Is it just me or...

Kurzix · 09-10-02, 12:40 PM

...When you see an adult snake in a pet shop they are always in cages that are too small, and they look dried out? Seems that most snakes like around 50% humidity or better (some exceptions) but most adult snakes are housed with complete screen tops, and heat lamps.

Just the other day I saw 2 adult BRB's housed in a 40 gallon aquarium, with dry newspaper substrate, completely open screen top and heat lamp. They both looked dry, and the one's eyes were completely black and appeared to have an X shapped crack, scar, or whatever...on both eyes...I can only guess that this snake is compeletely blind.

Now I;ve talked at great lengths with the owner (I saw owner because they are in the shop and not for sale) of these two brb's and I know he knows how to take care of them...

To me I think thats worse than being ignorant of their care

sophia · 09-10-02, 01:36 PM

It's funny you mention that, we've noticed the same thing here, for instance sub adult ball pythons in TEN gallon aquariums with hides that they can't fit their full body in even coiled, tiny kitty cat water crocks, astroturf and hot, hot, hot heat lamps on the screen tops. They look like me after a really bad burn when the peeling stage hits! It's awful and I've tried reasoning with a few of them to move to larger enclosures and offer humidity boxes and larger water bowls but to no avail!

They should know better if they're selling these animals and ignorance is no excuse with regard to the 'law' and neither should it be with regard to husbandry of animals whom you fully intend to profit from. What really burns my hide though Kurix, is that I've reported the 'really bad ones' to the national branch of the ASPCA with no result and I fully illustrated the problems with one store, one being cases of mouth rot, RI, and what appeared to be broken bones in reptiles to them. I reported horrid conditions like feces and flys in water so cloudy that you couldn't see the bottom of the crock and a full sized yellow head Retic in a cage so small that he could coil up and the poor fellow was covered in flies and the cage was full of feces! NOTHING, not one thing was done! I'm still so angry that I could scream. These people were even mixing species in the same enclosures, for instance rainbow boas with columbians and in one instance I saw a boa in with small pythons and what appeared to be a cribo in with BRB's!!! It was awful.

Tay

Kurzix · 09-10-02, 03:37 PM

I've not seen anything as bad as what you describe. but it makes ya mad to see any kind of abuse, I think thats why i buy most of my cage supplies from stores that just deal in pet supplies and not animals....nothing to get mad at when i go in one....

sophia · 09-10-02, 04:00 PM

I heard that! Probably why we build ours! But we have to break down and buy a tank right away for Hannibal even though I don't want to give them my money just on principle!

Tay

Tim_Cranwill · 09-10-02, 04:08 PM

I'm with you guys. I kept visiting a shop to see this one snake. It was in a small, tall, oval shaped "reptile" container with no hide and no water. The guy knew very little about snakes and tried to "inform" me about them. He said that the snakes aren't there long enought to need water or hides. My first encounter with this snake was in April... it's still there now.

And they charge crazy prices for these poor sick animals, like 4 or 5 times what we pay from a breeder.

It's pretty sick.

PoiSoNouS · 09-10-02, 05:01 PM

every single snake i have seen in petshop are ALL housed in to small cages, no hides, no humidity, underfed... (i bought my little burm of 5 feet approx 2 years old !!!!!!!!) it was there since one years i have noticed him...
In some other petshops.. some has 2 shed in their enclosure, and lot of poop... it is discusting sometimes...

Kurzix · 09-10-02, 05:16 PM

you know what else is sad? how often do you go into a pet shop and there is no one in the store, or only a few people have they'll have like 5 employees standing around and 2 at registers, and the 5 standing there could be cleaning and taking care of the animals but they don;t

Linds · 09-10-02, 05:20 PM

*sigh* Unfortunately most pet stores (especially general pet stores) you see will be pretty much the same story to some extent. The last one I visited had a nile monitor, a bunch of hatchling green iguanas and water dragons all living together in a semi aquatic setup. The poor dragons were too small to get out of the water so they were just tiring themself out in the 1+ feet of water that was in the bottom.

Syst3m · 09-10-02, 05:49 PM

If I ever own a pet store I'm going to have cleaning details that have to be followed for every cage every day or even twice a day. It's depressing to see crap like that.

Linds · 09-10-02, 08:44 PM

I must say that the store I work at is very good as far as stores are concerned. It's by far the best one Ive been in. All the animals are kept clean and well fed. Poop is cleaned out daily, water bowls cleaned daily, and tanks thoroughly cleaned (scrubbed, etc) 1x a month, or sooner if it needs it. Even if it means we have to do it 10 times a day, water in bowls must always be clean. Crickets are gutloaded with cricket food, and all our feeder insects are dusted with miner-all at every feeding. Can't tell you how many compliments we get "your animals are so clean and healthy" "i cant believe it doesnt smell in here with all these animals" "so much cleaner than other stores" etc etc. Hehehe...we even have employees from other pet stores coming in and commenting and getting advice from us.