Should Pet Shop pets suffer???

[Joe Jo]

OK heres the thing. I know alot of people would agree that buying an animal from a general pet shop, for example the Petcos and PETSMARTS is a bad idea. Nothing against the stores its just alot of risk to buy something from ANYONE that doesent specify in that certain field of animals. BUT i saw a lone Ball Python in a tank for sale at a local pet shop (will not name) and it had tics, mites, and was skinny and was for sale for 30 dollars (50 off the original price). I had just got payed from work and decided that id help this little guy out. I tryed to talk them down on the price but it was a no go. So i bought this little guy, took him home, cleaned him up, gave him a small meal to see how he'd take it, ya know, the whole nine yards. Its been 8 months since i bought him and he looks to be in tip top shape. My vet gave him a check up and said everything is A.O.K. Just turning 18 i realize im still young and through out life i will still make wise and unwise choices. After all the vet bills and mite and tic treatments, the food, and overall hasle to get this guy back in shape i belive it was worth every penny knowing i will have this little man till the right thing takes him away and thats age.

NOW for the patient readers who got this far. The point of this thread. In your opinion, even though these places are not the best for individual animals, is it really that bad to take an animal, the Ball Python in this case, away from its suffering and pain. I know we cant make it a habbit but is it bad to help an animal in need with a second chance? They did nothing wrong.

What do you think and what would you possibly do in this situation???

[hhmoore]

A popular theory is that by purchasing these sickly and/or improperly cared for reptiles from pet stores (whether they be chains or Mom & Pop shops), one is just encouraging and enabling them bring in more. I think that many, if not most, of us have been tempted to try to save at least one over the years. Of course, the inclination to do that sort of thing fades as one starts keeping larger numbers of expensive animals...it just isn't worth the risk.
Have I "rescued" an animal from a pet shop? Yes. Would I do so now? Probably not - it would have to be something pretty darned special for me to even consider it.

[Joe Jo]

Well i see what your saying and i do agree. I know this might be a littl off topic but where in upstate new york are you from? Im from Rome (just out side of Utica) lived there for 13 years till i moved out here.

[KathyLove]

I have to agree we should try to "vote with our wallets" whenever possible. If you buy from shops or breeders who are obviously trying hard to do their best, you are encouraging and supporting them. If you buy from shops or breeders who don't seem to care, then they will have little motivation to improve.

Even in well run shops that try hard, they will occasionally have some animals that are beyond their ability to save - too costly in time or money for them to go "all out" for. You could always try to rescue one of those animals. Herp societies and nature centers also often get calls from people who need to get rid of an animal (sometimes healthy, sometimes not). So there are always more rescues available than there are rescuers, if you are so inclined.

But I am happy your rescue turned out well. All too often you can spend a lot of time and money to no avail - or risk bringing in a disease that can affect other animals in your collection.

[DISCERN]

Joe,

It was really cool to read about what you did for that snake. Thank you for doing what you did. :D The snake didn't deserve the life he had at that lame shop. You were very kind and considerate in your actions, and I agree that no matter how much money you put into it, the fact that the snake has a better life than now, that is the true reward.

Is it worth saving an animal from a horrible life in some shop? I believe it is! The thing is, there are many factors to consider.

Kathy makes a good point about when we do support shops like the one you bought this ball python from, by supporting them does make it to where they do not think much to improve.

The risk factor is also something to consider, as HHMoore pointed out. It is quite risky to bring home an animal from a pet store that doesn't care if you have a collection of snakes you prize and strive to maintain a healthy home for and this animal could be the one snake to bring your whole collection down with some medical issues. That is the one main reason why I didn't buy any more animals from any pet stores that were questionable.

I did one time buy a snake from a store similar to this one. This was a pine snake that was malnourished and I purchased him, knowing that I was being risky with the factors mentioned before. I did work with him for months, helping him get to a healthy weight. Then, a friend of mine who worked at a really great store that did care about their animals took him and he was sold to a great guy who was going to give him a good home. After all that, I would visit that store I purchased the pine from frequently, and just got disgusted and decided to instead of making a big scene there, to make a call to Animal Control. After that call, they had a nice visit from AC, the store spruced up, they hired someone else in their reptile dept., and the animals had much better care then, complete with naturalistic cages set up. Animal Control is always one factor you could take in consideration in regards to seeing if anything can be done to a non-caring pet store. It seemed to work in this situation. Animal Control keeps all complaints on file for any store you call them about. The more calls they get, the more that store has attention on it.

You made a possible difference between life and death for that animal, and now he is blessed to have an owner that cares about HIS needs. Awesome!!!!!!! This post of yours really made my day!!! Thank you for sharing and for helping that ball python!