Ok guys, here's the update...Again, its long.
We ended up staying until Friday at my Aunt's house in Monroe. However, before we left, I insisted that we take advantage of the local pet stores and we traveled around to visit a few of them. There isn't much of a selection of pet stores in Houma and I have not yet traveled to New Orleans or Baton Rouge to see what they have to offer so I was excited to explore Monroe's offerings.
Good news? Monroe has around 10 pet stores that I could find. Bad news? Most of them cater to dogs/cats and fish. I did strike gold, sorta, and found one that /specialized/ in Reptiles. I talked to the owner and he had a HUGE viewing room that had Tarantulas of all kinds in different enclosures, etc. and he also had a large assortment of Reptiles (obviously). I was so excited.... the catch? He was going out of business and had sold his entire collection in the last two months. Not a single T left in the store.
Sigh... well, I did luck out however, and managed to snag a good selection of Kritter Keepers, Cricket Keepers, rock formations, watering bowls, etc. for 75% off. I got like 60$ worth of stuff for 12$. So all and all, not a bad deal. I was disappointed and happy at the same time.
I did not find any thing else in Monroe that had Tarantulas other than a small store that specialized in dogs, but for some reason, he kept the occasional Tarantula on hand. I went by to visit and he was closed because of wind damage that he had suffered from Hurricane Gustav. Thats right. Hurricane Gustav. In Monroe. It knocked out power and knocked down a lot of trees. For those who do not know, Monroe is a good five hour drive from the coast, and yet it got hit HARD by Hurricane Gustav.
Any ways, I went back a little later on, and he was there, but the shop was still closed. I knocked any way and he answered the door. We talked for a bit and he showed me his Tarantula collection. A single 2 inch Rosehair in a small container - so small I doubt the Rosehair could even stand up completely on its legs. I felt bad for it. The owner, an older man, shook the container once (which made me wince), and then opened the container and let the Rose hair climb out on to his hands.
Immediately, I extended my own hand and basically forced the owner to let it crawl on to my hand. I knew I would be MUCH more careful with the loose and bewildered Tarantula than the owner would be (I did not want to find out if this was true). I cupped it carefully and let it move around a little bit but made sure it had no chance of falling to the floor. As soon as the owner was satisifed he had shown the Tarantula off to me, I put it back in the container and kept a concerned eye on it. We talked for a bit, I debated purchasing the Rose hair to save its life, but did not. I bid my farewell and moved on, feeling sick about Pet stores.
Despite this, I went to Shreveport, which is like a one and a half hour drive from Monroe, and checked out a couple of their pet stores. I was disgusted. This was by far the worst I have ever seen any Tarantula kept. I was excited at first because one of the stores had a bunch of Tarantulas of various types and I had not seen a lot of them in person before, but then it hit me how bad their housing conditions were. Filthy, covered in excrement, and some of them were kept in communal setups were you could obviously tell cannibalism had taken place...mainly because the bodies were still there half-eaten.
I felt sick to my stomach, but did see one Versicolor who was about two inches big that looked healthy. There were about six in the same container. One had a leg that looked like it was regenerating from molts. I had my eye on one of them though that looked healthy and the best of the lot. I was about to purchase it, but asked if it was wild caught or captive bred. At first I was told it was captive bred, but asked if he could confirm with the manager, and he came back saying it was wild caught. So I got my wife and we headed out of the store. I decided I would not visit another family-owned pet store WITHOUT recommendations ever again. I think that place should be shut down.
I was born in Shreveport, but have not been there in over 15 years, so I decided to visit my childhood neighborhood...on the way, I saw a Petco, and having purchased my beautiful Rosehair from there and having good luck with them so far (unlike others on the forum), I pulled in and went in to have a look. I was shocked to see that they had a Versicolor for sale and it was VERY healthy looking. It was about two inches big and beautiful. I begged my wife (yes, puppy dog eyes and all) and she agreed to let me have her. I first confirmed through several associates and a manager that it was captive bred and was told that the Versicolors there don't sell that fast and that particular Versi had been there for a couple of months. It had molted a couple times and was MUCH larger than when they first received it.
So happy as a kid on Christmas Day, I had them setup a temp. enclosure for me and loaded my new beautiful baby up. I craddled her enclosure on the way home and let my wife drive so I could check up on the Versi every so often. My wife thinks I am crazy but she is growing fond of my Ts more and more each day. She names them and ask me about them all the time.
Any ways, finally satisfied with my quest for a new T, I loaded all my Ts up as I had previously when heading up to Monroe and we set off for Houma...
On the way home we saw a LOT of damage. Trees, entire fields of pine and oaks, leveled to the ground. The damage was spread out but when you came across it - it was BAD. I saw a few homes cut in half by trees and a couple of trailer parks completely under water.
Houma itself was/is in bad shape. Power lines are down every where and signs/rooftops are torn apart and on the road. I do have to say that the recovery crews and Repair crews are doing a fantastic job of cleaning up and fixing the damage. We were with out power for about a day (a week total, but we were only here in Houma with out power for one day after we came back from Monroe) before it came back on...but we are one of the lucky ones. I have a lot of friends who still have no power and I hear only 30% of Houma has power at the moment. A lot of the stores are running off of generators and so are homes. Each day another neighborhood gets back up and running, but I fear with Ike coming, its all for nothing. If we get even the slightest hit, we will be in really really bad shape.
We are in no condition whatsoever to be hit by another storm. It will devastate this city and parish if it happens and I pray that it does not. There is plenty of food and every thing is going smoothly, but its chaotic because every red light is out, and people are doing what they can to stay comfortable in these conditions. If we do not get hit by Ike, I think that Houma and the southern Louisiana area will be recovered in a couple of months, probably longer, but if Ike hits....overall I believe the damage will be far worse than what we saw from Katrina.
Anyways, I am sorry for the long post, but thank you for reading it. If Ike comes our way, I'll update again with that Storm. I am pretty sure at this point that me, my wife, and my Ts will be riding out the next storm at our apartment. I am far too haggard and worn out to be fleeing yet again from another storm. If I have to, I will, but its truly an exhausting experience.
Thanks again.
We ended up staying until Friday at my Aunt's house in Monroe. However, before we left, I insisted that we take advantage of the local pet stores and we traveled around to visit a few of them. There isn't much of a selection of pet stores in Houma and I have not yet traveled to New Orleans or Baton Rouge to see what they have to offer so I was excited to explore Monroe's offerings.
Good news? Monroe has around 10 pet stores that I could find. Bad news? Most of them cater to dogs/cats and fish. I did strike gold, sorta, and found one that /specialized/ in Reptiles. I talked to the owner and he had a HUGE viewing room that had Tarantulas of all kinds in different enclosures, etc. and he also had a large assortment of Reptiles (obviously). I was so excited.... the catch? He was going out of business and had sold his entire collection in the last two months. Not a single T left in the store.
Sigh... well, I did luck out however, and managed to snag a good selection of Kritter Keepers, Cricket Keepers, rock formations, watering bowls, etc. for 75% off. I got like 60$ worth of stuff for 12$. So all and all, not a bad deal. I was disappointed and happy at the same time.
I did not find any thing else in Monroe that had Tarantulas other than a small store that specialized in dogs, but for some reason, he kept the occasional Tarantula on hand. I went by to visit and he was closed because of wind damage that he had suffered from Hurricane Gustav. Thats right. Hurricane Gustav. In Monroe. It knocked out power and knocked down a lot of trees. For those who do not know, Monroe is a good five hour drive from the coast, and yet it got hit HARD by Hurricane Gustav.
Any ways, I went back a little later on, and he was there, but the shop was still closed. I knocked any way and he answered the door. We talked for a bit and he showed me his Tarantula collection. A single 2 inch Rosehair in a small container - so small I doubt the Rosehair could even stand up completely on its legs. I felt bad for it. The owner, an older man, shook the container once (which made me wince), and then opened the container and let the Rose hair climb out on to his hands.
Immediately, I extended my own hand and basically forced the owner to let it crawl on to my hand. I knew I would be MUCH more careful with the loose and bewildered Tarantula than the owner would be (I did not want to find out if this was true). I cupped it carefully and let it move around a little bit but made sure it had no chance of falling to the floor. As soon as the owner was satisifed he had shown the Tarantula off to me, I put it back in the container and kept a concerned eye on it. We talked for a bit, I debated purchasing the Rose hair to save its life, but did not. I bid my farewell and moved on, feeling sick about Pet stores.
Despite this, I went to Shreveport, which is like a one and a half hour drive from Monroe, and checked out a couple of their pet stores. I was disgusted. This was by far the worst I have ever seen any Tarantula kept. I was excited at first because one of the stores had a bunch of Tarantulas of various types and I had not seen a lot of them in person before, but then it hit me how bad their housing conditions were. Filthy, covered in excrement, and some of them were kept in communal setups were you could obviously tell cannibalism had taken place...mainly because the bodies were still there half-eaten.
I felt sick to my stomach, but did see one Versicolor who was about two inches big that looked healthy. There were about six in the same container. One had a leg that looked like it was regenerating from molts. I had my eye on one of them though that looked healthy and the best of the lot. I was about to purchase it, but asked if it was wild caught or captive bred. At first I was told it was captive bred, but asked if he could confirm with the manager, and he came back saying it was wild caught. So I got my wife and we headed out of the store. I decided I would not visit another family-owned pet store WITHOUT recommendations ever again. I think that place should be shut down.
I was born in Shreveport, but have not been there in over 15 years, so I decided to visit my childhood neighborhood...on the way, I saw a Petco, and having purchased my beautiful Rosehair from there and having good luck with them so far (unlike others on the forum), I pulled in and went in to have a look. I was shocked to see that they had a Versicolor for sale and it was VERY healthy looking. It was about two inches big and beautiful. I begged my wife (yes, puppy dog eyes and all) and she agreed to let me have her. I first confirmed through several associates and a manager that it was captive bred and was told that the Versicolors there don't sell that fast and that particular Versi had been there for a couple of months. It had molted a couple times and was MUCH larger than when they first received it.
So happy as a kid on Christmas Day, I had them setup a temp. enclosure for me and loaded my new beautiful baby up. I craddled her enclosure on the way home and let my wife drive so I could check up on the Versi every so often. My wife thinks I am crazy but she is growing fond of my Ts more and more each day. She names them and ask me about them all the time.
Any ways, finally satisfied with my quest for a new T, I loaded all my Ts up as I had previously when heading up to Monroe and we set off for Houma...
On the way home we saw a LOT of damage. Trees, entire fields of pine and oaks, leveled to the ground. The damage was spread out but when you came across it - it was BAD. I saw a few homes cut in half by trees and a couple of trailer parks completely under water.
Houma itself was/is in bad shape. Power lines are down every where and signs/rooftops are torn apart and on the road. I do have to say that the recovery crews and Repair crews are doing a fantastic job of cleaning up and fixing the damage. We were with out power for about a day (a week total, but we were only here in Houma with out power for one day after we came back from Monroe) before it came back on...but we are one of the lucky ones. I have a lot of friends who still have no power and I hear only 30% of Houma has power at the moment. A lot of the stores are running off of generators and so are homes. Each day another neighborhood gets back up and running, but I fear with Ike coming, its all for nothing. If we get even the slightest hit, we will be in really really bad shape.
We are in no condition whatsoever to be hit by another storm. It will devastate this city and parish if it happens and I pray that it does not. There is plenty of food and every thing is going smoothly, but its chaotic because every red light is out, and people are doing what they can to stay comfortable in these conditions. If we do not get hit by Ike, I think that Houma and the southern Louisiana area will be recovered in a couple of months, probably longer, but if Ike hits....overall I believe the damage will be far worse than what we saw from Katrina.
Anyways, I am sorry for the long post, but thank you for reading it. If Ike comes our way, I'll update again with that Storm. I am pretty sure at this point that me, my wife, and my Ts will be riding out the next storm at our apartment. I am far too haggard and worn out to be fleeing yet again from another storm. If I have to, I will, but its truly an exhausting experience.
Thanks again.
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