Sad endings...

[cantthinkofone]

Blaze the corn snake i couldnt get to eat died a couple days ago. it was unmistakably a parasite. He plus other pets is a great reason pets from petsmart are a problem. he was the only reptile i had from petsmart and is the last.he was a baby and died 3 i repeat 3 months after i got him. at least now he rests in peace. the parasite did horid things to him and im not made of money so i couldn't afford a vet bill from the local vet. they are expensive so i decided to try and wait it out. lesson learned petsmart is a sick place. i mean just a month ago a petsmart near me hung a dog in the hair shaving place.

 

[jayefbe]

How do you know it was parasites if you didn't take it to a vet? I'm not trying to let petsmart off the hook. They shouldn't be selling a baby snake that isn't feeding, but there are plenty of reasons that a baby snake won't eat other than parasites.

 

[TreF68]

I also want to point out that you should not buy a pet unless you can afford to take it to the vet if something comes up. Sorry to get on your case when you are sad about your shake, but it had to be said.

Sorry for the loss

 

[cantthinkofone]

When i bought him i had the money. my friends dad recently died and he asked if i could chip in. i think it was parasitic because i had people that bred corn snakes look over the enclosure and the snake. the enclosure got an A+ the snake still wouldnt eat though i even tried medicine. sorry if i am apparently in the wrong but i think i did everything i could with my budget. im not made of money and vets aren't cheap. i live week to week and its not every day my money tree grows extra money.

 

[Aviara]

Veterinary care isn't always an option. I had a similar experience with a corn snake I bought from Petco (before I knew better). Only a few days after we bought the little guy, the store removed the rest of the corn snakes to the back "sick area", but wouldn't tell us why. The snake we had purchased never had trouble eating while in our care, but he was oddly aggressive, and his temperament issues got worse over time. Finally, after a few months, we found red mites crawling all over his body. Two days later, despite our best efforts to clean the mites off and treat the infestation, he died from bloodloss. There was no sign of mites in his enclosure or on him until he was in critical condition, and the store hadn't told us until after his death that the rest of that shipment of corn snakes had a bad case of mites. Unfortunately, there was no veterinarian in the area willing to treat anything other than dogs, cats, horses and agricultural large animals. It's the pet store's responsibility to at least guarantee a healthy start, but instead we spent $60 (way too much) on a snake that was destined to die. From now on I ALWAYS buy my exotics from reputable dealers, and I quarantine EVERY animal that comes into my care. I'm sorry for your loss - I no longer fully trust chain pet stores either, I'll buy dry goods there if I don't have another choice, but I won't buy live animals from them anymore.

 

[lizardminion]

I honestly think that chain-brand pet stores should be judged more locally. My local PETCO is a cesspool, but the PetSmart I purchased my ball python is moderately decent. The animals there, to me, look fairly healthy and my ball python suffers not a single health related issue. They had him in the back room because he refused to eat the thawed mice. I (or rather, my parents) decided to take possible risk and bought him, (I must notify you if you haven't concluded this, but the employee did warn us before the actual purchase) happy to find he just needs to be weaned to the dead mice, as he was just a young hatchling. Although the employees seemed a little nut-headed on some reptile care, it may have just been some ignorance on their part, but the employees I spoke with have kept reptiles for at least a year- one claims to own a fairly large terrarium housing many anoles and the lady I spoke with says she has owned two ball pythons before and currently owns a beardie. She certainly knew how to handle (as in hold) the snake. The ball python that used to be on display, which I had been eye-balling for the three months it was there, never deteriorated in condition before the time of its purchase. The corn snakes seemed to always excite when removed and replaced from the enclosure as they assumed it was feeding time, occasionally launching for a nibble at the employee's fingers. The animals on sale with guaranteed health never appeared in terrible condition. In my honest opinion, the results and satisfaction of the purchase varies from store to store and is greatly dependent upon the employees. As I've learned from watching several shows of Undercover Boss, the satisfaction of the customer differed with each store, restaurant, and hotel as each had the different amount, passion, and commitment of their employees. I can only wonder what the show would be like if the PETCO or PetSmart CEO participated.
In some ways though, it really is a stab on the back of herpers in the San Antonio and would probably help explain the general low amount of reptile, invertebrate, and amphibian keepers here as there is only one exotic pet specialty store located here and from the constants in most reviews, is ran by a smart@$$, know-it-all owner and is festering with mold. The smell is horrid and some husbandry techniques (from what I witnessed) are wrong. (ex. Bearded Dragons on sand) It would be a joyous day if a new, excellent store moved in and was here to stay. (A good store had opened before but only lived two years before a selfish divorce killed it.) I guess I could ask REPTILES to give a shout-out to corporate readers to open up down here...

But that is only my two cents.

 

[le-thomas]

I honestly think that chain-brand pet stores should be judged more locally. My local PETCO is a cesspool, but the PetSmart I purchased my ball python is moderately decent. The animals there, to me, look fairly healthy and my ball python suffers not a single health related issue. They had him in the back room because he refused to eat the thawed mice.

They're all the same company with the same supplier(s). Why support something that is usually terrible, and sometimes "moderately decent"?
I buy crickets from the local PetSmart as well as superworms and fish supplies. I try to support them as little as possible, though my family does buy the majority of our animal supplies from them.

 

[Aviara]

Le-thomas raises a good point. When I purchased the cornsnake that later ended up dying from mites, the store only had the snakes in for a few days. The mites were on the snakes from the supplier, the specific store was not at fault. All of the workers at my local Petco are actually very friendly and generally specialize in at least one type of animal sold (rodents, reptiles, fish, etc.). It's not their fault that the animals arrive sick, and I don't believe that the employees are at all to blame in this specific situation. However, I blame the store itself and the company that owns it because they choose to purchase animals from untrustworthy and oftentimes cruel suppliers.