Look everyone! I've got my first Ball Python!

[Crazymonkee]

Congrats and enjoy! Glad ya found the right one

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[Gessler]

Congrats and enjoy! Glad ya found the right one

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Me too, haha. Don't get me wrong. The first one is still a beaut. I just like this one more. Not to mention the fact that this one is coming from a local breeder that I can actually meet, and see the parents.. etc etc.. Ya know!

[Ronin]

Just my I would not put them together even for one night. You never know what one of them may have and pass onto the other girl. I don't support Petco one bit because they don't take care of their pets really at all. However, since we are local I might be interested!!

[piedplus]

Beautiful BP and beautiful set up too!

[Gessler]

OK SO, HERES THE DEAL.... Richard Batson and Amanda Baron from 'Off The Rack Reptiles' just left my house. They brought a bunch of AMAZING BPs. It was awesome. Now, I showed them my pinstripe and they immediately showed me everything wrong with her. Apparently, she in no way shape or form was hatched in June. They said she was AT LEAST 4 months old and should weigh 200 grams. On the left side of her face, she has an abscess caused by broken teeth and an infection in the gums. She is stuck in at least one full shed, head to tail. They mentioned that she was emaciated. the spine was triangular, you can feel the ribs, and her yolk crease is from the normal spot all the way to the tail. That is caused by compensation. She is sucking in her belly so the outside of her belly scales can make solid contact with whatever she may be moving on. They said, 'I could have the most aggressive snake in the world but never know it because she is so weak.


Now, I too will never purchase reptiles from Petco again.


I completely thought I was getting the most healthy snake in the store. I did copious amounts of research before purchasing my first BP and i confidently feel that I'm responsible enough to care for it. BUT, what I also lack experience in is comparison from a sick snake to a healthy snake. It is like night and day. The new girl I picked up. She really did pip on July 13, 2013. So, shes a bit over a month old. The Petco pinstripe is AT LEAST 4 months old and weighs 97 grams. The new pinstripe, her skin.... ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. The Petco pinstripe, not so much. its all shiny, dull and dark. I never considered the fact that she had an entire head to tail shed that she is stuck in. Now, head comparison. You can just tell that the Petco pin is much older. The head is almost twice the length. Not to mention the abscess on her nose. Richard Batson from 'Off The Rack Reptiles' without hesitation knew exactly what to look for.

Petco Pinstripe:
Abscess+Scaring on the nose and roof of mouth.
Broken teeth on left top of mouth.
Swelling inside, and on roof of mouth.
Emaciated.
50% length belly crease.
Spine and Ribs showing.

I wish i was knowledgeable enough to know what they were selling me. To me, it 'appeared' to be healthy. It's almost infuriating because I am exactly the type of customer that they want. Its all about the $$$ and numbers. They unloaded a snake and are carefree now. 15 day return policy is *not right* the breeders say because most problem dont show up until 30-90 days, that is IF they have something. Mine is already showing symptoms.


ANYWAY.....

I've taken the add down off craigslist.com

I cleaned everything. Top to bottom, left to right. Im sterilizing everything in the viv and putting new substrate in. That will now be her new home. The Petco Pinstripe is quarantined from the new addition in a separate tank. Husbandry is just right too.

I now have a breeder that will stand behind me when I do go to return the snake to Petco at 9:00 am tomorrow morning. Richard told me to just say I want my money back and if there are any issues to have the manager call him and he will put him in his place.


BEWARE Petco is not 'the place where pets go'! Its the place where emaciated sick animals are pawned off to customers.

I will post new pictures of the new girl soon. I don't want to stress out the baby. Here is one picture of her that the breeder had. I've also got pictures of the parents that I will post as well. Tomorrow is another day!

[Ronin]

This is why I made my statement in my last post. Petco is horrible! I feel bad for the pinstripe that is sadly probably not going to make it. I bet petco will put it right back in the enclosure and try to sell it again. Please for the sake of other animals file a complaint with petco corporate.
On another note, congrats on the new girl!! Cant wait to see pics!

[Gessler]

This is why I made my statement in my last post. Petco is horrible! I feel bad for the pinstripe that is sadly probably not going to make it. I bet petco will put it right back in the enclosure and try to sell it again. Please for the sake of other animals file a complaint with petco corporate.
On another note, congrats on the new girl!! Cant wait to see pics!

The terrible thing about it too is that this was my FIRST and LAST experience with Petco and reptile purchases. What are the odds? Go figure. I heard all the horror stories before, never thought I'd be a victim.

[ROACH]

Very Beautiful!

[PitOnTheProwl]

OK SO, HERES THE DEAL.... Richard Batson and Amanda Baron from 'Off The Rack Reptiles' just left my house. They brought a bunch of AMAZING BPs. It was awesome. Now, I showed them my pinstripe and they immediately showed me everything wrong with her. Apparently, she in no way shape or form was hatched in June. They said she was AT LEAST 4 months old and should weigh 200 grams. On the left side of her face, she has an abscess caused by broken teeth and an infection in the gums. She is stuck in at least one full shed, head to tail. They mentioned that she was emaciated. the spine was triangular, you can feel the ribs, and her yolk crease is from the normal spot all the way to the tail. That is caused by compensation. She is sucking in her belly so the outside of her belly scales can make solid contact with whatever she may be moving on. They said, 'I could have the most aggressive snake in the world but never know it because she is so weak.

They brought some of their collection to your house?? At that point you need to QT everything you own, good thing its only two. I would even QT my dog now.
I would like to know how they "aged" your ball, it would be good information to know.
I wont bother with the rest of my quote because some of that is hard to tell in pictures.

[Gessler]

They brought some of their collection to your house?? At that point you need to QT everything you own, good thing its only two. I would even QT my dog now.
I would like to know how they "aged" your ball, it would be good information to know.
I wont bother with the rest of my quote because some of that is hard to tell in pictures.

Oh, I didn't know that was a big deal. They just brought the last clutch of babies that were available. All extremely healthy and gorgeous. None over 200g. It was about 6-7 different morphs that I've never seen in person. Do you really think it was a mistake for him to bring them over? he brought them all in tubs. He even has a heated enclosure in his vehicle for transportation to shows and venues. He completely legit. The ottoman that I have in my living room is where everything went down. After all the snakes were put away etc etc, I disinfected the area where we did the viewing. Its not like I had a zoo of snakes crawling all around my house, lol. Should I be worried? These people are l.e.g.i.t, for real. I will only deal with these people for the time being. They're local, knowledgeable, experienced, and extremely nice people. If i ever have issues Richard himself said he would take care of it no matter what it may be.

As far as the age estimation... That was determined completely on their part. Im not experienced enough to do that but.. You can obviously tell just by looking that the Petco one is most definitely a more developed snake (minus the emaciation and the issues) the bone structure is most definitely larger than what I just received from them. The muscle growth, sadly wasn't there. What they were telling me was right in front of me, I just didn't know what to look for when buying a new snake. The sad thing about it is, I thought she was the healthiest looking snake in Petco. Gives you an idea on the conditon of the rest of them. When I go there today, here in a little bit, I will take pictures of the snakes they have there for all of you to see. Not only will I post them here. I will take Ronin's advice and send an email to corporate along with said pictures.