PROOF that pet stores know nothing...

[rmune0750]

i went to the pet store today and I look in the ball python tank and heres what was in the tank for it: Bark substrate, one fake plant, water bowl.

THATS IT !

they didnt even give a BALL PYTHON any place to hide !!

its a shame...

[lillyorchid]

Poor girl or guy!

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

PROOF that one pet store doesn't know how to take care of a BP...

but saying that they know NOTHING and that ALL pet stores know nothing is rather ignorant....

Elitist attitudes are fine, I feel the same way when I go to most pet stores and bemoan how they take care of their ball pythons, but I've found a few who take extraordinary care of their animals.

It summer, no need for blanket statements

[Melicious]

That's a shame.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about Petcos, however, I was quite surprised by the decency in which the one near my apartment took care of their scalekids. They were well-taken care of, had multiple hides, and had fresh water each time I've been in there. Granted, they had multiple kids in enclosures, however, there were "adequate" amounts of hides, and the enclosures were at least 40gallon. Considering they were young, and I realize that they want to sell them quickly, I was quite surprised. -Shrugs.- I guess not all of the Petco horror stories run through the entire chain.

[SPJ]

ALL petstores by me are terrible.


15 BP's in a 10 gallon tank. 1 hide. Empty water bowl. No heat.

Albino burm. Horrible RI. Won't treat it. Too expensive. Let the person who buys it treat it.

3 adult corns in a 20 gallon. One laid eggs. Took the eggs out and put them in a plastic kritter keeper all jumbled up with no heat. Eggs were fertile. No all went bad.

Adult kingsnakes and baby cornsnakes housed together. Couldn't figure out how the baby corns managed to "escape" and not be found.

Constantly recommends un-needed junk equipment to newbies because they have a "no return" policy.

Workers "don't do snakes" so forget about asking to have one taken out of the cage to look at it.

Mites are harmless. They won't infect your other snakes.

Fruits and vegetables in a bowl for the iggys, and the beardies, AND THE MONITORS!

Water monitor means the lizard needs to be kept in an aquarium full of water. They are after all "water monitors".

Boas, ball pythons, and burmese pythons all kept together in 10 gallon tanks.

Ball pythons, savannah monitors, and sulcattas all in one 20 gallon tank on sand. Hey, they're all from Africa, right?

I gave up a long time ago on petstores. It's too depressing to see the way they take care of the animals and if you make a suggestion, they tell you they "know what they are doing".

[Miss_Ann_Thrope]

I'd have to agree, most pet stores don't know much (to say the most) about reptiles/snakes. I bought my bp at superpets and she was housed with two other bp with only an overthe tank light, bowl of water, and a plant. They acted like they knew alot about snakes and told me only to keep her tank at 78-80 F & that she had ate that day. Nothing about the sex, where she came from, how old, etc. They just acted like I was stupid.
Since they do specialize in other pets (mainly dogs and cats) I shouldn't expected much from them.

But Not all pet stores are like that. A reptile shop just opened near me (We bought our macklot from them) and they are awesome. They check daily the temps of all the reptiles, feed them properly, have hides and everything basic that the reptiles need, and they even have just some display animals (that they would never sell). The staff is friendly and helpful, they probe the snakes properly, are willing to answer any questions that they can, and they breed all the mice and rats there. I just wish more places were like that.

So sorry for the long post. But I just thought I'd share my experiences.

[Alecz]

most petstores put so many in a tank because they are going to be sold any ways, they know those are not forever homes for them. But I do agree most pet stores do give snakes horrible care. But the petco in germantown, vet pets, and hollywood petstar gives their snakes very good care.

[Entropy]

If the customer can't see the product they are less likely to buy the product and since the store is trying to sell the product...
Not that I condone it but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Hamsters are solitary creatures though they put many in a tank together, technically they also overstock their fish aquariums, their bird cages...

[Grim91Z]

A Petco near my house (there's like 5 within 20 minutes of me) never cleans their cages. I always see the same poopoo week after week. Really disgusting.

[Rapture]

I think a lot of places that keep multiple types of animals put the mammals and birds on the top of the maintenance list seeing as what kind of messes they are capable of making. The reptiles get left at the end considering they don't get busy and run out of time to do them, and then they see that they were fine for that one day they didn't get done, so another day goes by, and another, and the next thing you know, all their water has evaporated and they've gone without for a few days. I think that's how it goes at a store here in Houston that sells puppies, kittens, birds, fish, and reptiles. None of the reptiles had water and you could see the evaporation lines on the dishes. The leopard gecko babies were overcrowded, with a couple nice fat ones, and all the rest malnourished and weak.