Petco

Syrus · 10-07-07, 04:35 PM

I am planning to get a corn probably in about a month, so I was at petco buy some crested gecko food and I saw some baby corns. Me being anxious about it, I asked an employee to let me check them out(hold them) and they looked surprisingly healthy. They had good weight, the guy said they feed fine on frozen pinkies, and have vivid eyes. I held 2 anerys, 2 amels, and a blizzard. The blizzard seemed to have a dark patch near its tail, it was like the skin was translucent or something and you could see organs, but it acted and otherwise looked pretty healthy. Any idea what that would be? And should I get the snake I saw at petco or not? They seemed really healthy but I'm a newbie and petstores make me nervous.

PDXErik · 10-07-07, 04:40 PM

IMHO watch for an expo. You'll get a bigger variety to thoose from and they'll be much more cost effective.

I think Petco does a pretty good job of keeping animals healthy, however.

TailsW/Scales · 10-07-07, 05:44 PM

Personally I refuse to buy from Deahtco. Ooopppss! I'm sorry. I meant Petco.

Buy from a corn breeder. You'll get a much healthier animal and a lot better service if something goes wrongs.
Kingsnake.com Classifieds > Corn Snakes
^
That's the link to some great corn breeders.

Good luck

PDXErik · 10-07-07, 06:22 PM

Agreed, no pet store will be as good as a breeder.

If you want to see a death shop, though, go visit a Scamps.

viper99 · 10-07-07, 08:12 PM

no pet store is as good as a breeder but some pet stores are ok and have ok reptiles i would go with a breeder though

ken123allen · 10-08-07, 08:25 PM

Yea but they dont know crap. Petland told me to use heatrocks and tried to sell me a tiny boa for $200. Im talking pencil sized. Nothing special about the boa either.

reptilenut4sure · 10-08-07, 09:22 PM

Yea ive had some lovley experience with petco... But ive had worse pet stores too, like the one who had a mangrove snake full grown in a small cage with the lid opened up some. Told the guy isn't that a Poisonous snake in there he said yea..Told him the lid was open and he said it was ok...... Just looked at him and was like wtf. I mean it isn't a black mamba but ya get the point. LoL.

PDXErik · 10-08-07, 09:42 PM

Don't everybody go thinking that I'm totally in support of the generic pet store. A specialty store is better than a generalist. A breeder is better than a specialty store.

The petco where I buy the bulk of my feeders (and a couple of my snakes) has some knowlegeable people. They keep their animals healthy and have some decent facilities. No dead fish in the tanks (the FIRST thing I look for), no dull-eyed looking animals (even feeders), and particularly, NO DOGS OR CATS!!

I'm just saying that just because it's an EVERYBODY store doesn't mean that they're all so bad. Some can be OK.

Going backwards in time, I would have saved the $250 I spent on just snakes and taken it to an expo and come away with a LOT more for my money. For example: I spent more for my generic red tail baby as I did for my bad a$$ yellow amazon tree boa.

Syrus · 10-08-07, 10:50 PM

I would love to go to a breeder to get a snake, but my mom is having a problem with me getting one anyway(freaks her out) and something about a petstore with her makes her feel more comfortable.
What do you think about the blizzard snake being almost transparent around the base of tail?

PDXErik · 10-09-07, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrus

I would love to go to a breeder to get a snake, but my mom is having a problem with me getting one anyway(freaks her out) and something about a pet store with her makes her feel more comfortable.
What do you think about the blizzard snake being almost transparent around the base of tail?

All the better reason to get her to a show. Wait till she sees all the wonderful variations and species there are.

TailsW/Scales · 10-09-07, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDXErik

The petco where I buy the bulk of my feeders (and a couple of my snakes) has some knowlegeable people. They keep their animals healthy and have some decent facilities. No dead fish in the tanks (the FIRST thing I look for), no dull-eyed looking animals (even feeders), and particularly, NO DOGS OR CATS!!

I'm sorry but I'm going to totally have to disagree with you. The reason being is that most of the pet store workers like at Petco and PetSmart are fresh out of high school and /or have ZERO training in reptiles. A breeder or most reptile shops have intimate knowledge of the animals they're selling and have been keeping /breeding them for some time.

PDXErik · 10-10-07, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TailsW/Scales

I'm sorry but I'm going to totally have to disagree with you. The reason being is that most of the pet store workers like at Petco and PetSmart are fresh out of high school and /or have ZERO training in reptiles. A breeder or most reptile shops have intimate knowledge of the animals they're selling and have been keeping /breeding them for some time.

I totally said that a breeder was better than pretty much anyone out there. The Petco that I get my feeders at has a few pretty knowlegable folks, though. True, this is a fair rarity, but I do hunt around alot for good places.

The Petco at 117th and TV Hwy in Beaverton, OR is fair. No, they're not experts, they haven't been trained as much as I'd prefer, their prices are WAY more than you'd pay at a show or from a breeder. Their enclosures, however, are always clean, no dead fish, happy and healthy looking animals. The Petsmart next to where I live is also fairly well equipped with decently trained people. This may be a bit of luck, but I still think that if you want to pay 4x for something less quality than you'd get from a breeder, go to either of these places. Otherwise, get bright and go to a breeder and get something you REALLY wanted for less money and better environments.

untsmurf · 10-10-07, 08:49 AM

I've never been to a Petco, PetSmart, or Petland that didn't have injured, sick, dying, and/or dead animals for sale. Their staff are always incompetent and when you try and educate them, you rarely find someone that cares. Wait for an expo, or find a breeder online. The prices are more reasonable, you get a better guarantee, and you get more info about the snake itself. I just don't see the downside.