Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This happened a while ago to me, but i thought i'd share it anyways. It's pretty entertaining. One of the few times i've left PetSmart with a smile on my face.

One time i went into PetSmart to pick up bird food, and i glanced at the reptile area, and here's what i saw: I saw a young Black Mexican Kingsnake in a cage labeled "Northern Kingsnake", but the picture was of a Striped California Kingsnake.

I debated telling one of the employees about it, but i knew they would probably deny it, and i didn't want to get in an argument with them, because i was pressed for time.

Just thought i'd share my little story with you.

I was going to apply for a job there, so they could have somebody knowledgeable in their staff, but then i heard that they have to sell the animal before they can give out any information that could potentially ruin the sale, and that isn't something that i want to do.

Any others with stories?
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

I can't believe they even HAD a snake at PetSmart! All the PetSmart's I've been to refuse to sell snakes because snakes eat mice and mice are cute and cuddly and that goes against some weird code of ethics they adhere to.
My brother used to work at a PetSmart and he wasn't allowed to sell mice or rats to people unless they signed a paper that stated the animal was a pet and not food for some other animal. Of course, there was one guy that bought a new "pet" from my brother every week.
Before I knew all this, I walked into a PetSmart one day and asked the cute little sales girl for a live feeder rat. She screwed up her face in a look of absolute disgust and told me that PatSmart does NOT sell feeder mice.
I think if they were really concerned about animal cruelty they would look in their cages and maybe clean them and provide adequate food, water and humidity. I buy most of my supplies, feeders and animals online or at shows. I find that if I must deal with a pet store, I prefer to deal with a few smaller locally owned shops.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

That's right!,......the PETA folks made such a "stink" about selling feeder rodents, that the owners were basically "forced" to comply with it. You know,.....the squeeky wheel gets the grease thing!,.......not unlike say Jesse Jackson for example..LOL!

If everyone was so concerned about animal cruelty, they should start with the OTHER animals in their stores, not the mice who get put out of their misery QUICKLY!.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Reminds me (same petsmart as last story btw) of a time that i went into the petsmart, and there was a cockatiel hanging upside down by one foot at the edge of the door. I watched it for about 10 minutes, and when i was positive that it was stuck, i ran and got somebody. Turns out that last time somebody was in there (about an hour before, to feed them), they weren't paying attention, and a cockatiel got its foot stuck in the door. Poor thing had been hanging upside down by its foot for over an hour, and was bleeding from the foot when they finally got it out. Luckily it was one of the petsmarts that has the pet hospital attached, so it got rushed over there, but it's foot looked broken, so it's probably sitting in the back "sick room" for the rest of its life. The sick room is where all the "unsellable" animals go to. They adopt them out for free, but they can only adopt if they tell people the animals are in there, which they never do. Besides, herding all the sick animals into one room doesn't do them much good. That's how i got 2 of my birds. I was talking with the resident bird guy at petsmart, and he said "hey, you sound like you know a lot about birds, i want to show you something", and he took me back to the sick room, and showed me 2 lovebirds: an albino peachfaced lovebird with a tumor on her foot (the tumor is gone now,), and a fischers lovebird that plucked, who still plucks, but is way more tame. That poor cockatiel, if its foot was broken, it probably wont recover well enough to be "sellable" even though it will be perfectly fine, if it survived the bloodloss.
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Another thing that makes me mad is when I go into the Pet Smart here on Staten Island and the ones in N.J. They have wild birs like sparrows flying through the store. They must come in through the metal roofing or something; I dont know. But these birds carry so many diseases and parasites, One would be crazy to buy a bird from them. Birds pass diseases and parasites to each other easier than any other animal. Where is the D.E.C. or Board of Health for that? Also I feel these "pet supermarkets" where people take thier dogs and cats shopping are just plain unsanitary. I would never take my dogs there. It is asking for trouble.

Yeah the petsmarts around my area have been selling cornsnakes and kingsnakes for about 6 months to a year, and just within the last few months started selling rosy boas and ball pythons.
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

So do they sell feeder rodents, or are the snakes expected to be vegetarians?
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

They sell frozen pinkies, but i seriously doubt that they're safe for the snakes to eat.
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

I noticed recently that the local petsmart started selling frozen pinkies some time in the past 6 months. The first time i ever went in there I asked if they carried pinkies and the guy in the reptile "department" asked, "what's a pinky?". *smacks head*

I've been in that store twice in the past 5 years and both times it was only because the two locally-owned shops were sold out of something I desperately needed.

For some reason it's their policy to keep all their reptiles on sand...

At my store they keep theirs on some random type of wood chips. Don't know which ones. Probably ceder, guessing from how competent they are. I wouldn't set foot in there if it werent for it being the only place nearby that i can get bird food from...thank god they dont make it.
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

>>> "The first time i ever went in there I asked if they carried pinkies and the guy in the reptile "department" asked, "what's a pinky?". *smacks head*"

Nothing like having well-rounded", experienced employees at a reptile store!..LOL!!

Whew!!,...thanks for the gut-busting laugh!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Haven't you heard of the new, tasty soy mice?

I've seen the snakes at my local Petsmart too. Apparently, snakes are being given a test run. Hopefully, the snakes will be well taken care of.

Oh, that has SOY much potential.

Sorry, that one's from my girlfriend.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

i doubt it, ive only been in one store that sells snakes that takes good care of them.

its a local shop i buy my feeder fish in, when they first started selling snakes they had no clue what they were doing until i started going on a regular basis and giving tips.
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jake barney
1.1 ball pythons
0.2 corns
1.0 cal king
0.0.1 wc garter
1.o cb son

The smaller, locally owned shops in my area are the bad ones. "Panhandle Pets" used to be decent, carried a good amount of herps, but the new owner despises reptiles and won't carry them. I don't trust her, so I don't buy feeders there either.

The Petsmart here is actually very great. They carry the Artic mice (too expensive, but at least they keep them stocked if I need them desparately) and they have a decent selection of herps. The poor lizards are usually wanting for humidity, but they keep the moist hides with sphaghum (spelling ) moss in them. I bought Eddie at the Petsmart here, but I watched him for a few months, saw that he was eating well and hiding under his water dish most of the time. The substrate wasn't deep enough or I know he would have burrowed. When I finally made up my mind to get him, I held him for a while, checking his muscle tone, alertness, and waited to see if he was horribly stressed in that environment. He was fine. I asked them about his feeding schedule, so the girl checked the list and said he was due to eat that day. I was pressed for time so I didn't wait for them to feed him and just brought him home. He ate three pinkies for me as soon as I got home and has been awesome ever since.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

I love the names!

I actually got one of my favorite pets of all time from a PetSmart: a Jackson's chameleon. He was wonderful, but died after about a year. His name was Sprite (after the mythical fairy creatures, not the soft drink).

Other reptile names:
Smeagol & Smaug (Ball & carpet pythons, respectively)
Maya, Lava, Phoenix, Ocotillo (Pueblan and Honduran milks)
Aztec (Thayer's king)
Domino (California king w/black & white abberant pattern)
Titus (sulcata)

None of the others have names yet.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

Hehehe, thanks. My boyfriend's decided that any reptiles we own have to be named after serial killers or mass murderers. I still consider Lizzie mine, even though she's lost here in the house somewhere. >_< I hope she'll turn up eventually.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

i probably posted this somewhere else but these are some of the worse I have personally have ben told, all at PETCO, the folks at my petsmart are too uneducated to even say anything stupid. the only reason i shop at petsmart is to get those moon-glow bulbs, as they are the only place within 30 miles that sells them. but I have to get there on stock day because they sell out within 24 hours. "ummm hey guys maybe you should place a bigger order next time"? i don't even buy my Frozen mice there as they are in opaque bags, and i have had some nasty surprises upon opening the bags. Found a good supplier for frozen mice (that i can SEE are good quality and not disease ridden or rotten) but its a 45 min drive and i always seem to come back with something scaly in addition to the mice. like sending an alcoholic, to a wine tasting.

enough of my ranting;

petco reptile expert:

"All snakes are nocturnal"
"hey that snake just peed on me" (note, "pee was not solid and white, and smelled really bad)
"65F is just fine for a ball python"
"BP's need lots of UVA or they will die"
"don't bother with thermometers just feel the snake if it is cold turn the heat up"
"never use an under tank heater"
" all a bp needs is a hide some newspaper a basking light and a water dish, at night just turn the light off"
"they are supposed to take the guts out of the frozen mice, the snake will get sick if it eats them"
"ceramic heaters will kill your snake"
"we feed all our snakes live mice, but, were professionals. You should only feed frozen"
" you have too much stuff in your tank, vines, climbing logs, multiple hide spots, and that large water dish will just stress your BP"
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Jayne "The Hero of Canton", Ball Python
Edmund Slackbladder, Mexican Kingsnake
El Diablo "They haven't built a cage I can't get out of" Pueblan Milksnake
(Currently serving 25 to life in a Maryland Supermax)

Yeah, it's just a shame that Petsmart is actually the only good petstore around here. Our locally owned ones are really awful. All of the locally owned ones that actually carry reptiles have badly dehydrated snakes, underfed lizards, and mites everywhere. I even had one of the ladies at a local store tell me that I could easily keep a firebellied "frog" in with my kingsnake. "Just give him a big pool in that tank." :S

Between the store that has an owner who despises reptiles, the undernourished ball pythons that are so bad they had to add the word "live" to their description (none of the other snakes have "live" on their description O.o), and the store that still recommends a heat rock for a beardie's cage (O.o), I think I'll stick with our Petsmart. Sure, the kids who work there don't know a thing about herps, but at least the herps are healthy...er. I haven't found any bad frozen mice from the Petsmart, though I did order in bulk online recently to save money.

Anyone want to move to Panama City and open a GOOD exotic pet (namely Herp) store? You'd sure get a lot of business.

Eddie Gein, purchased at PetSmart in Panama City:

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)