my argument at petco - experts Forum at VenomousReptiles.org

my argument at petco	Reply
by codeman on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
so i go into the petco in the new town i just moved to. as i was saying in my last topic i occasionaly have to get live, but, my ball python will only take live rats. so i get up to the check-out and the teenager who thinks he knows all there is to know about snakes asks me why i dont use f/t. so i told him how thats all the animal will eat and him and the other girl at the checkout starts saying how they have done it but it took 5 months before the snake would eat f/t. well....there's no way in hell im starving my snake for 5 months. now i do agree that we should use f/t if the snake will take but if not oh well i say. they seem to do just fine in nature. after a breif argument/discussion about this i said well...how about i bring you the snake so you can see its not going to take f.t and this kid offered to put money on it. at that point i just told him to give me my blank change so i could go feed my snakes there live mice and rat.lol. i know that f/t is better but i dont think its that big of deal to feed live if thats all the snake will take. like i say they seem to do well in nature so why not in captivity? im a really easy going person but that really pissed me off.

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by LarryDFishel on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I almost entirely agree with you. I would say there's one minor thing you might not be considering on the "they do fine in nature" point. It's usually pretty easy to tell an old wild snake from an old captive snake...because the wild snake is covered in scars... Much less of an issue with venomous snakes, but constrictors pay a price for eating live...

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by Cro on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
You really can not expect much reptile knowledge from the kids that work at Petco or Petsmart. Unfortunately, they often think they are pet experts, and give out a lot of bad information. The scarry thing though, is that in a lot of cases, they probably are more informed than many of their customers. It was always interesting when in the past I bought mice there, and they would almost always ask, "what kind of snakes are you keeping." And I would tell them "rattlesnakes." Defenatly an answer they were not prepared to deal with, LOL ! Best to not talk with them at all, just buy your mice and tell them the mice are pets for your kids or nephews. Those outfits are strong supporters for the humane society US, which is a radical, anti pet outfit. Little do they know, the money that the pet stores collect for HSUS at their cash registers, is actually used against many of the pets that they sell. They have fallen for the trap that most folks have, and they think that the humane society is an local outfit that is helping with local adoptions of dogs and cats. Best Regards John Z

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by puffadder7 on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
the exact same thing happens to me when i buy there, never should of said rattlesnakes some are okay, some say what if you get bit, you dont know how many times i have heard that,arin

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by Crotalusssp on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I went to PETSMART today, John I agree 100% with you. I never converse with any clerks in the store. I bite my tongue when I hear them giving advice/directions to customers not wanting to open a can of worms and have a clerk tell me how to take care of snakes or tropical fish. I think I can make a complete round trip from car to store to car in less then 3 minutes. =)

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by jparker1167 on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
it depends on the store also, its not easy to find people that do know about the animals, they have to hire people that will work there. i work at a petco and there are a few people i work with that have kept and breed 100s and 100s of animals. i taked to a zoo keeper that said porcupines shot their quills and she worked with them. so it depends on the person one thing i was supprised about at petco is that we will send anoles to the vet not many breeders or petstores would spend 5x what an animal is worth if its sick

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by atwageman on July 5, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
There is a petco near me that has a older gentlemen working there that persoanly cares for and breeds snakes at his house. I can't remember the guys name, but he knows his stuff. A very rare exception for a petco, or any pet store really.

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by agkistrodude on July 6, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Theres a Petsmart or petco, can't remember which, in Gainesville, GA that if they think your going to use it as a feeder, they won't sell you a live mouse or rat.A guy that works with me was asked what he needed the rat for. When he told them about his ball python, they told him to go somewhere else.And he did. Marty

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by atwageman on July 6, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Well I know the PetSmarts in my area (charlotte,NC) won't sell live to you if you tell them it will be a feeder. Best way around that is just tell them it will be a pet from the get go. My area Petco's on the other hand have dedicated tanks set up for the sale of live feeder mice. That's where I bought my mice to start my feeder colony.

RE: my argument at petco	Reply
by codeman on July 6, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
yeah this is the first petco where ive had any problems. the others have been totaly fine with selling mice and rats as feeders. petsmart is a different story. i never go there for anything.

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