Is it really so hard to just TRY!?

I will try to keep this civil and not ranting as it is not in the porch but I apologize in advance if it goes that way.
So... customer comes into the store today with a very underweight and slightly dehydrated ball python...yippee -.-
They tell me he's not eating and they want to exchange him.
I asked them about the set up...
He is in a 40 breeder with another ball python (both babies) half of it being water, with dirt, live plants and grow lights..... air temp is about 85 degrees and no under tank heating or anything so i would guess floor temp especially under plants on moist soil is probably as much as 10 degrees cooler.
I explain to them everything that is wrong with this set up for a ball python and said it would be much more suited to a frog or salamader or even some lizards...
"well our other one eats just fine all the time!"
Ok...baby ball pythons are kind of picky sometimes and stress out easily. There are so many potential causes of it not eating.... so I ask them what they do for the other.
Feeding frozen thawed fuzzies... (now.. these are baby bps but they are big enough for adult mice to...at LEAST hoppers) they thaw them and feed... ok... nothing wrong with that really. So i asked if they made sure the mouse was nice and warm for the one that's not eating. They said yeah they let it thaw for a good 30 minutes -.-
I told them that thawing it and heating it are two different things and sometimes you might need to get them nice and warm under a heat lamp or something to get finicky babies to eat. They told me they tried that and it didn't work and were becoming progressively more adamant about how this baby just defective and they wanted a different one.... Getting annoyed at this point and knowing my manager dumped em on me for this very reason I reluctantly let them trade it out for the only other baby bp we had left. I told them that there is no guarantee on this one feeding and that they will not be able to return it again without just relinquishing it to us.
whatever they are fine with that (I find out later that these people are actually somewhat notorious for being retarded with their animals, had I known that before I would not have allowed the exchange)

Anyways, I take the snake to the back to get him a nice warm home with a hide and everything. On a hunch I defrosted a hopper and set it under a heat lamp for a couple minutes till it was warm to the touch. Tried to feed off the tongs and it took all of 5 seconds for that snake to smell the hot mouse and strike it with quite a bit of force. clearly a defective animal that will not eat >=/
Since he ate so ravenously I thawed out 2 more and warmed em up and he took em both without hesitation.

So this tells me that these people didn't even TRY at all to get this poor thing to eat. Who knows how long they just let it sit there wasting away before finally coming back in to just trade out like it's a baseball card or something.
I really wish I had known before that they had a reputation in the store already and I would not have let them trade out... but maybe that new one they got will eat well and wont end up starving to death with them... at least this little baby seems like he will come back around pretty quick and be able to go to a good home....

What store do you work at?

Petco

Sylvias wrote:Petco

Which one? (what town)

Why?

Sylvias wrote:Why?

No reason, just conversation. Never mind.

Unfortunately, if they now know the snake they have can't be returned for an exchange, and it gets sick, they will either toss it out or try to sell it on CraigsList before it gets too bad off. I read CL daily, even though most of it just makes me physically sick, both the reasons for wanting to get rid of the pet, regardless of whether it's an exotic or not, or the reasons why they want the pet, exotic or not.

Customers like these unfortunately are not just unique to PetCo. My niece worked at a PetSmart in TX, in the herp section, and told me it was pretty routine for a mother to come in, buy a beardie, or some other lizard for an overly rambunctious 4-6 year old, and before the week was out, she would be bringing it back because it had a "problem". Usually severe enough that the pet clinic would have to euthanize the poor little lizard. And of course, the exchange policy meant they would get to injure at least one more before they would have to pay for another one.

I'm sorry, but it really chaps my hide that people think that they should buy an exotic because it's cool, because they want to impress their friends, because their kid wants one (or doesn't have any say and daddy thought it would be cool - yes, actual ad on CL - "bought snake last year for my 1 year old son - now he's afraid of it, so I thought I'd sell it and get him a 'lizard'). These animals cost money, to purchase, and to upkeep, and no, it's not "just a snake so I can just throw some mice to it once in a while, right?". I rescue what I can, but money and time doesn't permit me to rescue everything I wish I could. I'm just getting started into the breeding business (which I am intentionally going to keep VERY small), and I must have driven my breeder crazy when I bought my first breeding stock with the questions. I'm still driving them crazy with the questions But I would rather ask them than pretend to know it all and kill or injure an animal at my hands.

We have to take a test to get a driver's license...I wish there was one for pet ownership and having children as well.


Tandy