Petsmart rat, Antibiotics poisonous to reptiles?

[ghosthousecorns]

Jorge, Yea, I have gotten a couple to take f/t that used to only eat live. But I have a few that haven't converted yet (one of them will only eat live ASF and will not take mice f/t or live- must think it's a BP) I will keep trying, but also some hatchlings need to be started on live pinks. That's mainly why I have the mice.

 

[Em Wright]

I purchased my breeder mice and a pet rat from PetCo at one point. PetCo made me sign a contract pledging to take care of the animal and not use it as snake food. Since that was not my intent I also promised the manager (since he knew I owned snakes) that I wouldn't feed them to my snakes. He made the sale each time.

Sometimes it's just how you deal with a person... and don't be afraid to give them all the details of how you feed. Inform them that you only feed F/T or that you're setting up your own breeder colony so you can know the animals are treated properly before and after death. :shrugs: I now have access to a shop that will give me mice anyway I ask for them, have given up on my own colony (rodents are a pain to breed), and just use F/T so this is all a moot point for me... but hopefully it will help someone else in dealing with "mice are friends, not food" people.

 

[Outcast]

The only paperwork that we make people sign at the Petco that I work at was given to us by NM Game and Fish. It states that the purchaser will not release the animal into the wild, but would find a new home for the pet instead.

 

[Snakehead]

I purchased my breeder mice and a pet rat from PetCo at one point. PetCo made me sign a contract pledging to take care of the animal and not use it as snake food. Since that was not my intent I also promised the manager (since he knew I owned snakes) that I wouldn't feed them to my snakes. He made the sale each time.

Sometimes it's just how you deal with a person... and don't be afraid to give them all the details of how you feed. Inform them that you only feed F/T or that you're setting up your own breeder colony so you can know the animals are treated properly before and after death. :shrugs: I now have access to a shop that will give me mice anyway I ask for them, have given up on my own colony (rodents are a pain to breed), and just use F/T so this is all a moot point for me... but hopefully it will help someone else in dealing with "mice are friends, not food" people.

It just urks me so much! Unless they only hire vegetarians and are vegitarians themselves, they are hippocrates. It reminds me of the crap PETA pulls. I wonder if they are associated? Doesn't petsmart sell snakes?

 

[Snakehead]

oops!

It just urks me so much! Unless they only hire vegetarians and are vegitarians themselves, they are hippocrates. It reminds me of the crap PETA pulls. I wonder if they are associated? Doesn't petsmart sell snakes?

Sorry I see you wrote Petco.

 

[Outcast]

It just urks me so much! Unless they only hire vegetarians and are vegitarians themselves, they are hippocrates. It reminds me of the crap PETA pulls. I wonder if they are associated? Doesn't petsmart sell snakes?

If I ever found out that Petco was involved with PETA, I would quit on principle.

 

[Snakehead]

The only paperwork that we make people sign at the Petco that I work at was given to us by NM Game and Fish. It states that the purchaser will not release the animal into the wild, but would find a new home for the pet instead.

This I can understand.

 

[starsevol]

It just urks me so much! Unless they only hire vegetarians and are vegitarians themselves, they are hippocrates. It reminds me of the crap PETA pulls. I wonder if they are associated? Doesn't petsmart sell snakes?

I am a total hypocrite, I admit it! I loathe PETA, eat meat, wear fur and *gasp* keep pets. But I am of the "mice are friends not food" camp, unless of course a snake won't eat f/t. And don't even talk to me about rats, I adore them!!
If I owned a pet shop, what I would carry as far as live inventory would be limited, due to my personal hang ups. But I WOULD carry a huge supply of f/t food and all kinds of everything else!

 

[Snakehead]

I am a total hypocrite, I admit it! I loathe PETA, eat meat, wear fur and *gasp* keep pets. But I am of the "mice are friends not food" camp, unless of course a snake won't eat f/t. And don't even talk to me about rats, I adore them!!
If I owned a pet shop, what I would carry as far as live inventory would be limited, due to my personal hang ups. But I WOULD carry a huge supply of f/t food and all kinds of everything else!

LOL! At least your honest! I respect that.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

I am a total hypocrite, I admit it! I loathe PETA, eat meat, wear fur and *gasp* keep pets. But I am of the "mice are friends not food" camp, unless of course a snake won't eat f/t. And don't even talk to me about rats, I adore them!!

 

[ghosthousecorns]

We all know f/t is better for our snakes because of the dangers of the snake being bitten, and the suffering the mouse goes through while being constricted. BUT those f/t mice also had to die. Pretty much if you own snakes you are responsible for causing death to cute little furry mice unless you can teach the snakes to eat tofu, LOL
My mice colonies are well taken care of, get quality lab block, have exercise wheels, things to chew on and I don't allow their cages to get overcrowded or dirty. I think they have a good life for feeder rodents, maybe better than rodents raised by the thousands by a big facility like Rodent pro. I may be responsible for their deaths but I make sure they have good lives too :shrugs:

 

[Outcast]

I recently told my wife that I want to start breeding mice. She ignored me....lol

 

[starsevol]

We all know f/t is better for our snakes because of the dangers of the snake being bitten, and the suffering the mouse goes through while being constricted. BUT those f/t mice also had to die. Pretty much if you own snakes you are responsible for causing death to cute little furry mice unless you can teach the snakes to eat tofu, LOL
My mice colonies are well taken care of, get quality lab block, have exercise wheels, things to chew on and I don't allow their cages to get overcrowded or dirty. I think they have a good life for feeder rodents, maybe better than rodents raised by the thousands by a big facility like Rodent pro. I may be responsible for their deaths but I make sure they have good lives too :shrugs:

And I COMPLETELY respect and admire that! I just can't do it myself.

 

[Airidies]

thanks

I want to say thanks for all the responses. To who ever "spoke" about the heavy metals in the meds that makes more sense than the antibiotics.

I'm now slowly introducing my new boy to the girls I have and so far everything's going okay. I love these little guys, they are sooo cute.

I never plan on feeding any of my pets live mice/rats and I got really lucky because the 3 BP I now have all were eating live before i got them and ate f/t with no hesitation the very first time offered and every time afterward. I do know that some snakes wont take a ft and for those who don't have a local mice/rat breeder you have to go to petco/smart. I know when i was looking for a nice looking male and one big enough to go with the girls I have i was told at two different stores that they didn't have any in because they were being treated for (at one store) colds (and the other) an eye infection. I've found the petsmarts in my area pretty good with all their animals, though the petco in huntsville has one of the worst reptile/rodent/bird sections i've seen.

I know they can refuse sells if they want and I agree that anything I was selling as a pet I wouldn't want it to become food for anything. The petsmart here ask you to sign a paper for everything, fish, rodents,snakes, whatever! saying that you are going to give them a good home and that if you have any problems to bring them back (with in 14 days) or find them a new home and not release them.

 

[Hypancistrus]

... I found out he just set the rodent out and let it thaw to room temperature...

I can't imagine a rodent thawing on my counter. That's just gross. Not to mention it takes a really long time to do it that way.

Well they may have every legal right to sell or not sell to whom they wish, but it doesn't make it right...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?

I really hope so. Homeless vagrants who can't take care of themselves probably shouldn't be buying a puppy.

Then again, I don't think dogs should be sold in stores.

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.

Except their not. Imposing their beliefs on you would be them refusing the sale and then following you home and beating you when you tried to feed a live mouse to your snake the next day. That is someone IMPOSING their beliefs on you. Telling you "No I won't make this sale" is simply them refusing a sale-- you have the right and option to go elsewhere and make your purchase.

Kind of a moot point because, as was previously stated, only a total moron (or someone who cares not for money) would buy a $15 rat to feed to their snake.

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.)

It bothers me to feed live. Not so much mice of varying sizes, because feeder mice in general are nasty, evil biting SOB's. But rats... ugh. I had one snake that I could NOT get converted off of live rats-- a dumeril's boa. She got to a point where she was big enough to eat rat pups and I kept delaying feeding her because it was too sad for me. Eventually I decided it wasn't worth her not being fed an appropriate amount at a regular time interval and traded her to Capt Joe for a corn that was already feeding f/t. It took him about 5 or 6 months of feeding her live, but she eventually did switch over to f/t.

I think it's okay to be honest about preferring not to feed live, and I don't feel bad that I traded her because it put her into a better position with someone who was better able to meet her needs than I was.

I currently have one snake that is stuck on live African soft furs. Talk about a pain in the butt. They are available at our herp store for $1 a piece, and she is on large fuzzies. I am trying to get her to eat these regularly and then I will try putting a live mouse fuzzy in with her and the ASF fuzzy to see if I can trick her into taking it when she's already in "kill mode." Hopefully if I do this, I can get her to start taking f/t mice.

If not, I'll be rehoming her this coming spring once the weather warms.