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Petco recommends cohabbing?!

sciencechick

sciencechick

New member
No, I don't mean just cohabbing in the store or one dumb employee. I have looked for a thread specific to this, and I couldn't find one. I know people have discussed the employees and temporary cohabbing, but this seems like it may be corporate policy and just is completely dumb and unnecessary. I am sorry if this has been brought up, but I am wondering if this may be a new policy.

I went into Petco the other day and when I looked at the labels for corn snakes and some others said something along the lines of "Snakes of the same species and size can be housed together with enough space and separate feeding." This looked like a sign from corporate, not just a handwritten/ printed one.

I checked their care sheet online and it says the same thing. Their advice may be off, but this is worse than I would have expected. It would be one thing to not mention it, but actually saying it is healthy?

Is it worth writing/ calling them about? It seems like something so minor and easy to fix, but I know people have probably ready tried and failed.
 
I have seen the care cards and even wrote to them about their misinformation. That was months ago! The only way to get something like that changed, would be to have numbers on our side and facts!

Wayne
 
Interesting. The petcare sheets where I got my first corn (I know, but I didn't know any better :( ) didn't say that. Of course, they actually had a herp guy on staff, and his only job was to take care of the reptiles and advise new buyers (or turn them away). They would refuse to sell to people if they weren't going to properly take care of the animal. I wonder if that PetCo let him edit their care sheets?
 
sciencechick said:
I went into Petco the other day and when I looked at the labels for corn snakes and some others said something along the lines of "Snakes of the same species and size can be housed together with enough space and separate feeding." This looked like a sign from corporate, not just a handwritten/ printed one.
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Which is technically true, even if it's not adviseable. :shrugs:
 
I was just going to say that. Technically you can house corns together and have nothing happen. It's not advisable but you CAN do it. I don't personally do it and advise against it,but, really it can be done. And since they are trying to sell these animals they aren't going to post on their sign it can be done BUT........
 
Cohabbing is pretty much an opinionated issue. Different people and companies are going to have different views on it. There are some members on this very forum that cohab and have never had any issues (so some say)..And there are those that have done it and have suffered badly from it. When it comes to businesses, it's pretty much a losing battle. Some private pet stores where the owners care for the animals will teach proper husbandry and tell new owners never to cohab. But when you get a high retail business like petco or petsmart. They basiclly are looking from a more financial point of view. They need to keep their business going with the least amount of cost. So thus they cohab what they can to save room on caging and in store supplies.

Now as far as preaching that it is a safe practice..No I don't agree with this at all, but it is their right to state their opinions. Regretfully there is little anyone can do about it. They are not stating that it has to be done..So in the end it is just their opinion. The bad thing is a new snake owner would take this "opinion" and run with it. They would probably start cohabbing with bp and corns..And in the end it would be the animal that suffers the most of it..but the owner would suffer to..

A lot of times it's not even the employee's fault. Many petsmart and petco employees are told what they can and cannot tell about certain animals when talking to a customer..Employees are encouraged to sell both the animal and anything it would need (according to the store care list)..So even if the employee knows the proper needs and supplies for a pet..they would still be obligated under corporate to say and sell what the store wants...(I should know because I was fired from petsmart for this and so was a friend of mine)

All we can hope is that new snake/reptile owners will research first before going to purchase their new pet. But this is a very small hope as there are just about 50/50 percent chance that a owner will do proper research. Many times at large pet retail stores, buys are made on impulse, or just because the little kid keeps crying that they want a snake/lizard/hamster and the parent just gives in..
 
Take it from the source though... they just want to sell animals... no real concern for what is best for the animal... remember... crazy cat ladies buy their food at Petco... its true.
 
I personnally keep breeding pairs in the same cage and so does my uncle who has been in the snake business for 20+ years. Petco of course keeps snakes of the same species in the same cage but what do u expect? There is nothing wrong with keeping corns in the same cage as long as its big enough for them.


I also would think that Petco and other big pet stores would say that you CANNOT have two snakes in the same cage so they could possibly make more money on cages and supplies. But that is only my opinion. I just recently applied for a job at Petco after going to the one I live near because I would like to let people who buy the pets to know the truth about how they should care for them(and i really need a job like really bad lol).
 
ouch is this going to turn into a cohab thread? Not sure wether that is a good idea, but I'll put my vieuws here and leave it at that.
I don't really disagree with petco advertising the cohab, but I do disagree the lack of "but". I do cohab, but under specific conditions that most of us have already read at length in other threads. Like there is: no hatchlings or juveniles, no males at breeding season, no big size differences, seperate feeding etc. Also they are monitored closely, especially after putting together, and seperated in case of behavior change.
If petco believes cohab to be ok, they should give more complete info. But well... I'm not sure anything is to be done about that...
 
It already is a cohab thread, so it can't turn into one. ;)

I've worked at stores that cohabbed and we never had a problem. Does that mean they never will? Probably not, but they went years with no issues. Personally, I think it's not worht the risk.
 
I am a firm believer in PetCo's ancient and wise doctrines, and live them devoutly to the best of my ability.
I do not stray to the left. I do not stray to the right.
And only when there are gaps in my gospels of PetCo, or when my faith fails me, do I consult the venerable and sage scrolls of PetSmart.

I hope some can find comfort and solace in my gentle witness and message of encouragement.
 
vetusvates said:
I am a firm believer in PetCo's ancient and wise doctrines, and live them devoutly to the best of my ability.
I do not stray to the left. I do not stray to the right.
And only when there are gaps in my gospels of PetCo, or when my faith fails me, do I consult the venerable and sage scrolls of PetSmart.

I hope some can find comfort and solace in my gentle witness and message of encouragement.
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I can :cry:!
 
vetusvates said:
I am a firm believer in PetCo's ancient and wise doctrines, and live them devoutly to the best of my ability.
I do not stray to the left. I do not stray to the right.
And only when there are gaps in my gospels of PetCo, or when my faith fails me, do I consult the venerable and sage scrolls of PetSmart.

I hope some can find comfort and solace in my gentle witness and message of encouragement.
Click to expand...

That's what she said.....:nyah:
 
well they do say with enough space and similar size. they should also say same sex if they highly suggest cohabbing like that. most petco buyers would not know what to do if they had a snake laying eggs and then having hatchlings.

and with the space thing. i know a kid that has a walk in closet turned into a jungle for 2 adult female boas. i dont suggest it. but ive helped him clean it, and in a 5 by 7 and 8 foot ceilings. they have 4 or 5 basking spots and you never see them near eachother. so i guess with a space like that you could cohab. but he takes really great care of his animals, and thats his spot to go relax. its a really cool room. but i do not suggest it to anyone. its hard to keep and he spent a year in just making it so it would be suitable for his animals to live in.
 
Ya know what? I don't cohab! To me, it's not worth the risk. It's like fixing light fixtures, without cutting the power off. Sure, you may get away with it and hey, you may get away with it for a long time, too! But, one of these days, it's gonna git ya, and it won't be one of those, shock you a little, ow-ees, kind of git ya;s. It's gonna git ya good, like one of those, knock you on your arse, wet your pants, kind of git ya's!

What I am saying is fine, go ahead and Cohab. It's completely up to you. It's your snakes. Your home. Your tanks. Whatever! But when it git's ya, please don't come on here, crying, because Fluffy ate Mumbles and you don't know why, because they had lived together for 7 years without a problem.

Wayne
 
medusacoils said:
Ya know what? I don't cohab! To me, it's not worth the risk. It's like fixing light fixtures, without cutting the power off. Sure, you may get away with it and hey, you may get away with it for a long time, too! But, one of these days, it's gonna git ya, and it won't be one of those, shock you a little, ow-ees, kind of git ya;s. It's gonna git ya good, like one of those, knock you on your arse, wet your pants, kind of git ya's!

What I am saying is fine, go ahead and Cohab. It's completely up to you. It's your snakes. Your home. Your tanks. Whatever! But when it git's ya, please don't come on here, crying, because Fluffy ate Mumbles and you don't know why, because they had lived together for 7 years without a problem.

Wayne
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lol. if that was to me. i do not cohab. its a buddie of mine. i always tell him he shouldnt cohab. im against it. i think only cohab for breeding purposes if thats what your into.
 
pwargcm said:
lol. if that was to me. i do not cohab. its a buddie of mine. i always tell him he shouldnt cohab. im against it. i think only cohab for breeding purposes if thats what your into.
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Not directed at anyone one person, in particular! ;)

Wayne
 
I know a couple of the suppliers of huge numbers of corns to Petco, Petsmart, etc. And I asked them years ago why they couldn't advise their big retailers on proper husbandry so the stores could advise THEIR customers properly, such as not feeding crickets. And these breeders who produce thousands (or even 10s of thousands) of corns said that they tried...and tried...and tried...to no avail. Some stores listen, and some don't. But nothing really changes, especially at the corporate level.

BTW, I think there is a HUGE difference between the examples of an experienced keeper cohabbing a pair of long term, well adjusted, adult, pets, compared to advising a beginner to toss in a pile of newly acquired baby corns together (even if they are fed separately)! No comparison at all, as far as I am concerned!
 
kathylove said:
BTW, I think there is a HUGE difference between the examples of an experienced keeper cohabbing a pair of long term, well adjusted, adult, pets, compared to advising a beginner to toss in a pile of newly acquired baby corns together (even if they are fed separately)! No comparison at all, as far as I am concerned!
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Thank you for that. I am sorry if I offended anyone, but that was more my train of thought. I understand some people cohab and if it works for them thats great, but as a first time snake owner I found very quickly ibn my research that this was controversial and usually not advised. It seemed like an odd point to make on a label and a one sentence mention in the care sheet, as Kali said it should at least have some sort of "but" involved with more details.

I would at least think there is more important information to list on the tiny label that people first look at than that.
 
if you guys ever heard of bansky then you know hes a grafiti/street artist guy. hes the one that changed paris hiltons cd covers around somewhere in europe to a cd cover of paris with a dog face naked. not sayin ruinin a product is in good cause. but why dont we that care just take a sharpie and go to every caresheet and cross that line out. as if it never happened. lol. i know most of you are think, vandal. but oh well. ive changed signs around a lot in my younger days. and a lot was late night chaning 3s to 8s on phone numbers/adresses with a paint brush or markers, or changing the roadside arrow signs with removable letters. that way its changing the caresheets for the better.
 
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