Petco Boa Condition

[Tash]

So my roommate and I swung into a Petco on the way home because it was on the way and I needed supplies. I normally head to a reptile store and kind of wish I made the extra effort to drive out there. Like always I had to swing by the snakes and noticed a red tail that didn't look too hot. It kept trying to raise it's head but would just weakly put it back down. I had my roommate snap a pic. I thought maybe is was stuck in shed? Or maybe very dehydrated? I'm not used to seeing snakes in this condition so I'm unsure. I though it looked to be on the thin side (or maybe mine are just fat.) What do you guys think? I spoke to an employee about raising the temp which was at 70 and the humidity that was barely at 50 and pointed out that it needs some attention. It's been haunting me since I got home though... I just got paid so a part of me just wanted to scoop it up and take it home since I'm familiar with Boas. But the roommate stopped me and said that all I'd be doing is supporting their neglect for these animals, they would just fill it's spot with another and do it all over again. I know some people who have raised hell and convinced the store owners to adopt animals like this out but I am not sure I'm brave enough. I feel obligated to go back in and and check on it in a day or two to see if they did what I so politely asked. What would you guys do in this situation? Here is a photo hopefully you can see what I saw from it. thanks for taking the time to read my rant.

[Kayak Steve]

Your roommate was right, buying it would just help this Petco to continue to abuse and neglect more animals. I would suggest contacting your local humane society and see if they truly are concerned with all animal's welfare or only certain species. There probably are some Petco stores with knowledgable staff that keep their reptiles properly but I have never seen or heard of one. I would like to see stores like these prohibited from selling any type of live animals and be restricted to hosting adoption events from local rescues. I understand your sympathy for that little boa, it bothers me too. Too many animals suffer because of neglectful, rotten, or just plain ignorant humans.

[Tash]

What's even more upsetting is that because it's, "just a snake," it's condition is not viewed as serious or as problematic as it would be if say a puppy or kitten were heald in similar conditions... thank you for the advice I will call. There is also a local reptile rescue that I was thinking of calling to see what they would say on the situation and if they could do something about it.

[distaff]

Maybe call the local Animal Control?

You can also go to store mgr, and head up the chain of mgt. from there. Petco probably has district mgrs. and regional mgrs. At some point, you get to corporate. If you feel bad for this particular boa, I would suggest go ahead and buy it. You are making a big difference for that particular snake.

The store can be dealt with later.

[bcr229]

Unfortunately your roommate is right, paying full retail for that snake just improves Petco's bottom line and encourages them to continue to keep snakes in bad conditions. That boa looks deplorable - I would be embarrassed to have a snake in that condition unless there was some underlying factor like an illness. I certainly would never offer it up for sale.

You can contact Petco corporate and complain here: http://www.petco.com/content/contact...tactstores#top

[Kayak Steve]

I think that contacting the store manager would be a waste of time. This manager is obviously not educated nor concerned about the welfare of his or her animals. Contacting corporate might yield results but if this Petco is profitable they will be more likely to give the manager a bonus for all of the electricity and rodents saved by not heating or feeding that little boa.

[Tash]

Thank you so much. I will contact them although my concern seemed to just bounce off the gentleman I spoke to earlier at the store, so I hope someone within the company will take action. I reached out to a few other people and organizations that may be able to do something for the poor thing. I'm aware that this sort of thing happens in stores such as this all the time but it shouldn't. It's the first time I've seen it in person and I got a little emotional. Now I'm hell bent on seeing it survive in a better condition. And it's not just from my passion for snakes and other scaled creatures, no animal deserves to suffer like that.

[GoingPostal]

I complained to corporate about a petco's poor reptile conditions and next time we stopped in and since then it has improved quite a bit, still see skinny snakes in there but nothing like before.

[Petco]

So my roommate and I swung into a Petco on the way home because it was on the way and I needed supplies. I normally head to a reptile store and kind of wish I made the extra effort to drive out there. Like always I had to swing by the snakes and noticed a red tail that didn't look too hot. It kept trying to raise it's head but would just weakly put it back down. I had my roommate snap a pic. I thought maybe is was stuck in shed? Or maybe very dehydrated? I'm not used to seeing snakes in this condition so I'm unsure. I though it looked to be on the thin side (or maybe mine are just fat.) What do you guys think? I spoke to an employee about raising the temp which was at 70 and the humidity that was barely at 50 and pointed out that it needs some attention. It's been haunting me since I got home though... I just got paid so a part of me just wanted to scoop it up and take it home since I'm familiar with Boas. But the roommate stopped me and said that all I'd be doing is supporting their neglect for these animals, they would just fill it's spot with another and do it all over again. I know some people who have raised hell and convinced the store owners to adopt animals like this out but I am not sure I'm brave enough. I feel obligated to go back in and and check on it in a day or two to see if they did what I so politely asked. What would you guys do in this situation? Here is a photo hopefully you can see what I saw from it. thanks for taking the time to read my rant.

Hi Tash. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We take animal care very seriously. Can you email us at ptpsupport@petco.com with your contact info, including phone number and the store where you saw this so that we can follow up with you can look into this further? Thank you.

[Gerardo]

Any updates?