A Day at Petco (Funny stories ahead!)

[Reinz]

As for the funny story and I am sure many people have heard this one before. Lately Petsmart has had a shortage of F/T rats. When i asked why, they called it a national shortage... right, that is why the other pet store has a freezer full. The woman went on and said that she had crickets in stock. I told her that I needed F/T for my boa and that I did not have a lizard. My boa is almost 5' long. She nodded and led me to the fish area. She grabbed a bag of crickets and asked me if that would be enough for the week. I reminded her that I do not have a lizard and she looked at me like I was dumb. She said yes, boas should be fed weekly so is this enough crickets for the week. I told her boas do not eat crickets and she looked at me puzzled and said, yeah but he is a reptile. All reptiles eat bugs. At that point I wanted to slap her. I left and went to the other pet store and picked up a few F/T rats. (Petsmart sells them cheaper then the other pet store does which is why I go there first). I called the store manager later and explained this to him. He said he would take care of it but whether he actually has I am unsure. I haven't been there since.

There's ignorance and stupid. You can't fix stupid.

[chaples84]

I have a friend of a friend who just moved to a new area and setup her 10ft boas tank on the ba k Florida room just like ours. Well, word got around that she had a snake so the neighborhood kids would peek through the screen to check him out. Then one day she came home and the locks on his cage were cut...someone forced entry onto her porch and stole him! There was an immediate investigation under way but mean while the cops told her to post REWARD posters that said she lost it because 'if you say they stole it they will release it'. Now she's getting a lot of hate and people are telling her that she's the reason the Everglades are overrun by non native snakes, etc, etc. It's mass hysteria. People are calling the cops top escort them to their vehicles because they say the monster snake will eat them and their children. Anyway, the police narrowed down suspects and got a warrant but the kids already had a heads up and RELEASED THE SNAKE. So now, she says if they get a call about a large snake they call her to see if it's him...and she's very distraught because they refuse to grab him for her even though he's been in captivity with her for 17 YEARS and has never bitten her...

1.2 Normal
1.1 Red-tail
0.1 Albino corn

I can't believe you his happened to her.. I would be so heart broken.. I actually am heart broken for her already.. It's sad...on one hand you want to share your animals with others for the sake of education and experience.but then you have A holes that go and do something like this.... It's situations like this you kinda wish that it was true that snakes are evil monsters and would bite and choke the heck out of the kids who stole her...

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[SCWood]

I can't believe you his happened to her.. I would be so heart broken.. I actually am heart broken for her already.. It's sad...on one hand you want to share your animals with others for the sake of education and experience.but then you have A holes that go and do something like this.... It's situations like this you kinda wish that it was true that snakes are evil monsters and would bite and choke the heck out of the kids who stole her...

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It pains me every time :/

[roodles]

I'm brand new to the world of herp and ball pythons, but I was in Petco a few days ago and again today, and while peering into the ball python cages (two normal babies and an albino next door) I saw crickets. Crickets all over the cage, crawling over the balls, just chilling out. It didn't hit me until later (today I went back to confirm) that balls don't eat crickets, to my limited scope of knowledge.

I'm wondering why they would feed these babies crickets. They're not very big, but I know they're big enough to take f/t or live prey. I might need to stop going to Petco, because it's stressing me out.

I already knew I'd be getting my first ball from a breeder/show, but this just cements my wariness of pet stores. The funniest part of this was watching a cricket crawl over a bp's head and it just chilling, like the cricket wasn't even there.

(I could be totally out in left field, or just crazy. Maybe Petco didn't have any f/t mice. Idk. I know nothing, other than the fact that it's been bothering me)

[SCWood]

I'm brand new to the world of herp and ball pythons, but I was in Petco a few days ago and again today, and while peering into the ball python cages (two normal babies and an albino next door) I saw crickets. Crickets all over the cage, crawling over the balls, just chilling out. It didn't hit me until later (today I went back to confirm) that balls don't eat crickets, to my limited scope of knowledge.

I'm wondering why they would feed these babies crickets. They're not very big, but I know they're big enough to take f/t or live prey. I might need to stop going to Petco, because it's stressing me out.

I already knew I'd be getting my first ball from a breeder/show, but this just cements my wariness of pet stores. The funniest part of this was watching a cricket crawl over a bp's head and it just chilling, like the cricket wasn't even there.

(I could be totally out in left field, or just crazy. Maybe Petco didn't have any f/t mice. Idk. I know nothing, other than the fact that it's been bothering me)

Sounds like our common issue. The dividers become weak and when we dispense crickets into tanks that need them they weasel into EVERY TANK.

[roodles]

Sounds like our common issue. The dividers become weak and when we dispense crickets into tanks that need them they weasel into EVERY TANK.

That makes sense. Vile, nefarious crickets! I'm glad that it's the crickets, and not benign neglect or something @_@

[SCWood]

That makes sense. Vile, nefarious crickets! I'm glad that it's the crickets, and not benign neglect or something @_@

Nope! It's caught pretty quickly because each district has a care animal district manager that keeps tabs on everything ^^

[Penultimate]

I was visiting Petco today, and the store lady struck up a conversation about BPs with me. They had a lemon blast and an albino, and I had asked about their age because they looked really small. Apparently they're new hatchlings, so no worries. The lady pointed to the tank with normals in it and said, "These are ball pythons." when I asked about the "albino and the lemon blast ball pythons". I said, "Yes. I was asking about these two down here." She looked a little confused, but went with it. Later, she was talking about how much she wanted to take the red tail boa home (man he was gorgeous, looked like a hypo or something), but didn't want to because she expected him to reach eight to ten feet. That doesn't sound right to me for a male BCI, but I'm no boa expert. At the checkout, the lady was saying that they "don't mark prices up that much" and then went on to talk about a piebald ball python that she really wanted and was put out on the floor for two thousand dollars. I kind of bit my lip at that and started thinking about the six hundred dollar albino (that was a sale price) and five hundred dollar lemon blast. The lady was very nice, though.

I will say that the care for their animals seemed better than most chain pet stores. Yes, they had ball pythons cohabiting, but the cages were larger than normal and not too crowded, there were minimal amounts of random crickets and the snakes looked healthy (no retained shed, most at a decent weight, no external injuries, no mites in the water dish, etc.) I was glad to see an iguana housed by itself. The little corn snake was alone as well. Probably the best care I've seen for any chain store in the area. Could be better, but it's a step in the right direction. The other animals were nicely cared for too, and their birds were in excellent condition with no plucked feathers or anything. I might actually go back to that store. It's not as depressing as some chain stores.

[SCWood]

I was visiting Petco today, and the store lady struck up a conversation about BPs with me. They had a lemon blast and an albino, and I had asked about their age because they looked really small. Apparently they're new hatchlings, so no worries. The lady pointed to the tank with normals in it and said, "These are ball pythons." when I asked about the "albino and the lemon blast ball pythons". I said, "Yes. I was asking about these two down here." She looked a little confused, but went with it. Later, she was talking about how much she wanted to take the red tail boa home (man he was gorgeous, looked like a hypo or something), but didn't want to because she expected him to reach eight to ten feet. That doesn't sound right to me for a male BCI, but I'm no boa expert. At the checkout, the lady was saying that they "don't mark prices up that much" and then went on to talk about a piebald ball python that she really wanted and was put out on the floor for two thousand dollars. I kind of bit my lip at that and started thinking about the six hundred dollar albino (that was a sale price) and five hundred dollar lemon blast. The lady was very nice, though.

I will say that the care for their animals seemed better than most chain pet stores. Yes, they had ball pythons cohabiting, but the cages were larger than normal and not too crowded, there were minimal amounts of random crickets and the snakes looked healthy (no retained shed, most at a decent weight, no external injuries, no mites in the water dish, etc.) I was glad to see an iguana housed by itself. The little corn snake was alone as well. Probably the best care I've seen for any chain store in the area. Could be better, but it's a step in the right direction. The other animals were nicely cared for too, and their birds were in excellent condition with no plucked feathers or anything. I might actually go back to that store. It's not as depressing as some chain stores.

They've really stepped up their game. They're working really hard for the customers and the animals and it makes me proud to be part of it ^^

[SCWood]

As of recent, I have been told my snake duties are being handed over to a new girl 😧 as depressing as it is, I have been told I need to focus on Aquatics. The kiddos have been doing very well and the past few feedings have gone great with everyone eating and being happy!