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wondering about store bought.

My corn snake is from a pet store (Petzoo in Alaska) and he has been a healthy little turd haha. My only complaint is that he doesn't like people to hold him but thats not the pet stores fault just his quirky little attitude.
 
Allalaskan said:
My corn snake is from a pet store (Petzoo in Alaska) and he has been a healthy little turd haha. My only complaint is that he doesn't like people to hold him but thats not the pet stores fault just his quirky little attitude.
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I don't think any snake likes to be hold, some just tolerate it better than others :)
 
atmox said:
I don't think any snake likes to be hold, some just tolerate it better than others :)
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That is basically the deal. For example,....when temps are cool and a snake is taken out to be held, and it seems like it is "enjoying" being held, it is actually taking advantage of the owners body warmth to thermoregulate itself. Then when it has warmed up enough, it would rather find somewhere else to be.

Over the decades though, I find that some individual snakes are EXTREMELY tolerant of being held and so relaxed that it does seem to give the impression that they actually like it. Contention might be a better description, who knows. :shrugs:



~Doug
 
what about if there are no breeders like with me and everyone else in my entire province? I haven't seen/heard of any breeders. I think the closest one is the next province over which is still an 8 hour boat ride away. Are there many/any breeders who'll ship internationally? I say international, cause in my experience, there is always a larger selection in the states as compared to here (Canada).
 
Are you close enough to the boarder? Cause I know few breeders are willing to ship to a fedex station just on this side of the boarder and people will pick them up there.
 
noooot even remotely close. lol. Maine is the closest state from my city, and that is a 1130 (googled) miles drive. plus a 7-8 hour ferry ride. Pet stores are pretty much the only option sadly. I know there are canadian breeders out there, it's just when you're looking for a pet, the pet store is where you'd start looking out here. At least with my case she came from their breeder (none of the stores would tell me who/where that is) and she was only at the shop for a couple hours. And this place isn't too bad. It's a smaller shop in a mall. And a couple of the employee's know how to take care of snakes, and at least 1 owns a corn.
 
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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Are you sure it's a petsmart, or that they aren't adoptable cats from a local shelter? Many petsmart's partner with rescue foundations to adopt out cats, but do not sell kittens or puppies.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93506&p=irol-homeprof

Some of you also may be interested in this. I e-mailed petsmart and asked about what they do with reptiles who are not sold. I was called personally and told that they will move the animal to another store until it gets sold. If it's not sold, its price is lowered. If it is never sold, they adopt it out for free. They told me they never euthanize the animals they sell.
 
Cassie16 said:
If it's not sold, its price is lowered. If it is never sold, they adopt it out for free. They told me they never euthanize the animals they sell.
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Well, they don't have to "intentionally" euthanise the reptiles that aren't sold, the sickly one's will simply die there at one of the stores.

The Petco representative's story "sounded" nice, but that is not the true reality of what really goes on. I'm sure that was brought up at many corporate meetings as a means of "damage control" a long time ago for the general public. That has probably been a question that has been asked to them countless times in the past, I'm sure, so they already had a protocol speech printed out and ready to address whenever anyone asks about this.

I wouldn't even WANT to know how many emaciated reptiles die at these stores, and many others. I wonder if the Petco corporation representative would want to answer that one honestly..HAHAA!!!


~Doug :laugh01:
 
DMong said:
Well, they don't have to "intentionally" euthanise the reptiles that aren't sold, the sickly one's will simply die there at one of the stores.

The Petco representative's story "sounded" nice, but that is not the true reality of what really goes on. I'm sure that was brought up at many corporate meetings as a means of "damage control" a long time ago for the general public. That has probably been a question that has been asked to them countless times in the past, I'm sure, so they already had a protocol speech printed out and ready to address whenever anyone asks about this.

I wouldn't even WANT to know how many emaciated reptiles die at these stores, and many others. I wonder if the Petco corporation representative would want to answer that one honestly..HAHAA!!!


~Doug :laugh01:
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Petsmart, not Petco.

As I've said, I believe petsmart employees the most ethical practices in regards to animal care, and is the only pet store I will spend a dime at as a result. My local petsmart is employed solely by animal lovers; it's plain to see that each and every one of them attained a job there because of their passion for animals. Three of the employees own snakes (the manager being a corn snake aficionado), and their advice to me regarding snake husbandry has always aligned perfectly with the advice given on this forum.

I recognize that not all Petsmarts are employed by a tremendously knowledgeable staff. I would encourage everyone on here to issue complaints immediately to corporate about any wrong doings you see in a Petsmart store.

While I realize Petsmart is still a corporation, and as such, have the final goal of making money, I stand firmly beside my opinion of them.

I respect your suspicion of the company. I think it's sensible to question a pet store, and to do your research regarding their practices. I was satisfied with the research I did regarding Petsmart, and will continue buying supplies there.
 
While I realize Petsmart is still a corporation, and as such, have the final goal of making money, I stand firmly beside my opinion of them.
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As do I. I even know for a fact that my local petsmart recently had a $250 vet bill....and get this.....it was for a flippin $10 hamster! And to top that off they had to give it away to a new home for free. So if they will go through that trouble for a hamster most other places would just euthanize I will stick by them.
 
rosewood said:
As do I. I even know for a fact that my local petsmart recently had a $250 vet bill....and get this.....it was for a flippin $10 hamster! And to top that off they had to give it away to a new home for free. So if they will go through that trouble for a hamster most other places would just euthanize I will stick by them.
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That's great! It makes me really glad to hear other stories supporting my original notion. Yet another reason I feel comfortable shopping there.
 
Three of our seven snakes are pet store snakes...but again, not one of the chains, but a locally-run shop. The two guys that are the primary reptile guys both own snakes (one's a cornsnake fan, the other prefers kings and pythons.) All the tanks have UTHs...there is low-heat display lighting as well. Multiple hides. Yes, they co-hab the corns and balls, but he does advise people of the dangers of co-habbing in their home.

Really good people, very knowledgeable about snakes. And they have complete feed/shed records of every snake in the store so they can give you a bit of history on the snakes you buy. Which is, of course, one of the reasons I shop there.
 
I bought my first corn at PetSmart, here in Canada. They were feeding their corns hoppers since they didn't carry pinkies (Hmm...)... the hoppers are way too big for them. Easily 3-4x their width, I have no idea how the snakes were eating them!
They also housed several of them together, and it turns out they were feeding the 2-year old BPs the same as the month-old corns...
Payed $150, which is pretty hefty. As well, both of the reptile workers were scared to handle any of the snakes, so I am having to hand-train it myself (the staff literally plucked the snake by his tail, and tossed him into the travel-cup-thing). They also did not know the genders of any of their animals. :(

Though the staff were friendly, and they were honest.
 
Illidan said:
I bought my first corn at PetSmart, here in Canada. They were feeding their corns hoppers since they didn't carry pinkies (Hmm...)... the hoppers are way too big for them. Easily 3-4x their width, I have no idea how the snakes were eating them!
They also housed several of them together, and it turns out they were feeding the 2-year old BPs the same as the month-old corns...
Payed $150, which is pretty hefty. As well, both of the reptile workers were scared to handle any of the snakes, so I am having to hand-train it myself (the staff literally plucked the snake by his tail, and tossed him into the travel-cup-thing). They also did not know the genders of any of their animals. :(

Though the staff were friendly, and they were honest.
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How could they be "honest" when they told you they were feeding the corns something many times too big for them to even BEGIN to eat? They have tiny corns but no pinkies, hey?

Yep!, sounds like a great corn and Ball python feeding operation to me! :puke01:



~Doug
 
I bought my snake at a petsmart here in New Jersey and i havent had any problems. they only had 2 snakes per cage and everything seemed good. The guy who worked there and helped me out gave me a feeding and shedding scheduale sheet. They also had no problem handeling it. I have had her for a lil over a month and havent had any problems wit her eating or handeling or anythin. I go back there all the time for food to. I dont go for hides and stuff though because petco is cheaper but both stores around here seem really good.
 
DMong said:
How could they be "honest" when they told you they were feeding the corns something many times too big for them to even BEGIN to eat? :puke01:



~Doug
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Honest doesn't mean smart, or even sensible. Moreover I'm sure the floor-employees I interacted with (though maybe I should have asked for a manager or head-of-department :| ) aren't directly responsible for the store not carrying pinkies. Though really, never buying there again. Breeders or second-hand from here out.
 
One of the first reasons not to buy at a pet store that comes to me is price.
I sell Classic babies for $20. The same snake, who comes with no records, who may or may not have eaten, sells for $50 at my local pet store.

If you are going to buy from a store, just be educated. If there are no breeders in your area, and you can't have a snake shipped, a store may be your only option.
 
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