Silliest T advice you've ever heard at a pet store

[mr_jacob7]

Small story, and comments.

My story isn't much advice, but they had my G. Rosea labled as an unsexed "mexican grey". me being a noob at the time, i did a whole lot of research and thought it was a male A.Pallidum for 2 mo. Then i saw a pic of the rosea, and called myself an idiot. okay, that was my bad, but when my dad was picking it up, i was on the phone with him. I asked for the latin name, and my dad replied that the worker said that I "would be the only one who would know that..."

kk, that wasn't too big a story, but whatever.

But i was reading something somewhere saying that same can swin pretty well. Like if it was living in a tree over a body of water and was to fall in it could swin back to shore. it kind of makes sense.

I gotta say, that'd be REALLY FUN TO WATCH! not just the swimming, but the fall, and splash, too. Assuming the T was fine, of course...

Also, i'm not sure who said it earlier, but in 2 years, when i turn 16, i'm definately going to work in a pet store for just the reasons i've seen here.

 

[KingBowser]

Working in a pet store's not all it's cracked up to be. When I did I found myself in the reversed position...being the "knowledgable" person that had to deal with idiot customers. :? :}

 

[mr_jacob7]

yeah, but not all of the customers are idiots. some of them are professional breeders.

 

[Moltar]

A positive developement...

Due at least in part to my suggestions the local pet shop here has begun housing their T's on a peat based substrate rather than the previous bark chips. Their new 2" rosea and something their calling a "stripe leg" (A. seemani?) are on this new stuff. They also rehoused their B. vagans sling. I can't help but notice, however that they haven't yet rehoused the OBT...

 

[Neuroticvirus]

When i bought my B. vagans the lady told me that Tarantulas didnt bite well i prefer to let stupid people think what they want because i prefer not to tell people how stupid they are, so ne ways she goes and gets it out of the thing and gets it to get on her hand and then the thing doesnt get out of her hand when shes putting it into box thing for me and it bites her and she freaks i go listen chill tarantulas do have venom but it wont kill u and she went on and on so i just got my spider paid for it and left.

 

[LeilaNami]

bah Petco makes us house all the tarantulas the same. Terrestrial setup on reptibark. Sucks don't it? The poor little avic gets all confused but manages. I make double sure to mist them and the A. seemani. Most of the others cut corners and I usually feel like the only one doing my job right.

On another note, one of our rosies had his ultimate molt a couple of weeks ago. He's so cute but I feel bad about selling him to a new family that don't know much about Ts. I make double sure that they know what's gonna happen and how long they should expect them to live even though I'm not supposed to sex animals that don't already come in sexed. I think that's really stupid anyway. I told my boss though that we need to find him a woman. Fat chance ;P

 

[Texas Blonde]

There is a store in Midland where I get my frozen mice, they carry a large number of tarantulas. Last time I was in they had a large T blondi, a P lugardi, an A seemanni, two OBTs, and two Avic avics. They keep them in the correct size critter keepers, but on very little substrate, which is Reptibark. They also have sponges in all the water dishes.

I told them some general care tips, but they dont change anything. About all they did was add more substrate in with the OBTs, cause I said it would make them happier. I have bought Ts there before, and probably will continue to. I hope that if they begin to trust me as a regular customer, and get to know me, that they will eventually listen to me.

 

[K-TRAIN]

i went to a petco yesterday to buy crickets, and after talking to the guy about reptiles and arachnids,(i was curious to see how much he accually knew about them) the guy who was giving me crickets told me that petco can get three t's. the rosehair, the costa rican zebra, and the pink toe. he then told me that the costa rican zebra and rosehairs are the same price, but the pink toe tarantula is extremely rare, so it costs more. and to think they say they know what there doing. lol

 

[LeilaNami]

Actually Petco can get others but only on special order. They can get H. lividum, B. smithi, and other Avics. These are only what i know from off the top of my head. The rosies at Petco are SUPPOSED to be 17.99 and the A. seemani are SUPPOSED to be 32.99. I believe the Pinktoe costs somewhere in between.

Speaking of...we have a mature male rosie that had his ultimate molt a couple weeks ago. We're not allowed to sex the animals that don't come in already sexed. So...I secretly tell the customers what happens to mature males, point him out, and tell them how long they can really expect him to live. I don't want to be responsible for a new T owner becoming antiT because the first one they bought only lived 6 months.

 

[ShadowBlade]

But i was reading something somewhere saying that same can swin pretty well. Like if it was living in a tree over a body of water and was to fall in it could swin back to shore. it kind of makes sense.

Many can 'swim'. Whether they like to or not, I doubt it. And half the tank of water is crazy.

-Sean

 

[AviculariaLover]

I recall getting a pink toe at Petco for around $15, but it was about 1.5". I don't remember how it was housed, but it was always sitting up in the top corner of the glass. I had my eye on it for about two months, and it kept getting fatter and fatter, so at least it was eating! The guy who worked there knew a lot about reptiles but was repulsed by the inverts. I'm anxious to go back and see how things are now... if the same guy is working there, I know he'll try to listen.

 

[tarangela2]

"be sure to put a sponge in the water dish so the T doesn't drown."

i looked at the gal and said "you're serious"

she replied she was and looked so sincere that i couldn't help but laugh. i told her i didn't have a 'pool' of water in the tank and i was certain my T would be fine.

she looked VERY concerned and wished me luck. :?

 

[AviculariaLover]

Well I went to check out my local petco today... and to my surprise, their two nice looking rose hairs were in cages with that coconut eco earth stuff, and full water dishes (no sponges). So much for bark chips being the policy, eh? The scorpions had ample substrate as well. I was surprised, all their reptiles and such looked to be in good enclosures.

Oh, and the rose hairs were $13.99

Almost tempting enough to make me want to grab one.

 

[JungleGuts]

Well I went to check out my local petco today... and to my surprise, their two nice looking rose hairs were in cages with that coconut eco earth stuff, and full water dishes (no sponges). So much for bark chips being the policy, eh? The scorpions had ample substrate as well. I was surprised, all their reptiles and such looked to be in good enclosures.

Oh, and the rose hairs were $13.99

Almost tempting enough to make me want to grab one.

yea ive noticed they care for the rosehairs quite well at my local petco store, but there are also some idiots working there, heres a little story, not about T;s but still a petstore screwup

me: "hey i need a frozen pinkie mouse for my cornsnake"
petco guy: looking very confused he says, "ok"

he brings out a full size frozen rat, and then im speachless.

 

[aliceinwl]

The Petco corporate policy has me a bit mistified. Both our local Petcos house all their tarantulas on the compressed cocconut fiber substrates, with a half log hide and a spongeless water bowl. The G. roseas seem to get subjected to occaisional misting, but on the whole conditions there are pretty decent.

-Alice

 

[YouLosePayUp]

I have heard far too many to write them all down lol.

Here's a few I've had:

Poecilotheria ornata at Tails N Teeth Lindsay, ON
"You will die within minutes if that bites ya"

Eupalaestrus campestratus at Super Pet Cambridge, ON
"This is a mean nasty bitey tarantula never to be handled... I'll get her out for ya" and the attendant reaches in with her bare hand:wall:

Pterinochilus lugardi at PJ's Pets Pickering, ON
"I just got it in and have no clue what it is, why don't you take a look" Then he starts prodding it with his finger to get it more visible.
On a good note I told him it was an Old Worlder with the potential of a nasty bite and he probably wouldn't want to sell it to an unsuspecting customer. I ended up getting it for $10 taxes in ;P

 

[Mallard]

5'+ A.Seemanni

I had a guy tell me that the 5" A.Seemanni I was admiring was only a few mounths old. Knew he was full of B.S. but it was so poorly cared for(small K.K. and no water dish not to mention filthy) I took it home and he/she is doing great
Jason

 

[mr_jacob7]

What are you talking about, BS?!? all T grow an inch a month. my rosehair's 5 yrs, and she takes up the whole backyard. :wall:

 

[spydrhunter1]

OK I know this is about tarantulas, but here's one about pedes. i went into a petstore which had a giant centipede which was labeled as a giant millipede. I was informed that they were entirely perfect to be handled.

 

[Sequin]

Mom: "are they in containers?"
Me: "yes, dont worry, they wont get loose"
Mom: "do you need a container?"
me: "no, ive got an aquarium at home"
mom: "are they defanged?"
me: "of course not! only idiots would try to defang their tarantulas"
mom: "well, why not? then they cant bite you"
me: "then theyll die of starvation... would YOU want to die because some moron pulled your teeth out and was feeding you steak?"

needless to say, its one more thing ive chalked up to why i dislike her... and probably one more reason she dislikes me

This was an opportunity to educate her. I get this question ALOT, it's nothing to get hostile over. The ability to "defang" a tarantula is a VERY popular myth.