Petco T's and other MISC ???s

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
called up the two local Petco stores in town...one of them has a "Rose Hair" and a "Zebra".....
i know what the rose hair is......but what could they be talking about with the Zebra??
(i would like to look up pics of one)
also.....are all of Petco's Ts wild caught or captive bred or mixed??
any easy ways to ID a rosehair female?
(since i already own a mature male)
i know how to ID a mature male......
anyway....im gonna head out there to their store after work to see what they have.....
they also have meal worms (regular and giant)......can regular be fed to 1/2 - 3/4" slings without being cut up? and what are average prices for mealworms so i dont pay too much?
also what are decent prices for a "zebra"?
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
Zebra : Costa Rican Zebra, Aphonopelma seemanni, the second most common T sold in stores.

Although someone on this board, forget who, claims to have worked at a Petco and ordered CB Ts at *that* store, the vast majority of Ts in pet stores, particularly for G. rosea and A. seemanni, are WC. Both in terms of finances and pleasing the target customer it makes no sense to stock CB tarantulas if there is a choice to get larger, cheaper WC specimens.

At Petco, probably charge ~$25 or so for an adult A. seemanni.

Mature male is dark black with copper highlights, looks nothing like the usual zebra markings.

*****

Mealworms, just like crickets come in different sizes although you don't generally get to specify. They generally sell them in little condiment cups in quantities of 10 or 25. Might pay $3 for 25.
 
Last edited:

looseyfur

Arachnofur
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
436
petco

petco tends to pull at my heartstrings...
everytime I have gone to a pet co in massachuttes I have seen t's in horrid condition ( mostly roses) I want to save them all but how many G.R's can one guy take in they just keep getting them and replacing them and mistreating them almost to the extent I have entertained calling some kind of animal welfare person. No one at any petco I have ever been at has ever known the first thing about T's and I shudder to think how many T's are suffering at petcos nationwide.
I hate petco. and refuse to give them any of my money and so I hope do you.


:mad: :mad: :mad:
 

JacenBeers

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,264
I just got an A Seemani adult female yesterday and an adult male and they are gonna have dirty sex.
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
Re: petco

Originally posted by looseyfur
I want to save them all but how many G.R's can one guy take in they just keep getting them and replacing them and mistreating them almost to the extent I have entertained calling some kind of animal welfare person. No one at any petco I have ever been at has ever known the first thing about T's and I shudder to think how many T's are suffering at petcos nationwide.
I hate petco. and refuse to give them any of my money and so I hope do you.
This is a recurring topic on this and other boards, and I hate to play curmudgeon once again on the topic but there's a couple of salient points we would all do well to remember.

First, no matter how "mistreated" you think those Ts are in Petco, it is still probably better care than 90% of those Ts will be getting from their owners a year down the road.

Second, very few animal welfare laws address invertebrates - the people passing the laws not only don't care, they don't know enough about the topic to address it to begin with. Talking with the manager might help. Calling up animal control agencies will get you a "We'll look into it" followed by them thinking to themselves that they don't even have the money and manpower to save all the dogs and cats and you're asking them to go save a spider. What next, call them on your neighbor for spraying for roaches? ;)
Now, some jurisdictions/states do have specific laws governing pet store conditions for all manner of beast, those you would have a better chance of getting actual action from *if* the store is in violation. Do your homework first if the subject means that much to you.

Third, and you at least seem to realise this at some level, rescuing Ts does nothing to help the problem and in fact only contributes to the problem. If they sell the stock with their current levels of care, why change? You would be far better off asking to speak to the manager, say you had been planning to get a T, but with these conditions there's no way you will buy any of the animals there and constructively tell him what needs to change. He'll probably think you're a loon, but at least they don't make money off the inadequately cared for T, and you've actually communicated what the problem is.
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
or, you can do what I did, and see what happens.
I bought two A versicolors that had been kept in horrid conditions, for $10 apiece. I then turned around and emailed Petco a scathing letter. I got a phone call THE NEXT DAY from both the District Manager, and the store manager.
What has come of it is that the Ts are now being kept properly, they even took the sponge out of the water dish. I go in there regularly, and the manager cringes when she sees me ;)
 

Raveness

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 2, 2002
Messages
449
They have a True Zebra T at my petco..I feel bad for it. Nobody has bought it and they t's go by in a day that guy has been there for a month. He is also very very healthy.
 

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
well...ended up working a bit late and couldnt make it.......
going by there tomorrow after work though.....
ill let you know what i see:)
 

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
well....Petco had two rose hairs (one came in today) and a zebra....the zebra was about 2 1/2" (body) and was bald...so it must be a hairkicker or something.....the rose hair they got in today i was thinking about buying it was as big as my mature male but no hooks on the legs....i got it up against the glass but wasnt sure exactly if it was male or female so ill read up on here tonight and go look again tomorrow (had the two book lungs on either side and what looked like a slit across the middle...wasnt sure if that was M or F??)....they want $9.99 for the rose hairs (with pet pals card) and i think $12 for the zebra.....

another pet shop in town had a rose hair, a curly hair, and a usambara...they wanted $25 for the rose hair and $30 for the curly and $35 for the usambara......the rose hair was about 3" (body) and the curly was smaller but not sure of exact size cause it was burrowed...the usambara wa maybe an 1 - 1 1/2" and sitting at the bottom of a funnel type web....


EDIT: what i saw on the external view of the big rose hair at petco more resembled what you see in the picture that Phillip posted below Botars pic in this post>>>>>>look here!
 
Last edited:

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
btt...

BTT....before i go to bed.....any one on a key clue to ID a petstore T without exuvium......$9.99 dont sound to bad for an adult semi adult rosehair from a petstore......
 

conipto

ArachnoPrincess
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
1,256
Re: btt...

Originally posted by kosh
BTT....before i go to bed.....any one on a key clue to ID a petstore T without exuvium......$9.99 dont sound to bad for an adult semi adult rosehair from a petstore......
If you mean sexing, then theres always the obvious, if it's an adult male... that aside, if it's handleable, or climbs glass in the shop, you can look on the underside to try to find the bulge where the abdomen meets the cephalothorax. Between the forward book lungs, and the joint of the two, there should be a fairly large bulge if it's a female. The one on my 4 inch rosehair is quite visible, without having to pick her up and feel for it, though if you know what to look for, that's also a good method. However, that's not 100%, I'm told.

Bill
 

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
well i went back to Petco on my lunch break and encouraged the spider to get up against the glass and i borrowed a flashlight and looked......there is a half moon shaped part looks like it is just behind the forward book lungs....and the space forward of the half moon part was sort of bulged out....
plus i figure this spider looks to be as big as my adult male but no tibial spurs or enlarged palps.....
so i bought it anyway ($9.99 with my petpals card)......hopefully i will be able to confirm the sex sometime soon without waiting for a moult....(with yall's help of course)
 

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
no i got a large (5" +) G. rosea for $10....they have one zebra that is bald as cojack for $12 or $13 i think......

my new rosehair seems to be really docile.....i have already held it in my hand for a few seconds.....and it just sat there.....my mature male wont sit still at all when i handle him occassionally......
i sure hope it turns out to be female.....
 

Raveness

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 2, 2002
Messages
449
Woops.. but the G.roseas are 16 bucks at my petco..I am getting people confused ;P
 

Bjorgly

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Messages
729
At petland here in canada, G. roseas are at LEAST $30 for a 2 incher, and $74.99 for a 2 inch poorly cared for a.seemani living on the glass on the bottom of the tank, he/she pushed all the sphagnum moss they tossed in there for a substrate.

Mark
 
Top