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Pet Store Bought?

Medevil_Nuke

Medevil_Nuke

Cornsnake Enthusiast
I have heard many bad things about pet store bought corns, but just as a refresher; what exactly are these dangers??
Just trying to keep my wallet happy, so reply soon! :)
 
Could have mites.
Could have resp problems.
Might not feed.
Could be stressed from co habbing with others.
Could be diseased from co habbing with others.
Won't be sexed.
Won't come with feed and shed records.
 
Alright thanks. :D
I knew that there was something more than mites and feeding that I should have worried about.
 
Some people have good luck buying one from a pet store. But, then again, some don't.

For just a little more money than what you would pay for that pet store snake, you could order from an established breeder and get a better quality snake.
 
you guys forgot one... OVERPRICED!

However..I have gotten some nice little cuties from reptile focused petstores with no problems. I even have one petsmart milk who is beautiful.

Ask questions. Stay away from big chain stores. Look for clean healthy habitats. And find out if there are any shows in your area and save your money and buy a heathy baby from a breeder.
 
I have 2 pet-store buys. Both of them we were allowed to check them over thoroughly and THEN we went back the next day to buy. My ball python Sauron(who is GORGEOUS) was bought at a pet-store and my Colombian Rainbow Boa was bought at the same pet-store. However, like I said, make sure you check the snake out COMPLETELY. I originally wanted their Kenyan Sand Boa until I got him out of the sand and discovered a nasty prolapse. If the store will not let you inspect the snakes and handle the snakes yourself,then don't buy at all. Luckily,the store we go to the most has feeding records at least. So we'll go there to buy our supplies and feeders for the lizards. In fact, that store special orders us the Jumbo XL Rats that we need for our boa. Otherwise they don't order them. And it is a chain-store but each store is franchised so each one is run differently.
 
I bought my first hatchling from Petco.

It had mites, I had no idea how/when/if it had eaten, shed, pooped, etc.

It ate one pink for me, started looking weird, and just when everyone on here had said it might be time for a vet visit, I found it dead in her viv.

Now, not to mention I had no idea of the gender or genetics, and it was a $40 normal...

I just got a hatchling from a reputable breeder for the first time, and couldn't be happier. I would not go pet store again.

That said, there are some stores that are very good with their herps and often take locally bred animals, etc, so I would never say never about a pet store. :) There are definitely some good ones out there.
 
My first corn I got from a Petsmart. It was a tiny little hypo, they sold it in mid shed. About two days later I found it dead in it's viv, dunno the exact cause. They replaced it with a bigger ghost, that was sold as female, but later turned out to be male. He basically went straight from the breeder to my home, and I never had any problems with him. Granted, I paid a LOT for him, and got a lot of misinformation.
 
well when you say pet store it depends on what kind of pet store. i have been to some family owned stores where the quality of the animals kept was something they should have been very proud of. everything was clean, well fed, and they make sure your set ups are ready before you take your animal home. and make sure you have proper husbandry going on before hand. i bought a corn off them and they gave me a written care sheet that someone from there did and it was really good. and they dont sell an animal unless its feeding good and in good shape. most of their stuff fed f/t too. so it was an awesome shop to go to all the time. i hung out there a lot. so if its a store like that, id buy from it anyday. but petsmart or petco are overpriced and dont take care of animals, but if you like rescuing animals, wait for it to go on sale because thats when you know its on its final days. and needs the help. not a laughing matter either.
 
pwargcm said:
well when you say pet store it depends on what kind of pet store. i have been to some family owned stores where the quality of the animals kept was something they should have been very proud of. everything was clean, well fed, and they make sure your set ups are ready before you take your animal home. and make sure you have proper husbandry going on before hand.
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Nice.. well put. If you trust the store, the care,and the people. Big change or not, then buy the snake. That being said, breeders usually offer more like, sexing, shed dates and feeding dates. This, to me, would be well worth a little more money. Dont get me wrong if there is a gorgeous snake in a pet store that I cant live without and it appears well cared for and in good shape. It's going home with me.
 
Buzzard said:
Nice.. well put. If you trust the store, the care,and the people. Big change or not, then buy the snake. That being said, breeders usually offer more like, sexing, shed dates and feeding dates. This, to me, would be well worth a little more money. Dont get me wrong if there is a gorgeous snake in a pet store that I cant live without and it appears well cared for and in good shape. It's going home with me.
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Agreed. A small shop around here carries locally CBB milk snakes, never cohabs, etc... I'd buy from them.

The chains around here are another story, sadly.
 
My foster sister wanted a cornsnake. I was already ordering one so I added a bloodred stripe to the order for her. We split the shipping so she paid $150-175, I can't remember exactly. She loved it so much she got an anery from Petco for $35. The pet store purchase turned out to be a very speratic eater. She'd call me in a panic wondering why she didn't have these problems with the one I got for her. All I could tell her is that she got what she paid for...
 
So I went to PetCo yesterday to pick up some frozen fuzzies for Max. And as I walking back I stopped by the reptile section, I saw a very sad scene. Right below the "Animals always come first at PetCo" sign was a dead, shriveled up hatchling.
 

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to the third or fourth poster ... OVERPRICED???? You really think so? I see corns for about 30 to 40 where as on here there usually at least 75 plus 30-50 for shipping...
 
Hmm........I've never seen a corn that a chain-store would be selling on here for that price! Never! Unless the corn has some kick-a$$ hets, the normals,anerys,amels,snows,etc. have always been rock-bottom prices on here. Not to mention coming with all records and guarantees of health.
 
shining apprentice said:
to the third or fourth poster ... OVERPRICED???? You really think so? I see corns for about 30 to 40 where as on here there usually at least 75 plus 30-50 for shipping...
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YES overpriced!!
Pet shops only seem to carry normals, amels, anerys and snows....
unless they have killer hets (and sometimes even if they do, my girl Yoshi is proof of that), they are usually $15-25 dollars from a breeder.
(Yoshi is a normal het for anery, hypo and sunkissed. I brought her from a GREAT breeder on here for $20)

Pet shops do not carry middle or upper end stuff (lavenders, bloodreds, granites, hypo bloods, fires)....that the breeders sell for $75 plus......
 
The pet store i go to is reptile oriented. They are basically a hub for local breeders. Have everything from snakes to lizards, frogs, and even bugs. Neat little place. Oh and it's run by 3 friends.
 
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