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wondering about store bought.

B

bryansnake

New member
I've read a lot of opinions on the forums, and it seems the people here don't like pet store snakes. I was just wondering why that is? If it makes any difference, I'm canadian, but I doubt the laws for keeping in a store would be different.
 
Generally because most pet stores don't have experience with reptiles and incorrectly house them, which makes them sick. Also because of there lack of experience they give wrong information to clients.
I'm European and the stores i buy my reptile stuff (and my first snake) are specialized reptile stores (we don't have things like petco) and i must say they are doing a pretty good job :)
 
I can understand that. I've seen some of that actually, like 3-4 small corns in the same container, or 5 (all I could see) young ball pythons in the same 20g tank. I've just wondered though cause I ordered my snake through a pet store. I picked it up like the same day it came in though. They said they had for a couple hours before I came. It's just something that I wondered about.
 
bryansnake said:
I can understand that. I've seen some of that actually, like 3-4 small corns in the same container, or 5 (all I could see) young ball pythons in the same 20g tank. I've just wondered though cause I ordered my snake through a pet store. I picked it up like the same day it came in though. They said they had for a couple hours before I came. It's just something that I wondered about.
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Is it eating for you? That seems to be a major problem with reptiles bought from pet stores.
 
oh yeah. she's never had a problem feeding. And she basically came straight from the breeder to me really. I think they had her for like 3 or 4 hours before I came and picked her up.
 
A lot of people have a problem with pet store snakes. Because:

A: They won't eat.
B: Were so stressed and died soon after arriving to their new home.
C: Multiple snakes are stressed being together in such a small cage.

I have never had a problem. Even Sunshine was a petstore snake, my avatar. She was housed with about 4 others. But she is a monster feeder and healthy healthy.
 
My popcorn was a pet store snake when I bought her but the place I got her from only deals in reptiles & aquatic animals (fish etc) & the 2 guys that work there both keep reptiles themselves. 1 definately has corns & other snakeys but I'm not sure about the other. Anyway popcorn ate for me the day after we got her, she's eaten every week on feeding day (so far. Dnt wanna jinx anything), & she poops regularly (normally on mondays & Tuesday's when I get her out for cuddles- 2&3 days after feeding) so she has no digestive problems. All my f/t food comes from that store & id buy from there again :) I should note that none of their snakes are cohabing at all.
 
Side note- The place I bought her wasn't a big chain pet store like 'pet co' or over here would be 'pets at home' (they don't stock snakes currently but I'm told they will be 'trialling' them soon. God help us!). It was actually a place called 'value house' & the pet store part is almost like a mini shop inside it, seperate to the rest.
 
i bought from a specialized reptile store but still.. the first two they gave me had respiratory infection and the third one (my actual corn) had mites. you have to check well before buying cause they treat the animals like they were selling apples or something.

if i didnt return the first two snakes i bought there they would have probably died .. they were super sick poor babies.. i really hope they took care of them (but i doubt it...)
 
palmiro said:
i bought from a specialized reptile store but still.. the first two they gave me had respiratory infection and the third one (my actual corn) had mites. you have to check well before buying cause they treat the animals like they were selling apples or something.

if i didnt return the first two snakes i bought there they would have probably died .. they were super sick poor babies.. i really hope they took care of them (but i doubt it...)
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Yes, that's just IT!,.......instead of dying in your ownership, they just simply died when returned to the store. As many already mentioned in the above posts, most pet stores don't know diddly-squat about basic reptile husbandry. Most stores figure if they live...okay,...if they die..oh well, that's okay too.

It really burns me up too because basic snake husbandry is so damn simple and straight forward........:angry01:

Many pet stores keep the snakes in the exact OPPOSITE conditions they should be in .....for example, kept with multiple other snakes, no tight dark hide areas(for display perposes), minimally fed(if ever), heavy foot traffic constantly moving around them at the store, too hot, too cool, constant bright lights beaming down on them, etc...



~Doug
 
I bought my corn snake from Petsmart. I think of Petsmart as the lesser of the evils when it comes to animals; they don't sell cats or dogs, they only keep one sex of certain rodent species, and they are generous with animal shelters. I regret this now that I know a lot more about snakes, though; while they don't use puppy mills, I've noticed their reptile husbandry is subpar, and I wish I would have bought from a reputable breeder. I actually tried to do this, but never received a response from the only one in my area. Next snake I get will not be from Petsmart.

Basically, even if you get a healthy animal, you're financially supporting some messed up practices. Especially stay way from Petsland (or any other pet shop that sells puppies) These are bad news and they get puppies from corrupt puppy mills. I won't even buy a decorative hide there. There is no way they're getting my money.
 
"I think of Petsmart as the lesser of the evils when it comes to animals; they don't sell cats or dogs". that's strange. The petsmart that just opened up in my area sells kittens/cats. They have a bunch up by the cash registers.
 
We don't have anything against the snakes. :laugh: We love them just not the pet stores for all of the reasons already stated. We don't recommend get snakes from pet store because of the issues the snakes may have but also because the stores make money and they will just move another poor baby in that spot. I have a petco escapee snake. I love him and think he is the prettiest snake I have.
 
bryansnake said:
"I think of Petsmart as the lesser of the evils when it comes to animals; they don't sell cats or dogs". that's strange. The petsmart that just opened up in my area sells kittens/cats. They have a bunch up by the cash registers.
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Almost non of them here sell cats or dogs however they do have rescues that bring their animals in for adoption.
 
I agree that breeders and hobbyists and the like will definitely be more apt in keeping snakes, but it doesn't always mean you will get bad snakes from a pet store. My amel came from Petco, and she was well taken-care of. Of course, I didn't get an answer on when she was born ("we don't keep records of that and we don't get them from our source.") and no answer on gender ("it doesn't matter" was what they told me). But for every good pet store there will be 10 bad ones out there. So, pet stores aren't necessary bad places to look for snakes, you just have to be more careful and observant, and be willing to just walk out the door if you have a bad feeling about anything.
 
I think of Petsmart as the lesser of the evils when it comes to animals
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As do I. Petsmart doesnt actually sell cats and dogs it just rents out space for adoption agencies to display the animals they have up for adoption. As far as their reptiles housing goes, its not the greatest but at the one closest to me all of the enclosures seem to have the right temperature gradients going and they quarantine their animals for a week or two before they are placed on the floor.

I have seen way worse *cough - cough* Petcetera *cough - cough* where they had a one week old corn stuck in a shed housed on sand, oh and the best part the ambient temp was 100 >.< I complained but do you think they did a thing? Nope. If they hadnt been charging $149.99 for a normal corn I would have purchased it just to get it out of that hell hole. GRRRRR!

Even with those reptile specific stores you must be careful. There is one in my area that constantly sells animals with mites, respiratory and bacterial infections. They even had a batch of corn babies get sick and wouldnt eat and instead of treating them started feeding them to other animals in their store o.0

Anyways the most important thing is to ask lots of questions and if anything looks even the slightest bit shady get out of there and try to find a better store or even better yet a local breeder.
 
DMong said:
It really burns me up too because basic snake husbandry is so damn simple and straight forward........:angry01:

Many pet stores keep the snakes in the exact OPPOSITE conditions they should be in .....for example, kept with multiple other snakes, no tight dark hide areas(for display perposes), minimally fed(if ever), heavy foot traffic constantly moving around them at the store, too hot, too cool, constant bright lights beaming down on them, etc...


~Doug
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The lights and no hides for the snakes are for display purposes. My local petcos and petsmarts both keep hides and plants. Ever once in awhile they will hire an idiot who doesn't know anything about reptiles or knows to little, and they don't care to learn.

A locally owned pet store has lights on all the animals. But the snakes still have UTH. But they still have hides, plants, and the correct substrate. They don't believe in Aspen is the only thing, but a lot of people don't. The animals do get fed there, just live instead of frozen. They also don't get much traffic except the store cats laying on the cages.
 
There is a great reptile store in my area that gets its reptiles from reptile shows and surplus from local breeders. They care for the animals really well and are very honest and won't sell you a snake that isn't eating and thriving.

I think the problem with places like Petco and Petsmart is the care given in store is not always correct (and sometimes possibly dangerous), and you have a much greater chance of getting an unhealthy snake. I got my first corn from Petsmart and he didn't live very long unfortunately. I don't buy from chain stores like that anymore, but sometimes I go look around and here at least the record keeping is atrocious, a lot of times the snakes don't have correct paperwork, or didn't have any recorded feeding attempts. A couple weeks ago I saw a hatchling so weak and thin its skin was folded over all the way down it's body and it was just lying out in the open. I don't know how they can keep an animal like that out for sale. It's impossible to say if the snakes at this store are so unhealthy due to the source they come from or the care given at the store, but before buying at any store I would just check thoroughly (maybe even over a few visits) to make sure you are purchasing a healthy snake.
 
We saw temps of 95 degrees in a corn viv in a Petsmart the other day. I told them but they were pretty much not concerned. :(

My Mal was from PetCo and was hard to get to eat and I was really scared he was going to die. I won't buy from a store like that again. :(
 
One thing that bothers me a LOT is when people go into a poorly run store and "rescue" an animal. Paying a crummy store to remove an animal IS NOT RESCUE IN ANY WAY. It is supporting the business. Giving them your money is saying that you approve of their practices and support them.

There is a DREADFUL reptile store around the corner from me. Last time I was in, I saw a dead Mountain King on display, several dying animals, and a wide array of husbandry mistakes. I will not shop there, even though they are the only place locally that sells the aspen I like. They will never see a dime of my money.

I have a pet store snake, and I love her dearly. She's ten years old or so, and she has been a wonderful pet. I got her from a store that I worked in, where the animals all got spot cleaned and fresh water twice a day as well as proper husbandry. It wasn't perfect, but everyone there cared about the animals and educating their owners. We also got periodic husbandry quizzes, where the management would randomly pick a handful of species we carried and have each employee fill in a blank care sheet about the species. If we answered questions incorrectly, we were sent to the book section to research our errors and fix them. It kept us VERY up to date on our animal care knowledge.
 
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