Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I walked into Petco a couple of days ago to purchase some screen clips for my new corn and noticed a sign stating that their ball pythons are on sale for $29.99 (normally $89.99). I have recently "gotten into" snakes and I'm always curious when pet stores have animals that I've taken an interest in; although I have a reputable reptile specialty store/breeder that I plan to purchase snakes from.

First of all, these balls were extremely skinny, but long. I asked the clerk whether they were '07 leftovers or '08's. He did not know, but stated that they got them on discount from their breeder and they were all captive-bred. I find this hard to believe coming from a large corporation. At best, wouldn't it be beneficial for such a corporation to buy wholesale captive-hatched?

I asked to handle some samples. The clerk was hesitant because they were "nippy" at first signs of human contact. I know that hatchlings may be nippy, but when he put his hand in, as promised, a majority began to strike at him. The first one he picked up rolled into a tight ball and would not give. The second one, and prettiest of the bunch, tagged me (although the "bark is worse than the bite". The third one had mites near the eyes and on the snout. I warned the clerk that the enclosure may be infected with mites (five balls in this particular enclosure), but he claimed they were probably fruit flies coming in from the lizards' fruits and veggies.

Why so nippy and stressed? Could it be that there were so many "longer" snakes housed together? Could it be that their hide consisted of one double open-ended log? Could it be that they were hungry?

Petco had two enclosures housing their "sale products". The humidity gauge in one read approx. 50% humidity while the other approx. 80%. Shouldn't each enclosure be similar? I noticed that some of the balls had a bad shed, especially near the nose and on the head (but no retained eye caps). I asked the clerk how they were separated: eating issues? gender?
They were separated because they were too many to be in just one enclosure. They were randomly separated.

I claim no expertise in the subject, since I am a novice in owning snakes. However, before I bought my ball, I researched extensively on the net (weeding out inconsistent info) and by asking my specialty reptile shop's owners/breeder questions. I even learned as much as I could about morphs, even though I don't plan to buy any in the future (I need the morph $$$ for my children's college funds). I just found that the conditions didn't seem appropriate.

-------------- in related news

I went to a local "mom & pop" pet shop because I was in the area. What can I say, I like looking at snakes. In one enclosure, a CA kingsnake was being housed with a normal corn and an amelanistic corn. The two corns were in separate containers in the enclosure, while the kingsnake was free to roam. I asked to hold the kingsnake, which was coiled on top of one of the corn containers (yum). The clerk refused, stating she was not a "snake person" but if I came back tomorrow, someone would be there in the morning to help me.

Ummmmmmmmmm ????????????

0.1 '07 normal ball python
1.0 '07 amelanistic (red albino)cornsnake

0.2 English bulldogs
0.1 piebald dachsund

I don't think a Petco clerk would know the difference between captive bred and captive hatched!
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Thanks,
Amy

My Boids

i like how you said a kingsnake was housed with a corn... bye bye corn.
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I wouldn't reccomend buying any animals from petco. For many reasons one they overcrowd them. The employees barely know anything about these animals. I have seen some nasty stuff in several of their stores. I have 2 dogs so I am always there buying toys and supplies from there but never food products or live pets. I always take my time looking around at the animals they have. Animal freak I am ha. I once bought a parrot and it was shivering (one sign of disease or sicknes) so I had to take it back in. I am not saying dont buy there at all. I just personally wont buy pets there.

I hate Petco, a lot. Once, I went in and very politely suggested to the manager that he not feed the bearded dragons mealworms, because they could not properly digest them, to which he replied "our vet says otherwise". I then mentioned that they might also be healthier and look brighter if he offered a heat gradient(the whole cage was 80 degrees, but they need a hot spot of 115), he said "our vet says otherwise". By then I was fed up and getting annoyed, and left befor even mentioning that all the food in the cage was too big for them to swallow, and that they were incredibly crowded, and that a desert vivarium should not be full of water. But what do I know, I'm just a breeder, after all, "the vet says otherwise".
Generally, Petco knows nothing about reptiles, birds,.. fish ... amphibians... rodents... ferrets. Most vets only practice on cats and dogs. And if a vet really cares about the animals, he'll refer you to an exotics vet.
ok, I'm done venting... deep breath.
Breath in, breath out, move on. (and never set foot in petco again)
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www.freewebs.com/snakesandstuff
"Let us step out into the night and pursue that mighty temptress, adventure." (Albus Dumbledore)

My menagerie
2.1 Ball Pythons 1.1 Amazon Tree Boa 1.0 Corn Snake 1.0 Dumeril's Boa 2.1.10 Bearded Dragons 2.1.2 Crested Geckos (and 2 eggs!) 1.1.4 Eastern Box Turtles 1.0 Northern Mockingbird 0.3 Chickens 2.0 Cats 1.1 Ferrets plus lots of mice and feeder insects

There are probably thousands of Petco's across the country. To say that you hate all Petco's because you have had a bad experience with a couple is kind of stretching. Like any retail establishment, it depends on who you have working there. Trust me, I have run across some idiots in reptile specialty shops as well.

I have known a number of reptile people that worked for Petco while in college that were very knowledgeable on herps. While I would agree that generally Petco is not the best source for herps or information, they aren't all bad!
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Ryan Sherman
Scottsdale, Arizona
www.ThePaintedPython.com

I go to our local petco regularly for dog toys and such. I have come across some very knowledgable herp people there. Their animals are very well taken care of and look great. I haven't personally bought any reptiles from there, but wouldn't hesitate to if they had something I wanted at a reasonable price. Every store is different though and I have been in some that were, to put it lightly, sub-par.

Oh, Petco.

Along the beardie line, I took one off their hands a few years back that had somehow become parayzed in the hind end & no one had noticed..
Most of their animals just look sickly. It doesn't take an expert to see all the lizards/turtles lie in one place with their eyes closed.
& don't get me started on the employees. I shudder when I hear some of the advice they give eager uneducated clients who just don't know any better..

-Tami*

i actually bought my first ball python at petco. they had some very knowlegable guys working there and whenever i need any advice, if i cant get an answer here wich i usually do, i get it from them and they have never steered me wrong. i have been in some that were utter garbage, but the one here in norman oklahoma is pretty good. im done bying normals but if i wasnt i would definatly get one from them again.