Petsmart and crickets...

[pythongal]

Waited a week to feed him, then tried f/t multiple times. He was super skinny. I was desperate, so I tried live. Bam. Slams them every time as soon as the mouse hits the cage.

[Eric Alan]

Waited a week to feed him, then tried f/t multiple times. He was super skinny. I was desperate, so I tried live. Bam. Slams them every time as soon as the mouse hits the cage.

Kudos to you. I have one of mine that won't take f/t too, so they're definitely out there.

[pythongal]

Kudos to you. I have one of mine that won't take f/t too, so they're definitely out there.

Eventually, I want to try f/t again since he is eating steadily now. Although I am prepared for the fact that he may already be a mouser, I want to try rats once I find a steady supplier (folks don't want me storing f/t). He always attacks the head and dispatches the prey in short order but I've noticed a couple of feeders aggressively fighting for their life, and it scares me. So here's to trying f/t rat pups soon.

[Jhill001]

There is nothing inherently wrong with feeding live as long as you are confident it's not going to hurt your snake. The majority of the issues cause by live feeding come from leaving the mouse in with the snake for a long time,

[John1982]

Not trying to justify the poor conditions and dead snake but there are some genus that feed almost exclusively on invertebrates - Opheodrys, Chionactis and Tantilla come to mind. Unless you can identify the dead snake maybe the cricket in the enclosure shouldn't be argued against just yet.

[pythongal]

Our PetSmart just sells Kenyan sand boas, milk snakes, corn snakes, and ball pythons. I can't imagine others being much different.

[Darkbird]

Here's how I would have handled it. As soon as I got the "hungry enough" line from this person, my next words would have been "I need to see a manager now please." I can excuse ignorance, we're all guilty of it at some time or another, but indifference is a whole other matter, and that response screamed indifference. Maybe she was joking, maybe it wasn't her department, I wasn't there, but at this point it's time to speak to the manager, and be prepared to call corporate as the next step.

[flamekitty84]

thanks guys for the responses, i decided that if i see it again, i will make a more serious move. its been a while since i have set foot in there, but maybe it is time i tried again to see if the conditions the lady told me will change have actually changed...

Not trying to justify the poor conditions and dead snake but there are some genus that feed almost exclusively on invertebrates - Opheodrys, Chionactis and Tantilla come to mind. Unless you can identify the dead snake maybe the cricket in the enclosure shouldn't be argued against just yet.

i can guarantee you it was a baby king, and i know they do not eat bugs...
i have not personally seen any of those snakes you mentioned in a petsmart or petco anywhere

[John1982]

Fair enough. If you know it was a "king" and all. Just trying to help you make a valid and thorough argument should you decide to do something further. I haven't stepped into a chain pet store in years but I do recollect finding a hodgepodge of pitiful, wild caught, critters mixed into the exotics sections. Then again, it was mentioned above, they only carry specific animals so I guess you don't have to worry about it much anyway.

Would it hurt to nail down the species of king you saw for the sake of being thorough? Chionactis might look similar to several king and milk snakes species to some folk. I certainly wouldn't trust the word or labeling of a store that fed crickets to animals marked as "king" snakes.

Honestly, I'm more worried with the response you received as a concerned customer. Despite what these big chain stores would have poor, unsuspecting buyers believe - most of these critters will not simply eat because they are hungry enough.