"It's not an Avic it's a Pinktoe"

[Shell]

To the OP, I'm a newbie too and I've gone through a similar thing about an avic. Oy oy. What irritates me, in regards to anything, not just T-related, is when someone acts like they know it all, then you kindly tell them otherwise and even when there's proof you're correct, they still roll their eyes like you're the stupidest thing since neon spandex pants. There's no reason for people to act that way... if I thought I knew something and someone told me differently and they were indeed correct, I'd thank them for letting ME know so now I've learned more. I'd certainly never be rude about it. Sheesh...

I agree, I just don't get that "holier than thou" attitude!

 

[It_Glows]

As sad as it may seem, you must fight the urge to "rescue" neglected spiders in any LPS. By "rescuing" it you are encouraging their husbandry practices and they will just replace it without changing their set-up because it sold. The ideal thing to do would be(and don't hate me for saying this) to let it die in their hands. They would see that keeping T's in their store is unprofitable and would stop ordering them. I know this kind of defeats the purpose of growing the hobby, but it is better than the LPS offering a wide variety of species that are improperly cared for.

must be why my LPS stopped selling both scorpions AND tarantula's, luckily i got my beautiful girl before hand, but they just switched arachnids for more reptiles

 

[Ariel]

What irritates me, in regards to anything, not just T-related, is when someone acts like they know it all, then you kindly tell them otherwise and even when there's proof you're correct, they still roll their eyes like you're the stupidest thing since neon spandex pants.

I have this happen a lot, I even went as far as printing out an entire sheet and giving it to the person so he knew what i was talking about, and he still said I was lying. The worst part is that later that week I heard him talking about the same subject, and he was telling them the stuff he called me a liar over!!! :evil: :evil:

 

[Bill S]

There aint no point in trying to teach stupid people..

All of us are born ignorant. But stupid is the result of deliberately remaining ignorant. And some people are quite stubborn in their desire to stay that way.

 

[Redneck]

All of us are born ignorant. But stupid is the result of deliberately remaining ignorant. And some people are quite stubborn in their desire to stay that way.

Correct me if you believe I might be misunderstanding what you are saying.. If someone chooses to be ignorant that makes them stupid.. Correct?

If so that is why I say there aint no point in teaching stupid people..
To correct my previous statement.. There aint not point in trying to teach stupid people.. Since they would rather stay that way..

 

[Steve Calceatum]

I agree, I just don't get that "holier than thou" attitude!

It's a form of being self-important. Obviously they get PAID to do this, so they have it all figured out......especially when some stupid customer has the AUDACITY to correct their methods in front of the "real" paying customers, who are buying hotter-ticket items than bugs.

 

[Mack&Cass]

The town where we live is pretty bad as far as pet stores go. There's a shop that specializes in feeders and that's the only good one here. She breeds her own feeders, and some places, crickets die immediately if they're not supplied with a constant source of water, but not hers. And she's the only one that works in the store, and she's a teacher up at the university here as well, and she really knows her stuff.

The other two pet shops are terrible in their own ways. There's one that's just a generic brand name pet store (Pet Valu) and they rarely get T's in. Mackenzie used to work here, but has since quit, which is good because we're kind of boycotting it. Their biggest problem is snakes. They have three BP's there and they are all on that rodent bedding. I think it's cedar or something? They also have the most gorgeous GTP, but the thing is clearly pretty sick and it's too bad because no one is going to buy it. The experienced snake keepers in the city (which there aren't very many of) know better than to buy a snake from Pet Valu, and a person who's new to snakes isn't going to spend $700 on a really mean snake (I'd be mean too if I were that snake).
The other pet store specializes in reptiles and fish. I want to punch every employee that works there. Where do I start?...well here's a list:
1. They sell Achatina fulica (giant African land snails) which are illegal in Canada, and it's really being cracked down upon, and they're laying pretty hefty fines for anyone caught with these, or any tropical roaches...when we told one of the girls that they're illegal she was like "I know", and we were just astounded that they knew they were illegal and still selling them! I bet they're not telling people buying them that they're illegal. They could potentially lose their business license for this and they're just blowing it off
2. (this is looking like it's going to be a long post haha) Their mali uromastyx has all these weird tumor-looking things around its mouth and its heartbreaking. He's the cutest little thing ever, but you shouldn't have sick animals on display...and for sale.
3. They had a horned frog with prolapse, I know this because they told us. They said it had prolapse, then it went away..then it got it again, and then about a week later we were there and it was for sale...I'm pretty sure it died though
4. Their chuckwallas don't have a water dish...they may be desert animals, but as far as I'm concerned, all reptiles should have a water dish
5. They had an emp and it had a sponge and there were dusted crickets in the enclosure, we told them they didn't need the sponge or the calcium dust on the crickets, but obviously they didn't listen
6. This next part angers me a lot...we went there to get a live pinky for our immature female B. albopilosum (don't start on me with the mouse, our male just matured and she's one molt away from maturity so we need her to molt soon) and the employee was like "well it can eat a dead one just as well as it can a live one", well we tried a dead one and it didn't work...when we got a live one from that reptile feeder place, she took it in a second. We tried to explain to her that T's base things on movement and she was going on and one. Which is extremely hypocritical because their sand boa was on live mice, and I'm pretty sure a T can kill a mouse a lot quicker than an 8" sand boa
7. (I'm almost done) Apparently a customer went in their wanting a live mouse for his beardie who wasn't eating and he wanted to try a mouse because of the high fat content (which is exactly what I would do if either of my beardies wouldn't eat) and they refused to sell it to him. Are you kidding me? Let me reiterate....your yearling SAND BOA is on live mice, from what I've seen beardies have pretty strong jaws and pretty sharp teeth and I'm sure that mouse's neck would be broken with the first bite.
8. They have a lion fish and the sign says "please don't stick your hands in the tank, this fish is poisonous" Okay - I realize that not a lot of people realize there's a difference between venomous and poisonous, but you're a reptile specialty store, you should know the difference...anyway they fed it a live goldfish the other day while we were there to get heat pads (at least heat pads can't be sick)...and you're going to try to lecture us about feeding a live mouse to our T...that lion fish swallowed that gold fish whole...and it was a gold fish in from a shipment, not one that was bred themselves
9. My moms leopard gecko has three little eggs inside her (yay!) and she was at the place getting crickets and she asked if they knew anything about it (she did research but likes to double check..I don't know why she bothered with them) and the girl was like I'm not sure, but make sure she doesn't get egg bound. It's like, wow, you read a term in a book and you're just throwing it out there, way to go. I told my mom I'm pretty sure that leopard geckos don't typically get egg bound, especially since my mom has a lay box all set up in the enclosure...it's not a chameleon or anything

Wow, that was long...but I hate them. And even after not listening to us about the snails and the scorpion, we were in there one day and some randoms were there wanting to buy their black throat monitor and they said they didn't have an enclosure set up for it yet, but they will. So the employee asked Mackenzie if he could help get the monitor out of the cage...and then told us in private they didn't feel comfortable selling the monitor to them...well then you can refuse to sell it...a monitor isn't really something you should purchase spontaneously, Mackenzie didn't end up helping...they were waiting for another employee to come and help out. We were hoping they'd refuse to sell it to the guys but the next time we were in there, it was gone. So you're not going to listen to us even though you KNOW we know what we're talking about (the one employee has a few T's and always asks us questions) but yet you're going to ask Mackenzie to wrangle your black throat monitor because you're too scared to? Ugh. :wall: Sorry for the length, guys

Cassandra

 

[Teal]

This is beyond true!
This has nothing to do with T's but I excercise rode Thoroughbred racehorses for years and also managed the training barn. We seemed to have a revolving door of barn help (these horses are not typically super friendsly and easy to deal with, the odd one yes but not as a rule.) My boss hired this girl who had never worked with horses, and she was put on my staff. I asked her why she wanted to work with horses, she told me "because they are pretty."

My reply was "yes they are but I think you would be better off learning at a riding school or trail ride place where the horses might as well be puppy dogs" she informed that she could do it etc etc so I asked her to go water "Cotton" he was young colt, that was a giant suck, not a mean bone in his body. Long story short she cried cuz he woudnt let her in (he wanted her to pet him and I tried to explain that) and she refused to open the door. I then gave her a stern warning, that he is nice, but as a rule theses horses are quite "dangerous" so if she cant handle it she needs to go to a diff. farm. She never came back the next day. I felt like a b@#$% but she was gonna get herself or someone hurt.

I encountered that situation several times a week at the Thoroughbred barn I rode for! :wall:

One episode in particular I remember was when a new youngin' who thought he was a bada** barn hand thought he could roughly handle "Point Majour" - a 17 hand, 3 year old stallion. Point was a complete jerk of a horse to begin with... long story short, the kid ended up with a broken arm, a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken shoulder (from being BIT). Point had tried to shoulder past the kid, and the kid smacked him in the face with the end of the lead shank.. Point bit his shoulder, then reared up and smashed the kid to the ground

Anyways.. my point, is that stupid people think they know things when they don't, and then bad things happen - whether it's to them, or the animals involved. And unfortunately, it's usually the animals

 

[Shell]

I encountered that situation several times a week at the Thoroughbred barn I rode for! :wall:

One episode in particular I remember was when a new youngin' who thought he was a bada** barn hand thought he could roughly handle "Point Majour" - a 17 hand, 3 year old stallion. Point was a complete jerk of a horse to begin with... long story short, the kid ended up with a broken arm, a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken shoulder (from being BIT). Point had tried to shoulder past the kid, and the kid smacked him in the face with the end of the lead shank.. Point bit his shoulder, then reared up and smashed the kid to the ground

Anyways.. my point, is that stupid people think they know things when they don't, and then bad things happen - whether it's to them, or the animals involved. And unfortunately, it's usually the animals

Yep, this was exactly my reason for being tough on the new people I trained. Not to be mean but to make sure them and the horses didn't get hurt! I grew up on a horse farm (Morgan show horses) and I have seen what can happen to this kind of person even with horses who don't typically behave the way TB's racehorses do. Working as a vet tech for 7 yrs too, I have seen it with new people there as well, thinking they can handle the dog who is trying to eat us all etc etc.

 

[forrestpengra]

I actually worked at a Petco during university for a summer as the Reptile and Aquatic specialist. As a specialist they actually weren't too bad to let you do what you needed. They don't intend on losing money on anything. Certain corrective measures were made and survivability increased while I was there. They were receptive to my knowledge.

By far the biggest issues were with their saltwater fish. They had some parasite problems, etc... and wanted to treat with copper. Well that obviously doesn't jive with the inverts (shrimp, snails, and corals). I stopped that before it could go any further. But I have no clue what is being done now, it was years ago that I worked there.

Oh all their Ball Pythons had mites. It wasn't their fault though, they came in like that from the breeder. You save money on buying cheap animals from a crap breeder but then have to spend more to bring them back to health... go figure.

A mom and pop store, should be more concerned about their bottom line, but they often can be resistant to changing their husbandry methods. Which is confusing when survivability directly correlats to increased profits...

Their are only one or two LPS that I've even been in that I would purchase T's from. One being in Lansing, Michigan, called Preuss Pets. They are good, in fact I think there are a couple of their employees on this board.

 

[Shell]

It's a form of being self-important. Obviously they get PAID to do this, so they have it all figured out......especially when some stupid customer has the AUDACITY to correct their methods in front of the "real" paying customers, who are buying hotter-ticket items than bugs.

Thats a very good point, I guess feeder mice just aren't big ticket enough for me to know anything Although, I was the only customer in the store at the time lol but I totally see what you mean. Like she said she has a rosehair therefore she knows lol I should have said well I have a G.pulchripes so I must too, but I figured since the pulchripes they had for sale was listed as "G.aureostriata - Giant Goldtsripe Tarantula" I would have likely lost her on that one lol

 

[Ariel]

Yep, this was exactly my reason for being tough on the new people I trained. Not to be mean but to make sure them and the horses didn't get hurt! I grew up on a horse farm (Morgan show horses) and I have seen what can happen to this kind of person even with horses who don't typically behave the way TB's racehorses do. Working as a vet tech for 7 yrs too, I have seen it with new people there as well, thinking they can handle the dog who is trying to eat us all etc etc.

I hate people like that. :evil: I'm not a vet tech (my mom is) but I do work at a pet clinic and we've got a few people who think they know what they're doing, don't listen to advice yadda yadda. this one particular girl, she's nice and all but she just doesn't listen, and she does things apart from how she should have been taught.
with in the last couple of months she's been bitten twice and both could have easily been avoided. She was working with a dog in a room and the owner said the dog didn't like to have her feet touched, well the tech was trying to trim toenails, but she's like "oh don't worry I got it" on the last foot the dog just whipped around and bit her in the face.

Just last week she was bitten again by another dog. The dog was only on a light anesthetic and they were opening her mouth to but the tube in as they prepped for sugery, instead of grasping behind the canine teeth she pulled the dogs mouth open from the front and the dog just clamped down on her pinkie, nearly took the tip right off.

I don't claim to be an expert of handling animals, but I know when to be carful, I've been working there for 2+ years and I've never been bitten save for our nasty tempered clinic cat Gunner who bit my head (not hard enough to draw blood or anything) becaue he didn't want to go back in his cage. (he doesn't really have a bad temper, he just hates being picked up or put in a cage. I've come close to a bit a few times, the most memorable being from a Spitz. Someone didn't close the dogs door all the way and I'm cleaning cages and he got out, well he was in the middle of a blood transfusion so that dog HAD to be stopped almost immediately so it didn't tear out the IV or break the line. I dropped what i was doing and bolted after this previously very very sweet dog, I didn't have a leash on my and there wasn't time to grab one so I just looped my arm around its neck and next minute I was jerking my arm back right as its mouth started to close on my arm. It's teeth grazed my wrist. no blood, nothing. i got lucky, I should have been more carrful.

 

[Shell]

You save money on buying cheap animals from a crap breeder but then have to spend more to bring them back to health... go figure.

QUOTE]

How true is that! Our first Ball Python was purchased from this very exotic LPS I mentioned in the OP (my husband didnt listen to me that I didnt want to buy anything from an LPS lol). and it turned out she had a nasty bacterial infection (abscesses started appearing the day after we brought her home) Thankfully being a vet tech and knowing a great exotic vet, I was able to treat her with inj. antiobiotics and she healed up beautifully. We could have taken her back, but I figured she would die in their care. Thankfully my husband listened to me after this and our 2nd Ball was purchased from a very reputable breeder, as will any future ones we get.

This also worked in my favor so to speak when bought our T, as my hubby had learned that I DO know what Im talking about when I said we are not buying a T at an LPS either lol. My thinking growing up with purebred horses, and Labradors is that I would never buy a horse or dog from anyone less than reputable, so why a T or BP or even our exotic fish for that matter. The only other LPS pet we have is our hamster but hey, he's a hamster lol and a healthy one at that who has lived 1 full year longer than he should have and is still going, go figure.

 

[Shell]

I hate people like that. :evil: I'm not a vet tech (my mom is) but I do work at a pet clinic and we've got a few people who think they know what they're doing, don't listen to advice yadda yadda. this one particular girl, she's nice and all but she just doesn't listen, and she does things apart from how she should have been taught.
with in the last couple of months she's been bitten twice and both could have easily been avoided. She was working with a dog in a room and the owner said the dog didn't like to have her feet touched, well the tech was trying to trim toenails, but she's like "oh don't worry I got it" on the last foot the dog just whipped around and bit her in the face.

Just last week she was bitten again by another dog. The dog was only on a light anesthetic and they were opening her mouth to but the tube in as they prepped for sugery, instead of grasping behind the canine teeth she pulled the dogs mouth open from the front and the dog just clamped down on her pinkie, nearly took the tip right off.

I don't claim to be an expert of handling animals, but I know when to be carful, I've been working there for 2+ years and I've never been bitten save for our nasty tempered clinic cat Gunner who bit my head (not hard enough to draw blood or anything) becaue he didn't want to go back in his cage. (he doesn't really have a bad temper, he just hates being picked up or put in a cage. I've come close to a bit a few times, the most memorable being from a Spitz. Someone didn't close the dogs door all the way and I'm cleaning cages and he got out, well he was in the middle of a blood transfusion so that dog HAD to be stopped almost immediately so it didn't tear out the IV or break the line. I dropped what i was doing and bolted after this previously very very sweet dog, I didn't have a leash on my and there wasn't time to grab one so I just looped my arm around its neck and next minute I was jerking my arm back right as its mouth started to close on my arm. It's teeth grazed my wrist. no blood, nothing. i got lucky, I should have been more carrful.

In 7 years doing what I do (I actualy just quit to stay at home with my 2 kids, as my son has autism) I have only ever been bit my own cats lol and that was because I was trying to treat an abcsess by myself She was being a typical cat and my hubby refused to hold her for me lol (to be fair he is allergic to them and if she scratched him he would have been in agony for a few days) but instead of calling my friend/co-vet tech at the clinic I stubbornly decided to do it myself and got nailed.

 

[Ariel]

In 7 years doing what I do (I actualy just quit to stay at home with my 2 kids, as my son has autism) I have only ever been bit my own cats lol and that was because I was trying to treat an abcsess by myself She was being a typical cat and my hubby refused to hold her for me lol (to be fair he is allergic to them and if she scratched him he would have been in agony for a few days) but instead of calling my friend/co-vet tech at the clinic I stubbornly decided to do it myself and got nailed.

as far as my memory serves I've never been bitten by one of my cats, they've done well to really scratch me up though but they're the kind of cats who chase each other around rooms, up and down couches...and occupants on said couches...I have been bitten by my dog, but we were roughhousing in the backyard, I don't blame him.

 

[Shell]

as far as my memory serves I've never been bitten by one of my cats, they've done well to really scratch me up though but they're the kind of cats who chase each other around rooms, up and down couches...and occupants on said couches...I have been bitten by my dog, but we were roughhousing in the backyard, I don't blame him.

This was the only bite I have ever had from my cat. We have 2 (a Ragdoll and a regular long haired tabby) they are both normally VERY sweet, but the tabby was a stray before coming to my clinic needing a home so occasionally she does have an attitude lol

I have never been bitten by my dogs, but have always had labs, so even roughhousing they are typically gentle or at least "soft mouthed" if they do grab on

Come to think of it, thats the only bite I have ever had (That did any damage) The racehorses certainly tried from time to time, but never succeeded. Although I have had feeder mice chew on me, and my hamster last night took a nibble of my figer, but I smelled like raisins as I had just given my son some, so not the hamsters fault lol

 

[Ariel]

This was the only bite I have ever had from my cat. We have 2 (a Ragdoll and a regular long haired tabby) they are both normally VERY sweet, but the tabby was a stray before coming to my clinic needing a home so occasionally she does have an attitude lol

I have never been bitten by my dogs, but have always had labs, so even roughhousing they are typically gentle or at least "soft mouthed" if they do grab on

Come to think of it, thats the only bite I have ever had! The racehorses certainly tried from time to time, but never succeeded. Although I have had feeder mice chew on me, and my hamster last night took a nibble of my figer, but I smelled like raisins as I had just given my son some, so not the hamsters fault lol

Its not that my dog has a hard or aggressive bite, it's just he's part hearding dog. So it was a sharp nip but it was enough to give me a scar. Other than him I've been bitten by our birds plenty of times, several times by my cockatiel Spunky and i've been bit a few times each from my moms conure and my dad jardines parrot. thats about it though, growing up around so many animals i would have thought I'd have been bit more, but I suppose growing up with so many animals has taught me to be careful when I aught to be.

 

[Shell]

Its not that my dog has a hard or aggressive bite, it's just he's part hearding dog. So it was a sharp nip but it was enough to give me a scar. Other than him I've been bitten by our birds plenty of times, several times by my cockatiel Spunky and i've been bit a few times each from my moms conure and my dad jardines parrot. thats about it though, growing up around so many animals i would have thought I'd have been bit more, but I suppose growing up with so many animals has taught me to be careful when I aught to be.

I hear ya, we did have a border collie and while she never nipped me, she did my husband once while playing and left a small wound. Its just the breeding, not that they are mean, a breed like a lab is bred to be gentle in the mouth (not that they cant do damage though, Ive seen it ) whereas a herding breed will give quick little nips.

You mentioning birds made me remember my "love bird from hell" I had growing up. I swear this was the devil in cute little birdey form! She drew blood every time I fed her and only with me (I was only around 8 when I got her) Not sure why, my mom kept birds for years and made sure I was handling her properly, but she still hated me.

 

[Ariel]

I hear ya, we did have a border collie and while she never nipped me, she did my husband once while playing and left a small wound. Its just the breeding, not that they are mean, a breed like a lab is bred to be gentle in the mouth (not that they cant do damage though, Ive seen it ) whereas a herding breed will give quick little nips.

You mentioning birds made me remember my "love bird from hell" I had growing up. I swear this was the devil in cute little birdey form! She drew blood every time I fed her and only with me (I was only around 8 when I got her) Not sure why, my mom kept birds for years and made sure I was handling her properly, but she still hated me.

Birds are weird, it doesn't matter how much you know about them or how to handle them, some are just like that. Love birds in particular tend to bond to a single person and if you're not that person, than they don't particularly care for you. Thats part of my problem with my bird Spunky, I'm competeing with not another human, but his female cage mate Deevo, who LOVES me but hates my mom who, incidently, is the one who rescued her. The bird choses you, not the other way around, though from an early age and the right handling you can certainly way the odds of them chosing you in your favor.

King my grandmothers boyfriends indian ring neck parakeet was hand raised by Kevin and his son, but the bird turned mean on them, so I started working with him and now the bird has bonded to me. While he sometimes tolerates other people, I am the only one who can get him out of his cage and mess with him.

I've been around birds all my life, my mom even bred cockatiels for a time, but i still can't get any where near my moms conure Daisy, but my sister, who hates birds, is the one daisy chose. My sis is the only one who can get daisy off of her cage. Go figure.

similar to something I said in another thread, you don't own the bird, the bird owns you.

 

[Shell]

Birds are weird, it doesn't matter how much you know about them or how to handle them, some are just like that. Love birds in particular tend to bond to a single person and if you're not that person, than they don't particularly care for you. Thats part of my problem with my bird Spunky, I'm competeing with not another human, but his female cage mate Deevo, who LOVES me but hates my mom who, incidently, is the one who rescued her. The bird choses you, not the other way around, though from an early age and the right handling you can certainly way the odds of them chosing you in your favor.

King my grandmothers boyfriends indian ring neck parakeet was hand raised by Kevin and his son, but the bird turned mean on them, so I started working with him and now the bird has bonded to me. While he sometimes tolerates other people, I am the only one who can get him out of his cage and mess with him.

I've been around birds all my life, my mom even bred cockatiels for a time, but i still can't get any where near my moms conure Daisy, but my sister, who hates birds, is the one daisy chose. My sis is the only one who can get daisy off of her cage. Go figure.

similar to something I said in another thread, you don't own the bird, the bird owns you.

LOL this is exactly the reason I no longer own birds! While I think they are beautiful creatures, they honestly freak me out lol They didnt used to but good devil bird did me in. We had her from a very young baby, as far as I remember my mom said she was about as young as you can get for a pet (she did used to breed lovebirds, and seeing as I was 8 at the time, Im likely not translating what she told me properly lol) and I handled her right from when we got her. She started out loving me, but as she matured she decided I was evil and the feeling was very mutual lol

I do love parrots, but dont think I would own one, just because Im not comfortable around most birds. Although I said the same about T's. Actually I do believe my exact words were "over my dead body will we get an *expletive* giant spider" when my hubby teased about buying one. Then I started talking to my friend (Primal Taunt here on the boards) and thanks to him my thinking really shifted and look at me now