I h8 people....LOADS

Thomas · 06-22-03, 01:30 PM

today I was at a petstore and I saw this really young couple. They were looking in all the tanks looking for a "pet". They happened to see a beardie and they liked it. So they bought it. I heard the guy say "it's not mine I don't want to touch it" as a member of staff asked him if he would like to hold the yearling beardie before he put it in the box for the journey home. The woman did hold "it" but she was unable to go near the crickets they bought for it. THIS SORT OF STUPIDITY REALLY annoys me. That couple didn't even know what it was called until they saw the name. They should never have been allowed out of the door with that precious animal. They didn't even buy a book on beardies.
UUUUUUUURRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Zoe · 06-22-03, 01:33 PM

Yes, that is very unfortunate

Did you say something to them?

You should encourage the store to cary caresheets and to include them with the animal that is purchased. Tell them they'll less often need to replace a dead animal.

Zoe

Thomas · 06-22-03, 01:36 PM

No, I didn't. I was with my parents and I think they said somethin to a staff member but nothing was done about it

drewlowe · 06-22-03, 01:38 PM

Thats so sad, why do people do this. if they no nothing about a pet they shouldn't buy it. Reptiles are nothing like cats and dogs. and they require quite abit of effort to care for.

Thomas · 06-22-03, 01:39 PM

yeh, I feel real guilty. Geuss it happens though.....

marisa · 06-22-03, 01:44 PM

Maybe they will learn?

In all hoensty....a few years ago at the herp show my BF wanted to buy a snake...I REFUSED to touch it, or even hardly hold it in the deli container. I refused to leanr anything about it. I hated snakes.

But here we are three years later, and I have our first clutch of corns about to hatch and plenty of my OWN snakes!!!

You never know. Maybe this will happen for them!

Marisa

JoeBradley · 06-22-03, 01:45 PM

The pet stores should be held more responsible when they are selling live pets. As long as they continue to sell these animals as "products" we will continue to see great reptiles go to mediocre owners. It is all about the money.

drewlowe · 06-22-03, 01:45 PM

if it was me i would have been probly pretty rude to the people at the petstore. and try telling the peoplethat they shouldn't buy a animal they know nothing about and tried to explain the husbandry to them and diets and what not. and probly tried to talk them out of buying it until they knew how to care for it properly.

Thomas · 06-22-03, 01:49 PM

yes but are you in England? Here, buying a reptile is "cool" I hate the way people think. I bet that bloke was thinkin."never mind the pub, lets watch my half dead beardie losing to some crickets"

drewlowe · 06-22-03, 02:00 PM

no matter where you are that happens i see people all the time buying reptile that shouldn't. i usually will step up and say something to those people. Or i find my self correcting the so call reptile speciallist when they are talking to customers and giving out wrong information. Like as an exapmle i was at a petstore ( wont say the name) and the "reptile specialist" (what a joke) was saying it was ok to feed a baby bearded dragon crickets and mealworms. and thats all they said they could eat. Which is way wrong i steped in and told the person i keep beardies and they eat a huge varied diet ( gave them quite a large list of food items) and that mealworms weren't appropriate for baby beardies. The "reptile specialist kept giving me dirty looks and seemed very p.o. at me, but i don't care. They need to quit giving out wrong info for these animals. they only care about the sale not the animals welfare. which it shouldn't be that way. but their are too many people out there that want to make money off it insted of caring for the animal properly.

theroom101 · 06-22-03, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by drewlowe
Thats so sad, why do people do this. if they no nothing about a pet they shouldn't buy it. Reptiles are nothing like cats and dogs. and they require quite abit of effort to care for.

Just so you know, cats and dogs aren't "easy" pets either, and too often people buy them because they are cute and then the poor animal gets just as mistreated as our scaley friends. How much do people really know about a mammalian pet before they buy one? Usually not as much as they should.

And I agree with Marisa, those people might actually care enough to learn without killing their reptile in the process. We shouldn't be so quick to judge what we don't know anything about. Really I just hate that pet stores sell reptiles and birds at all. I look forward to the day that people realize selling herps in a petstore is just as stupid as it was when puppies were sold in pet stores.

doenoe · 06-22-03, 02:02 PM

Petstores can suck sometimes. This one time at band camp...........nevermind.
I was at a petstore and there were some people looking at the beardies and asked a girl who worked there a question. She didnt know anything about the reptiles and told the couple the knowledgable person would come later that day. So i ended up giving all the information to the people and saying that they should research alot before they should be an animal. The girl walked away in the mean time.
I was thinking, uhm why dont you just stay here and listen to what i telling here. Maybe you can learn something from it.
But reptiles are looked at as $$$ makers in stores, so they need to be sold. Sucks

drewlowe · 06-22-03, 02:14 PM

the room 101

i know dogs and cats arn't necessarly easy to take care of. but they are alot easier than reptiles to care for. and yes there are things you need to know before purchasing ANY ANIMAL. But thier is more info out there on cats and dogs. and more vets for them also.

marisa · 06-22-03, 02:24 PM

The fact is though that pet stores are pet stores. Not libraries or educational facilities. As much as I agree they are disgustingly uninformed, and cause reptiles pain by selling them to unsuspecting owners, that is what they do. They make money. Period.

At some point people have to stop wondering why others aren't taking the responsibility of teaching people what choice to make. People themselves have to stop depending on someone else to educate them, and start being responsible adults and educating themselves before making a purchase.

Would you go to a car lot knowing nothing and expect the guy selling cars to explain each one to you so you make the best purchase? LOL! No! As much as car dealers are sharks and liars some of the time, its your responsibility to know what you are going for before you buy it. IMHO

Marisa

theroom101 · 06-22-03, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by drewlowe
but they are alot easier than reptiles to care for. ... But thier is more info out there on cats and dogs. and more vets for them also.

I disagree. Cats and dogs aren't easier to care for. They eat/poop/cry more often, they tear stuff up, they have a higher escape rate, they can require more space, more time, more effort, and in many cases more money. I'm not trying to attack you, but I feel that simplifying mammal ownership is just as much a crime as simplifying reptile ownership. There are more vets for them, but cats and dogs also tend to need to see the vet more often, not to mention the annual charge for shots and registration. I don't believe that pet ownership is easy no matter what kind of animal you own. Those people that bought the bearded dragon could have just as easily bought a puppy and had it die of parvo because they weren't responsible enough to take care of it. Like I said, the problem doesn't lie with which animal is owned, it is the people who don't realize that pet ownership is a luxury that requires responsibility and financial dedication. I'll climb off my soapbox now because I'm probably preaching to the choir, but when you work in the animal field, you see the things that most people don't want to know exist.