Doesn't anybody do research anymore?

Mack&Cass

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
1,574
First, I'm going to say that this isn't directed towards members here. Also, it's a tad on the long side, I appreciate those who take the time to read it :)

I'm really starting to get frustrated with classified ads.

I was checking our local classifieds last night and someone is selling green iguanas for $50CAN, and 'red' iguanas for $100CAN. I'm sorry, but $50 for an iguana is way too cheap, I am of the belief that iguanas should be expensive in order to deter just anyone from getting one. The ad also said that 'the iguanas don't come with a cage, but you should be able to find one easily at a pet store". Does this person not realize how big iguanas get and their space requirements? Last time I checked, there aren't any petstores in our area that sell custom made tanks. No standard tank is suitable for an iguana. Mackenzie and I don't think we'll ever get an iguana. There is a lot to consider when it comes to them, and maybe if people did their research, there wouldn't be such a problem with neglected iguanas.

Also, every day I see a new ad for someone selling their leopard geckos. Most of them cite the reason as "I don't have time for it anymore". I've pretty much figured out that it really means "I didn't do my research and didn't realize that leopard geckos are so boring". This was made even more obvious by the rescues of the leopard geckos in the "leopard gecko owners unite" thread on here.

Lastly, there was an ad a while back for a cuban knight anole. CKA are absolutely gorgeous, and when I saw the price - $40CAN for the anole and 20L - I emailed the guy. He then proceeded to send me pictures and I was horrified. It wasn't given any sort of arboreal set up, and the anole itself looked sick. I inquired if it came with heat and UV, he replied saying they don't need heat or UV. I passed, obviously, after informing him that they do require both.

I'm just so sick and tired of seeing all of these ads with all of these neglected animals, because the owner made an impulse purchase and didn't bother to do the research beforehand. Whenever we buy reptiles, we do the research to make sure we can provide for the animal for it's life. Not just buy it, then sell it when it gets too big for its cage, or sell it because it only comes out at night.

That's the end of my rant, but I had to get it off my chest to people who understood.

Cass
 

jayefbe

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
1,351
Not just reptiles...dogs and cats too. Look at how many old pets are re-housed on craigslist. It's depressing.

The absolute worst though, is when immature and unprepared people have kids. I caught the tail end of an episode of "Teen Moms" on MTV...so depressing.
 

pouchedrat

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
614
I just came back from a pet expo..... it was absolutely amazing the ignorance that abounded there. $50 for an iguana is seriously expensive compared to how much they are here! I saw baby alligators for sale super cheap, baby snapping turtles, TINY red ear slider babies 2 for $5 dollars being sold with a dinner plate sized plastic "island" as an enclosure, emperor scorps $5 each, sulcatta tortoise babies for really cheap (and of course dealer said something along the lines of "don't feed it a lot it won't grow fast"), LOTS and lots of cheap tarantulas, all of which were random brown, unknown species, and almost no one knew their scientific names, or random "pink toes" and no one knew what type of pink toe.

I was shocked, but not very... I know i've seen worse, but I was just amazed at how cheap these animals were, especially the ones that grew large like water dragons, alligators, tortoises, monitors, and iguanas. The dealers were clueless about the animals for the most part, and were really just there for a sale.

It was also hard to get their attention when you only wanted to buy two $5 firebelly toads, when people kept coming up to them wanting to buy $275 dollar burmese pythons (and more than just one). Ahhh.. how money talks.

/edit- Teen mom shows scare me. But at the same time I can't stop laughing at their idiocy. They always truly believe the father will change, but more often than not he doesn't. What surprises ME about those shows, is how amazingly supportive their parents tend to be. I knew enough pregnant teenagers growing up to know how many wound up being kicked out of the house immediately and onto the street. Our school, however, had a day care for the babies right in school, and many were able to complete it. high teen pregnancy, but lots of options for the moms.. Plus welfare and public housing wasn't exactly unknown in that small town.
 

Mack&Cass

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
1,574
Pouchedrat, you reminded me of the alligators. First off, the fact that just anyone can buy an alligator is extremely disturbing. Secondly, they're not expensive. Here, they usually go for $100CAN for an American alligator. We're not talking a caiman, here (which get big as well), but a full out American alligator.

Jayefbe, I didn't even want to get started on cats and dogs. My next door neighbours have this dog, who is a sweetie, but he's outside all the time. I realize some dogs are outdoors dogs, but this one clearly isn't. It sits at their back door and whines all day. The only interaction it gets is from our dogs through the fence. My mom noticed him running down the road one day, and ran after him so he wouldn't get hit by a car. These people really couldn't care less about the dog, and is really hard to see. I feel so bad for it. My neighbours are the kind of people who keep having kids so they can get more welfare money.

As far as those teen pregnancy shows go, they're so ridiculous. I watch a show on MTV called "Sixteen and Pregnant" sometimes, and some of these girls are so selfish. They'll leave their baby with their parents all night while they go out and party - and they always justify it by saying "I'm young and still want to have fun". Not once have I seen an episode where the father doesn't leave, or isn't a huge jerk to the girl, causing her to leave him.

Cass
 

jayefbe

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
1,351
Those reptile shows sound pretty awful. The only big reptile shows in CA are CB only shows, so we get healthy animals directly from the breeders. Usually it's the jobbers (wholesalers, resellers) that are only in it to make a buck, and willing to say whatever it takes to make a sale.
 

Elleken

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2008
Messages
277
Craigslist adds are always pretty depressing. I'm not big into lizards so I don't check them out very often, but I do check for snakes a decent amount. More often than not they ask for ridiculous rehoming fees for ball pythons and corns and even then they come with "heat lamp and heat rock included!". You can really tell those animals are grade A healthy!
 

PrimalTaunt

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
467
I am always wary of craigslist animal ads. Whether they're geckos but especially dogs who "have nothing wrong with them." Granted, they're are animals put up for sale there that are perfectly all right but so many people don't know how to train their animals.

Slightly off topic but semi-related.
 
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