake from the vendor, and hope it comes in healthy. If there is a big enough issue with it, the animal can be sent back, but if it gets sent to a store with clueless employees, how willthey know what to look for? If it gets sent to a store with caring and knowledgeable employees, they'll set up the animal in quarantine like they're supposed to, go to a vet (if there is even a qualified vet in the area-- the area where I am at is extrememly limited and only for very basic procedures).

Not trying to defend chain pet stores, there are things I don't agree with about them either... but there are lots of factors at play.

I completely agree with this. I do want to add that not all chain pet stores are bad. The Petco by me takes decent care of their reptiles. Yes, the BP's share an enclosure like every other Petco. That is standard policy for them and you can't blame the individual store for that. My first BP, Charlie, came from Petco. He was very healthy and always has a perfect shed. The employees are wonderful and knowledgeable. I do know that this is not the norm for chain pet stores, but it's important to remember that they aren't all bad.

Hiring under-educated people is something to blame them for. That's why so many people come to us for help.

They have had morphs at my Petco on and off for awhile. They're almost always pastels and they're always in with the normals for $80.

[meowmeowkazoo]

I wouldn't be surprised if the stress of being sold in a large pet store is making the spider's wobble a bit worse.

[decensored]

mine had pastels ONCE, and they were selling them as "fancy ball pythons"

lmao! My local PJ's which is Canadian and similar to Petco or PetSmart was selling a female spider a couple months ago. It was in really rough shape. It had shed stuck all over it, mites and full grown it was in an enclosure that was about 12" x 12". I guess they got a few comments because they dropped the price from $300 to $175.

I love how their solution to, "your python is very sick." was to put it on sale.