Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I made a stupid mistake. I bought two corns from petco. I know about their bad reputation, but the corns seemed really healthy, the employees seemed knowlegeable, and they even seemed to care about their animals, they gave me care sheets and made me sign a contract about saying I would take care of the animal propery. However, the next day my albino corn droped dead. At first I thought I was handling it too much, there where some poeple over for a new year's party and I showed my snakes to everyone. The albino seemed calmer than the other one so I let people pet it. But later I looked up the signs of handleing stress and it said the snake's movements would be quicker and it would get sick. That's not what happened. A day after the party I noticed he threw up and was moving very slow, so I took him out and he was very limp. Still alive, but limp. I called the vet and when I came back he was belly up, dead. Probably some kind of internal parasite. I got a refund and everything but I was still hurt. I was more upset than I usually am about a pet dieing, it just seemed so healthy and normal, and it died before I could do anything...

On the bright side, my other snake is alive and happy. Well, not exactly happy, she still acts kind of nervous but I'm seeing improvement. I'm just warning everyone never to buy anything from petco, even if it seems like they take good care of their animals. It could be that they actually do take really good care of them and mine was just a freak accident, but that's pretty unlikely. When I got my refund I asked the employee how often the snakes they sell die, she said "well, it happens sometimes, I mean it's not common." They had to point out that it wasn't common, which makes me think it could actually be pretty common there.

I'm not sure I would be so quick to blame PetCo... if you had lots of people handling your new snake the day you got him, then he was likely very stressed. In fact, the fact that he threw up suggests that as well. It also suggests that you were handling him when he was trying to digest. It may be a combination of regurgigation and stress that could have caused his death, and that's kind of what your story suggests to me.

On the other hand, there ARE some snake diseases which cause regurgitation and death (crypto being the most notable, though crypto is generally accompanied by a swelling in the midsection unrelated to food). Keep an eye on your second snake. If he does the regurg and die thing as well, have him necropsied. If you can't get him necropsied the same day, stick him in the refrigerator (NOT freezer) and try to get him necropsied ASAP.

I would also avoid getting any new reptiles until you're -certain- you know that the cause was not disease.

Finally, I'd like to point out that sometimes even snakes from the best breeders in the world will die for no apparent reason (it's not just a PetCo thing). What matters is how the seller treats the customer whose snake dies for no fault of their own. If the snake died within a week or two of your purchase, PetCo should give you a refund (I believe it's their store policy).

Sorry, I don't agree with your statement about PetCo, based on the story you've presented.

-Kat
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"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."

OK.....I am taking you back to when I was 12 (I am now 16) You see a kid BEGGING his grandparent to let him have a snake. You also here them respond "Why cant you just want a dog like normal kids". Well I finaly get them to let me git a small snake, I REALY wanted a eastern garter. I save money for a LONG time and got a 20-gal long and ALL the bells and wistalas (it was a exalent settup). A herp show was coming up close to our town and my grandparnts said they would take me. I looked and looked and finnaly found the PERFECT snake (we all have seen it its like the gurl at school you know you will marry) I paid the man the $20 he was asking and went home. I put him in his new cage and sat back looked at him. later i went to sleep. when I woke up he was dead

I WAS HORRIFID

Randy
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1.0.0 albino okeetee corn
0.1.0 red tail boa
0.1.0 sinoalon milk snake
0.0.1 green snake
0.0.1 green igauna

I agree with Kat

I don't think that you can make such a statement based on your experience. I personally would rather buy directly from a reputable breeder, but I have heard lots of opinions on both sides of the petco issue, and it seems that some of them are probably OK. I can't even be sure that your local one is not.
Question...Did the snake puke up a mouse that you fed it, or one that it had eaten before you bought it? It all seems to have happened so fast, I'm wondering if you bought the snake, took it home and fed it, and let people handle it that very night. Probably not...right?

From what you said, I would tend to think it may well have been stress related. There is the possibility of some desease but I lean toward the stress seeing as you let others handle it so close to purchasing and it had, obviously, also eaten before handling.
You probably don't know this, but you should always let your snake settle in for a few days before you hold them to avoid stress (I know how tempting it is to want to show it off). And the fact that it regurged means that it had eaten shortly before. A snake should never be held or bothered for at least 48 hrs. after it has eaten to allow it to digest. A stressed snake will regurge its meal. Regurge can be caused by other things also, like deseases and also by overfeeding and improper temperatures for digestion.
Under the cicumstances I wouldn't say that petco did anything wrong. If the snakes seemed fine and their habitat was clean and the attendants seemed to care AND the fact that they did give you a refund, to me says they did not do anything wrong. I, personally, now have four snakes from petco and all are fine. Three I got in 2002 and one last fall. And like Kat said, sometimes apparently healthy baby snakes die, even from good breaders. It is how the seller handles the situation that is important in such a situation. It is not pleasant or frequent but it does happen. And I also agree that, to be on the safe side, you might want to wait before purchasing another till you know that this one is fine and is not indeed carrying any deseases.
Good luck.

..by taking a new baby snake and letting alot of people handle it the first or second day you got it. Not a cause of death, but a definite cause of stress which makes any situation worse.

How's this: I have 5 rescued animals from a local Petco, ranging form corns, milks to ball pythons. All were babies then, and now all are robust healthy adults. Should I say everyone buy from Petco?

I agree with Kat also. It could be you handled it too much the first day. Did you even let it get used to a new enviroment? It doesn't sound like it.Did you do your homework before you got snakes? Every one reacts different to stress and unfortunately the one died. Could be your other corn is more stable to handle stress. I bought my first corn at Petco and she is doing great. I've had her almost a year now. I wouldn't be to quick to blame Petco. If you did homework then you would of known to let your new corn get settled for a few days before handling him and showing him/her off to everyone at a party.