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

[Arashi Takamine]

No spider is poisonious. You can eat them and you won't be poisoned. But you can tell the difference between a true tarantula and the banana spider from the urban legend. This is a good start. Did you read my story btw? Still fear spiders?

Agreed I was telling them and they wouldn't stop trying to interrupt me either. BFF - Trying to tell me some dumb story how if her mom saw a tarantula cross her she'd beat it to death (Yeah thanks the potential T owner will keep her pet on lock and keep away from her) And I did I thought it was really funny and I'm not afraid of spiders anymore. T's at least, smaller house spiders still kinda give me the willies. But I figure I leave them alone they'll leave me alone.

 

[baboonfan]

Where to begin? I think their habit of failing to correctly identify what they have often tops their bad advice and poor keeping. I knew an old woman at a pet store in Ormond Beach Florida that sold a plain Jane rosie in a plastic container with nothing to dig in as a "rare bird eating spider from Japan". The cage was marked "poisonous". She wanted 150.00 for it. I told her what it was and that she needed to bed the enclosure with something. She got offended and said "Ive been selling fish since before you were born, I know what Im doing".

The same woman previously ordered me a Jacksons Chameleon and expected me to pay for it after I had asked her about Thrasops jacksoni (Jacksons Tree Snake). I had never ordered the item in the first place, i had only made a price inquiry.

There was also a know it all reptile dealer who sold made up Ts for absurd prices when all he ever had were standard pet rocks (rosies).

I am a mail order guy for the most part. Stay away from those pet stores.

 

[ZergFront]

A pet store told me that an adult rosie they were selling has to eat 3-4 a day.

I don't even feed my dogs that much!

---------- Post added 01-06-2012 at 06:21 PM ----------

As a side-note the weird thing about that area is that Inverts are illegal in St Catherines and possibly Niagara falls but theyre only about 15 mins away from Welland.

Well there's another place I can add to my "Avoid Like the Plague" list.

 

[ZergFront]

Where to begin? I think their habit of failing to correctly identify what they have often tops their bad advice and poor keeping. I knew an old woman at a pet store in Ormond Beach Florida that sold a plain Jane rosie in a plastic container with nothing to dig in as a "rare bird eating spider from Japan". The cage was marked "poisonous". She wanted 150.00 for it. I told her what it was and that she needed to bed the enclosure with something. She got offended and said "Ive been selling fish since before you were born, I know what Im doing".

Haha! I would've been like, "You do realise that is a spider and not a fish, right?"

 

[DannyH]

A pet store owner from where I get my crickets got very offended when I told him he shouldn't have 2 rosies in a cage together (the cage itself was really bad, woodchips, sponge, dead crickets).I came back a day later and one of them was gone. Hopefully an archnoboards member came and rescued one, but I doupt thats the case .

The rosehairs were also priced at 100$, and labled as "Pink Bird Eater".

 

[SpiderNurse]

It was a long time ago, but something along the lines of: "The more you handle it, the more tame it will get. I have a friend who says his tarantula likes it when he pets it on the back."

I've been reading through these, and wow! Where on Earth do people come up with this stuff?? I wouldn't be able to find some of this false information anywhere if I tried...

 

[bishopk546]

Petland in alberta, these prices scared me,
1.) 2.5" A.avic 74$
2.) 1" B. emilia 214$
3.) 1/2 inch L. Difficilis 75$

the avic was in a terrestrial setup, the emilia was in a 10 gallon as was the L. difficilis...... it was rather frustrating

 

[SgtSparkles]

it's alot like that here in kalispell, mt too man, though there is one who is open to care tips and one of the girls is warming up to them and held an a. avic when i took it out for another customer while i was there last week most are deathly afraid of them, all they ever get are WC rosies and avics, though occasionally as a result you can get your hands on an azuraklaasi that they think is a common pink toe its still not really worth it, i get all my stuff from paul as i don't need care tips from the employees at petco and they know better than to try and share them with me, it still never stops one lady from trying to sell me "our new pinktoe"

Actually tarantulas do have very small retractable claws... And now I'm editing because I should have just kept reading, of course someone would point it out...

---------- Post added at 06:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 PM ----------

I have a bittersweet setup here in Bozeman, Montana. We only have a Petsmart, no other pet stores in town... Which kind of sucks because Petsmart is not my first choice for pet supplies. Fortunately, because some of the employees are afraid or think they're gross, they do not carry invertebrates of any kind (except hermit crabs). When I asked their reptile specialist if they ever get any invertebrates in, she responded "Ew, no I wouldn't work here if we did." Really? That's where you're drawing the line? Alright, personal preference I suppose (albeit a little rude to react that way in front of someone who is obviously an invertebrate enthusiast). In hindsight, even though I don't like that particular employee (for other reasons too), it is for the better that this Petsmart doesn't carry them since they would probably be neglected. I will however say that there is another employee who likes them and I believe would probably take very good care of them if she were allowed to, as well as be open to suggestions on how to care for them (I don't know if they're regulations would actually allow that, but its good that someone cares). But it's still probably for the best that they don't carry them at all...

 

[SgtSparkles]

silliest advice ever was "all rose hairs are sweet" NO! mine was evil

 

[Gnat]

There used to be a LPS near by that had a large Psalmopoeus cambridgei. At first they wanted $50 for just the spider but then it became $50 for the whole enclosure. I was new to tarantulas and went home to research the beast. I decided at the time it wasnt for me and was certainly not kept in the best conditions. It was in a 10 gallon glass tank with a branch to climb on and a very dirty cage and dry water dish.(it was on paper towels) The lady that owned the shop was terrified of the spider and said she was selling it for a friend. She told me that the spider had sprayed on the sides of the tank was venom and that when she tried to feed it that it would spit venom at her and act crazy. I didnt buy the T because I was new in the hobby at the time and thought that it was above my experience level. When the shop closed down about 6 months later they still had it, spitting venom an all

 

[Thomas2015]

Was at a new exotic petstore when I saw the owner trying to sell to what looked like an eight year old kid a cobalt blue tarantula. When the kid's mom asked if it was aggressive, he said "no, its perfectly docile," and "its venom is no stronger than a bee sting." After they started talking about how to handle it, I thought I might step in.

 

[Jared781]

from right of the top... my LPS said i should mist/soak my B. vagans enclosure every day!
and feed every other day.. which isnt bad but its a bit off right?

 

[SamuraiSid]

Silliest thing a lps employee ever said to me: "Trust me, I work at a pet store."

from right of the top... my LPS said i should mist/soak my B. vagans enclosure every day!
and feed every other day.. which isnt bad but its a bit off right?

If thats all the employee told you, its absolutely terrible advice!!!!!!!!

In the context of powerfeeding, feeding every other day might be fine, or even good. But without properly educating the client on what powerfeeding is, what it does, and why people do it, the info is useless and your B. vagans would end up with a ruptured abdomen. Same with the misting, slings enjoy higher humidity than adults, but without this piece of context, the information passed on is worthless... Or worth as much as a dead Tarantula.

 

[Redneck]

I've never really been given advice at a petstore. Not until recently. I wasnt even asking for advice or nothing. I was just looking at what they had labeled as a "venazulen tiger turntula". I was thinking maybe a C. fasciatum. So, I asked the guy there what they had in it, he stoped and looked at the label. I said okay, just let me see it. He started his spill...I can only let you look at it through the glass, all tarantulas can run 5-7 MPH, and this one is extremely dangerous, and can put you in the hospital. And it has hairs on its butt that can cause you to break out in hives...blah blah blah.

So, I finally shut him down and said look, I dont need a lesson on tarantulas, in fact, I can probably school you a bit. I dont care if you pull the tarantula out, I just want to reach in move things around so I can see what the heck yall got in there.

He wouldnt let me reach in. So he did it. Guess what shoots to the back of the corner of the cage. My number one, all time favorite tarantula. A Psalmopoeus irminia. Oh boy.

I turned to that fella and told him how much a a freaking retard he was...seriously. A whole spill of horse crap came from his mouth. Yeah, P. irmina are fast, and mean. Dangerous? Only if your a dummy. Hairs on the rump? You gotta be kidding me. It aint got no hairs!

I went on to trying to teach him and he got all pissy with me. I was asked if I was going to buy it or not. I said there is is no way Im giving $50 for a 2.5-2.75" unsexed P. irmina.

Anyways, thats my most super awesome petstore experience...as of late.

 

[ZergFront]

She told me that the spider had sprayed on the sides of the tank was venom and that when she tried to feed it that it would spit venom at her and act crazy. I didnt buy the T because I was new in the hobby at the time and thought that it was above my experience level. When the shop closed down about 6 months later they still had it, spitting venom an all

Huh, either I had the wrong species or the most laid back P.cambridgei. I purchased two more slings after that male died. Yeah, real vicious. :roll:

---------- Post added 03-26-2012 at 06:25 PM ----------

from right of the top... my LPS said i should mist/soak my B. vagans enclosure every day!
and feed every other day.. which isnt bad but its a bit off right?

My B.auratum would have been PISSED with all that water.

---------- Post added 03-26-2012 at 06:26 PM ----------

Silliest thing a lps employee ever said to me: "Trust me, I work at a pet store."

Found a new signature. X-D

 

[Kris M]

Oh this should be good.

Snakes with mites. Snakes with stuck on sheds. They keep all Ts in arboreal setups. They use sponges in water dishes for all inverts. Dogs that die after a few weeks... Cats that do the same... hmmm wonder why I haven't seen any dogs or cats there for a while...
They sell Red Eared Sliders to people with a 10gallon setup and fail to mention to them that turtle will one day require a 100gallon tank (This is a pet peeve of mine)

*One day when buying gold fish the guy selling them to me told me I needed a heater. This is because goldfish are tropical fish and require a temperature of 78f. I went on to explain to the guy that he had no clue what he was talking about and he wasn't going to sell me crap I don't need. I guess he thought I might not already have a few aquariums at home, or that I might actually know something about fish. I proceeded to go across the street to another LPS and pick up my gold fish. *

Something that really irritates me is how everyone at every pet store seems to have EVERY animal that I do! I mean how do they all have the EXACT SAME COLLECTION AS ME!? Then I remember that they are full of it as they continue to list off facts that have nothing to do with the animals they claim they have, and they would know that if they kept one.

This is store 1, store 2 is slightly better. They still try to feed me full of useless facts and get me to buy stuff I don't need, but at least the animals seem healthy and they seem like they take care of them. Mind you they have almost nothing, just a couple lizards, a few birds, and a handful of rodents. Plus feeders.

I really don't like pet shops. While there are probably some good ones out there, I haven't seen one. I only use them for supplies that would be more expensive to ship, and as a go-to for crickets and the occasional fish.

*End Rant*

 

[abryan1992]

What I just love is when I ask to look at the T's and all of the employees act like I'm sentencing them to death. You work in a pet store. Go do your job and open the cage. If you're too scared to look at a 2 inch spider at the place that pays you for it, looks like its time to get a different job.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

So every time I stop in at Petco to get crickets, they normally have a MM. I tell the employee/manager and explain it to him. He shrugs, gives me a blank look, and asks how many crickets I want. I then tell him a dozen large. After he hands me the bag, I count, 9 crickets. Seriously, you're a manager and you can't count to 12?

 

[captmarga]

i hope to own a pet store specializing in inverts one day, and some of these comments astound me. How can a person sit there and claim to be a specialist if they have no idea what the heck they are talking about? pet stores need to have a better screening process.

Pet stores for the most part have people who are willing to be elbow deep in a fishtank several times a day, scrubbing poo off of cages, cleaning up messes left by animals several times a day, carrying heavy boxes, running vaccuum cleaners, stacking bags of nasty-smelling dry dog food, hosing down tanks, and if they do grooming, add masses of pet hair to that. I used to work in a pet store. Teenagers who love animals work there.

Before the internet, anything people knew about the animals they sold was gleaned from conversations with owners, personal experience, and reading every book that the store carried. You've read those books from 20 years ago? The ones that show Ts on wood chips? Guess what...

Marga

 

[Spinster]

I was told that T's don't need a water dish, you just spray the inside of the enclosure twice a week and they're good - no matter what species (I asked). According to their staff a T doesn't need a hide, either.

They also told me that the ONLY species a newbie can own is a G. rosea, the others are "too fast" and "bite hard". They had other newb-friendly species in stock like red-knees and curly-hairs. They refused to bring them out and let me see them when I asked.