Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone know wether or not the snakes at petco are all wc or are they all cb?

I don't know what "wc" or "cb" mean but we've bought 2 ball pythons from them with no problems.
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Veronica

np

>>does anyone know wether or not the snakes at petco are all wc or are they all cb?

From Petco they are most likely captive hatched - farmed in Africa and sent over in large numbers. My very first snake, a ball python I got over 7 years ago, was from petco. They told me that they got their snakes from a local breeder, but the little guy I bought was full of mites and ticks. I just didn't know to look for them when I bought him. With some very persistant treatment, I finally got rid of the mites and he's a great pet now.

Also, there may be knowledgeable people working at some petcos, but that is definitely not the case by me. The 'reptile' girl was talking to a man and his son about what they needed for their new ball python that they bought the day before. They wanted to know how big of a cage it would end up needing, etc. She told them that they usually reach 6-8 ft (!) in length so they would need a large tank. They asked about hides, and she told them to get big ones because they would grow out of the little ones. She also had them using sand as a substrate. She continued giving them wrong info, and I waited a while to talk to them and finally asked her for crickets to make her go away. I had a long talk with them after that and referred them to our local herp society.

Sorry about the Petco rant! Couldn't help it!

It's kind of like getting lucky with a great pet. You have to pick and choose your Petco employee. ha ha At our Petco there is a guy named David and he is great. But if he's not there this other guy (don't know his name) tries to act like he knows about them but I can tell. We've only been snake owners for almost 2 years, but I think I knew more about them than this guy did!
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Veronica

I wouldn't buy from any pet store no matter how big the chain is. They get their hatchlings from overseas, they have no idea when they hatched or if they've even eaten or shed. They're always covered in ticks and/or mites, are under wieght and more often than not end up with resp. infections or internal parasites; not to mention that the pet store people don't know diddly about them and screw up their environment - like keeping them too cold.

Always better to buy from a breeder. That way you get a better pet, you are supporting the captive breeding system and you are not supporting the import of unhealthy, mite invested snakes.

Good Luck!
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...got balls?

graycat

Letting me live here:
2.2 normals
0.1 pie ball
1.0 hetpied
0.1 Suriname
? Common snapping turtle
? Alligator snapping turtle
1 Guinea pig
2 gold fish (turtle survivors)
3 pet rats and
3 cats
Oh yeah, and 3 children!

all Petco's baby ball pythons come from one person. They are farm hatched (not just caught out of the wild) and imported as hatchlings so the risk of parasites is minimum. These are basically the same babies you see come through every April, May and June. They are all setup until Petco places an order. Of course overall health ultimately depends on the care given once they reach a particular store and how long they have been there so inspection of the individual snake is highly recommended but in general I wouldn't be too concerned if the snake looks healthy.

George Knaack
GLK HERP

The stores can very a lot as well. I was in a petco recently and noticed a boa that was showing some odd signs like holding its mouth open for a long time, mild shaking, and very long stargazing. but it was a young one so who really knows if it was IBD or something. Petco is on close watch though and mites will shut down a store for a while. Last I knew petco got them from one source of farm raised like george said. I used to work at a petco.

I will also mention that the environment is more to do with their method of a controlled rack system that never works well. I know when I worked there a snake was never lost. And the only thig I heard about them losing afterwards was tangerine milks. And they lost a few of them. No ball pythons though. I gave people my number as well and treated snakes for mites with my own products since petco doesnt sell much. As far as petco employees knowing nothing...A co-worker of mine told people to use rubbing alcohol to get rid of mites and that is from her 5 years experience there...I quickly corrected that. Employees are hit and miss as far as ones that know what they are talking about. I was told by a manager to dumb it down a little though because I was making other employees look like they didnt know anything. I think they should have been corrected and learned in my opinion. Its a chain and it is as much about the customer as it is the animal...I wish it wasnt and more was focused on a good home for an animal. Oh well...use your judgment before buying any snake is all i would say.

--I know when I worked there a snake was never lost.--

Funny you would mention that... I was in Petco last weekend (I almost never go to Petco) and was just browsing their snakes. I noticed one beautiful albino corn snake and asked about it. The employee told me they had a few more, but they had just escaped the night before!

I spent the rest of my visit watching for floor hoping for a "free" corn snake!

well i myself work at a petco and do my best to maintain the snakes we get in. all we carry in our store for mites is reptile relief. and it has been working well. the temps normally get around 88-90 and the humidity i keep above 60%. all are fed weekly and they all have perfect sheds. i too have gotten a ball python from there and i must say that it's turning out to be a great looking boy. soon i'll be placing a special order on an adult ball python so that i can see in what condition they come in. too bad i can't specify a sex for the snake i want. they all come in randomly. but i do hope i get a nice female. i'll know in a couple weeks. for now here's a pic of the boy i last purchased at petco.

Back when I was a "newbie" I bought a baby ball from Petco. It was a very friendly little guy but it started to demonstrate what seemed to be IBD (?) symptoms. I took it back and they replaced it with another baby ball. This one died within a week, crawled into its water dish and appeared to drown itself. Now, I realize it probably had mites. My son was devastated.

Granted, our local Petco has greatly improved itself in appearance of cages, fish tanks, etc., but I would buy from a breeder. Usually breeders are cheaper than Petco and breeders really care about the longterm outcome of the snake they sell you.

After that experience we went to the Sacramento Reptile show and I got another baby ball. That was last year. Got a corn snake from a reputable breeder shortly after and this year went to reptile show and got two boas. We are officially bitten by the bug and out of control.

lol "newbie" huh. I wonder what that was in reference to. I personally would not buy a ball python at petco. I would not buy any animal at petco even if it was on sale with pals and you had an employee discount. They are still pretty high priced. But I would not buy a normal ball python unless it was an adult female. For someone buying a snake for a child as a pet or something...I think petco should take care of you. Is there such thing as a normal breeder any more? Only thing you can probably get is mojave, spider, and pastel siblings. The rest I believe would be from imported females.

well i would actually but one more snake from petco. i have noticed that in our last shipment we got a really nice looking classic jungle male. he has black speckaling on his upper lip and that pale spot on the top of his head. and with my discount, i wouldn't mind paying $65 for a classic jungle male that i can later put in with my female. here's a pic of her...