Now I understand, snakes are SUPPOSED to have mites

[impermanentrage]

This is not some knuckle dragging troglydytes fault. In essence the blame falls primarily on the store. They should take fulll responsibility. I believe you'll find that this sort of thing was probably told to this lackey by management. In fact the only human with less intellectual prowess than a mentally handicapped lackey, is the boss of said lackey. Than of course you have CEO's. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]


Entropy,
Alex
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[SteveJor]

Well, I couldn't help myself and lost my temper there the other day. The blood python was not there and neither was the kid who I talked to the last time. This time I got the "reptile guy". Another moron. There was a kid and his father in the store looking at a baby albino burmese. The snake was in sad shape. Anyway, they asked how large it gets. The employee stated "albinos stay a lot smaller than regular snakes. It probably won't get bigger than 4 or 5 feet". I lost it. Told the guy he was a moron and should stick to selling cat food. Then I told the father of the kid that albinos lack pigments, not growth genes and to expect this snake to exceed 10 feet within 2 years. I recommended this site for info on husbandry and a ball python as their first snake.
I never did get the basking light (what I originally stopped in for) but boy did I cause some heads to turn. My wife says she won't go to another store with me again.
How hard is it for the workers to walk over to the display of books they sell and read a little bit about the animals they are selling? I don't think I'll be welcome there again but that's fine. I don't to give them any more business anyway.
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[XzyluM]

Sounds like you did the right thing man. I never go into petstores nowadays. Probably because I don't feel like getting bailed out of jail.
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OK..HAs anyone seen trinitywolf on the site lately at all ? Would be nice if someone moved this thread to the pet store forum....
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OK..HAs anyone seen trinitywolf on the site lately at all ? Would be nice if someone moved this thread to the pet store forum....
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[Ptorgeaux]

*cough*sarcasm*cough*

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[Jem_Scout]

UNREAL!!! That guy would've been ripped a new orifice before he even finished his little "mite speech"....

[brownsfan222]

at my petstore they keep there snakes in good shape, but the poor iguanas have no space to move. At least the guy there knows about reptiles and owns many himself. I still think twice before buying any live animals there because the rodent water is always yellow, its a bunch of younger teens who dont care about the animals there just happy there getting paid.

	Iguana Iguana

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[Adrya]

I can't believe there's so many people out there who are so STUPID LIKE THAT!! And who the heck (excuse me) knows what could have become of that poor blood python. It might have even died from all of those mites or they sold it to some little kid. Despite that guy giving his little mite speech I would have told him off, and I would have bought the poor snake just to save it. I've had to do that a lot of times when I go into some of the petstores around here, and I do end up bringing them back from the brink of death, most of the time without any vet help. I personally want to start working at one of the pet stores around here, just so I can take better care of how they keep their animals, especially their snakes and other reptiles, and I'd tell the other employees the proper needs of each of those species of animal in that store.

I bought a california king last summer from one of the stores and wondered why it was spazzing out so much in its cage a week after I brought it home. Then I took a few samples from its water dish and looked under a microscope only to find drowned snake mites. I spent about two weeks cleaning the cage and treating the snake. I have a really awesome book, Reptile Medicine and Surgery by Douglas R. Mader, and it's got just about everything you need to know in it, all these different procedures and what to do about all of these different illnesses of every different type of reptile, from lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises, caimen, etc.. well I found how to get rid of mites really good. Put the snake in a seperate clean container, like one of those plastic "critter keepers", but before you do that, get some olive oil, and completely cover the snake with it. Just pour some in a small bowl(depending on how big your snake is) and scoop up a bunch of the oil with your fingers and rub it all over the snake, even the head, and put a good thick coating of it on them, too. It doesn't hurt them a bit, and just leave it on there. The oil smothers the mites on the snake and kills them, plus the oil actually conditions the snake's skin nicely, too. Then I thoroughly washed and scrubbed the cage with comet and rinsed well, and I soaked all of his cage furniture in boiling soapy water for 30 minutes. I only had to repeat this the next week, then after that, everything was perfectly fine and no problems since. When I get a new snake, I keep them in a large critter keeper for a little while and also coat them with olive oil just to be safe, then I put them in their enclosure.

But other than that.... I just can't believe how stupid people are. How much were they wanting for that poor snake? I personally don't like they way Petco or Petsmart keeps their reptiles, either. We're supposed to be getting a Petco here in town, soon. So I can only hope the people there won't be so stupid as far as keeping reptiles goes. But I still would have bought that blood python right on the spot and I'd definitely do something about the way they keep their animals in poor condition. That just totally pisses me off. Even that albino burmese, I probably would have bought it, too. But I know I can't save everything...

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[youngk]

yeh u should also feed yur snake pizza

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[ChadRamsey]

you should have told him that crabs (the little red kind from down yonder) do the same for humans and that he should run out and get some.

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[CRG]

Ive only been to one petco and it was really nice. the snakes had large clean enclosures and the iguanas had a nice big cage with a waterfall thingy and a huge salad with pellets too..I was very impressed...Too bad they all cant be so good....Im still trying to scrounge enough money to buy the two badly abused bluetongues at this other petstore(that is supposed to be knowledgable about reptiles)

	Iguana Iguana

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[jojo6199]

Unfortunately most states in the US do not cover anything more than cats and dogs and their humane care in pet stores. Some states do cover other living "stock" but not many. I did have a link to information on humane law enforcement rules state by state but hmmmm funny enough it's suddenly disappeared.

Whether or not your state has laws on the humane treatment of reptiles in a pet store I would still scream blue bloody murder about mite infestion and a refusal to provide water to a living creature. Please consider calling whoever provides enforcement for your community and reporting this abuse. Tell them you demand an inspection of this business and intend to call back to confirm one was done. If not the press is a very handy dandy resource to "encourage" results. Also email PetCo's (I don't care if I say their name, they should be ashamed!) head office and let them know you intend to follow up on this situation. Keep a copy of any emails between you and them.

It's one thing to be so stupid you can't properly advise customers about the snakes they wish to purchase, but it's another thing to refuse basic needs of life (i.e water). Keep making your presence known at that disgusting store. Don't cause a disturbance but it's a business...if they do not want you there, tell them to put it in writing with the reasons why.

Oh and as far as the "mites are good" I hope they get a lovely infestion of creepy crawlies in their better bits and scratch their stupid selves to death! I would suppose that any dogs and cats in that shop are also "benefitting" from a just lovely group of well-fed fleas! Ick!

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

lol who dug this old post out of the relic basement? Ptorgeaux! This was like 3 years ago I think...fun stuff eh?

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[MTB Mamba]

More recently youngk pulled it out of it's 6 month slumber.

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[JuliusSqueezer]

It is a classic though. We should pull it up for fun once a year just to keep the natives restless.

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[MTB Mamba]

And that my children is how the "Thanksgiving Mites Thread" tradition began....

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[zsanorah]

I am quite lucky to say that the only two stores in the valley where I live that carry reptiles are very knoledgable and the animals are VERY well kept.
At one, all of the reptiles are in at LEAST 20g tanks, never seen anything other then fresh water and clean cages. Great place, and they pay the people who work in the reptile section almost double what the other employees get, also you must have at least one snake/lizzard to work in said section.
The other is a privately owned store, which provides ample space and correct info for the animals care (ive tested both places before by playing dumb) I wish there were more stores out there like these two. For that matter Ive seen a sale refused b/c the owner didnt think the person could care for it the way it should be cared for.

[Special K]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

It is a classic though. We should pull it up for fun once a year just to keep the natives restless.

Ahem.
Sorry for the bump, but this thread was just absolutely insane.

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[Emolsifier]

you know, I can't quite blame most Petco employees for being "uneducated". most of times they apply for a job to work with dogs, then they get "chaffed" with the reptile section. bet they'd quit if they didn't need the money so bad.

I know from experience that trying to maintain an animal when you're scared it'll attack (my hrep teacher had one big mean carpet), is difficult. imagine having to do that with things you're both scared of and aren't close to wanting to do anything.

well about the mites, Guess someone got the wrong idea when they saw a program on medicinal Leeches. There are beneficial parasites, just that... this isn't quite the case.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

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