I'm an assistant manager at a small, independently-owned pet store, and we have had several instances where breeders have knowingly sold us less-than-quality animals. Sometimes the signs are obvious (we had a batch of ball pythons come in at one point with ticks all over them... you can bet we stopped ordering from them!) but there have been times that the problem didn't show up until the animal had been sold. I'd say that there's a fairly good chance that your pet store had no idea there was anything wrong with the snakes, and that they didn't contact the breeder until the remaining snakes started exhibiting the same symptoms yours did. Unfortunately, there are quite a few pet store employees who know surprisingly little about the animals they sell... once, after we'd hired a new employee, I came into work to find feeder crickets in the redtail boa's cage. (Sigh... )



However, if you were given a health warranty with your snake, and you were sold an unhealthy snake, the pet store is definitely obliged to refund your money. But I would have to say that, speaking from personal experience, I would say that the chances that your pet store ignorantly sold you a sick snake are higher than the chances that they knowingly did. Ignorance is never an excuse, but as long as your pet store holds up their end of the warranty and rectifies the problem, I would not hold them entirely responsible. And perhaps they will learn a lesson from this... they need to have their animals vet-checked before offering any sort of "health guarantee."



At any rate, I wish the best for you and your BP.

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