PETCO Has Lost Their Minds!

[1001001]

Our family has two pet snakes. A female Corn Snake and a male Ball Python. The corn snake eats frozen mice, but the python eats live mice, about once every 1-2 weeks.

Since we got him, we have gone to PETCO to purchase our mice. I have a little plastic carrier that I bring in to the store, and they drop the mouse in. I take it home, everything works out fine.

So today I go in to buy a live mouse, and while at the checkstand I get handed a form to fill out. I ask what it is. The cashier says it's a new form I have to fill out before I get my mouse. It's apparently a "new rule from corporate".

The form is called a "Companion Animal Purchase Card", and it includes my name, address, telephone number, email, the sex of the mouse, the clerk's ID number...on and on.

After that, the form says:

"By signing, I commit to being a responsible pet owner by providing a safe and appropriate environment for my companion animal. I have received a PETCO care sheet for my companion animal, and am aware of what it takes to keep my pet happy and healthy."

I look at the guy and I said "You understand I'm going to feed this thing to my snake in about 20 minutes?" He replies "I understand. Store policy." I asked him if I was going to have to fill this form out every time I purchased a mouse, and he said "Yes".

I suppose I can understand cats, and dogs, and rabbits, and maybe guinea pigs....I know some people buy pets and don't know how to take care of them. But seriously...I have to fill out a form every time I buy a feeder mouse? "A safe and appropriate environment?" Does my snake's terrarium count?

I thought this was pretty damned stupid. And of course it's not the cashier's fault, he doesn't set the policy.

Sometimes I can't believe the kinds of things people come up with. A form to buy a mouse.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'm not trying to sound stupid here, but I don't know enough about snakes to know for sure. Is there any alternative to feeding it a live mouse? How come the one snake will eat frozen mouse and the other one won't? Have you tried frozen mouse on the other snake, and what was the result?

Does PETCO supply products specifically for snakes, or are they pretty much cats/dogs/birds only? I find myself thinking they may not approve of the keeping of pets that eat live prey. (Of course we know cats do so in the wild, but there are alternatives that most pets live happily on.)

 

[1001001]

The Ball Python must hunt. It only eats live mice. It will eventually eat live rats. Right now, he's just a baby. The corn snake is smaller, and not as picky.

I bought the python at PETCO, and am following their instructions on housing, feeding, etc. They have a big old tank full of mice to feed snakes with. It's a normal part of their business.

 

[SeerSGB]

Christ. That's as stupid as a sign I saw on a lobster tank in a grocery store around here once (Bi-Lo, Food City?): "Notice To Customers: Lobsters are live animals and the cooking process requires you to submerge the animal while still alive. Be aware that this process is extremely painful for the animal and causes a traumatic loss of life. Please be aware, you are boiling a living animal. "

They sell snakes, they sell feeder mice to feed the snakes. What are you suppose to do, make the snake a vegan?

 

[Avalon]

The form is called a "Companion Animal Purchase Card", and it includes my name, address, telephone number, email, the sex of the mouse, the clerk's ID number...on and on.

Geez, what? Feeder mice aren't "Companion Animals", though. I'd love to know if they pull that form out when someone buys crickets or feeder fish...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

The Ball Python must hunt. It only eats live mice. It will eventually eat live rats. Right now, he's just a baby. The corn snake is smaller, and not as picky.

Oh, OK. Personally, I couldn't own an animal that I had to feed other live animals to, but I can't fault a creature that has no other choice for doing what it has to do.

I bought the python at PETCO, and am following their instructions on housing, feeding, etc. They have a big old tank full of mice to feed snakes with. It's a normal part of their business.

Do they still sell snakes? And do they have separate areas for selling companion mice (as a note, Avalon, some people do keep mice and rats as pets), and an area specifically labeled as being feeder mice?

If they are selling the snakes, the snake has no alternative but hunting, and they have an area specifically labeled as being for feeder mice, then yeah, I'd say somebody at corporate isn't thinking things through!

Thanks for indulging my dumb questions.

 

[Avalon]

(as a note, Avalon, some people do keep mice and rats as pets),

Please note that I did, indeed, specify that feeder mice are not companion animals in my previous post. I am very much aware that mice and rats are kept as pets, having had a mouse as a pet myself, and having several friends who are devoted rat owners.

ETA: Just to clarify -- feeder mice (and rats) are actually different from pet-type mice and rats, due to how they're bred and handled. Feeder mice and rats are not suitable as pets.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I couldn't tell that from your prior post, Avalon. But it makes better sense now that you explain.

 

[scotpens]

So now you have to sign a form saying you’ll be a humane and responsible pet owner — to purchase a mouse that’s raised and sold for the express purpose of being fed to a snake? Well, rules is rules. And bullshit is bullshit.

Christ. That's as stupid as a sign I saw on a lobster tank in a grocery store around here once (Bi-Lo, Food City?): “Notice To Customers: Lobsters are live animals and the cooking process requires you to submerge the animal while still alive. Be aware that this process is extremely painful for the animal and causes a traumatic loss of life. Please be aware, you are boiling a living animal.”

That’s just crazy-ass PETA extremist crap. A lobster is a big, aquatic BUG. It has no central nervous system, nor anything that could properly be called a brain. It’s highly doubtful it can feel pain. And even if it does, its nerves are destroyed within two or three seconds of being immersed in boiling water.

Sounds like the sort of thing I’d expect to see in in San Francisco, Santa Monica or West Hollywood.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

The pain in lobsters issue appears to have researchers on both sides of the debate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_in_crustaceans

 

[1001001]

Yes, PETCO still sells snakes.

There is a big tank right in the front of the store. I have always thought that they were just feeder mice, but I don't know.

I know rats are kept as pets. We've had two. They are great pets, actually.

As for the "feeding live animals to live animals" thing, I know that some people are squeamish about that. I understand. For me it's just nature. People feed animal meat to dogs and cats, right? It may not be live in the can, but it was alive once.

One time, a lady was standing behind me in line (before forms were required) and she said "oh he's so cute! What are you going to name him?"

I said...."Lunch".

Anyway, I'm thinking about writing to their corporate HQ and just letting them know about this. If I have to fill out a form every time I buy a mouse for my snake, I'll do it elsewhere. The local store is probably just over-interpreting the policy (at least I hope).

I just couldn't believe it when they handed me the form. I really thought for a minute society had finally gone over the falls.



Any other snakes owners here? Any other stores have a policy like this?

Sounds like the sort of thing I’d expect to see in in San Francisco, Santa Monica or West Hollywood.

I do live in California....

 

[clint g]

Anyway, I'm thinking about writing to their corporate HQ and just letting them know about this. If I have to fill out a form every time I buy a mouse for my snake, I'll do it elsewhere. The local store is probably just over-interpreting the policy (at least I hope).

I strongly feel that this is the case. The fact that it's called a companion animal form sort of makes me think that. Feeder mice are not companion animals. They're food. My guess is that the store manager doesn't understand what companion animal means and they think that it refers to all animals purchased at the store.

 

[1001001]

Anyway, I'm thinking about writing to their corporate HQ and just letting them know about this. If I have to fill out a form every time I buy a mouse for my snake, I'll do it elsewhere. The local store is probably just over-interpreting the policy (at least I hope).

I strongly feel that this is the case. The fact that it's called a companion animal form sort of makes me think that. Feeder mice are not companion animals. They're food. My guess is that the store manager doesn't understand what companion animal means and they think that it refers to all animals purchased at the store.

I sent a nice email through their corporate website. We'll see what kind of response I get.

 

[brian577]

This guy complained about the same thing. Doesn't sound like an isolated incident.

http://www.devopoker.net/blog/?p=619

 

[1001001]

This guy complained about the same thing. Doesn't sound like an isolated incident.

http://www.devopoker.net/blog/?p=619

Yep that's the exact same form, except that I have purchased mice for feeding there many times before today, and they've never had me sign it.

Fear of litigation has made people crazy, I guess.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'll bet anything a lawyer is behind this.

You should counter-sue, claiming that the civil rights of your snakes are being violated.

 

[Lunarflower]

(as a note, Avalon, some people do keep mice and rats as pets),

Please note that I did, indeed, specify that feeder mice are not companion animals in my previous post. I am very much aware that mice and rats are kept as pets, having had a mouse as a pet myself, and having several friends who are devoted rat owners.

ETA: Just to clarify -- feeder mice (and rats) are actually different from pet-type mice and rats, due to how they're bred and handled. Feeder mice and rats are not suitable as pets.

Actually there really isn't any difference between pet rats/mice and feeder rats/mice. It is just the prettier rats/mice tend to not get sold as feeders.

Rats sold as pets can be from the same litter as rats that will be sold as feeders.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

As for the "feeding live animals to live animals" thing, I know that some people are squeamish about that. I understand. For me it's just nature. People feed animal meat to dogs and cats, right? It may not be live in the can, but it was alive once.

Well, it's not just nature, because you're making it too easy for the snake and impossible for the mouse. In nature, the mouse has a chance of getting away, and the snake has a chance of not finding prey and dying. Both species evolve over time and the situation changes. Neither of these are true inside your cage.

What's more important though is that “natural” doesn't imply “good” or even “OK”. Nature has no moral compass nor feelings, we do. Every part of it is amazing, even the cruellest, and it's a wonderful thing to be able to observe it, whether in the wild or in a cage, but there are aspects of it I'd like to distance myself from, or at least not be directly involved.

And I think that might be a good long-term path for humanity as well, though I'm not too certain.

 

[1001001]

As for the "feeding live animals to live animals" thing, I know that some people are squeamish about that. I understand. For me it's just nature. People feed animal meat to dogs and cats, right? It may not be live in the can, but it was alive once.

Well, it's not just nature, because you're making it too easy for the snake and impossible for the mouse. In nature, the mouse has a chance of getting away, and the snake has a chance of not finding prey and dying. Both species evolve over time and the situation changes. Neither of these are true inside your cage.

What's more important though is that “natural” doesn't imply “good” or even “OK”. Nature has no moral compass nor feelings, we do. Every part of it is amazing, even the cruellest, and it's a wonderful thing to be able to observe it, whether in the wild or in a cage, but there are aspects of it I'd like to distance myself from, or at least not be directly involved.

That's fine. If it bothers you, then you don't have to do it. I understand it's not comfortable for some people. No big deal.

It doesn't bother me. Animals are bred for consumption all over the world. People keep pets and they feed them.

Snakes eat mice. That part is certainly natural. All pet owners engage in some artificial selection. Cats like fish, but we don't send them down to the river and hope they catch one for dinner.

Whether or not "natural" is "good", well that's another thread. I'm only referring to the fact that mice are a natural part of this snake's diet, and to care for it, that's what we give him. I don't go through a lot of hand-wringing over the mouse.

 

[SVD]

HA!

We got plenty of wild mice that run amok in the grain hay that we feed in the wintertime. Heck, instead of squashing them when I find them, I'd catch them alive and GIVE them away to people like the OP if I knew them.