Ranting

[Payden King]

Okay, so I am going to go off on a rant for a minute here.
Two of my local pet shops sell lots of tarantulas. They say they have people who are "reptile and arachnid people" to answer questions on them but they have no idea what they are talking about. Also, at both of these pet shops, they sell Old World tarantulas.
First of all.. What the hell?! If you can't even get your **** straight to be selling simple New Worlds, then what makes them think it is at all okay to be selling Old Worlds?! I have seen things such as Pokies, OBTs and Stout Leg baboons for sale at both of these.
Second of all, people go in there and want spiders just to show off to their friends while they are drunk. So un-educated bull****ters are going to be going in there wanting a spider and picking out the brightest prettiest ones in there not knowing **** about them. They are going to end up getting bit, hurting themselves, and or the tarantula. So that again pisses me off.
And the guy selling them had care sheets for these more "abnormal" species to give to the people who buy them.
Sorry but if you think they need a care sheet, then obviously they don't know what they are doing enough to be owning these species.
I believe that you should only be able to get these species at expos. If you are educated enough to be getting them then you are educated enough to know you shouldn't be getting them from a damn pet store who is gonna end up killing them and or selling them to uneducated asssholes who have no business owning them.

ERGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

Anyone else see this happening around them?!

They should do background checks to see you are capable of caring for them lol

 

[MassExodus]

I hear what you're saying, but in the end there's nothing we could do about it. It's the same thing with say, dogs. People buy them because they think they're cute puppies, end up losing interest or not wanting to train them, and you end up seeing dogs tied to a tree and not loved or cared for properly, or dropped off on dirt roads. These kinds of trashy, no good people will always exist, animals will always be abused, neglected, thrown away like an inanimate object. It's how it is. The world is filled with human garbage, and they will always be there like a blight on decent people. Jesus you got me riled up and I lost my train of thought, Lol..but yeah, its just the way it is. Hopefully there will be a few people that buy those spiders and become avid keepers, and do it right. All you can do is try to be positive and hope for the best.

 

[Roo]

I used to work in a pet shop and I know why.

Lots of pet shops don't hire people for long periods of time (not even managers are there for more than a few years). Now I'm talking about big chain pet shops as they are the usual offenders. I've seen one or two big chain stores that have a reptile person that knows what they are doing, but that's more the exception than the rule.

So really you have people at the top that want to sell livestock. You have people working for the company that wont be there very long and have very little knowledge of domestic let alone exotic animals.

 

[Payden King]

Roo.. That makes since but these stores that are selling the old world around me are little local businesses that have had the same people since I was a kid. It just makes me sad that there isn't more basic training about talking to people about what they are getting themselves into you know? :/

The Petco near me actually seems to have more knowledge than any of them ironically lol!

 

[Roo]

Roo.. That makes since but these stores that are selling the old world around me are little local businesses that have had the same people since I was a kid. It just makes me sad that there isn't more basic training about talking to people about what they are getting themselves into you know? :/

The Petco near me actually seems to have more knowledge than any of them ironically lol!

Happens sadly. There are also people who go way over the top and try and shut down any trader show.

 

[timc]

I remember my local pet store selling an h. lividium housed in horrible conditions. I stopped shopping at that store.

 

[Payden King]

I remember my local pet store selling an h. lividium housed in horrible conditions. I stopped shopping at that store.

Yeah I used to shop at these stores until they started selling Old Worlds and now I can't bring myself to be promoting them.
They are selling things such as Thai Tiger, Stout Leg Baboon, Pokies, and OBTs. It's insane. I guess some guy came in and bought 6 tarantulas in one day from the one pet store and spent almost $300.
My hope is that the only one crazy enough to do that is someone who really loves and cares for them lol! I would if I thought they were more qualified, I just don't want them thinking it's okay to be doing this. I talk to the guy sometimes and he actually goes to shows and picks them up to sell them in the store, yet doesn't know **** about them and has to print out care sheets. Like alright.

 

[kaz]

I hear what your saying but personally I do think the buyers responsible if there stupid to go out and buy on a whim and not do there research then its pretty stupid of them. If I'm into something or consider purchasing I always do my research. I don't personally think its down to the store to educate the purchaser but I do agree they should have basic knowledge if there the ones hired to look after the animals

I guess what your saying is why cant they sell simple beginner friendly ones, but again personally dont see the problem with the variety, shouldn't really be a problem so long as the purchaser has done research (which they should do) and knows what there in for!!

if the store by law had to hire people that knew exactly what the specific need of every species was or what they all were about then you wouldn't have them in that many local shops, so basically for all us tarantula enthusiast's you wouldn't be able to walk into a store and make a easy, simple purchase or have any justification to your other half of why you had to have yet another tarantula just because it needed saving lol

At the end of the day the stores main goal is to make money, animals even people in the worst case are exploited just to make money, unfortunately the world is an un-fair unjust one but that's not something that will likely change, just hope that people who do walk into a store and buy an angry aggressive spider have the knowledge not to attempt to pick the poor thing up!!!

 

[Roo]

I hear what your saying but personally I do think the buyers responsible if there stupid to go out and buy on a whim and not do there research then its pretty stupid of them. If I'm into something or consider purchasing I always do my research. I don't personally think its down to the store to educate the purchaser but I do agree they should have basic knowledge if there the ones hired to look after the animals

I guess what your saying is why cant they sell simple beginner friendly ones, but again personally dont see the problem with the variety, shouldn't really be a problem so long as the purchaser has done research (which they should do) and knows what there in for!!

if the store by law had to hire people that knew exactly what the specific need of every species was or what they all were about then you wouldn't have them in that many local shops, so basically for all us tarantula enthusiast's you wouldn't be able to walk into a store and make a easy, simple purchase or have any justification to your other half of why you had to have yet another tarantula just because it needed saving lol

At the end of the day the stores main goal is to make money, animals even people in the worst case are exploited just to make money, unfortunately the world is an un-fair unjust one but that's not something that will likely change, just hope that people who do walk into a store and buy an angry aggressive spider have the knowledge not to attempt to pick the poor thing up!!!

That's how I got most of my snakes, many are re-homed either because of medical issues or people have bought them, realized they are scared of snakes and then they filter down to me.

 

[kaz]

haha well its a positive spin on it that's for sure. At least they come to some one deserving!! Shame about the ones that don't get such a positive out come but we cant save them all!!

 

[micheldied]

Unfortunately, that's just how many people function. It isn't limited to just Tarantulas or other animals.

People buy things on impulse, and people buy things they shouldn't own all the time.

 

[kaz]

unfortunately that's us as human beings, we all have the capability of being selfish some more so then others. I mean you could go as far to say its selfish to have these creatures in the first place stuck in a cage. I mean sure it gets fed cared and looked after but keeping it in a tiny glass cage doesn't benefit the creature its our selfish desire to keep them in the first place, because we find them fascinating. Yes its a shame people couldn't go about there business more professionally,

 

[Payden King]

Honestly I hate pet stores. They just make me sick all together. All the animals in there are not treated to the best of their abilities and it just ticks me off beyond belief. I mean yeah pet stores are wonderful when you are looking for a pet and it's not that I hate the idea of a pet store, but more that we all know they can be doing so much better for the poor creatures who are forced to stay there.
Like seriously, they overcharge for almost everything but then treat the animals like **** and don't take proper care of them. I just hate what humanity has become. If we are going to keep creatures as pets, the least we can do is treat them with loyalty and respect and allow for them to have the best life they possibly can.
Most small family owned pet stores are better because they treat their animals better, unlike some of the bigger chain stores such as Petco,

 

[MassExodus]

Honestly I hate pet stores. They just make me sick all together. All the animals in there are not treated to the best of their abilities and it just ticks me off beyond belief. I mean yeah pet stores are wonderful when you are looking for a pet and it's not that I hate the idea of a pet store, but more that we all know they can be doing so much better for the poor creatures who are forced to stay there.
Like seriously, they overcharge for almost everything but then treat the animals like **** and don't take proper care of them. I just hate what humanity has become. If we are going to keep creatures as pets, the least we can do is treat them with loyalty and respect and allow for them to have the best life they possibly can.
Most small family owned pet stores are better because they treat their animals better, unlike some of the bigger chain stores such as Petco,

True, in some cases. But I will say this. When I first got into this hobby, I used to go to all the petcos and petsmarts in Corpus Christi, Tx. There's like 4 petcos and 2 petsmarts. Out of all of them, I'd say 1 petsmart and one petco had terrible care for inverts. At one of them I purchased a gravid G porteri. (she later ate the sac in my care ) The others did ok, and in one instance, a petco reptile department manager actually took my suggestions after talking to him a few times and buying spiders. His assistant was bitten by my H lividum before I purchased her..lol, she was a trooper though, and she took excellent care of them as well. She was trying to sell me T stirmis last time I saw her She knew how to care for them too, and when I started quizzing her, she thought it was funny and told me she had 2 of her own at home...cute girl too..she was going to be keeping them in the back, in her own self made plastic enclosures, WITH CROSS VENTILATION! I was a little smitten..I hope she still works there, because those tarantulas were given proper care. My recommendation to keepers is this: When you see terrible care at a pet store, don't sneer or scowl and walk away. Do your very best to educate them without preaching or being snide, come back later for superworms or water dishes or whatever and chat with them again...improve things for the spiders in their care, and future ones that will live there for awhile. Some of these people will listen, and start doing their own research, and realize that they're doing it wrong. That's the only thing that will improve the situation.

 

[Roo]

I know how you feel. Luckily the pet shop I worked for only sold small mammals, those are pretty hard to get wrong care wise, especially rats who are really hardy animals.

There are good pet shops, I seem to be lucky in that there is a big Pet's at home near me that has a reptile guy who seems to have taught the other staff how to handle snakes and lizards. There is also a specialist "exotics" pet shop about a 20 min bus ride from me. They are a bit more expensive but the quality is usually higher.

 

[Fuzzball79]

I know how you feel. Luckily the pet shop I worked for only sold small mammals, those are pretty hard to get wrong care wise, especially rats who are really hardy animals.

There are good pet shops, I seem to be lucky in that there is a big Pet's at home near me that has a reptile guy who seems to have taught the other staff how to handle snakes and lizards. There is also a specialist "exotics" pet shop about a 20 min bus ride from me. They are a bit more expensive but the quality is usually higher.

I found that only the case if they come from a good breeder, who properly socializes them and breeds from good "stock". Unfortunately the ones sold through most the larger pet stores are from the Monkfield mass production farms and are very prone to respiratory infections and such. They are usually kept in small glass "cages" with the wrong bedding (saw dust is too dusty for them) and not enough stimulation like toys and/or climbing opportunities and too many of them in the one enclosure. I've also seen them being kept in cages with wire floors which causes a condition called bumblefoot (very painful). I'll give it to one of the larger stores, who have obviously listened to experienced keepers and have now provided their rats with a large cage (not glass) with shelves (unfortunately wood, which will need to be replaced soon due to the pee soaking into it quickly) and lots of toys and they've replaced the bedding with paper based soft material.