HOly Crap! Decent pet co???? Rehousing H. gigas ;)

GartenSpinnen

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
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So i went for a road trip with my mom today down to Goshen, IN to take a look at the local pet stores. While down there we noticed that they now have *shock* a PetCo!!?? So realizing that they might have tarantulas and i needed some supplies we went in and seen what they had. The prices were a little high but they had an A. seemanni, A. metallica, G. rosea, and some emperor scorpions. The housing was superb! The seemanni was on wood chips, and appeared to have a bad molt (as well as a lot of missing hair from flicking it so much lol) but other than that, this was the single nicest PetCo i have probably ever been to.

The animals there were cared for extremely well it seemed, and everything was squeeky clean! Also, things were very well fed and most appeared exceptionally healthy.

I ended up picking up a new larger KK for my G. aueriostriata, and i plan on using her smaller one for my H. gigas sling who has grown out of its current vial setup (this should be fun....).

Then i picked up a flightless fruit fly colony. Usually when you go to a pet store and see the fruit fly colonies they are 99% dead.... i probably have upwards to 1000 freaking fruit flies alive and well in this culture. They are very healthy and super active little things. Now i just need to figure out how to keep the colony going for several months so i can use them to feed my elegans slings! I just could not pass up such a healthy looking supply locally that was decently priced!

So i have to just say it though, i was losing all hope for PetCo's i have been to, but this one was extremely impressive. And i must also say that anyone who is thinking about shelling out 50.00+ for a stupid A. metallica needs to just go to a local petco and take a look at their "pink toes". Same damn tarantula i paid almost 60.00 for (or maybe a bit more, i dont remember) for 26.00. This is a decent price for a ''''normal''''' pink toe alone when you think about shipping costs!


I hit up a couple other pet stores in the area. All 3 had tarantulas and scorpions (the hobby must be getting more popular....) one even offered T. blondi, and H. lividum adults (but they were out of stock) and 2 of them had MM G. rosea. Honestly, if i would have found one with a female while i was out today, i would have gotten myself a pair just for giggles. One of the MM was in very nice shape....

Just thought i would share that little pointless tid bit. But seriously, if you are looking for A. metallica instead of spending some dealer a rediculous amount of money for one, just hit up petco and take a look at their pink toes, same damn thing (blue/black tarantula, long white hairs everywhere).

-Nate
 

aracnophiliac

Arachnoangel
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Dec 16, 2008
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861
Woow its not very often you hear of a GOOD pet store that looks after invert. very well thats great to hear
 

IrishKnight

Arachnosquire
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Jan 10, 2009
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92
damn,where is this petco at????cause all the ones by me are NOT so goood:?
 

Endagr8

Arachnoangel
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Dec 8, 2008
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911
I wouldn't consider the wood chips a "superb" bedding for any T.........they sound well-fed though.
 

GartenSpinnen

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Aug 17, 2005
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1,407
I wouldn't consider the wood chips a "superb" bedding for any T.........they sound well-fed though.
These were not the 'bad' wood chips. These were the wood chips that you do not use due to the fact that they are bad for burrowers, and promote mold growth... not the type that can rupture abdomens and that sort of thing. When it comes down to a pet store, they are going to house their specimens in a way that the public can observe them so that they can sell them.... i would prefer seeing a tarantula on wood chips compared to sand, gravel, and the like ANY day. And when its more along the lines of the wood bark looking stuff compared to say cedar chips, that is not too horrible.

All the other tarantulas were housed on coco fiber substrate.

However, i must say, there really is no reason that some arboreal species such as Avics cannot be housed with pretty much any substrate... this has been brought up numerous times before on this forum, and a simple search will show you a well debated topic that comes down to personal preference when said arboreals are concerned. They can actually be housed just fine with no substrate if someone wanted to, as long as humidity is kept by using a large water dish and mistings. Substrate serves little purpose to Avics and the like other than to make the enclosure look better, and help keep humidity.

When it comes down to substrate it is most important with terrestrial and obligate burrowing species which rely on substrate much more than just a place for poop and cricket remains to collect.

-Nate
 
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