Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It would be nice if the Big Chain Stores could maintain juvi corns ,garters and kings.
But the negative "Regulatory" Critisizm below is not helping the hobby, could always get the POLICE involved ASPCA 'What a Plan NOT! or none of us would be free from harasment from the law for non-eatters and regurgers.
maybe the Loves manual should be required reading for employees thats good education for even the slow readers or a shorter care sheet "Educate dont regulate". Chris remember they are in the pet buis.

I would agree to educate rather than regulate, makes things easier, but the problem i have seen is obviously dead animals in the stores, that have obviously not been touched for a couple days after their death, they need to regulate how they monitor and take care of the animals in the store, I do understand that some will not eat or they will regurgitate, but that is understandable if the animal is removed quickly, but i have never seen that, i have actually heard store employees saying that they know its there and dead, but will leave it til someone says something, now thats just wrong
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A.J.
1.0.0- Amel Motley Corn- Valentine (R.I.P 5/20/05)
0.1.0- Snow Corn- Artica
1.0.0- Normal Corn- Ember
1.0.0- Ball Python- G.T.

I can see both sides here. On one hand the stores that don't know how to care for them, or worse, don't care are the bane of our hobbyists existence and should be rooted out. On the other hand, a lot of publicity only fuels the fire for tuffer regulations and bans on owning reptiles. As a police officer in Richmond, VA I have seen many cases of animal abuse/neglect and it is really sad. I am also an avid hobbyist with several different types of snakes. I am 100% against any gov't regulation of our ownership of these wonderful animals but something does have to be done. If we can't take care of "our own" and eventually don't do something then big brother will. This will be to all our detriments. Luckily the pet stores here that I have been in are pretty good about keeping there reptiles. I would just say something to the owner then tell him to expect an inspection from animal control. Of course animal control here in Richmond could care less about reptiles unless they are large boids that have escaped. Thus far I have never initiated any "official" action because of the slippery slope principal. Once the train gets rolling it's hard to stop it. Kind of a catch 22.
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1.0 het albino ball
1.0 norm ball
0.2 norm ball
0.1 snow corn
1.0 butter corn
1.0 norm corn
1.0 southwestern rat
1.0 striped Cali king
1.0 western hog

Visual Morphs?....I love the normal looks. You can't improve on nature, you can only produce "interesting deviations".

I am only going to say what I know is true. I worked at Petsmart for three years. Most of that time was spent working in the small animal department, which includes reptiles and fish. Of course, petsmart did not carry snakes at that time, but lizards were common. There is a checklist(or was when i worked there) that needed to be done three times a day. We took good care of the reptiles that we had. I am not defending pet stores as a whole, or even petsmart as a whole. I am just saying that I know, that on occassion, the reptiles that were received, were received in bad condition. I don't know if it was the breeder or the shipping process. I would say not to put them out on display, but the stores are not really equipped to deal with it sick animals. They may be now, though. I also know that to the company, deaths of these animals are just write-offs. All they want you to do is tally what dies, so they can keep inventory. Very few people care for the actual animals themselves. I guess I was lucky in the fact that I worked with two other people who actually knew what they were doing and cared. I have noticed most of the time nowdays, it is kids working at the store and they are just their for their 6-8 hours and that is it. They don't really care.
The petco in my area actually has an assigned vet that they "say" they take their animals to. Yet, I have more problems with their animals than any other pet store around. I am going to have to see if my local Petsmart carries snakes, and keep an eye on them.
I think the majority of the time, the animals sent to pet stores are poor stock and then get the worst treatment, so they have very little chance to recover.
I could say more on the subject, but this is enough for now.
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**********Misty**********
The more things change, the more they remain Insane!

2.1.2 bearded dragons
0.1.1 water dragons
1.3.3 leopard geckos
12.20.0 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
5.2.0 king snakes
1.0.0 royal (Ball) pythons
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.2 prairie ringneck snakes
0.1.0 chilean rose hair tarantula
1.1.0 emperor scorpions
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

I know that the PetSmart where I live seem to take pretty good care of their animals. No snakes but the leopard gecko's and anoles all seem bright and active and have good weight. Some select PetSmart's are starting to carry corn and king snakes on a trial basis. I am not a fan a big chain pet stores in general and prefer to buy from breeders or private sales. But having said that the PetSmart in Williamsburg, Va is pretty well run.
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1.0 het albino ball
1.0 norm ball
0.3 norm ball
0.1 snow corn
1.0 butter corn
1.0 norm corn
1.0 southwestern rat
1.0 striped Cali king
1.0 western hog

Visual Morphs?....I love the normal looks. You can't improve on nature, you can only produce "interesting deviations".

My local petco does take their animals to the vet, actually my old vet. I was picking up my pup after her spay and there was a girl I knew that work at petco, wearing her petco shirt and everything. She was bring in some hamsters that where sick.

I dont really like the big chains either but..........I think its a good sign as far as the herp community growing. These places are only in business to make money. They wouldnt be doing it if there was no demand for it. I assume that most hobbyists probably purchase from a breeder, and that the majority of sales at the pet stores is from new people. It wasnt until I really got into herps that I found out about shows and that......oh yeah, a breeder had to produce these guys and....say what....I can buy them for the same price as the store pays. If these stores would just put a little extra effort into them, they might even get some repeat business, until the person finds out they cost too much. I only bought one snake from a store, had a miserable experience, and have never even thought about buying from a store again. Well, most anyway. good day,

ep
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats