Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was out shopping with my kids and we were near a major commercial pet store and my kids asked if we can go look at the animals. I said sure. When we came to the reptile section I looked in the ball python tank and was shocked to see the skinniest ball pythons I have ever seen. One of the pythons was super thin and another one of them had retained eye caps and unshed skin on its head and parts of its body. I flagged down an employee and asked him if I could hold the skinniest one. As he was getting him out I told him that it was emaciated and needed help. He said that the snake was just fed the other day and is fed regularly. When he handed me the snake the snake died right in my hands! The sress of being picked up was too much in its weakened condition.

The manager was super apologetic and thanked me profusely for drawing attention to the poor condition of the snakes. The manager promised to take the snakes to the vet. I hope he was truthful and I plan to check-up on the remaining snakes.

I also asked if they were wild caught and imported or if they were obtained locally. He said that he knows for sure that they were bought locally from a breeder. He also said that he himself used to work for a herpatologist and was familiar with snake care, but was surprised to find out that retained shed can be unhealthy for the snake and is usually a sign of the humidity being too low. Dealing with shedding is one of the basic knowledge and care a snake caretaker should know about.

My question is, are there any laws regarding the condition of pets being sold? Is there any organizations that can legally do something about this? If so would they even care about the snakes or just the fuzzy creatures?
-----
-A.J.

1.1 Ball Pythons (normal, pastel)
3.1 Cornsnakes (Miami, oketee, snow, albino)
1.1 Cali Kings (blk and wht banded, blk and yellow banded)
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake

There used to be a pet store in my area that had many reptiles. Somebody called local animal control authorities to inspect the store. It was enough to induce change.

Apparently, the person went to the store owner on a few occasions first, and when the owner dismissed the complaints, the person then went to the animal control office.

So I believe it is possible, but as you said, most people care little about reptiles. Even most animal control officers understand little about reptile husbandry. You did well by letting the manager know first. I would check back again and complain if need be to the manager. After that, if all is ignored, you can call animal control and see. Big chain stores have access to lawyers, so I don't know what authorities will do.
-----
Mark

most of the small pet stores around here are very disturbing. The smell alone in some of the places ive been is ridiculous. I have found that large commercial stores such as petsmart and petco are better (the two petsmart locations closest to me are very clean with healthy animals) the petco not so much but acceptable. Ive actually 'rescued' snakes from pet stores before which i find disturbing.

I think its more of fear than anything. Honestly, most of the chains sell herps to keep their status as having everything you could possibly want. Most of the workers are either bird, fish, or dog/cat lovers who only work with the herps because they HAVE TOO. Some try harder or actually like herps, and I have seen the conditions in some stores go up and down following the trends of the competent workers who come and go. Also, feeding herps isnt as easy as opening up a can or bag of food and filling up a bowl. There are many issues dealing with poorer quality of the herp sections in pet stores than the other sections. Of course, there are just some unscrupulous pet shops that keep EVERYTHING deplorable. There are some I quit buying dry goods from because they were so dirty. Even the dry goods were dusty and outdated.

the local animal control agency should be able to help if the manager doesn't take care of them. There is more training avialable for animal control officers so they know what to look for. I am an animal control officer and also work with the Reptile Rescue here. we have training for all the aco's in Utah. there should be an officer that has some experience with herps and can help.

You could call your local SPCA, and/or the animal control officer, or other local animals shelters. Yes, there are laws put in place that make pet stores provide adequate shelter, and maintain the health of the animals. Otherwise, it's animal abuse/neglect.

I would report the store, I'm not believing the story the Manager gave you.

I've also been in a situation where I pretty much had to educate the employees of a big chain pet store (one who's name has two words combined lol) how to properly take care of the reptiles they had. Every single one of the tanks they had, (with different species of reptiles), had the SAME EXACT temps (68 degrees in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY), some without proper humidity levels (it was obvious just looking in there), or proper hides and tank bedding.

Most of these people/places sicken me. I have stuck with the Pets Plus in my area. Everybody who works in the reptile department (or otherwise for that matter) have a lot of experience with reptiles of all kinds, and have answered my questions accurately ( I tested them lol)

It's a shame that most animals in pet stores are not taken care of properly and end up suffering for it.

I would definitely report it.

Here's an update: I had called my Mom and told her what happened and the condition of the snakes. Later that evening she called back and told me she had called the police (yeah Grandma!). The police unfortunitely told her that they probably would not do anything about it but gave her the number of the local SPCA. She gave me the number. I have not called yet. I believe in giving people a chance to change.

I did however go back and check on the snakes. The one snake that had the retained shed the manager told me was in the back and they were waiting for the test results from the vet to come back. I plan to check back this weekend to see if they have a diagnoses and see how the pythons are doing. If I do not see improvement I will call the local SPCA. Thanks for all your help.
-----
-A.J.

1.1 Ball Pythons (normal, pastel)
3.1 Cornsnakes (Miami, oketee, snow, albino)
1.1 Cali Kings (blk and wht banded, blk and yellow banded)
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake