So, I ran into this lady at Petco..

[Ether Imp]

She saw me buying crickets, asked what they were for, and I told her a tarantula, she said, "My son had a tarantula! Be careful of their crickets here!"

To which I responded, "What do you mean? What was wrong with them?"

"Well, there was something growing off of the egg carton and I think it made the tarantula sick, so it died."

"You put the egg carton in the tarantulas enclosure?"

"Yes." *shaking her head*... "Honestly, I'm kind of glad it's gone.. he liked it but the thing creeped my out." (At this point, I was wishing I had a picture of Captain Picard Facepalming to show her.. But I didn't, so I just facepalmed myself.)

"Really? That's too bad. What kind of tarantula was it?"

"It was kind of grayish brown and hairy."

"That's a very scientific description."

I then tried to explain to her that you aren't supposed to put the egg carton in the enclosure, and tried to educate her a little bit about tarantulas.. but she just kind of blew me off and walked away after making her purchase. I feel bad for her kid.

The entire time the register clerk just kinda stood there, dumbfounded. Not that it was his fault, and, not that PetCo here carries tarantulas anyway. I think at some point he did mention that it probably wasn't the crickets that killed the T.

Not sure why I'm posting this.. thought you guys would find it interesting.

 

[Warduke]

The Petco down the street from me actually does carry tarantulas. The employees don't know anything about them and they always have 5 or so crickets in their cage wandering around.

 

[xhexdx]

Why are you running through Petco? You should be more careful.

*facepalm*

 

[jbm150]

The Petco down the street from me actually does carry tarantulas. The employees don't know anything about them and they always have 5 or so crickets in their cage wandering around.

I was at two "PetCo"-type LPSs today, the first had a rosie in a very small KK with about a dozen crickets in with it. I recommended that they feed it maybe one cricket a week or even less and that all the crickets in there do nothing but stress it. The manager apologized and said his employee had fed it. I also added that they should give it a water dish (it had nothing) with just water and no sponge or tissues. He said he'd take care of it

The second LPS had a container with a dead rosie in it

 

[ArachnidSentinl]

Why are you running through Petco? You should be more careful.

*facepalm*

Well, as long as we're using interweb vernacular: i lol'd.

 

[Teal]

Gah, people are so dumb!

Poor kid, and poor spider

 

[Stopdroproll]

How much is crickets at your PetCo. Last time I went they charged me $.13 for mediums and I thought they were nuts.

 

[DansDragons]

sometimes the customers are just as ignorant as the employees...which is scary..

 

[Ether Imp]

sometimes the customers are just as ignorant as the employees...which is scary..

I think it's the other way around...

Customers being ignorant is understandable. They do not work with animals on a daily basis. Very few people know much about an animal unless they have owned one. Even a lot of people who own cats or dogs don't know much a whole lot about them other than the basics. Tarantulas are a different story all together. The employees should be there to educate the customers, or, at least point them in the right direction on where to get information that will enrich their pets lives, and in turn enrich their own life.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not putting the responsibility on the petshop employees completely. I understand that they generally do not get paid very well and they cannot be expected to know everything about every pet; and ultimately it's up to the pet owner to educate themselves. But as I said, petshop employees should be held to a higher standard than the average customer when it comes to overall knowledge.

If I walk up to a random person on the street and ask how many times a gecko should be fed per day/week, or what kind of humidity I need to provide for them, they shouldn't be expected to know that. However, at least one person in the petstore at any given time should be able to give you the correct answers to those kinds of questions.

 

[Ether Imp]

How much is crickets at your PetCo. Last time I went they charged me $.13 for mediums and I thought they were nuts.

$.10-.11 for larges, I think? I'm not sure if the "petco" membership card has any effect on it.

 

[Fran]

As you said...What can you expect from Petco employees?
95% of the time are young kids,who are getting paid minimun wage and dont give a damn about the animals but just getting paid to pay the cell phone bill...
They are not the problem, the problem is above them.

Its sad but the best is just not giving those stores bussines AT ALL.

 

[hassman789]

How much is crickets at your PetCo. Last time I went they charged me $.13 for mediums and I thought they were nuts.

at the petstore i go to. (petland discounts) they charge me $.10 for crickets of all sizes. u can get a nice big and fat one or a fresh hachling! its a pretty good place. they know a little somthing about the tarantulas and let me hold them right now they have a rosy a pink toe and somthing that is just listed as a "striped knee"