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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TabithasMom" data-source="post: 79004" data-attributes="member: 3599">Any Michiganders on this forum? If so, any metro-Detroiters who attend the Michigan Reptile Show in Taylor? I went today, as I do each month, and left with pretty jarred. There's one vendor, tucked in a corner, who is a flipper. He buys Ts from who-knows-where, and sells them to make a profit. They're often skinny, on the wrong substrate, or completely bald for the NWs. Today, I was horrified at what I saw. Every single T had either sponges, or dried cotton balls in their tubs. This is new for him, so it really grabbed my attention. Also, he had two sub-adult T. stirmis, roughly 6-7 inches, with abdomens the size of a grape.I poked around for a bit, and he happened to have two Poecilotheria pedersonis. One was on the wall of the tub, probably 3rd instar, while the other (same size) was in the middle of the substrate, and abnormally fuzzy. I picked it up, and kinda jostled the tub to see if there was a response. Nope. I flagged down the attention of one of his helpers, and asked if she minded if I poked at it because it doesn't look good. Sure enough, it was dead, and fuzzy stuff was mold. So it's been dead for a while. I brought it to her attention, and asked where he gets his Ts. She says he buys them from various breeders, as I suspected. But this new batch looked like they came from a tarantula mill, run by idiots who have no basic knowledge of tarantula husbandry. I pointed out that the Ts have no business having any kind of sponge or cotton in their enclosure, which was probably one of the catalysts for the baby T's death. I wound up buying the other live pedersoni, and she knocked $10 off my bill, probably because she knew I knew what I was talking about, and embarrassed for being associated with such a disgrace of a vendor. I tried talking to him, but as soon as I started questioning his care-taking abilities, he rushed on to help other customers, and then flat-out left the table. It was busy, and it was easy to get shuffled into the crowd. I feel guilty for feeding into the problem, and funding his gross practices, but I couldn't help but think I'm saving this little guy from sharing the same fate as its buddy.I later talked with the employee at a mom and pop pet store I frequent for feeders/supplies, who actually knows a bunch about tarantulas (as does one other employee, hence why I keep going there), and he confirmed this dude is a black mark in the local pet trade. He didn't have his name, because he doesn't offer any business cards, or other form of advertisement, but he assured me he doesn't have a store. It's likely he sells the rest on the internet, though. Anyway, I was wondering if there's anyone else in this area who knows of this guy, and how I can help get him to change his ethics. And sorry for the super long post. It's been bugging me all day. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown    :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /></blockquote>

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