As previously mentioned, it is her job as a manager to manage, not to be comfortable around every animal in the store. She may not have had the best tone or perhaps wasn't as friendly as she could have been, but without having been there, I can't say whether or not it was deserved. Petco does not require that their employees be fearless around every animal...even employees that work directly with the animals. They require that employees can provide the minimum care. This isnt the fault of am employee that is just trying to pay the bills. They are retail employees that are being asked to do more work than they were just a year ago, with 60% of the staff. The turnover rate is huge... and large chain stores are left with staff that
1) is brand new and in training
2) has been with the company for so long because they are worried about paying bills and can't afford or can't find a job elsewhere, and are now bitter or exhausted (not saying it is an excuse to be rude, but know that it IS retail, and they are often not paid enough to give a damn about feelings...the ones who do show exceptional customer service should really be given an extra pat on the back)...
or 3) legitimately care about their job and the animals in their care... but are constantly faced with impossibly growing workloads that make exceptional animal care in a retail environment such as PETCO/petsmart nearly impossible.
Keep in mind too, that this manager might know more about ferrets than anybody in the state... they may be more passionate about scorpions than anybody on arachnoboards... working in a large chain store with several species makes it difficult for every single employee in every store to be an expert on every animal. The reptile dept alone at my local PETCO has 10 different species of snakes right now. Each with unique husbandry requirements. Now add in the amphibians, geckos, torts/turts, several species of rodents, ferrets, multiple species of parrots, finches, hundreds of species of fish...again all with different requirements... deep breath... and then add on that each employee must also be familiar with basic dog and cat nutrition, basic medical ailments, etc.... while I agree it would be preferred or ideal for the manager to be comfortable with handling the ball pythons.... I will be the last person to jump them for their discomfort.
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