Petco... Now offering 25 species of tarantulas. Thoughts and rants

[viper69]

PETA in the USA might as be a domestic terror group. There is a reason why PETA in other countries do not associate with US.

Actually there is no "might" about it. PETA has members who are terrorists in the USA.

Google up PETA and UCLA or UC Santa Cruz or UC San Fran. One professor at UCLA, a well known case, stopped using animals in his research because he was threatened with a bombing. The guy has a wife and kids. Previous to that guy another faculty member at UCLA I believe was bombed.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Firebombs-show-new-tactics-of-animal-activists-3202365.php

 

[Toxoderidae]

Please no PETA. They will make it even worse with their "they should only be in the wild" mentality, especially when the only chance for the survival of many species IS to be in captivity.

Like 70% of the Poecilotheria genus.

 

[Toxoderidae]

Actually there is no "might" about it. PETA has members who are terrorists in the USA.

Google up PETA and UCLA or UC Santa Cruz or UC San Fran

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Firebombs-show-new-tactics-of-animal-activists-3202365.php

Peta has been known to kill dogs and cats they see outside, even if it's in someone's backyard. They're a special kind of messed up.

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

Like 70% of the Poecilotheria genus.

Exactly. *sighs*

If the day eventually comes when species DO get banned, I can't see myself getting rid of anything. I just hope we can prevent ridiculous legislation before it even has the chance to get passed.

 

[dragonfire1577]

Please no PETA. They will make it even worse with their "they should only be in the wild" mentality, especially when the only chance for the survival of many species IS to be in captivity.

Yeah my idea was that someone would contact them and not associate the scenario with us keepers and they would just let them fight petco since they have more power than us but at that point I only knew they were sorta bad but now I have realized they are actually terrible and would probably make it worse. It sucks we don't really have a way to stop petco's stocking of these spiders. (Besides the Viva la Spiderlución which is a great idea)

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

I was going to post this yesterday so now it's time. Here in Midvale, Utah Petco is one of the first to get some of this wonderful species. Unfortunately is sad to know that every single one will most likely parish do to that the employees will have to keep the spiderlings in this wonderful containers that Petco is using.
If you wish to contact Petco contact the corporate office. Do not call Petco stores they cannot do anything about your claim.

It's obvious that the corporate office is not educated. Every container has some sort of sponge for substrate to keep the humidity. This spiderlings are all new born how many will parish if people don't purchase them? I was told that the price of this spiders are $19.99 with the containers.

 

[dragonfire1577]

they are so teeny and in huge containers with awful substrate so, it's terrible just like we expected.

 

[Venom1080]

Here I can get a subfusca at 3'' for 40 dollars, a regalis for 30, and a miranda for 20 - 50

well actually thats more or less the same price in Canadian dollars. here subfusca sling, 55$, regalis $25, miranda 40$.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Jesus Christ <--- Amen

IMO i say that the best thing a serious, i say that again serious Theraphosidae scholar <-- lol -- should do, is to hope in:
"silently tolerated" or (but that would been asking for a somewhat Kratos (GOW) crypto divine status) praying for "Oblio" (Forgetting, in English).

Just like here after the 2003 Ban. "Do this..." "Inform those..." yeah, i was the first

PETA, Pet-Dumb etc are IMO in the same league, just a different context.

The fact that those last (P-Dumb and such) sold/sell powerful venom OW T's and nothing "annoying" happened, like i said, it's either a miracle or pure finest luck. But things can change quickly, especially in those times. I can't be sure about, granted, but nor others thinking differently either.

One of the "Pro" probably is that those folks main cash $ revenue isn't by T's (and Scorpions, and etc) but by other "social accepted" animals.

With that said, being me (Thank God) "uneducated" on the subject (here no one of those animals big chains, and i'm talking prior to the 2003 Arachnid Ban, dared to sold those... only people like we have here, turned shop owners, good breeders/keepers... 100% passionate people, definitely) but Italian somewhat PETA groups are annoying like one of the "Chinese Hell Punishments" of "Big Trouble in Little China" flick.

 

[xFujimoto]

I was going to post this yesterday so now it's time. Here in Midvale, Utah Petco is one of the first to get some of this wonderful species. Unfortunately is sad to know that every single one will most likely parish do to that the employees will have to keep the spiderlings in this wonderful containers that Petco is using.

Oh...my heart sank seeing these photos. This is really sad, I feel so bad for the poor slings...

 

[Venom1080]

I was going to post this yesterday so now it's time. Here in Midvale, Utah Petco is one of the first to get some of this wonderful species. Unfortunately is sad to know that every single one will most likely parish do to that the employees will have to keep the spiderlings in this wonderful containers that Petco is using.
If you wish to contact Petco contact the corporate office. Do not call Petco stores they cannot do anything about your claim.

It's obvious that the corporate office is not educated. Every container has some sort of sponge for substrate to keep the humidity. This spiderlings are all new born how many will parish if people don't purchase them? I was told that the price of this spiders are $19.99 with the containers.

thats terrible. i hope no hobbyist buys all of them just because they feel sorry.
having 25 different species means that they should be paying more attention to care, as they are not just losing 25 bucks for a roae hair every now and than. this way, at least when they start to lose alot of spiders, it might actually affect them. im not hoping for any miracles, but this might make them pay more attention to T care.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Jose's pictures of the Petco tarantula packaging say a lot. The first thing that stands out to me is how attention grabbing the packaging is and how unremarkable the little spiderlings are by comparison. I really don't see Petco's tarantula endeavor being too long lived. Unless one is already familiar with the species being sold, I highly doubt many will be interested in paying for these baby spiders. It's obvious they are attempting to capitalize on the steadily growing interest in the pet tarantula market (AKA "the hobby").

 

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

What I like to know who are they getting this slings from? Do this vendors have any part of what Petco is selling this spiderlings in?

Also please use my photos to show to the other forums and Facebook groups. And if you wish to contact Petco corporate office use my photos as well. I have no problem if anyone wants to use this photos.

 

[Crone Returns]

Maybe, just maybe, they'll hire staff members that are actually qualified and have years of expirence with husbandry to teach people about the speed, venom potency etc. it seems like a slim chance though

Just a thought though.

Yeah for minimum wage and no bennies.

 

[Lander9021]

Rah rah rah Petco rah rah rah slings rah rah rah theraphosidae rah rah rah c*@! Rah rah rah

 

[TheInv4sion]

They are going to have them read that care sheet and that's it . Then they will tell them to push all the extra stuff that a customer will need for their new pet . It's in the accessories where they really make their money .



You don't want that . Second hand info can be very dangerous . You could be held legally responsible for what they tell a customer . I teach a concealed weapons permit class on the weekend and when a student asks me a question about something a friend of theirs wants to know I always say they need to have their friend contact me directly . I won't answer go between questions. I'm not getting sued because someone misquotes me . The best thing that a Petco employee can do is direct new T owners to this board and then we can hopeful set them straight and show the the right way to keep Ts .

They can actually sue me even if I don't work their wtf. That's bulls*** How can they even do that?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

What I like to know who are they getting this slings from? Do this vendors have any part of what Petco is selling this spiderlings in?

SP.E.C.T.R.E, Kingpin, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Papa "Ciccio" (aka Pope Francis), excess money from "It Takes a Village" book, someone living in some twisted EU nation, Roger from "American Dad" with a Pilgrim Fathers wig, that Italian movie director that even received an Oscar (Academy Awards™) for that disgusting movie called "The Great Beauty", Silvio Berlu$coni, Al Gore, Rob Halford (Judas Priest) etc i think the culprit is among those folks but i could be damn wrong, wish to have here Dr. Zoidberg (Futurama) dressed like Sherlock for figure that out.

 

[chanda]

Wow, what a phenomenally bad idea! I consider myself a moderately experienced keeper - 6 or 7 years of keeping various NW's (arboreal and terrestrial) + 1 Pokie that was an impulse buy (albeit an informed and semi-educated one) at an expo - but even I wouldn't want to mess with an OBT or some of those other OW's - and I certainly wouldn't want to sell them to kids who are just looking for a cool, low maintenance pet! As has been said, all it takes is one kid getting bit by something nasty, and all of a sudden there will be all kinds of unnecessary restrictions imposed on the hobby.

At least the small size - if all they're getting in is tiny slings - is a good thing. It will discourage people (especially kids) who want a cool pet they can show off *now* because they won't have the patience to wait for it to grow up.

Unfortunately, I suspect that a lot of those spiders are going to die in their little cups or vials or whatever they have them in. Slings can be somewhat high maintenance - especially if they've got a bunch of different species with different environmental requirements - and I'm highly skeptical of the ability of the average Petco employee to keep their needs straight and properly attended to for the weeks or months that it might take before someone buys them. (And that's assuming that they're even given accurate care information to begin with!) Furthermore, since most of those slings that do get purchased are likely to go home without proper care instructions - and possibly without proper enclosures, substrate, or accessories as well - many of them are also likely to end up dead in short order - potentially resulting in unhappy customers complaining to the store or asking for refunds. That said, a little dead inventory and a few customer complaints might be what it takes to convince Petco that this is a bad idea - hopefully *before* somebody gets hurt! They are far more likely to listen to the almighty dollar than they are to experienced keepers or plain old common sense.

 

[Travis21v4]

This... I dont even know what to say. Its such a bad idea and i can already hear "mommy I want the
Orange one".

 

[Magenta]

I imagine places like Petco/Petsmart get enough complaints regarding animal care that they might count on mercy purchases, people buying the animal just to get them out of a terrible situation. These places have been well known for crappy care of their animals for a long time, they have to be aware that people do this. Hell, I've done it. The corporate office only cares about the $$$. Extra sleazy
of them if they are taking advantage of this.

I know full well that I have no business owning an OW tarantula. The average person walking into a place like this won't know there's a difference between OW and NW tarantulas. Most people will probably assume that a store wouldn't sell anything that's actually dangerous.
I've known people who didn't know that tarantulas have venom, much less that there are species with venom strong enough to hospitalize a person.

The whole thing is just really sad.