Petsmart - that bad?

[hazzaram]

I got my first bp on Thursday and have totally fallen in love with them. He's gorgeous and sweet... but I can't stop thinking about the first little ball I held at Petsmart a few weeks ago that made me decide that I wanted a ball python in the first place...

I know Petsmart isn't well known for their animals and they are overpriced, but it was just such a sweet snake...

This is it...

[Eric Alan]

There is nothing inherently wrong with getting an animal at PetSmart. The company itself is like any other company (big or small) - as good as the people working there.

Nice little BP!

[hazzaram]

I may have to go get him or her tomorrow... lol.

I assume I just need to quarantine the new one?

[Eric Alan]

Since you only have two BPs (and they're your first, correct?), they're both technically in quarantine and can be in the same room together. They do need to be housed in separate enclosures though - no BP cohabitation.

[hazzaram]

That's correct! And that makes it way easier. I was stressing about finding a place to keep the second snake for a quarantine but if they can be in the same space (different enclosures), yay! Thanks!

[Reinz]

Congrats!

[C2tcardin]

There is nothing inherently wrong with getting an animal at PetSmart. The company itself is like any other company (big or small) - as good as the people working there.

Nice little BP!

Agreed, the guys at my local pet store (Petco in this case) are pretty good, their snakes seem adequately fed and I've never seen one in a bad shed before but that may be the luck of my timing. I will say that if you can attend a local reptile show or find a local breeder as it will save you some money. The normals here sell for $80 to $90 regular price and are seen on sale occasionally for $40. To put it into perspective I could have bought a lot of 5 normals from a breeder recently at a Repticon show for $100 cash.

[hazzaram]

I really wish I could. I would love to go to a show... but the next one is in Toronto and that's 4 hours away... I unfortunately don't drive and taking a train there is super expensive.

[C2tcardin]

I really wish I could. I would love to go to a show... but the next one is in Toronto and that's 4 hours away... I unfortunately don't drive and taking a train there is super expensive.

Bummer, I would look into Canadian breeders then that could ship to you.

[Albert Clark]

Imo, Petsmart has a better quality control than Petco but I have purchased bp's from both. I bought a pastel 0.1 from Petco and she was healthy, bought a 0.1 normal from Petsmart also healthy. I have had them both about a year now and they are great feeders. Both purchased as approx. 3 mos. old young babies. Absolutely no health issues so far. I did overpay for the pastel, but made up for it with the normal. Actually they both are pushing the 600 gm weight now and will be 1 year old in June.