That's heartbreaking.
The last time I went to PetCo I saw a ball python (in a ten-gallon tank with about three other ball pythons) curled up in an emaciated, wrinkled-skin heap behind some fake leaves in the back corner of the tank. I'm not sure it was alive. I didn't want to look too long. I just bolted out of there, I couldn't stand the sight.
There's two locally-owned pet shops near me, and they do a terrible job at keeping reptiles as well. In one of them, there were two leopard geckos sitting there an absolute skin-and-bone mess, stick-thin tail, with NO source of heat on them. I did check for a heat mat. No lighting on them.
I can't even think about it. It's so ungodly terrible. How do these pet stores live with themselves.
I did research a little bit after that jarring sight. In my state, animal welfare laws don't really extend beyond cats and dogs...
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