Need to vent....

[zina10]

In all fairness, most of the times when I read about these issues, the snakes were purchased from pet store chains. Oftentimes the sales associates are there "to do their job/make money" and have only the slightest of clue of how any of the animals they sell are to be taken care off, esp. the animals that aren't as common as puppies or kittens.

As to breeders selling snakes that aren't fed correctly. Well, just about "anyone" can become a breeder. So I would differentiate between Billy Bob breeding and selling a few snakes that he got into, and a reputable breeder. Reputable doesn't always mean "for profit" or "big scale". It simply means someone that makes the animals a priority. Trying to own/breed and sell quality animals. Someone that does this "right".

When we are talking about pinks and fuzzies for Ball Python hatchlings, it makes a difference whether they are rats or mice. Rat pinks could very well be a appropriate size for some BP hatchlings. So are rat fuzzies. Some hatchlings are smaller, some bigger.

A reputable breeder would feed the correct sized rodent and tell the seller what he was feeding. They should probably also mention WHEN to go up in rodent size. But then again...most might just assume a buyer knows that very basic fact.

I guess there are good breeders and bad. Prepared buyers and not so prepared. New owners that research before and during getting a new animals, and others that take what knowledge were shared at the sale and leave it at that.

All you can do, is share knowledge with the ones that seek it. Every newbie that is being helped, is one more animal that is better off then it was before.