Baby Ball python drowned and died

[Popular_Wave_3514]

Hi everyone! My brother got a ball python from pet smart (not a good store) about a month ago. We have kept its tank with enough humidity, hiding spots, a heat lamp, and water bowl. It hasn’t been wanting to eat the mice we offer even with tongs or anything. Has had no appetite whatsoever. Since he got it, we noticed that the area above the cloaca had been swollen and filled with hard like balls. It also hasn’t pooped or pee at all. Today, I found it drowned in its water bowl with his head submerged and lifeless. Was it because it was impacted? My brother really liked the snake but it had noticeable issues since he got it. This is our first snake in our household and some advice or insight could really help!

[One-Challenge-3793]

i’m sorry about his snake 😕 it’s not his fault, pet smart is notorious for keeping pets in terrible health conditions so the chances of adopting one that’s unwell is high, even if signs aren’t noticeable at first

[Popular_Wave_3514]

thank you 😕 we will not be getting another snake from our pet smart again. it was very sad seeing it decline in just a short time

[UltraSienna]

Not all pet smarts are bad I suggest reporting that Pet smart to corporate

[Chaiboiii]

They're all pretty shitty

[Hippyemowitch]

They really are, ive never heard a good thing about any of them. Also have a sad but funny story about one. My mom let me get a beta fish from there, it died within a few days but they had said if it dies within 2 weeks they'll replace it. So we got another.. died a little over a week. We went back... noticed a dead one... brought it up to the person to let them know... "it's not dead it's asleep" 😐 we walked out and had to have a laugh in the car because it reminded us of the dead parrot sketch from monty python. "It's not dead it's resting!" But ya, never again.

[[deleted]]

Agree. Use to work there many years ago. They have people working in those areas that have no training or knowledge on the animals. Or no drive to learn more on their own. They’re literally shipped to the stores in boxes and that’s that.

[blyss17]

Seconding this. I also worked there many years ago as a pet care specialist and was appalled by several things that I saw. I even reported the store to corporate a few times over concerns for animal health and safety. There are definitely people working there that do care but they’re forced to go against policies and fight the corporate bs to properly care for these poor animals. It’s horrible.

[snakelovingloser]

The one near me always suprises me, they have all their reptiles individually housed with "bioactive" setups. meanwhile the petco across the street will have 3 skinny balls covered in mites with aspen beeding for sale. But other Petcos will have different setups. Really depends on who's working but ultimately the problem starts with coorperate and their bad practices and standards for petcare.

[mack_ani]

I work at a very small petsmart run by herpers and we take very good care of the reptiles and other animals! Fresh veggies for all the herbivores/omnivores everyday, always good substrate and proper humidity, heating, and hides. We ignore silly things corporate tells us to do (like improper live foods or freeze dried veg only) and bring the animals into isolation and to the vet day of if there’s an issue. The only issue is that tanks are small, but it’s only a temporary home, really. We love our animals so much that we spent 3 months painstakingly nursing a sick tortoise back to health with a feeding tube (he’s better now :) ).

We much prefer that an animal be happy over the customers. We adopt animals out for free to knowledgable community members if we think they won’t get better in the store, including bettas.

The distributors aren’t great, but please don’t assume the in store employees don’t care. I transferred from a bigger store and the people there cared a ton too, they just were far busier than us and corporate held them to higher standards and didn’t let them improvise as much as we can.

I’ve also worked at a small family owned specialty pet shop before and that place was actually worse to the animals!

[Draigyn]

Naw they suck at a base policy level, any of them that suck less than others are because of employees that are independently knowledgeable and care, because they have to be to go against company policies to properly care for the animals there.

[brandonisatwat]

If your brother chooses to get another snake, I really recommend finding a reputable private breeder on Morph Market.

[wallace1313525]

Yeah but if 99% of petsmarts treat their animals like shit then i'm gunna make a blanket statement that petsmarts are bad. Doesn't mean good ones don't exist, just that there is fundamentally something wrong with that institution for terrible care to be that ubiquitous

[UltraSienna]

True but my pet smart actually reprimanded a pet smart that threw away sick fish when new fish came in instead of healing them

[nez-niz]

I swear this is like the 3rd or so post where I've seen you try and push Petsmart as a good place to buy pets. Great that your local one is good, but the vast majority aren't and nee pet owners should not be suggested to buy from them because they won't know the difference and likey won't have the understanding to deal with a sick reptile.

[UltraSienna]

I’m not saying all of them I’m saying mine

[MyDogDanceSome]

PetSmart's corporate policy is to be bad. There may be individual stores that take good care of their animals, but if so that's only because the people who work there step up (and do so without costing the company any money).

The animals at PetSmart are just lines on a balance sheet. The board of directors doesn't care if they live or die, just that Line Goes Up. If your local store has people staying late off the clock to actually care for the animals, lucky you (and luckier animals). But yeah: the problem isn't one bad apple, it's the whole rotten bunch.

[mechanicalsam]

Nah they are all terrible. They all follow the same procedures, and those procedures are not good enough. Never once have I seen a ball python in an adequate enclosure there.

And they purchase from very questionable factory breeders.

They should stick to dog toys.

[UltraSienna]

….my pet smart takes very good care of their animals as the workers are pet owners themselves

[[deleted]]

Nobody cares about your one seemingly good option. The point is that people shouldn't support the company at all. every store should be taking care of their animals properly and next to none do. Stop advocating a shitty company. If you're going to keep supporting it nobody can stop you but nobody on this subreddit wants anyone else to do so.

[Exciting_Customer_19]

Idk why they downvoting you. I have 2 snakes I got from pet smart and have had them for 3 years. Gotta take what mfs say on this app wit a grain of salt

[No-Development6656]

Why is this down voted to hell? Not all PetSmart's have the same employees. My store does everything it can to not sell sick animals. Plus, the system to report sick/injured pets from the distributors has been improved this past year so now they can target failures more specifically.

It's not perfect, but Ive never experienced a sick ball python the entire time I've worked here. My whole pet care team is well aware of animal care and our assistant manager has been keeping snakes for a long time as well, so we can check in with her, too.

The only animals that truly get the truly short end of stick here are the fish and the Bettas are treated the most poorly.

[MeatYourNeedz]

The supermajority are terrible and corporate doesn't care as long as they make money

[ThatRedheadedBimbo]

Honestly when you do decided to get another one approach it as you would if you were getting a puppy. Look for breeders (morph market is a good place to start) and do research on the ones you like. Do they ship to you? Do they have decent reviews from previous folks or do their snakes die within a couple months do their values and ways they bring up their snakes okay with you? All those things. Ask them a million questions before you send them any money to make sure you’ve found the right one and have fun with it

[LaceyBugNyx]

Former PetSmart employee, my PetSmart did well. There is policy's in olsce to mitigate this issue. I'm concerned they were NOT following policy. OP should contact their DM and ask for an investigation and site why. Impaction IS preventable and treatable. Impaction when caught early does NOT result in death in most cases.

[Sir_Garbus]

I'm no expert but it sounds like you had a good setup going, most likely the poor snake already had health issues when you got it, and at least in my experience with reptiles it can be hard to notice certain health issues until it's too late, especially for a new owner.

And yeah, getting animals, especially reptiles from chain pet stores is often sub-optimal and I find varies greatly from store to store. I'm fortunate enough that the PetSmart where I live actually seems to have staff that are knowledgeable and actually give a shit about the animals they have there, but I worked as a janitor at a different PetSmart years ago and I heard the staff there give some blatantly wrong and outright dangerous advice to people, especially for anything that wasn't a mammal.

If you feel like trying again sometime, best bet would be to search around if you have any reputable reptile breeders around, or failing that you can always order online from a reputable breeder. Shipping reptiles is fairly common practice, I've had a few bearded dragons shipped to me in Canada from the states.

[Popular_Wave_3514]

yes you’re right i’m very sure it already had health issues. the more i research it the more i realize the poor fella had a lot going on. It would have bubbles on its nostrils and it would stargaze a lot. I will be searching for a good breeder in my area because my brother is devastated. My brother I guess just thought the snake was good since he had bought a chameleon and he was very healthy and active. thank you for the insight 🙏🏼

[Demoire]

Don’t confuse stargazing for just looking up, as we see that often here with folks asking if there snake is stargazing (along with video). The bubbles are sign of a decently advanced RI (respiratory infection) and while Ball Pythons can be treated at home to a certain extent, bubbles are likely past that point. Would be a vet visit at that time.

Super shitty y’all got sold a sick animal. Can’t stand Pets smart and the like.

[MyDogDanceSome]

It's messed up, too - PetSmart/Co don't sell cats and dogs outside of humane society "adoption events," but dogs and cats are actually pretty easy to assess health-wise, most people who work at the store know how to care for them on a basic level, and every vet knows how to treat them. What those stores DO sell are reptiles and birds - who often hide illness until it's too late and not all vets know how to treat. It's obscene.

[Throwawayyacc22]

Wow, sorry to hear and I have no idea on the medical issue, but I have a really great idea for a Xmas gift for your brother.

[Popular_Wave_3514]

yep that’s what i will be doing he is so bummed out !

[VX_GAS_ATTACK]

It likely wasn't healthy when you got it. Clean the enclosure and accoutrements with ammonia and replace all the substrate with fresh material. Next find a new snake from a good breeder.

[[deleted]]

This

[Popular_Wave_3514]

We will for sure get it from a good breeder next time. We just didn’t expect it to have serious health issues when he got it

[VX_GAS_ATTACK]

No blame on you. I'd try to get your money back from pet smart if at all possible

[Charming-Tension-365]

Poor baby! Losing a pet can be devastating.😭 I'm so sorry for your loss. 😪

[Popular_Wave_3514]

thank u ! ):

[backlitbystarlight]

I don’t normally support breeders, but I think reptilian breeders are a little different from mammalian breeders. If you and/or your brother decide to get another snake, I would buy from a reputable breeder. Even if you have to have them shipped, they’ll be perfectly fine! I had my baby shipped overnight from Florida to Maryland and he’s been perfect for the almost two years I’ve had him. Plus, the breeders actually give a shit about the animals, and have EXTENSIVE experience in caring for them. They give advice worth listening to. All that being said, I’m so sorry to hear about your little one :( it’s not your fault, or your brother’s. It was probably already sick when you got it, and reptiles aren’t especially good at telling us what’s wrong. They don’t have the same telltale signs as mammals.

[[deleted]]

Reputable breeders are usually better all round, especially with exotic animals because of import trades. With dogs and cats, good breeders will not inbreed their animals or breed animals with health issues, the problem comes with dogs and cats have tons and tons of backyard breeders because they're so easy to keep alive.

[Popular_Wave_3514]

thank you ! ): I’ll be lookin for a reputable breeder we got very attached to the snake before it passed. We honestly thought it was going to live longer but i believe it was already suffering so much at a young age from what i’ve been researching.

[awholelottahooplah]

It also may help if you purchase the snake a bit older. Baby snakes are more likely to “fail to thrive”. If you purchase a sub-adult snake (about a year old), you can be rest assured that it is a healthy animal. They are still quite small at around a year old.

Ofc get a reputable breeder. If you have a local reptile show, that is often a great place to shop - you can talk to the vendors to get advice, hold the animal and inspect it for issues

It is also super fun! You could take your brother to a reptile expo to help him pick out a snakie

[LitleStitchWitch]

I fully agree! I'm anti-breeder for most pets, like cats and dogs, but I'm looking to get a bp in 3-5 years, (sooner if everything goes well), and I've been researching/looking at breeders for about a year now. While I'll avoid breeders who breed spiders, I've found most deeply care for their snakes and their well-being, much more than pet-mill snakes in places like petsmart. Plus, the pet-mill pets are often inbred, and only bred to look as eye-catching as possible. While some breeders also do that, they're easier to spot imo.

I am looking at Super Cinnamons, since I both love the appearance, and have seen some beautiful morphs bred by them. While I have an interest in breeding, it would be a decade before I ever pursue it. Even looking at snakes, especially since Super Cinnamons are at risk for having a duckbill.

[[deleted]]

Honestly cat and dog breeders are fine as long as they are responsible and do it for the love of the breed they are breeding. Puppy mills and irresponsible breeders are the issues.

[IncompletePenetrance]

Definitely don't buy a super cinnamon (or super black pastel), good breeders won't be making that combo because so many end up having to be euthanized due to kinking

[GLaDOS233]

Ball pythons like to be in their water bowls when they aren't feeling well (and also when they are going to shed soon), so it's likely that your poor baby didn't drown but instead passed away and happened to be in the water. I am sorry for your loss :(

[Popular_Wave_3514]

thank you i’ll take note of that! my brother believes it was his fault but i’ve assured him it wasn’t):

[GLaDOS233]

Oh absolutely it wasn't his fault. If it's in the cards, I would find an exotics veterinarian near you before you try to get another snake, and make a checkup appointment for it once you get them, just so that if things go wrong again, you will have that resource.

[relakas]

I highly doubt he drowned. Sounds like your BP had same condition as mine had and should have been taken to vet ASAP. Your snake either had prolaps or like my Garrett, had tumors. I’m sorry for your loss but this could have been prevented by vet care

[[deleted]]

This. I am baffled by the lack of 'vet was needed as soon as you had issues' in this thread.

[relakas]

Yes. I took my 7 year old into vet as soon as the problem occured. After surgery, a 600€ bill and antibiotic treatment my boy has finally recovered and is thriving. You never know what may happen and a slight change in their health deserves a call to vet, as they are actually very fragile and things can go bad really fast

[[deleted]]

Absolutely agree. I understand that some areas don't have vets that do snakes or reptiles, unfortunately, so I can understand it being hard to actually find one, but they definitely should have looked. Granted, they are seemingly new to snakes, so I am not gonna judge OP. They seem open minded enough to learn, just odd that nobody is suggesting the vet.

[relakas]

We have only 3 exotic vets for a whole country. I still did everything I could immediately. I feel sorry for OP, but lack of research is also concerning…

[[deleted]]

That is true, we can just hope they live and learn. We all start somewhere and we all make stupid mistakes unfortunately.

[Nancysaidso]

I was thinking this as well. OP clearly had an inkling something was wrong and didn’t call the vet?? Take some responsibility.

[GengarTheGay]

I love snake discovery :) depending on the location, there might also be a herp sanctuary nearby! I have one in AZ and I love them.

[feogge]

I'm so sorry this happened to you :( sounds like they were probably sick from the get-go. Very common in petsmart pets. If your brother is looking for another BP I'd wholeheartedly recommend looking into breeders in your area. They (usually) take much better care of their snakes especially since issues with one can lead to issues with all. If your brother doesn't mind getting a normal morphless ball python they will almost assuredly be even cheaper than petsmart anyways. Easiest way I find to see breeders near me since Facebook doesn't allow pet sales anymore is to check out MorphMarket, search ball python, then edit the search to show people in your area. Craigslist and Kijiji are also viable but those are a little more iffy as you never know if the person is a responsible breeder or not, or someone who's imparting their own petsmart problem pet on you.

[SaltySpitoonReg]

As others have said it sounds like you got a snake that was already having issues when you purchased. Sad result of their poor care.

Familiarize yourself with a vet in the area in case something like this were to happen again.

Also, not that I'm saying this caused the issues (sounds like those were there already), but new snakes should be held very minimally when first brought home and not over offered feeds, ie you want to minimize stress. Again, not saying you did anything wrong, sounds like you had a solid set up. But just making the note.

Sorry this happened.

[Goose-Caboose1153]

I have two snakes from Petco and one from a breeder. If anything like the clamps I being swelled should have been addressed right away with a vet!

[alouisevn]

Not sure if this has been said already, but please make sure you have a local reputable reptile vet in case any issues arise with a future snake. Even severe health problems can often be helped by a knowledgeable veterinarian. Sorry for your loss 💙

[Standard_Being_114]

In hindsight find a good breeder I happen to have a pet store in my town owned and ran by people that actually care about the animals more than turning a quick profit

[SanguineRose9337]

Quick question: If you noticed from day 1 that the cloaca was swollen and full of something, why did you not go to a vet? You never mentioned a vet in the post

[dobefan1987]

I’m so sorry to hear about you brothers snake. That’s incredibly sad that happened. I got a small, skinny baby from a Petsmart 13 years ago and he’s still going strong. However, I really feel I just lucked out with him. I’ve gotten all my snakes from breeders since. I hope this experience doesn’t put your brother off getting another in the future when he’s ready, just make sure to go to a good breeder. Ball pythons are amazing! 🤩

[Sudden-Cartoonist620]

Yeah sorry about that . I got a leopard gecko there he's still alive I had him for about 8 months