Hoping I made an impact...

[GiantVinegaroon]

..so I was in my LPS yesterday for crickets and frozen rat pups and they still had their "bird eater"(think it's an LP...but not sure), Avic avic, and tiger rump on wood chips and sponges for water.

Well as I was looking at them I decided to check out the ratties too(I miss mine so much :8o ) and got into a convo with one of the workers about the rats. I managed to randomly ask if I could give some advice about the arachnids and he allowed me so. I suggested real water and coconut fiber substrate for them, and I tossed in that I was not trying to criticize or bash the store in anyway, that I just thought giving advice couldn't hurt. He thanked me for the tips and I bought my rodents and bugs and headed out the door. Realizing the rats were too large, I went back in to get smaller ones, and I heard him discussing with a co worker what I was talking about. I had to interrupt the convo(he didn't sound like he was complaining) to get the rat pups I needed, so I didn't get to hear them decide if they were going to take my advice. Either way, I hope they do!

 

[endoflove]

plant a seed and see if it grows

 

[Miz]

i tried this once at the LPS down the street from me. I went in a saw the most pityful T ever in a tiny KK with wood chips and a sponge. i ended up buying it, and proper housing supplies. the guy started as/king questions about how to keep Ts, because he really had no idea. at least he was honest. when he filled out the care sheet he basically had me do it for him. i told him everything he would need to know about keeping them properly so that next time they get one it won't be miserable. he actually seemed really interested and concerned that they hadn't been keeping them right.

anywho.....went back a couple weeks later, and they had another spider...same species, same crappy setup...if nothing else, that guy got informed....not that it did any good, but still. i feel that i did all I could....

i hope your efforts are more successful.

 

[jbm150]

Good deal, hopefully they will.

I just did the same with a store down here. They had 2 avics and a rosie. They were using moss as substrate and wet paper towels for water. I advised that rosies should be kept dry and to ditch the paper towels. They admitted to not knowing much about Ts but were told that they need to drink out of something spongy :wall:

They said they'd take it under advisement. We'll see.

 

[Elleken]

I tried this with a LPS, but they apparently were told from a "reputable" breeder that they were meant to be kept that way. In this case it was a rosea on insanely wet substrate with a sponge.

 

[SeanJo]

In the end it's up to the person in charge of the store. I've found that the majority of employees who work in pet stores have an underlying passion for animals which is why they decided to work in that kind of place to begin with, but in the end the manager makes decisions regarding the habitat and care of the animals, and if they have been keeping the critters successfully that way for that long already, they see no reason to change it "for the benefit of the spider". Hell, they may even assume that if you come in and see it in those conditions long enough, you will "save" it, so it effectively makes a sale.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

We'll just hope you did well. I about quit going to this one LPS because of how they kept their T's. It wasn't so bad as they had sponges and improper substrate...just improperly sized and maintained housing. I found a P. irminia dead in its container, and the ladies were insisting it was molting....right up until they saw it in a death curl. (It took alot not to reenact Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch). The ladies there keep their own T's, but arachnids make up so little of the shop's sales that they focus more on how they keep their herps (which is excellent BTW). I educated them on how they could make use of their spare "Breeder Boxes," and make a more attractive and manageable display with the benefit of selling happier T's. The ladies are always friendly and willing to take advisement.....just how far remains to be seen, as I've not been there but once since the incident, and that was a quick in-and-out to pick up a brick of Plantation Soil....didn't even get to see the spydies, cuz I was in too much of a hurry.