Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was just at petco of elmira ny and saw aball python that had recently been chewed on by a mouse apparntly according to the manager that it is against the law to kill a mouse to feed it to a snake. he was either lying or did not know the law appparntly it must be store policy. im so pissed off i cant believe it. i asked when i was there if they could give me a discount to save and help the snake and the kid that was there said that the manager would probably give me 10-20 percent off. but that the manager was not there. so i had my wife call and ask for the manager and lo and behold he was there.she talked to him and thats when he told her about the "law" and that also that animal was no longer for sale. and that no discounts are ever given. another lie because i have and will continue to do buisness with a petco in syracuse and that manager has given me a discount on my newest snake. well thats all and thanks for letting me blow of some steam.

Ugh! Did you confront the manager that talked to your wife? I know some states have some crazy laws still on their books, but what's with that one? Wonder why he said it was no longer for sale? I know you must be frustrated.
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1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

It is probably not for sale (hopefully this is the reasom) the ball python is undergoing medical treatment.

You could tell the petstore owner to just knock out the mouse instead of killing it.

first off sorry for the length of the post, but as a past petco employee i wanted to share what i saw when i worked at petco.

i used to work at petco a while back, i don't anymore cause it was kinda a college job. i do have to agree that for the most part while i worked there, we were lucky to have our assistant manager that actually had reptiles to take care of our little scaled and slimy friends there. otherwise everyone else that worked there really only had experience with fish and the fluffy animals. just last week i went back to the petco where i worked and that manager had left for another store. well long story short, there were two baby ball pythons, that while he worked there i know were well cared for, but since he had left they had became skiny and their cage conditions were less than ideal. so i bought one of them because i couldn't stand to see her like that there, i wish i could have taken the other home too, but i just don't have the room for a third cage. they threw in a free mouse for me to feed her, because as they said "things were so busy that they just forgot for a few days to feed them" well when i got her home i feed her right away and she took the mouse with no problems, it was obvious that she was very hungry. two days after feeding her i weighed and messured her and she was only 150grams(fed two days before) and 23 inches, which is in my opinion under weight. she also still had some shed skin still stuck to her head, i had watched the snakes in the cages go through some really rough sheds cause their humidity was really off. it also makes me sad because i know that none of the employees that work there now really have any experience with reptiles.

i think the major downfall with the whole pet store seen is that people are hired to work there that care for animals, and unfortunately i don't believe that there are enough 18yr olds out there that need a job that actually have experience with reptiles, but instead just the average family pet.

the thing about the snake not being for sale anymore could be related to the fact that when an animal is sick or injured at petco they pull them into the back and put them into a observation area to take care of them, and also sometimes will bring them to a vet if the animal needs it. so maybe that is waht they were doing. if i were you i would go in there and just tell them outright if you are interested in the snake and that you have the experience needed to take care of these delicate animals. also i know that sometimes my manager would cut deals like maybe 10% if they were in the mood, but it didn't happen all that often.

sorry for the length and if none of this made much sense, i'm sleepy and just wanted to try and get some of my experience of working there out.
thanks for reading
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~dana~

0.2 ball pythons (roxy and haileigh)
0.1 albino cornsnake (avery)
1.0 cat (whiskers)
1.1 russian hamsters (peanut and tj)

I got a ball python for free from petco (of Buffalo, NY) because she was (and still is, lol) quite a biter and was very skittish toward people. They gave me to her because she had been returned twice due to her temperament. So Petco CAN give discounts on "unsellable" "items", a.k.a. living beings.
But I am not sure if their giving the snake to me was sanctioned by management, or if they merely gave her to me and wrote her off for dead for the record. No manager was present, the girl merely boxed the snake up and wrote "free" on the box.
I loathe petco. I do not even go in one anymore, because I will end up taking home some injured frog or snake or fish. If I saw such a chewed up snake, I would probably call the spca to check them out. Sounds like animal abuse to me. And petco sells the frozen/thawed mice!!! Why couldn't they use one of them,??? God, I hate morons in the pet trade.
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*~Ginevive~*

just for the record i did call the spca and they said that there was nothing legal that they could do and that i should try and work with the company so ive called and left a message and emailed them so far no response from either although it is the weekend. i am going to call the manager in east syracuse and see if there is anything he couyld do to help[ me out. there reptiles there are great although some of the balls my bee over fed the last time i was there,extremely fat, buit atleast thats better than emaciated or chewed on.

>>i was just at petco of elmira ny and saw aball python that had recently been chewed on by a mouse apparntly according to the manager that it is against the law to kill a mouse to feed it to a snake.

I have no idea what the "law" is but that store needs to get it's stuff together. I live in your area and hadn't seen the snake last time I was in....but will certainly ask on Monday. You can report them to their area rep. I know someone with that info and will point out your post to them. Since the store had oodles of frozen rodents I want to know why they aren't feeding them.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

when my wife had called the manager said that the snake would be removed i dont know if he did it or not. he also said that they were treating it with a antibiotic salve ,like a neosporin, that the vet had recomended.at least, if he wasnt trying to pacify my wife that is,they are trying to take care of it. the kid that i talked to yesterday said the same thing to me about the salve but the snake was still in the enclosre with all the rest of the ball pythons.also did you see that petco in elmira is hosting a herper meeting monday at 700pm i want to go but dont know if i should because of everything thbat has gone on.

it isn't benefiting Petco any and is chiefly there because they will allow it and the guy starting the idea works there. Come and if nothing else we can start a good meeting schedule and encourage the club idea. I think we really need on in the area.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

My girlfriend works at a petco here in CA. She and one other girl are the only two employees at that store who are willing to handle/ feed the snakes. She feeds the BPs f/t all the time, she will only give them live if the f/t are not taken. Her store is pretty mellow with "petco policy" because it is smaller than the average petco, but still, they allow f/t and I would assume (at least i hope) other petco's do as well.
-Steve