Silliest T advice you've ever heard at a pet store

Snipes

Arachnoprince
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Feb 25, 2005
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Dr. Johnson-Delaney at Eastside Avian and Exotic Animal Medical Center (Bothell), Dr. Nelson at Exotic Pet and Bird Clinic (Kirkland), and possibly Dr. Maas at Avian Exotic Animal Clinic (Bothell).
I am not giving any kind of endorsment, simply stating that it is being done (knowledgably or otherwise).
Wow, have they been given any advise on what to do? (by you or others :rolleyes: ) I can't think of anything that vets could actually do for them, and it would seem like a waste of money to bring them in. Expecially if the doctors are misguided and doing actual harm.

As for actual bad advise, i have not really gotten any. The people at my local petco ask (me) and don't tell.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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are all the u.s.a. and canada pet shops so f****** stupid what is wrong with them?
 

Nitibus

Arachnodemon
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"You know they're dead when they flip over on their backs. Nothing to do then but flush them."
That's not funny ! It's really quite sad. Perfectly healthy T's getting flushed during a moult.

What's wrong with these people !
 

ShadowBlade

Planeswalker
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are all the u.s.a. and canada pet shops so f****** stupid what is wrong with them?
No, the franchise stores are, the ones that don't care about the animals.

There are plenty of specialized petstores, and some others, (especially privately owned) that actually have knowledgable staff.

See, in America we've got plenty of tarantulas running around that can be sold, (including things like rosea that are so quick and easy to import). So people sell them without caring much.

I'm sure over there, it was harder to get them, and there aren't as many WC, so people generally have more knowledge before selling them.
(You guys still get cooler species before we do....)

-Sean
 

Jonathan

Arachnoknight
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I had one guy tell me that I needed to keep the humidity way up on my Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. Ie; flood the tank, and wrap the lid with saran wrap to keep the humidity in. He later ended his advice with "you can trust me, I have a degree in biology"
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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I asked a shop owner what Ts eat (this was the first time I'd ever seen one in a pet store, and I at the time knew nothing about them). He told me that at least once a day, he caught a housefly that was buzzing around the store, ripped it's wings off and threw it in. The T by the way was a 1"-1.5" sling that was in an empty deli cup, with a large heat lamp over it.
 

Varden

Arachnodemon
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That's not funny ! It's really quite sad. Perfectly healthy T's getting flushed during a moult.

What's wrong with these people !
True, it is very sad. I'm usually a very honest person, but I didn't feel all that badly about not educating them. I asked if I could buy all their 'dead' ones for dissection. I pay $1 each and have bought 9 Ts like this: 2 P. murinus, 1. H. lividum, 3 A. avicularia, 1 G. rosea, 1. M. robustum, and 1 T. blondi.
 

Ice Cold Milk

Arachnobaron
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are all the u.s.a. and canada pet shops so f****** stupid what is wrong with them?
No, they are stupid everywhere...
here in South Africa one store said "Buy it a big tank, and keep more than one in there so they don't get lonely"....

and the owner of one of the biggest south african tarantula websites sells 2cm legspan OBT's as m/f pairs.
 

midnight_maiden

Arachnosquire
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True, it is very sad. I'm usually a very honest person, but I didn't feel all that badly about not educating them. I asked if I could buy all their 'dead' ones for dissection. I pay $1 each and have bought 9 Ts like this: 2 P. murinus, 1. H. lividum, 3 A. avicularia, 1 G. rosea, 1. M. robustum, and 1 T. blondi.
Way to use their stupidity (or should I say Lack of knowledge)to your benefit. That's kinda funny.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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very naughty ;) ;) :) and good for you :clap: :clap: :clap: you saved their lives ;) :worship: :worship: ===== phil
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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No, they are stupid everywhere...
here in South Africa one store said "Buy it a big tank, and keep more than one in there so they don't get lonely"....

and the owner of one of the biggest south african tarantula websites sells 2cm legspan OBT's as m/f pairs.
Not too unusual seeing T's sold as pairs. Did you see a mention of keeping them together? Because if not you can almost count on it that the seller let's you apply common T sense assuming you'll keep thems separate.
 

Nitibus

Arachnodemon
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True, it is very sad. I'm usually a very honest person, but I didn't feel all that badly about not educating them. I asked if I could buy all their 'dead' ones for dissection. I pay $1 each and have bought 9 Ts like this: 2 P. murinus, 1. H. lividum, 3 A. avicularia, 1 G. rosea, 1. M. robustum, and 1 T. blondi.

Now that's FUNNY !
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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One problem that pet store people face is that they can't know how much you know. Next is that they by default have to play experts so that they don't put the shops reputation on the line (for good or bad).

I know from one pet store that had a lividum on 1" bark shavings - I told them that if they wanted to give the T better housing they should give it some peaty/earthy sub and make that quite deep.

I agreed with the counter argument that the T wouldn't be visible then and at least it had a hiding spot now under a lumpy peace of wood. But the clerk also told me that I was the fourth person comming in giving "good" advice on the T. Some had told them to put the T on fine sand, some had said to add a heat lamp and other such rediculous stuff. So I almost fully understand if petstores don't just by default listen to the customers unless they can kinda varify what they are saying.

Still ofcourse the clerks should try and read up, one could say - but I guess we all know how hard it is to actually get through the jungle of bad information, ranging from sick caresheets over to self proclaimed expert hobbyists.

How easy is it, without any reference or true expert advice to actually find the one real piece of information that you need? I think if you have no clue where to start and where you wanna get to it's pretty hard.

What I think many pet shop clerks lack is common sense, that's the biggest problem and that's what could be most easily fixed.
 

kristal_kaos

Arachnoknight
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I feel awful for the Ts at the shops around here, they arent kept well at all. I bought my first T at a shop, but that was my last. I buy from reptist now on these sites...just means more to me to know he knows what he is doing and can offer me quality advice. And the Ts are well cared for and sexed. I realize now that I may never shop at a pet store again...:(
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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I feel awful for the Ts at the shops around here, they arent kept well at all. I bought my first T at a shop, but that was my last. I buy from reptist now on these sites...just means more to me to know he knows what he is doing and can offer me quality advice. And the Ts are well cared for and sexed. I realize now that I may never shop at a pet store again...:(
I feel your pain. I was in a petshop w few days ago that had two "Rose hairs" and a "pink toe". All three were in terrestrial set ups, 5gal, with bark chips, a water dish stuffed with cotton, and a heat lamp. The rosies weren't too terrible, but the poor avic :( and all the tanks have a sign on them that say "We can be hand held! :)"

They used to have a guy who was pretty knowledgable, but he obviously doesn't work there any more.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
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do you have pet shop inspectors in the u.s.a. as we have the r.s.p.c.a. and the p.d.s.a. and why is it that the shops seem to know not one way to keep a . t. yet they must have books on them why do they not read them to the shops your pet -t- is just $$$$$ in the bank for them :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :mad: :mad: :mad: ==== phil
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Yes we have pet inspectors in the USA. Tarantulas just aren't at the top of the list. Apparently you can't neglect a tarantula like you can a dog or a cat.
 
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