Couple PetSmart "Fancy" Corn finds

[HerpsOfNM]

A better angle and lighting for the Xanthic Stripe


PS-CSS-8-13-2016 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

And this mystery. Test breeding will tell, but I need to secure such a specimen for that purpose.


PS-CBR-8-13-2016-1 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr


PS-CBR-8-13-2016-2 by Chris Cirrincione, on Flickr

 

[SWDK]

They're some cool finds. I especially like the first one.

 

[Dragonling]

VERY nice. Kyle would probably be annoyed to know I still pop into other pet stores at every chance I get to look for unusual corn babies.

 

[HerpsOfNM]

They're some cool finds. I especially like the first one.

That first one has been neat to watch color up. The yellow is still seeming to intensify and spread over time.

VERY nice. Kyle would probably be annoyed to know I still pop into other pet stores at every chance I get to look for unusual corn babies.

Even though I live in a metroplex, it's kind of interesting how various amenities are scattered about here. You can still very much tell where what was once ranch and farm land is now part of the concrete jungle out here. I say that because even with a number of various big box stores throughout, many don't carry the same inventory. It's resulted in my wife and I exploring, and wasting time and gas, but then finding alternative stores to hit up. So if we wind up in a given area of DFW I usually will lump multiple errands together. I'm usually ducking into a Petco or PetSmart because I happen to be shopping nearby and remember I need cat food, litter, or coconut fiber.

There are still a handful of mom & pop fish specialty shops around the DFW area, but Petco and PetSmart (probably not so much PetLand, Pet Supplies Plus, or Pet Supermarket) have pretty much squeezed the general broad-spectrum pet store out; some have helped themselves in the process too from what I've seen or been told. Within the entire DFW metro (some 7.1 million people) I only know of 2 mom & pop shops that deal with reptiles.

I'm rambling...

 

[Dragonling]

There are still a handful of mom & pop fish specialty shops around the DFW area, but Petco and PetSmart (probably not so much PetLand, Pet Supplies Plus, or Pet Supermarket) have pretty much squeezed the general broad-spectrum pet store out; some have helped themselves in the process too from what I've seen or been told. Within the entire DFW metro (some 7.1 million people) I only know of 2 mom & pop shops that deal with reptiles.

I'm rambling...

Thanks, this reminded me that I need to stop in at a local mom and pop place nearby and formally introduce myself. They started as a saltwater aquarium store but branched into freshwater and are now seeking to add reptiles to their selection. I smell opportunity.

 

[HerpsOfNM]

Thanks, this reminded me that I need to stop in at a local mom and pop place nearby and formally introduce myself. They started as a saltwater aquarium store but branched into freshwater and are now seeking to add reptiles to their selection. I smell opportunity.

Unfortunately, my endeavors of such has pretty much resulted in the shop not caring what the morph is or how rare of a morph. The moment you say corn snake, they want it for $10 or less, same with leopard geckos. But then they'll more than happily retail it at or above market.

The PetSmarts here are selling pied balls for I think $400, with one recently having a banana ball for $250. I laughed because last reptile show I went to, where again the show was 80% ball pythons, the breeders wanted more than what PetSmart was selling at.

Having worked there, at the time we made $20 off of a canary sale and they retailed for I want to say $160 or $180/bird. Mali uromastyx were the same, we made maybe $30 bucks after cost. Fancy guppies...$0.20 at cost, and retailed at $3 (I'm rounding up).

If PetSmart is selling pied balls at $400, well I'll let the readers read between the lines of what I suspect pieds, and ball pythons in general, are worth.

Then again, I'm kind of shooting myself in the foot with this line of comments.

 

[Dragonling]

There's a reason my PetSmart doesn't carry canaries and uromastyx anymore. We have a banana and a butter ghost that get held a lot but no one around here thinks you should pay $300 for a snake that's a slightly different color than the one on sale for $40. I dunno what corporate is thinking. Breeders (good ones anyway) aren't going to see PetSmart as a viable buying option when they're still selling heat rocks and starter kits with no thermostats.

Anyway, I'm not going to suggest they start selling high end morphs by any stretch, but you can get some very colorful and interesting corn snakes for a decent price that are more interesting than normals, amels, and the occasional anery.