This is exactly why my reptile keeping and breeding will always be a hobby and not a business. A business, especially a big box store, won't write off that pied until it becomes a liability - meaning, the cost to keep it, treat it, and sell it is greater than its sale price. As a hobbyist if I choose to spend $500 at the vet to treat a $50 snake that's my business and no one else's, I'll eat the loss. If this were a normal ball python the OP would have it in hand already, and the store would just pay five bucks for a replacement.
Having the bean counters drive policies to maximize profit is fine if you're talking about inanimate objects, not so much for critters. Sadly until the big box stores take enough losses on animals that they're forced to either keep them correctly or stop carrying them, or animal control actually gets a clue and starts seizing reptiles and nailing the stores for neglect, which will not only cost them money but customers due to the bad PR, nothing will change.
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