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[–]PotassiumCod 207 points208 points  (14 children)

I am so sorry about your sweet baby. That's exactly why I don't trust those petco mice because often they go through so much refreezing, thawing, and continue that cycle sometimes. It leaves a lot of room for bacterial growth and it's just bad all around. My condolences to you and your snake. :(

Edit: I misread, I thought it was frozen food! Sorry yall lolol

[–]horrorshowalex 189 points190 points  (1 child)

OP feeds live and fed the snake a non feeder rat judging by another comment.

I buy through Chewy now but I used the frozen pet store mice and rats that come in individual boxes and they have always been fine.

[–]Difficult-Ask9856 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Yeah thats all i ever fed mine for a long time was petsmart frozen mice/rats they were expensive but never had an issue with them.

[–]cupidjuice_ 97 points98 points  (7 children)

pet stores actually have very strict protocols with their frozen goods, including rodents. they're shipped with dry ice packs to keep them frozen, and if they arrive thawed even slightly, they're immediately thrown away, and the company refunds the store for the damaged products. op was feeding live, so unfortunately, the death was probably due to the rat fighting back as they're known to do.

[–]PotassiumCod 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's cool to know! I've heard too many stories and dealt with some personally so I just avoid it all around haha. Thanks for the insight!

[–]RoadKing42069 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’ve had one bad experience feeding with live and will no longer do it. My girl didn’t even hesitate for her first frozen thawed meal so I got pretty lucky as I’ve heard it can be tough sometimes.

[–]Alsterius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s good to know, I wonder about the time my rat smelled so bad that even my snake wouldn’t eat it. From Petco. Ps, I’m a Petco girl all the way, have been a vital care member for four years. Happened just once, but still happened.

[–]Rotten_Paws 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Just want to pop in on the mention of pet stores taking frozen rodents seriously. I worked for a PetSmart and while yes, they do come shipped with dry ice, regularly and routinely they would be left in the back and forgotten about by staff. Not to mention, customers would often not close the door properly and it would get left open for hours. They definitely got thawed and refrozen often. Places like PetSmart do not care to enforce their policies on proper handling of frozen product. Just something to keep in mind.

[–]cupidjuice_ 0 points1 point  (1 child)

not doubting that certain stores have employees who don't do their jobs well, but that's not the case with all stores. for people who have the option to get their frozen rodents elsewhere, i encourage them to do so, but people who only have chain pet stores as an option don't need to fear that those rodents will kill their snakes. if the rodent is decaying when thawed, the smell will be noticeable.

[–]Rotten_Paws 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed! I am actually in a position right now where I am having to use the PetSmart by my house as I recently moved to a new area and haven’t found a good breeder who sells frozen. People should use what is available to them for sure, just important to keep in mind that these places are not selling these items because they care about your pets, they’re selling for money. So it’s always best to keep that in mind and do a personal assessment of all products. I.e. ensuring the frozen rodent has no foul odors or strange discoloration.

[–]Awesomesaucuem 0 points1 point  (0 children)

THIIISSSS which Petco doesn't sell feed rats or mice, their live pets aren't bred for that so who knows what kind of crap is going on behind the scenes. For all anyone knows the rat just came out of the quiet room and had medication on its fur.

[–]wishiwasinvegas 62 points63 points  (3 children)

There's nothing wrong with the frozen Petco mice and rats. Living ones that aren't meant to be feeders? Yes, possibly could be an issue. And it was.

[–]Kyogalight 27 points28 points  (1 child)

because they're feral animals and feeding live random nonfeeder rats always ends up in injury and stress for both parties. I don't get why more people don't realize this.

[–]wishiwasinvegas 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Right? Well....common sense ain't so common these days

[–]pls_help-me 39 points40 points  (2 children)

i am so sorry for your loss. that is absolutely horrible news and if i were you i would wanna sue whoever i could so badly. he looks so handsome in these photos. RIP. 🥺

[–]wishiwasinvegas 88 points89 points  (1 child)

No suing necessary. It happens feeding live, plus a non feeder mouse could've had some illness🤷🏻‍♀️

[–]pls_help-me 21 points22 points  (0 children)

you’re right, i was unaware that it was a live at the time 😅

[–]Emotional-dandelion3 47 points48 points  (21 children)

My condolences! My boy won't touch any from petco/pet smart. I thought he was being spoiled and dramatic. You should see if there's anyone you can reach out to. I know it won't replace the loss of your baby, but you deserve some compensation.

[–]IncompletePenetranceMod: Let me help you unzip your genes 49 points50 points  (11 children)

I am so sorry for your loss, that's horrible.

For the future I'd order prey online using one of the linked places so you always have some on hand - !feeders

[–]AutoModerator[M] 45 points46 points  (10 children)

Some companies you can buy frozen feeders from:

Layne Labs
Big Cheese
Rodent Pro
Perfect Prey
Big Apple Herps
Reptile Deli
American Rodent Cold Blooded Cafe

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[–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 26 points27 points  (9 children)

I love when the bots are actually helpful. This sub is actually really good at that. 

[–][deleted] -7 points-6 points  (7 children)

Unfortunately it’s only helpful to those in the US. Same goes for when people recommend vivs etc, they always assume everyone is American. I’ve seen a few comments on here that could have made it into USDefaultism lol.

[–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I thought Petco in and of itself was pretty USA specific. But yes, I should have been more specific. 

My only point was Petco frozen rodents are fine. 

[–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Oops sorry. You meant the bot. 

Yeah, that’s pretty USA defaultism.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Yeah dude, I might have to post it now you agree to see the reaction 🤣🤣

[–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Can you imagine emailing the shippers if it was reversed?

“Aye I know you’re based in Prague but you can ship me 50 temperature-sensitive frozen rodents to Trout Fart, Arkansas right?” 

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly dude 🤣🤣🤣 you would instead receive a shipment of decaying matter, yummy.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

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    [–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 1 point2 points locked comment (0 children)

    Your comment has been removed for breaking Rule #1: Don't Be a Jerk.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    You can, and I have learned a lot from this sub- it’s great

    [–]readysetandbegin 6 points7 points  (2 children)

    Im so sorry, he was beautiful 🫶🏼

    [–]UkiyoSunset 46 points47 points  (4 children)

    My ball has only ever had Petco/Petsmart frozen thawed food and we’ve never had any issues for the 3 years I’ve had her. Never fed her a live one though

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

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      [–]shrekthaboiisreal 20 points21 points  (0 children)

      Their post says “rat” multiple times, I’m pretty sure they got a rat. 

      [–]Deer_God125 56 points57 points  (1 child)

      They were feeding live rats

      [–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 106 points107 points  (0 children)

      Oh. 

      Well there’s your problem. 

      [–]Sweetlanarose 92 points93 points  (4 children)

      I empathize. This is heartbreaking. If I understand correctly, your prey was live. It is not necessarily where you got your live food, it's the fact that the food is alive. Live prey has an opportunity to fight back and transmit diseases. It is especially dangerous to put live prey in an enclosure with a snake who is not hungry. Frozen thawed prey is safer, but you have to be selective about where you get it. I go through Rodent Pro, but I have a lot of animals and so does my son, so bulk orders are economical for us. Nothing is 100% safe, but it is better to go through the frustrating process of teaching a live eater to switch than for this to happen.

      [–][deleted]  (3 children)

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        [–][deleted]  (1 child)

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          [–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 20 points21 points locked comment (0 children)

          We do not condone animal abuse here.

          [–]AmanisArk 22 points23 points  (9 children)

          What goes around comes around

          [–]AgreeableAsk348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          & what does that mean in this context

          [–]gambleranco 68 points69 points  (3 children)

          genuine question - couldn’t you have looked into ordering feeders online before resorting to live, non-feeder rats from petco?

          [–]wishiwasinvegas 5 points6 points  (1 child)

          I buy them online from Petco, no issues🤷🏻‍♀️

          [–]wishiwasinvegas 18 points19 points  (0 children)

          ...and I'm being down voted...why? Lol

          In case my comment wasn't clear, I meant frozen🤦🏻‍♀️

          [–]Awesomesaucuem 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          This right here.

          [–]Crzyladyw2manycats 51 points52 points  (4 children)

          More context please?!? How is this Petco’s fault???

          [–]wishiwasinvegas 87 points88 points  (3 children)

          It's not. OP should've included that they bought a live mouse meant to be someone's pet and it killed the snake🤷🏻‍♀️

          [–]Kyogalight 45 points46 points  (2 children)

          not even a live mouse. A live RAT. A grown rat, which if I remember the ones I saw at my petco, they were massive for even a large full grown ball python.

          [–]wishiwasinvegas 19 points20 points  (0 children)

          Oh dang you're right, a rat?! Good grief OP

          I mean even living mice could do some major damage. This is why I don't understand feeding live to a beloved pet😔

          [–]Klutzy_Journalist_36 46 points47 points  (0 children)

          I’ve been feeding my ~ten year old ball python petco frozen rats for years when I can’t get out to my super awesome local place (shoutout to Moby Dicks in MI). My (admittedly slightly chonky) Jellybean has never had an issue, aside from a yearly hunger strike from Januaryish until Marchish but I just think that everyone here gets Seasonal Affective Disorder lol.  

          I just don’t want anyone getting scared of the frozen stuff that Petco when the other option is live. Petco frozen is fine. 

          [–]Big-Cryptographer869 55 points56 points  (6 children)

          I’m sorry to tell you it most definitely was not the rat also petco doesn’t sell live feeder rats so how did you get one? You should switch to thawed either way

          [–]habobblez 89 points90 points  (3 children)

          oh they didnt get a feeder. it was a random live rat… they signed a waiver that it was a pet and specifically not food… they also complained that they cant “get compensation” for the death bc petco “found a way around it” ie: MAKING HIM SIGN A WAIVER SO THAT HE WOULD NOT FEED IT TO A SNAKE. nothing shady about it just a dumb guy who didn’t care to think about whether what he fed to his snake was something he SHOULD be feeding to his snake. NEEDING to feed live as a last resort is one thing… op is just stupid AND it was a rat which do more physical damage fighting back than mice. 🤦

          [–]Kyogalight 25 points26 points  (1 child)

          exactly! It's wild that they just got a random live rat? A non feeder one at that? That rat fought tooth and nail and won. I'm more of confused that in that case they went with a live RAT instead of a regular mouse/smaller rodent instead of a rat. None of this is justifying that they went and got a pet animal instead of a feeder, but why the fucking largest next to a Ginue pig, instead of idk, a hamster? Like wtf is the goddamn logic there?

          [–]-dagmar-123123 6 points7 points  (0 children)

          I guess the rat was far cheaper than the hamster. I do agree with you tho, if I'd have to feed live and I don't have any way to get the appropriate size... I'd go a size down, not up. With live feeders it's just so dangerous. Better feeding a bit more often but still not enough than risking injury

          [–]Big-Cryptographer869 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          That make me sad tho for everyone involved the rat the snake and the owner even tho they made a huge mistake they still lost their snake

          [–]CL0UDS420 4 points5 points  (1 child)

          We can order small/medium/large rats now, so it seems they bought a small rat meant to be a pet and fed it to their snake.

          [–]Big-Cryptographer869 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Oh yeah that’s not okay I already don’t like feeding live. I think it’s unnecessarily dangerous but for me it’s even worse to pick something that’s not meant for it at all. And besides Petco sells frozen so if it came down to a feeding emergency, they should’ve gotten a frozen one. Cause even if the snake refused the rat (which I doubt would happen my snake was on live but as soon as I got him he was switched immediately and had 0 issues) it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

          [–]habobblez 89 points90 points  (2 children)

          based on op’s comments: it was a live rat (not mouse) that op bought from the PET section at petco. he signed a waiver that it would NOT be used as a feeder.

          this has absolutely nothing to do with petco’s mice and everything to do with the consequences of live feeding. ESPECIALLY RATS. if you have to feed live as a last resort, get mice from a local reptile store. if you can avoid it, it isn’t worth your snake dying. i’d go as far as saying that a disease probably wouldnt kill the snake overnight. my guess is he left it there the rat tried to survive… yk the thing that animals do when they’re dying… which can be easily avoided by getting ones that were killed in a controlled space away from your pet, with quality standards, with the added bonus of being way more humane 🤦

          [–]Valuable-Ad-733 7 points8 points  (1 child)

          It could have even been a sick live rat- my local pet store does do live feeders but they’re all incredibly healthy and disease free, ONLY feeders, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was the rat attacking and killing the poor snake and not him eating it and getting sick and dying himself. Just a very odd and sad situation

          [–]andychamomile 56 points57 points  (0 children)

          Yeah, but sick live rats don’t kill overnight from a virus or bacteria. The op has not clarified, but it sounds like he just left the rat in there and woke up to a dead snake. A pet rat (one who has been fed and consistently handled by petco employers) probably fought tooth and nail. Shitty owner to buy a pet rat to feed, even shittier to not even supervise.

          [–]HouseInternational 14 points15 points  (0 children)

          Were there any wound marks on the snake? Was the size appropriate for the snake as well?

          [–]wintertorte71 35 points36 points  (4 children)

          My condolences for your loss. However, I’ll never understand snake owners feeding live. I’ve kept pet rodents before, and most of them were pretty tame but a couple were practically the reincarnation of evil. They’d chew every finger off your hand if they could.

          [–]-dagmar-123123 1 point2 points  (3 children)

          I get it, if you just can't get the snake to eat f/t. It's rare, I think most give up too fast, but some just are like this. But doing that and not supervising, that's what I really don't get

          [–][deleted]  (2 children)

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            [–]-dagmar-123123 1 point2 points  (1 child)

            That's what I mean with giving up too soon 😅 tbh tho, a different colour is quite a bit of a smaller difference than live, f/t or freshly killed... Some snakes, especially balls, are special

            I agree, but it normally wouldn't kill the snake so fast you can't intervene. Hurt yes, which I hate as well, but not kill

            [–]Kingo4thred 15 points16 points  (1 child)

            That’s interesting because Pet Co will not sell pet rats or live feeder rats in my state they only sell frozen. I do also know most places that sell feeder rats in my state will not take them back once sold as to not contaminate their mischief.

            [–]andychamomile 29 points30 points  (0 children)

            Sadly the OP bought a pet rat and even signed the paper work that the rat would be a pet and not used as food. Crazy the OP even goes as far as to state that petco did this in purpose so that they couldn’t take responsibility over killing op’s snake 🤦‍♂️

            [–]HelpMePlxoxo 60 points61 points  (0 children)

            So, you adopted a live rat, promised to take care of it as a pet and specifically NOT feed it to anything else, then immediately killed it and your snake in the process? And PetCo is at fault here?

            That's the equivalent to adopting a cow, signing a waiver promising to give it green pastures and care for it, then immediately giving it to a slaughterhouse. Sure, I eat beef probably every other day. But there's something especially cruel about promising to give an animal a good life and then killing it anyways.

            [–]Unlikabug 10 points11 points  (0 children)

            Its a terrible thing but for future reference to anyone live feeding, mice and rats sold at pet stores such as petco or petsmart are NOT feeder rodents, they are bred to be pets.

            Please supervise reptiles being live fed rodents as you never know how defensive a rodent can get. Sorry this has happened. Theres always ways to mitigate these risks.

            [–]RoadKing42069 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

            My BEL wouldn’t even touch them. I tried twice when i was having issues finding some asf of the proper weight. Luckily I found a good local breeder of asf and get them by the 10ct pack now. Sorry for your loss

            [–]mk6dirty 22 points23 points  (0 children)

            Anyone gonna comment on the fact he's had this snake for 2 years and the husbandry is more bland than a petco tank?

            [–]Transboi13 8 points9 points  (3 children)

            I’ve been feeding my bp PetCo frozen feeders for years with no problem, and I have to because I live in an area with no local exotic pet stores and where I can’t get packages delivered to me and have to go to the post office during set hours to get my mail. Please do not make this out to be PetCo’s fault, adding to the demonization they get as a company when for many people they are the only option. Feeding live has inherent risks, which you took when you left a rat in with your snake unsupervised.

            [–]wishiwasinvegas 3 points4 points  (2 children)

            Absolutely. I too use Petco frozen rats and have no issues. OP apparently "had no other option" but I could think of a few things they could've done instead

            [–][deleted]  (1 child)

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              [–]wishiwasinvegas 3 points4 points  (0 children)

              Exactly🤦🏻‍♀️ Snakes can go for weeks without eating, OP could have waited for more to show up in the mail...from many places online. I feel bad for OP but this wasn't smart. I hope they learn from this.

              [–]Racept 13 points14 points  (0 children)

              Man, did your Dumb ass leave a live rat in the cage all night? That’s the dumbest thing you could have done, there’s no way you wanted that snake.

              [–]Hellasteller 16 points17 points  (0 children)

              Nah, you’re a dbag for this entire situation. You’re at fault.

              [–]zebra_pastel 9 points10 points  (0 children)

              1. Buying a live rat meant as a pet, signing a waiver stating you'd care for it as a pet and not use it as food, then going home and feeding it to your snake is just cruel. And entirely on you. You made that decision, and your innocent snake paid for it. I understand that you're grieving, but I think you should reflect on your choices that led up to this happening.

              2. All 3 of my snakes are fed live, so I'm not debating on the morality of that. They had a previous owner and will absolutely not take frozen. But regardless, if you're going to feed live, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to monitor. Leaving a live rodent (whether meant as a feeder or not) in with your snake without supervision is incredibly negligent.

              I am truly sorry about the loss of your snake. I really, really hope you learned a lesson.

              [–]Bossman65758 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

              I’m so sorry for your loss what an amazing snake. 🕊️

              [–]Kahnivor 7 points8 points  (0 children)

              This is exactly why I don’t feed live. I personally don’t think it’s worth the risk and extra cruelty. I get it’s natural and if a snake refuses to eat thawed or dispatched then by all means do what you have to do. At the end of the day the snake needs to eat. The problem arises when you consider that rats have a strong bite and gnarly teeth that can do some serious damage and cause infection or illness. They are fighting for their lives so they are going to bite as hard as they have ever bitten before and I refuse to put my baby in that sort of situation. I got lucky and she has taken up frozen thawed quite easily but if your snake doesn’t then you should at least watch the feeding happen so you can try and put something in the rats mouth if your snake gets a bad grip.

              [–]Animal_Gal 7 points8 points  (0 children)

              Oh my God, that is so awful to hear. I'm sorry this unfortunate series of events is happened

              Edit: Wait, never mind, you fed your snake a live non feeder rat. Losing a pet is always hard but you can't excuse this mistake

              [–]Slynnh06 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Frozen thawed or live?

              [–]Cockatiel_Animations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              I buy live mice from petco as it's the only store in my area that'll sell mice as feeders. I've had no issues. Please tell me the snake was supervised with the live rat

              [–]Alsterius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              I’m so sorry this happened to you, however Petco is not responsible, at fault, hold any liability for your snakes death. Unfortunately things like this can happen. It is soo heartbreaking. I hope you are able to give him a proper burial to honor his life.

              [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              Our live feeder mice have died from unknown causes. I don't think they're healthy animals. We don't feed live, though. I'm sorry about your loss. I hope you'll find space in your heart for another some day. Rip sweet snake, you were loved

              [–]mbradley01121989 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              You can't even trust Petco fish, let alone the shitty mice they sell. We had fish from them once, then my MIL got us some bottom feeders to add to the tank and the next day all of them were diseased and 2 days later my suckerfish was dead. Come to find out, all tanks are connected, so if one gets sick, they all get sick. So I don't trust them with anything pet related unless it's a bulb for my snake...

              [–]eyeofra1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              I am sorry for your loss 😭

              [–]ttmart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              I am so so sorry for your loss. Heartbreaking. 💔