Things ignorant pet owners do/say

ARACHNO-SMACK48

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
284
Yesterday I saw an extremely unhealthy looking bearded dragon in a classroom. It was in a 40 gallon tank (which is not bad but it should be bigger) The tank had no UVB etc. only a small non UVB fluorescent bulb. The dragon was being fed some kind of bright red brand of bearded dragon pellets and crickets were nowhere to be found let alone greens of any kind. The dragon itself was a dark color with very dark stress marks and a clear case of yellow fungus disease (probably due to a lowered immune system from having such a terrible setup) huddling up near the very weak fluorescent bulb. The tank was also near a window so I can imagine that it was very cold in the tank. I informed the owner of the husbandry mistakes they were making and they acted as though this was the first time they were hearing of these care requirements. It's not like its that hard to figure these things out. Literally 5 minutes of research on the internet could drastically help this beardie. Next to the beardie tank was a 5 gallon tank with a very stressed looking G. rosea huddled in the corner. I tried to give the owner some tips on T care too and they said they haven't been feeding it very much and that they just catch crickets from outside every once and a while. Then they offered to let me have the T. I said I would take it but I have yet to take it home. If I take this T home hoow long should I isolate this T from the rest of my collection? I want to make sure it doesn't have any parasites from being fed wild crickets etc. Also feel free to share your own experiences with ignorant pet owners.
 

freedumbdclxvi

Arachnoprince
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
1,426
Some people don't know. Were you informative or abrasive? Presentation goes a long way.

The beardie's care is way off. The rosie not so much. You could isolate it for a month or so if you take it home. Not sure what qualifies as "not deeding it much" but rosies can fast for months. If it doesn't eat that often, why would they feed it that often? I'd say focus on trying to get them to improve the beardie's care.
 

ARACHNO-SMACK48

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
284
I was actually very polite when talking to the owner. I just told them that their setup could be improved and that the animal is suffering because of the lack of proper care. People like this just frustrate the heck out of me. Also I am well aware that G roseas/ porteries tend to fast. My immature male hasn't eaten in like 6 months due to pre molt and even after the molt he is still nice and fat lol. The setup for the tarantula was decent but they should know better than to feed it crickets caught from behind a building.
 
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