New pet store rescue

[reptyls]

I know I should not have done it..., but I went into a local pet shop and was horrified at the conditions they were keeping their T's They had 2 rosies and an A. Avic. none of them had water one rosie had old aspen bedding and the other rosie and avic were in bare KK's. They all had many dead crickets in the cages and mounds of feces. The avic also had an old exuvium that looked to be at least weeks old! I did explain to the girl working there about how to properly house and care for them, I really hope it sunk in with her. After fuming about it at work for most of the day, I went back and spoke to another girl there and explained again how to care for them and she said she would try to fix the cages. I just couldn't bring myself to leave them all there so I bought the Avic.(I know I fell into the trap of supporting them):wall: :wall: :wall:
Anyways here are a couple pics of the cage it was in and the new Temp. housing I threw together.

 

[Hedorah99]

:clap: Thats a good story man. At least you tried to educate them on the folly of their care. Keep checking in on the others ones in the shop and let us know if they change their ways. truthfully to properly care for a T is no more expensive than improperly caring for them, so hopefully they will follow through.

 

[Ando55]

Props to you for trying to educating them! Hopefully they get the message and acts on it, as for how the avic looks now, its a completely new tone when looking at the before and after, that's a happy avic now!

 

[Talkenlate04]

Yikes thats bad..... I did something similar not to long ago.... it was in a container just like that almost... but this was a mature smithi in moldy wet bark chips....... I got the owner to hand her over for 25 bucks and schooled him on how to keep things proper. Good job man. Its hard as a T keeper to over look things like that.

 

[reptyls]

Thank You

I think it will be a lot happier here. I will be checking in on that store and will make sure they have straightened it out. They also had some snakes and lizards that seemed to be provided for about as well as most pet stores do, so there is some hope! I will keep this updated when I go back there.

 

[Selenops]

I wish I could afford to rescue every invert or reptile that falls into negligance just because it doesn't sell or the present caretakers have no clue about the simple demands to keep these wonderful creatures healthy and happy.

It can't take more than hour to maintain the needs of these creatures on a daily basis in these storefront establishments. And half the joy is looking at your own hand involved in the work and the finished product of your efforts -- a clean, sanitary, and proper environment for my animals.

Look at the difference of habitats in the above pics, even the Pinktoe looks more energetic and happier.

 

[cliff]

Conditions like that add a lot of fuel to the "anti everything" people!
You would think that a businessman or woman would want to present their marketable items in the most pleasing light. That just makes me sick!

Cliff

 

[mikeymo]

you're a good man

 

[Selenops]

Conditions like that add a lot of fuel to the "anti everything" people!
You would think that a businessman or woman would want to present their marketable items in the most pleasing light. That just makes me sick!

Cliff

It is a sad sight, all it takes is a bit of mild phobia and/or seller's meanspirited malaise and laziness.

Or simply inadequate poor employee training.

 

[Mina]

I shuddered when I saw that tank and then started breathing much easier when I saw what the lovely home you fixed for the little avic. I know we aren't supposed to "rescue" animals from pet stores, I know the whys and reasons, but I couldn't have left the poor little thing there either.
I hope they listened to you and will now house, water and feed the other properly.

 

[arrowhd]

See, one person can make a difference. Take the new setup back into the store and meet with the owner/manager. Explain the problem and if they are a reputable business they will fix the problem. Thats about all you can do.

 

[Code Monkey]

The avic also had an old exuvium that looked to be at least weeks old!

I can honestly say that I've never seen petstore housing for Ts that bad. I've seen metric tons of inappropriate housing, but nothing quite that ignorant for a setup.

One thing did jump out at me with your post though, and it's the line I quoted: why is the old exuvium part of the bad housing equation? No water, nothing to anchor a tubeweb, obviously ignorant feeding practices, check, I'm with you on that, but an old exuvium? The only reason to remove exuviums at all is our sense of aesthetics, you're hardly endangering or stressing the spider by leaving their old skins in a tank.

 

[FOOTBALL FAN]

thats disgusting how they can keep them in that condition, it makes me angry, although you feel it may of been supporting the petshop, if it means doing it so an animal is kept properly and has a good life then you did the right thing.

 

[Alice]

i'v seen some bad setups in pet stors, but that tops all of them

i know why you shouldn't rescue ts from stores, but in this case, i think i'd have done the same... :worship:

 

[tmanjim]

That is definitely the most disgusting housing I have ever seen. I would have done exactly the same thing. It has obviuosly been there a while. Why do these morons even try to sell T's in the first place. GOOD JOB.

 

[reptyls]

but an old exuvium? The only reason to remove exuviums at all is our sense of aesthetics, you're hardly endangering or stressing the spider by leaving their old skins in a tank.

Code monkey, That is true that it will not endanger them, I was just trying to point out that they wouldn't even take a few seconds to remove even that after it had obviously been in there for a few weeks!

 

[Mr.Scorpion]

Nice rescue! I bet the avic is happy now. My local pet store is bad, but not that bad.

 

[Code Monkey]

Code monkey, That is true that it will not endanger them, I was just trying to point out that they wouldn't even take a few seconds to remove even that after it had obviously been in there for a few weeks!

Yeah, but by that logic I and I'm sure many other long term keepers are doing something, if not bad, at least slothful. Some exuvia are removed promptly, others not until I change their caging, it depends on the scenario.

I've got exuvia with some of my Avics that go back to their first moults in their current housing. There's no reason to remove them and I'd have to tear up the tube webs to do so. My P. murinus will eventually shove her old exuvia out of her burrow, but I'm not going to tweak her out to get it sooner. I've got several slings and juveniles with exuvia in there scattered throughout due to the way their habitat and moulting habits come together.

From the p.o.v. of a petstore, I can see why it might be good to remove them promptly just so that the display looks its best, but that was obviously not the priority of these store keepers

 

[Taceas]

Normally I don't agree with rescuing pet store animals, as it just reinforces to the management "that it sold", but I'm kind of glad you did.

I have NEVER seen enclosures of any animal be that disgusting!

Now sure like Code Monkey says, we all have our lazy moments and don't religiously clean up after every little event in our spider's homes immediately after it happens, but good grief!

Such as...I still have a huge poop splatter/streak that's a week old to clean off the walls of my Avic. avic's Exo Terra cage. But she's in pre-molt right now and I don't want to disturb her anymore than necessary. But I do pick up food boluses, I clean and refill water bowls as necessary, I wipe poo-shots off sling display cubes, I remove exuvia within a day or two of the molt if I can't get it out immediately.

Although I cannot for the life of me imagine that leaving the living conditions like that of animals for sale for extended periods of time being all that beneficial towards selling the creatures at a premium. If the employees were afraid of them and didn't want to clean out the cages, fine. But then they should consult with an arachno-freak in the area to come in and volunteer his/her time or barter services for merchandise to ensure the animals are well cared for, or either they don't need to carry them. If THEY, the pet store, cannot properly maintain them, its wrong to sell them.

Around here the only qualm I have about T's for sale in the only shop that carries them is they have terrestrials in a basketball acrylic display case with little substrate (repti-carpet instead) and they have Rosies climbing the walls and dropping down. I haven't been tempted yet as A) I don't like buying wild caught adults B) $25 for animals kept in sub-par conditions is too much C) I'm not really into "ugly" Rosies much.

 

[hcsk8ter]

Good for you. You're a good person. Those are disgusting living conditions. Report them to the ASPCA or the local BBB. They deserve to get shut down. Sickening.