Petsmart rat, Antibiotics poisonous to reptiles?

[Airidies]

Well i went in to petsmart to buy a pet rat/breeder to go with the girls i was given a couple of weeks ago. While i'm signing the paper the manager starts talking about how they give their rodents Antibiotics while they are in the store that are poisonous to reptiles when eaten,(he'd seen me there before looking at the snakes). I was wondering if that was true or if he was just telling me that so i wouldn't buy the rat for snake food... Not that I would feed a $15 rat to my snakes anyway.

 

[CULEBRA85]

Well i went in to petsmart to buy a pet rat/breeder to go with the girls i was given a couple of weeks ago. While i'm signing the paper the manager starts talking about how they give their rodents Antibiotics while they are in the store that are poisonous to reptiles when eaten,(he'd seen me there before looking at the snakes). I was wondering if that was true or if he was just telling me that so i wouldn't buy the rat for snake food... Not that I would feed a $15 rat to my snakes anyway.

thats not true, i know someone that works there.

 

[ratsncorns]

It probably varies by store. But, I wouldnt feed a rat with antibiotics in its system to a snake. I would wait a couple weeks to be sure it was out of its system first. Not that it matters, I dont know many people who would pay that kind of money for a rat just to feed it to their snake. Thats so crazy.

 

[Jdog3131]

It probably varies by store. But, I wouldnt feed a rat with antibiotics in its system to a snake. I would wait a couple weeks to be sure it was out of its system first...

I would go with that.
And if you do breed him make sure you don't give any of the babies meds of any kinds if you plan on feeding them to your snakes,you just never know what might be in them.

 

[Snakehead]

Well i went in to petsmart to buy a pet rat/breeder to go with the girls i was given a couple of weeks ago. While i'm signing the paper the manager starts talking about how they give their rodents Antibiotics while they are in the store that are poisonous to reptiles when eaten,(he'd seen me there before looking at the snakes). I was wondering if that was true or if he was just telling me that so i wouldn't buy the rat for snake food... Not that I would feed a $15 rat to my snakes anyway.

I wouldn't think antibiotics would kill reptiles, but if you are gonna breed them you won't have any problem at all. By the time the babies are born and ready to be fed the meds will be long gone out of their system. I had a pet shop refuse to sell me mice once when I told them it was for a snake. That is so stupid! They don't have the right to deny you a sale becuase of their personal opinions. That's sounds like maybe what he was telling you that for. To see if you were gonna feed the rat or not?

 

[snakewispera snr]

It's prolly something else that they have that kills reptiles....
Antibiotics just sounds better...

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

^ Exactly. I would wonder what something like that would do to the RAT! If I was purchasing a rodent for any reason and heard that, I'd make a comment and walk right out.

 

[starsevol]

I wouldn't think antibiotics would kill reptiles, but if you are gonna breed them you won't have any problem at all. By the time the babies are born and ready to be fed the meds will be long gone out of their system. I had a pet shop refuse to sell me mice once when I told them it was for a snake. That is so stupid! They don't have the right to deny you a sale becuase of their personal opinions. That's sounds like maybe what he was telling you that for. To see if you were gonna feed the rat or not?

They have the right to deny a sale for any reason they see fit.
It might be stupid, but it is their right.
(Personally if I owned a pet shop I wouldn't sell live rodents at all).

 

[Shiari]

They don't have the right to deny you a sale becuase of their personal opinions.

Actually... they do. Businesses do not HAVE to sell you anything. I've seen the local mom n' pop store refuse to sell animals to people who obviously weren't going to take care of them. If they don't sell feeder mice, then don't buy mice from there. Simple as that.

 

[Jdog3131]

Actually... they do. Businesses do not HAVE to sell you anything. I've seen the local mom n' pop store refuse to sell animals to people who obviously weren't going to take care of them. If they don't sell feeder mice, then don't buy mice from there. Simple as that.

At least they have some sense.

 

[crackerhead]

They say that to dissuade people who are buying the rats as food. PetSmart won't even go out of their way to get a sick animal care let alone spend additional money on antibiotics to keep a healthy animal sound.
I have no problem with a person not wanting a pet animal to be used as food but PetSmart's policy irks me. They are VERY selective with regard to what warrants protection and what doesn't. The sell millions of live fish and insects specifically as feeder items but live rodents are a forbidden. Extremely hypocritical if you ask me. Kinda like a person claiming to be vegetarian because of animal cruelty but they will wear leather shoes.

Terri

 

[Iguanagirl8662]

Petsmart does not give any rodents antibiotics if it isn't needed but some stores do give the new arrivals some kind of med or vitamin in their water but I really doubt it's dangerous to a snake. I'm sure he just said that so you wouldn't feed it to your snake even though that wasn't your intention.

They say that to dissuade people who are buying the rats as food. PetSmart won't even go out of their way to get a sick animal care let alone spend additional money on antibiotics to keep a healthy animal sound.
I have no problem with a person not wanting a pet animal to be used as food but PetSmart's policy irks me. They are VERY selective with regard to what warrants protection and what doesn't. The sell millions of live fish and insects specifically as feeder items but live rodents are a forbidden. Extremely hypocritical if you ask me. Kinda like a person claiming to be vegetarian because of animal cruelty but they will wear leather shoes.

Terri

That is not entirely true. Some Petsmarts have employees who do not follow the rules but Petsmart's policy is to treat any animal no matter the cost. My store is one of the stores that follows this rule and we do give our rodents antibiotics if they need it.

 

[Outcast]

Apparently the local Petsmart out here told a girl that she should start feeding her BP, who is eating F/T just fine, live rats from time to time, so she came into Petco and asked me for a rat.
When I asked her what she was feeding she told me, and I asked her if she has tried F/T yet, when she told me what the people down the street told her, I let her know a few of the risks involved with feeding live, and that what she is currently feeding her snake is perfectly fine for it.

I tend to be nosy when it comes to giving live rodents to people, and I suggest F/T all the time. In fact, I gave a kid some pointers about feeding F/T last night too, once I found out he just set the rodent out and let it thaw to room temperature, I told him to get warm water and thaw it in that, that way the temp of the rodent was a little warmer than room temp. and it might entice the snake a little more. I also gave him this site in case he needs more answers.

Now back on topic, I know that someone at the store I work at has treated our rats for flea's, I do not know who did it, but they have some stuff on them, and I warn people about it before they get a rat from that group to feed to anything, and even if they are getting it for a pet I let them know that they need to bath it and wash their hands after they hold the little guys because of the flea poison...

 

[dendro19]

I bought a couple of breeder mice from Petsmart a couple years back. They pretty much told me the same thing. When i inquired a little further one of the upper level employees told me that the reason it was harmful to snakes was because the treatment included some kind of heavy metal. He said it was not harmful if the rodent was being fed to another mammal, but that it would wreak some havoc on a reptile digestive system. More specifically the liver. Im not sure how much validity there was to it, but i nonetheless avoided feeding either of the mice to my reptiles once they were done breeding.

 

[Snakehead]

Actually... they do. Businesses do not HAVE to sell you anything. I've seen the local mom n' pop store refuse to sell animals to people who obviously weren't going to take care of them. If they don't sell feeder mice, then don't buy mice from there. Simple as that.

Well they may have every legal right to sell or not sell to whom they wish, but it doesn't make it right. Can you picture a retail store saying, we will not sell you something because of we don't like the way you look or the way you dress? It is hard to draw the line. Will they refuse to sell a puppy to people if they come in the store poorly dressed or maybe looking like they didn't bathe? Where do we draw the line? You can not expect to have control of any product live or other wise, once you have sold it. That is exactly what the issue is. Only they contol the situation bt refusing to sell it, before it gets into someones hands. I would bet that this would change if people started taking cases like this to court, but who is going to do that over a rat?
It's the same as selling a snake! I can't control what people do with it after they buy it. Now certainly I won't sell to some kid whom, I think is not gonna care for it, but if the kid returns with his parents, and they insist, then who am I to refuse? I can try to educate them and inform them but the ultimate choice is theirs. By the way, I don't buy mice from there, in fact I don't buy anything from there, lol!

 

[starsevol]

Well they may have every legal right to sell or not sell to whom they wish, but it doesn't make it right. Can you picture a retail store saying, we will not sell you something because of we don't like the way you look or the way you dress? It is hard to draw the line. Will they refuse to sell a puppy to people if they come in the store poorly dressed or maybe looking like they didn't bathe? Where do we draw the line? You can not expect to have control of any product live or other wise, once you have sold it. That is exactly what the issue is. Only they contol the situation bt refusing to sell it, before it gets into someones hands. I would bet that this would change if people started taking cases like this to court, but who is going to do that over a rat?
It's the same as selling a snake! I can't control what people do with it after they buy it. Now certainly I won't sell to some kid whom, I think is not gonna care for it, but if the kid returns with his parents, and they insist, then who am I to refuse? I can try to educate them and inform them but the ultimate choice is theirs. By the way, I don't buy mice from there, in fact I don't buy anything from there, lol!

A privately run business has the right to refuse to do business with anyone, for ANY reason. It doesn't matter how you feel about it, no one has the constitutional right to demand a privately run enterprise to sell to someone they don't want to.
The line is drawn whereever a privately run business says it is.

I personally will never ever sell a snake to anyone who feeds live food, co habs, or anyone that I feel won't give my animal a good home. And I have every right to screen people. Sad but true!

Great case on one of those judge shows on television. A clothing shop not only refused to do business with a woman who would not get off her cell phone, but threw her out of the store. There was a sign in the shop clearly stating that cell phone use was not allowed in the store. Guess what, the privately owned shop won the case.
If you own the business, you get to make the rules!

Edit - a person might have a case if they can prove that they were denied a sale due to how they were dressed, but probably not. There are restaurants that will not allow someone in to eat if they don't have on a shirt and tie.

Ever hear of the sign "No shirt, no shoes, no service".

Why do young people today think they have rights where clearly there are none?

Another edit - While I strongly believe in private property rights (which is what this boils down to essentially) what I don't understand is how the government (both local and federal) have the right truly stomp on people's rights. A landlord can tell you that you can't have a pitbull, but in my view the government can't. A landlord can tell you no reticulated pythons but the government has no business dictating that. Because the landlord owns the property, you don't.
In my town, it is against the law to keep a RABBIT as a pet. I own my own house but if I wanted a rabbit, it is against the law in the town of West Warwick. Why? Because in the 90s some idiot decided to have a smelly noisy farm in the middle of town. So instead of enforcing laws already on the books are far as noise and public nuisance, the town banned anything that might be considered a farm animal.
No outcry, no nothing. Why aren't the kids screaming about these rights?

 

[Snakehead]

A privately run business has the right to refuse to do business with anyone, for ANY reason. It doesn't matter how you feel about it, no one has the constitutional right to demand a privately run enterprise to sell to someone they don't want to.
The line is drawn whereever a privately run business says it is.

I personally will never ever sell a snake to anyone who feeds live food, co habs, or anyone that I feel won't give my animal a good home. And I have every right to screen people. Sad but true!

Great case on one of those judge shows on television. A clothing shop not only refused to do business with a woman who would not get off her cell phone, but threw her out of the store. There was a sign in the shop clearly stating that cell phone use was not allowed in the store. Guess what, the privately owned shop won the case.
If you own the business, you get to make the rules!

Edit - a person might have a case if they can prove that they were denied a sale due to how they were dressed, but probably not. There are restaurants that will not allow someone in to eat if they don't have on a shirt and tie.

Ever hear of the sign "No shirt, no shoes, no service".

Why do young people today think they have rights where clearly there are none?

Another edit - While I strongly believe in private property rights (which is what this boils down to essentially) what I don't understand is how the government (both local and federal) have the right truly stomp on people's rights. A landlord can tell you that you can't have a pitbull, but in my view the government can't. A landlord can tell you no reticulated pythons but the government has no business dictating that. Because the landlord owns the property, you don't.
In my town, it is against the law to keep a RABBIT as a pet. I own my own house but if I wanted a rabbit, it is against the law in the town of West Warwick. Why? Because in the 90s some idiot decided to have a smelly noisy farm in the middle of town. So instead of enforcing laws already on the books are far as noise and public nuisance, the town banned anything that might be considered a farm animal.
No outcry, no nothing. Why aren't the kids screaming about these rights?

You make some good ponts but, rules set up by the owners can only apply to the time in his shop. I could lie and say I'm not gonna feed it to a snake, but I don't lie. Rules in the shop are one thing this goes beyond that. This is imposing ones personal beliefs and philosophies on the customers. It's a fine line but I can distinguish the subtleties. You don't believe in feeding live animals so you want to impose that thinking on your customers. I don't feed live either by the way, my snakes are worth more than the thrill of seeing them kill a mouse. It IS about private property rights! The fine line I suppose is that untill it is actually sold, it's still the property of the shop owner. So I refuse to do business with them at all. I found the action degrading as if I was some cruel person for wanting to feed a mouse to a snake. I also, don't think the Government should tell us what we can and can't do on our private property. It's a tricky subject, I'll admit. Good topic by the way!

 

[ghosthousecorns]

I have snakes that won't eat anything BUT live. And yes I have tried and am still constantly offering them f/t in hopes one day they will eat that way, but in the meantime I am not going to feel guilty that I took a live mouse and fed it to a snake. The snake is my responsibility and it has to eat. The alternative would be to get rid of the snake and only hang on to the ones that will take f/t (which to me is passing the buck, it's still going to need live mice, only *I* don't have to be the one that does the dirty deed.)
I guess it's every store owner or business person's prerogative to run business how they see fit, but it's a store, there are others out there and if they don't want my business I can just take it somewhere else.
I'm personally surprised Petsmart would treat rodents with meds that might cost more than the rodent itself is worth, but thanks for the post. I buy a mouse there now and again for my breeding colonies. I don't use rats for feeders, though.

 

[Snakehead]

I have snakes that won't eat anything BUT live. And yes I have tried and am still constantly offering them f/t in hopes one day they will eat that way, but in the meantime I am not going to feel guilty that I took a live mouse and fed it to a snake. The snake is my responsibility and it has to eat. The alternative would be to get rid of the snake and only hang on to the ones that will take f/t (which to me is passing the buck, it's still going to need live mice, only *I* don't have to be the one that does the dirty deed.)
I guess it's every store owner or business person's prerogative to run business how they see fit, but it's a store, there are others out there and if they don't want my business I can just take it somewhere else.
I'm personally surprised Petsmart would treat rodents with meds that might cost more than the rodent itself is worth, but thanks for the post. I buy a mouse there now and again for my breeding colonies. I don't use rats for feeders, though.

You know I forgot that there are some stubborn snakes that will only eat live. You are right! I will tell you that with persistance, it will probablt eat dead after a while. Try giving him freshly stunned mice, and moving them with long forceps. Hopefully you have another snake that will eat it, if he refuses.

 

[starsevol]

I have snakes that won't eat anything BUT live. And yes I have tried and am still constantly offering them f/t in hopes one day they will eat that way, but in the meantime I am not going to feel guilty that I took a live mouse and fed it to a snake. The snake is my responsibility and it has to eat. The alternative would be to get rid of the snake and only hang on to the ones that will take f/t (which to me is passing the buck, it's still going to need live mice, only *I* don't have to be the one that does the dirty deed.)
I guess it's every store owner or business person's prerogative to run business how they see fit, but it's a store, there are others out there and if they don't want my business I can just take it somewhere else.
I'm personally surprised Petsmart would treat rodents with meds that might cost more than the rodent itself is worth, but thanks for the post. I buy a mouse there now and again for my breeding colonies. I don't use rats for feeders, though.

And that is the beauty of it! A shop that doesn't want to sell live feeders (or whatever) doesn't have to, or can refuse a sale for whatever reason. And a buyer can go elsewhere, because another shop will service their needs better.