Jamie H
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2013
- Messages
- 15
Ok guys help me out here.
I've been a hobbyist for many years, but I don't nearly claim to know everything (or even much), so please help me out here. I recently got a job at my LPS - we don't sell tarantulas but we do sell live food. So a young lady comes in the other day and asks for "30 5-week old *male* crickets. No females please." I thought she was building a choir, so out of curiosity I asked her what she was doing with all these male crickets. "I'm feeding a tarantula," she says.
Well now I'm confused. "Why do you only want males?" I asked, intensely interested in her answer.
"Oh, you should never feed female crickets to a tarantula," she said, "adult females can lay eggs under the tarantula's carapace."
I had no idea how to respond. I can't just be like "no. you're wrong." She's obviously gotten this very specific piece of knowledge from some very trusted source, and I'm in my first week on my new job, I don't want to start alienating our customers already. So I think I said something like, "Really?!? That's the most interesting thing I've ever heard!"
And I left it at that.
So my question is: How would you approach such a subject? Obviously she's not doing any harm (except making us count out only male crickets in large quantities), but she's obviously misinformed, and possibly spreading misinformation. Where could such information come from and how can I possibly convince her otherwise? Has such a thing been addressed on these forums before?
I've been a hobbyist for many years, but I don't nearly claim to know everything (or even much), so please help me out here. I recently got a job at my LPS - we don't sell tarantulas but we do sell live food. So a young lady comes in the other day and asks for "30 5-week old *male* crickets. No females please." I thought she was building a choir, so out of curiosity I asked her what she was doing with all these male crickets. "I'm feeding a tarantula," she says.
Well now I'm confused. "Why do you only want males?" I asked, intensely interested in her answer.
"Oh, you should never feed female crickets to a tarantula," she said, "adult females can lay eggs under the tarantula's carapace."
I had no idea how to respond. I can't just be like "no. you're wrong." She's obviously gotten this very specific piece of knowledge from some very trusted source, and I'm in my first week on my new job, I don't want to start alienating our customers already. So I think I said something like, "Really?!? That's the most interesting thing I've ever heard!"
And I left it at that.
So my question is: How would you approach such a subject? Obviously she's not doing any harm (except making us count out only male crickets in large quantities), but she's obviously misinformed, and possibly spreading misinformation. Where could such information come from and how can I possibly convince her otherwise? Has such a thing been addressed on these forums before?