Petsmart?

[andyroof1979]

I call bs

[DVirginiana]

Well where I live there are no other options except petsmart, and the breeder I normally go through, trust me I have looked. I understand they have their policy but my snake has to eat. If that means I have to fib to get him one, then too bad. I thank all of you for being honest with me, I will not be getting a rat from there, or any other supplies, ever again. It is completely uncalled for for the girl to try and scare a customer like that. It is almost comical, the last hail mary attempt to deter me from feeding a rat to my python.

We got our python there when they put her up for adoption bc she was 'aggressive' and nearly starving to death bc she wouldn't take f/t. It drives me crazy that a store that goes out of its way to carry exotic animals is willing to just let them die rather than feed them what they need to to get them eating.

Good luck finding a place that sells what you need!

[Eric Alan]

It drives me crazy that a store that goes out of its way to carry exotic animals is willing to just let them die rather than feed them what they need to to get them eating.

How many people come on this site every year because their snake won't eat and the reason they won't eat is completely unrelated to the food it's being offered (live, frozen/thawed, pre-killed, whatever)? It's not like live food is the automatic cure-all, and I know with 100% certainty that no one wants to see an animal die while in their care - especially those who are in the business of selling them.

[DVirginiana]

How many people come on this site every year because their snake won't eat and the reason they won't eat is completely unrelated to the food it's being offered (live, frozen/thawed, pre-killed, whatever)? It's not like live food is the automatic cure-all, and I know with 100% certainty that no one wants to see an animal die while in their care - especially those who are in the business of selling them.

I'm aware that feeding live isn't a 100% cure-all. Never said it was. If the husbandry isn't correct the snake still may not eat.

I know they don't always provide correct habitats for the animals at pet stores, and that may very well be the reason the animals aren't thriving, however there is no actual policy against providing correct temps and humidity; from what I can gather, there's no policy against providing hides or a dozen other things that can be the reason a snake isn't thriving in their care.
There is a policy against feeding live regardless of the situation though, and I think that is ridiculous.

Supporting what you're saying though; last week I was in my LPS and they had a pastel, a pied, and a pinstripe in together. Pied looked like it was about to keel over. An employee who knows I keep snakes was saying they wished they could feed live so the non-eaters would eat, and I had a hard time not telling them that they might eat if they weren't forced to basically sit on their cagemates the whole time. So no, feeding live isn't the solution all the time (or even most of the time) but it can be a solution some of the time so shouldn't be off the table completely IMO.

[Eric Alan]

I'm aware that feeding live isn't a 100% cure-all. Never said it was.

Yeah - I know you didn't. I honestly wasn't trying to call you out personally at all.

I've just seen too many times similar threads like this that end up going the way of "if they'd only feed live, there'd have no problems with feeding ever" without any thought of the other factors at play. Personally, I wish the best to anyone who's trying to get a BP to eat that's on display for 12 hours a day in a retail environment meant for selling. Live or not, I can't imagine it being an easy task.

[MarkL1561]

You are 100% correct Eric. It is extremely hard especially when corporate doesn't even supply us with basic essentials. Although since I've been there I've never had a snake die under my care. I'm a full time college student now so idk how things are currently going. Unfortunately many of my coworkers don't care about the animals like I do.

[Eric Alan]

You are 100% correct Eric. It is extremely hard especially when corporate doesn't even supply us with basic essentials. Although since I've been there I've never had a snake die under my care. I'm a full time college student now so idk how things are currently going. Unfortunately many of my coworkers don't care about the animals like I do.

Thanks, Mark. Sounds like you have a good head for this. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, what would be one thing (taking feeding live off the table) you'd wish coorporate would provide you with that would help others out that may not have your experience?

[Montypython696]

You are 100% correct Eric. It is extremely hard especially when corporate doesn't even supply us with basic essentials. Although since I've been there I've never had a snake die under my care. I'm a full time college student now so idk how things are currently going. Unfortunately many of my coworkers don't care about the animals like I do.

This is all too true. I had the best petcare department in my district of 13 stores. But I had the best because of my own doing, I would store-use the hell out of any supplies I needed to make sure that not only the reptiles were up to par, but as were the birds, small animals, and fish. I was even buying supplies from Petco (repashy mainly) to make sure I had no issues with my reptiles.

Unfortunately those in corporate deemed it unnecessary for me to spend that much. That was over two years ago, and from what I hear, they have failed every inspection since I left.

[MarkL1561]

Yep, I've had the same issues. The company really doesn't care about the animals at all. It really bothers me but its the only pet store/employer around me. It'll be nice to finally get my degree and get out of retail.

[Eric Alan]

The company really doesn't care about the animals at all.

Aaaand, I was wrong. So much for trying to have a productive discussion about what these places could do better instead of going down the same old pet retail bashing rabbit hole...