# The most stupid advice



## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

Mrs SpiderSnake was viewing a US forum about T's & found a thread that was just shocking so I'm asking the same question here.
What is the most stupid thing a pet shop has told you about tarantulas?

Some people were told to feed birdeaters piglets, T's on their backs are dead so flush them down the toilet & dump a whole box of crickets in a T's tank to feed it.
Do cretins like that run shops this side of the pond?


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## Brandan Smith (Nov 17, 2010)

HaHa one owner could sex slings by opening tub and looking at them . LOL


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## jondee84 (Jun 1, 2011)

haha..... not been told anything that mental yet, but a pet shop round our way told us that we should by his Brach. Smithi for £90 because they were rare and that was a bargain.


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## oliwilliams (Feb 23, 2010)

Shandy said:


> HaHa one owner could sex slings by opening tub and looking at them . LOL


 There are a couple of people on here who can do that


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## Brandan Smith (Nov 17, 2010)

i always consider unsexed unless its someone well trusted.


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

I was once told by a pet shop that spiders wont drink water as they dont recognise it in the wild, and that i should give them bug gel instead. Think he must have had wild bug gel, or a lack of irony at what he had just said.

He went out of business shortly afterwards. Hah hah.


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## robowen (Aug 14, 2010)

To mist my chilie rose everyday, heat it from below and give it bug gel! I don't know how some shops survive!!!


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2012)

I've been told by 3 different pet shops that desert hairies are on the DWA list...


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## classiecmns (Jan 12, 2012)

Sorry, no help to you


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

Moonleh said:


> I've been told by 3 different pet shops that desert hairies are on the DWA list...


i'm guessing that was because they were shortlisted for a few years before the last revision 

i only ever bought one spider from a pet shop (the first one) and i had no bad....oh wait, at the same time i bought the spider i bought what i was told was a female Madagascan Hissing Roach male, which i was told would be fine on its own as i only wanted one, but 6 months down the line it turned out to be a gravid Byrsotria fumigata and i had a tankfull, much to my EX wifes dismay (and mine, i never heard the last of it until the 'decree absolut'  )


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## coldestblood (Jun 4, 2011)

Many moons ago, I bought an adult P. regalis, and was told they live in deep burrows, and should be housed in a small tub, as theyre known for falling

In the same shop, there was a G. rosea (red phase) which was labled as a pink toe, with the scentific name 'G. avicularia'?????

I've also had the bug gell talk in many shops


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## jondee84 (Jun 1, 2011)

I think some of the above comments show just how useful this forum can be for Tarantula & owner alike!


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> i'm guessing that was because they were shortlisted for a few years before the last revision
> 
> i only ever bought one spider from a pet shop (the first one) and i had no bad....oh wait, at the same time i bought the spider i bought what i was told was a female Madagascan Hissing Roach male, which i was told would be fine on its own as i only wanted one, but 6 months down the line it turned out to be a gravid Byrsotria fumigata and i had a tankfull, much to my EX wifes dismay (and mine, i never heard the last of it until the 'decree absolut'  )


Who got custody of the roaches?


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

coldestblood said:


> Many moons ago, I bought an adult P. regalis, and was told they live in deep burrows, and should be housed in a small tub, as theyre known for falling
> 
> In the same shop, there was a G. rosea (red phase) which was labled as a pink toe, with the scentific name 'G. avicularia'?????
> 
> I've also had the bug gell talk in many shops


My cousin brought a pink toe which was sold as a chile rose lol


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

I can just imagine some US member of the web site from the original post reading this thread and thinking 'Hmmmmmmm, dem Brits. They know b*****er all about spiders'.


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## sonofjohnrambo (Jan 9, 2012)

when i was goin to buy another gramastola rosea they "were like are you sure you want that the vemon is very dangerous and you have to spray at least 3 time's a day its alot of work for your age" i was quite affend im only 20 lol 

1.1.2 leopard gecko's
1.1.0 bearded dragon's
0.2.0 tokay gecko's
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0.0 chillie rose
0.0.1 emperor scorpion


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## tesse.t (May 13, 2009)

When i bought my first T (G.rosea) i was told he was female, only to later find out he was a mature male with huge mating hooks :lol2:

and also apprently they don't drink water so they sold me bug gel instead...


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## asmaa (May 4, 2009)

that an obvious adult size chile rose was maybe 3-4months in age and the pink toe that i did buy from them was another form of a chile rose glad i knew it wasnt and liked the spider because when i asked you sure looks like a pink toe to me they replied no we never sell them they bite and cost way too much near to the £60 mark for a sling could think of a few words for them but wouldnt change there we know best attitude


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## sonofjohnrambo (Jan 9, 2012)

tesse.t said:


> When i bought my first T (G.rosea) i was told he was female, only to later find out he was a mature male with huge mating hooks :lol2:
> 
> and also apprently they don't drink water so they sold me bug gel instead...


 
had the same done to me sept for the drinking thing


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

sonofjohnrambo said:


> its alot of work for your age" i was quite affend im only 20 lol


LOL...............what does that say about the younger generation?????


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## aliceemerald1107 (Dec 30, 2011)

I brought my spider in as she was rescued with no info - 'oh its a fat chile rose' - ok ill research that i thought - i trusted them - nice dry house, no misting = happy spider.

Put a picture on here - got laughed at - Pamphobeteus species and not fat just grows huge!! - likes it wet with misting - so im on attempt 2 of happy spider lol


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## sonofjohnrambo (Jan 9, 2012)

i know where not all yob's you know lol


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## MissFoxHawk (Jan 3, 2011)

Shandy said:


> HaHa one owner could sex slings by opening tub and looking at them . LOL


on th sexing subject - but of adults.
my local rep shop said you can tell the sex by the shape of its abonmen(sp?)
a male is mor egg shape and female more round..?

:-/

i need more peoples opinion on this as one member on this forum thinks its bull, i just need to know if it is bull lol.

but ye if it is bull.. thats the stupist thing iv been told. 

also burms that only grow to 6ft lmao.

oh...and the avic pink toe that reaches the size of a salmon pink?
lol


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

MissFoxHawk said:


> on th sexing subject - but of adults.
> my local rep shop said you can tell the sex by the shape of its abonmen(sp?)
> a male is mor egg shape and female more round..?
> 
> ...


well, if it's a mature male then yeh, its not far off, but if its a sub adult or younger, then not in the slightest , total twaddle


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

MissFoxHawk said:


> on th sexing subject - but of adults.
> my local rep shop said you can tell the sex by the shape of its abonmen(sp?)
> a male is mor egg shape and female more round..?
> 
> ...



As Steve said about sexing. The only way to be sure about sexing younger T's is wait for a moult & sex it that way.

With the 6 ft burm, only dwarf burms & dwarf retics max out that small. My burm is 10 ft & I'm expecting him to max out at 15 ft.


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## mtyrrell (May 24, 2011)

My first t was brought from a pet shop (smooth and scaley in southend) it was sold to me as a goliath bird eater which turned out to be a lp. it was around the 2" mark and came in a large fanarium with a bark chip bedding and a bowl of bug gel the worst part was the guy telling me how in the wild they leap from the tops of tree's and catch large parrots and other birds mid flight :lol2: thank god that place went out of buisness


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## C_Williams1985 (Mar 2, 2010)

The stupidest one I heard (I overheard this and had to interrupt, it wasn't directed at me) was from a woman in a shop that mainly sold "fluffy" pets and had bought a few reptiles because they "thought it might make a bit more money". She was showing a couple some spiders, they were asking if they could be handled, to which she replied yeah they're fine and proceeded to open the tank and reach inside. Then I saw the label. Indian Ornamental, lol. Luckily she listened when I said it wouldn't be a good idea and put the lid back on the tank


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## aliceemerald1107 (Dec 30, 2011)

C_Williams1985 said:


> The stupidest one I heard (I overheard this and had to interrupt, it wasn't directed at me) was from a woman in a shop that mainly sold "fluffy" pets and had bought a few reptiles because they "thought it might make a bit more money". She was showing a couple some spiders, they were asking if they could be handled, to which she replied yeah they're fine and proceeded to open the tank and reach inside. Then I saw the label. Indian Ornamental, lol. Luckily she listened when I said it wouldn't be a good idea and put the lid back on the tank


Ohhhh and right there is the reason ide never want one - how can someone have something like that and just reach in?


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

mtyrrell said:


> My first t was brought from a pet shop (smooth and scaley in southend) it was sold to me as a goliath bird eater which turned out to be a lp. it was around the 2" mark and came in a large fanarium with a bark chip bedding and a bowl of bug gel the worst part was the guy telling me how in the wild they leap from the tops of tree's and catch large parrots and other birds mid flight :lol2: thank god that place went out of buisness


now, that surprises me- i used to go there a lot, & john, who owned it, knew his stuff & would never say stuff like that!:gasp: i can only assume you were served by some pleb who worked there on weekends.


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## mtyrrell (May 24, 2011)

wilkinss77 said:


> now, that surprises me- i used to go there a lot, & john, who owned it, knew his stuff & would never say stuff like that!:gasp: i can only assume you were served by some pleb who worked there on weekends.


 well it was a satarday and this guy definatley didn't know what he was on about


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## sarahsaz (Jun 1, 2011)

I went in a reptile place near me, asking if they could get hold of any B.Smithis, the guy was very adamant that I wouldnt ever be able to get hold of one as they were very rare and tried to sell me a bohmei instead, which had a legspan of about 3 inch and was £95! 

To which he told me , 'thats a very very cheap price, you wont get one of those any cheaper than that, and your looking at more for a smithi'.

Total twerp!


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

C_Williams1985 said:


> The stupidest one I heard (I overheard this and had to interrupt, it wasn't directed at me) was from a woman in a shop that mainly sold "fluffy" pets and had bought a few reptiles because they "thought it might make a bit more money". She was showing a couple some spiders, they were asking if they could be handled, to which she replied yeah they're fine and proceeded to open the tank and reach inside. Then I saw the label. Indian Ornamental, lol. Luckily she listened when I said it wouldn't be a good idea and put the lid back on the tank


I would have just stood back & watch her learn a lesson she'd never forget. Then tell her custoners NOT to handle T's, the reason would be right in front of them lol.


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## billsy (Nov 29, 2008)

When I bought my first T about 12-ish years ago the shop that I bought the rosie off told me that the best way to transport T's was to put them in your mouth because it's dark and moist :lol2:


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## aliceemerald1107 (Dec 30, 2011)

The best thing i ever got told was -
'yeah and occasionally you can give him half a digestive - but not very often they are fattening'
What animal was i enquiring about???............
A SNAKE!! - a blooming snake with a digestive biscuit - i nearly asked her how they manage to dunk it in their tea with no hands.
Mental people.


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## VenomX51 (Mar 8, 2010)

When my wife brought her first T (a Chilean rose - it's her fault I got into the hobby) she was told to keep the substrate moist, and to dump 10 or so crickets in the tank at a time, and it'll eat them when it's hungry. We wondered why it never came off the log.

At a later date, I was tempted to ask the "fish guy who was on pet duty at the time" if he could get the H. lividum out for me to look at...


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## boxofsorrows (Nov 7, 2011)

Not stupid advice, but one local pet store to me, despite selling livefood, reptile kit etc said of Tarantula's (when I asked why he didn't ever sell any) "there's no market for them" I burst out laughing and tried to explain how many people locally have not just the odd individual but quite large collections :lol2:


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## titan87 (Sep 14, 2011)

Pet shops ey! I bought my current H.Lividium about 3 years ago out of pure pity for the poor girl - she was kept in an old fashioned tall plastic spaghetti tub and was on a half inch of bark chippings. When i enquired about this i was told she was an aboreal and basically i shouldnt question the professionals! I took great pleasure in sending them a pic of her 6"+ burrow several months later and funnily enough, their T 'expert' left shortly afterwards.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

a shop near me has gone past clean bug gel and has gone to wet kitchen roll for scorpions and spiders. apparently they would drown in water


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> i'm guessing that was because they were shortlisted for a few years before the last revision
> 
> i only ever bought one spider from a pet shop (the first one) and i had no bad....oh wait, at the same time i bought the spider i bought what i was told was a female Madagascan Hissing Roach male, which i was told would be fine on its own as i only wanted one, but 6 months down the line it turned out to be a gravid Byrsotria fumigata and i had a tankfull, much to my EX wifes dismay (and mine, i never heard the last of it until the 'decree absolut'  )


Really?! I'd rather see Pokies put on there than desert hairies. Not that I'd like pokies on there of course. That said, I think my P.regalis is rather keen to get on the list...


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## codyman70 (Dec 3, 2009)

Is it just me,or has no one picked up on the guy who said he bought a t as a madagascer hissing roach?maybe I'm stupid,but aren't they cockroaches?sorry if I'm thick.


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2012)

codyman70 said:


> Is it just me,or has no one picked up on the guy who said he bought a t as a madagascer hissing roach?maybe I'm stupid,but aren't they cockroaches?sorry if I'm thick.


I think he bought a T and a roach


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

codyman70 said:


> Is it just me,or has no one picked up on the guy who said he bought a t as a madagascer hissing roach?maybe I'm stupid,but aren't they cockroaches?sorry if I'm thick.


you mean me when i said this:


> at the same time i bought the spider i bought what i was told was a female Madagascan Hissing Roach male, which i was told would be fine on its own as i only wanted one, but 6 months down the line it turned out to be a gravid Byrsotria fumigata and i had a tankfull, much to my EX wifes dismay (and mine, i never heard the last of it until the 'decree absolut' )



Byrsotria fumigata is a Cuban Burrowing Cockroach and it was 25 years ago when all bigish chunky roaches looked the same to me, and i didn't have the internet to compare pics, lol


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

No you are just stupid.
He said at the same time as he bought a tarantula he also bought a sp of cockroach, which later turned out to be a different sp of roach entirely.


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

spinnin_tom said:


> a shop near me has gone past clean bug gel and has gone to wet kitchen roll for scorpions and spiders. apparently they would drown in water



I've been told the same thing. 'spiders dont realise their drowning' even by some people on this very forum.
Then someone said 'tarantulas can & do often swim' - must be one of the directors of a bank who said that, now we all know why the globel financies are so screwed up - the banks swim as well as T's do pmsl


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

spidersnake said:


> I've been told the same thing. 'spiders dont realise their drowning' even by some people on this very forum.
> Then someone said 'tarantulas can & do often swim' - must be one of the directors of a bank who said that, now we all know why the globel financies are so screwed up - the banks swim as well as T's do pmsl


t's can swim though- at least, some can- the rusty red baboon springs to mind.


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

wilkinss77 said:


> t's can swim though- at least, some can- the rusty red baboon springs to mind.


I stand corrected & learn something new every day.
Thank you.


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## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

mtyrrell said:


> My first t was brought from a pet shop (smooth and scaley in southend) it was sold to me as a goliath bird eater which turned out to be a lp. it was around the 2" mark and came in a large fanarium with a bark chip bedding and a bowl of bug gel the worst part was the guy telling me how in the wild they leap from the tops of tree's and catch large parrots and other birds mid flight :lol2: thank god that place went out of buisness


they went under early 2011 diddnt they, it was always scruffy and smelly in there, i bought a genic from there and shes nice but after the great breeding info the owner gave me i felt no need to visit there again, he told me to get all different species of avic and pokie and chuck them all in a big enclosure, cos thats what happens in the wild, and thats how they get their colours. always reassuring to know how knowledgable some pet shop owners are eh?


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## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

spidersnake said:


> I stand corrected & learn something new every day.
> Thank you.


hysterocrates sp. they can swim, but you will probably be wasting time building them a water enclosure as they rarely do swim, i built one for mine many moons ago but she just stayed burrowed and ignored my hours of building work.


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## Silk_Spinner (Dec 22, 2009)

I remember going to a local reptile shop and seeing at least five Ts on the shelf in the death curl. All the Ts in there had bug gel and bone dry enclosures. It was horrible. I pointed them out and tried to explain to the owner that bug gel is no good for Ts and that they need more moisture. 

He told me he knew this, but he couldn't do anything because it was a petstore regulation that the Ts had to have bug gel and could not be given water as that would be a violation if he got inspected. He claimed he could not even spray the enclosures a little.

:bash: 

Just in case there was a weird regulation like this I checked with other shop owners who confirmed his was talking out his :censor: Thankfully this place has since shut down, but lots of places do continue to use bug gel and recommend it. :devil:


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

wilkinss77 said:


> t's can swim though- at least, some can- the rusty red baboon springs to mind.


Avics, they jump from trees and run along water.




Silk_Spinner said:


> I remember going to a local reptile shop and seeing at least five Ts on the shelf in the death curl. All the Ts in there had bug gel and bone dry enclosures. It was horrible. I pointed them out and tried to explain to the owner that bug gel is no good for Ts and that they need more moisture.
> 
> He told me he knew this, but he couldn't do anything because it was a petstore regulation that the Ts had to have bug gel and could not be given water as that would be a violation if he got inspected. He claimed he could not even spray the enclosures a little.
> 
> ...


that is absolute rubbish.
he wasn't man enough to say he was wrong.


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## lee middleton (Nov 25, 2011)

i recently saw a Juv B. Smithi in a petshop and asked wether it was sexed or not he replyed ' yes its a definate female thats why the price is higher '

first i thought ok... until he folllowed it up with this brilliant statement.... ' But dont be surprised when u get it home and it molts male as tarantulas are constantly changing sex when they molt, just wait again and it will molt female......'

ha, cheers for the advice! think il pass..


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## Buzzlightyear (May 28, 2011)

I was told by the pet shop where i bought my 1st G. rosea from that i needed special T substrate its like compost with glittery bits in it and it is the best you can buy for the health of your T at a cost of £8.00 for a small bag.

Well i like a newbie fool i bought it but now just use Ikea's kokosnot substrate at £2.49 for 9L.

These petshops must strike when you are a newbie because once your in the game your not gonna get ripped again .

Buzz.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

Buzzlightyear said:


> I was told by the pet shop where i bought my 1st G. rosea from that i needed special T substrate its like compost with glittery bits in it and it is the best you can buy for the health of your T at a cost of £8.00 for a small bag.
> 
> Well i like a newbie fool i bought it but now just use Ikea's kokosnot substrate at £2.49 for 9L.
> 
> ...


kokosnot ? lol, i love ikea's names for stuff.
that'll be vermiculite in spider life or something like that ? complete scam lol


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## kevhutch (Feb 18, 2010)

i was told many moons ago by someone in Pet city(yes pet city) corn snakes eat crickets, they can be big crickets though as the snakes can unhinge their jaws


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## billsy (Nov 29, 2008)

A different local pet shop to my previous post in this thread had a "Goliath birdeater" for £150, then I had a look at it and it was a MM L.para :lol2: When I asked if the price included the enclosure I got "No, this is the rarest spider in the world and there's only 3 in the uk that's why the price is so high" :bash:


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## mtyrrell (May 24, 2011)

dragon's den said:


> they went under early 2011 diddnt they, it was always scruffy and smelly in there, i bought a genic from there and shes nice but after the great breeding info the owner gave me i felt no need to visit there again, he told me to get all different species of avic and pokie and chuck them all in a big enclosure, cos thats what happens in the wild, and thats how they get their colours. always reassuring to know how knowledgable some pet shop owners are eh?


Yeah tell me about it said the same thing to me funny enough with avics just whack a load of them in a tank and you wake up to loads of babies and some of the conditions omg still gota be happy if it wernt for that place i wouldnt be in the hobby glad i found a decent shop in southend now scales and fangs thats a good shop


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## sarahsaz (Jun 1, 2011)

Ive heard some stupid things in the past but some of these .............really?


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## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

mtyrrell said:


> Yeah tell me about it said the same thing to me funny enough with avics just whack a load of them in a tank and you wake up to loads of babies and some of the conditions omg still gota be happy if it wernt for that place i wouldnt be in the hobby glad i found a decent shop in southend now scales and fangs thats a good shop


i go in scales and fangs alot theyre a good pet shop and now gary is back working there the tarantula side has picked up.


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## Markkeyte (Aug 3, 2011)

My LPS has a T.apophysis in and it's just labeled as Goliath £100 so I asked which sort is it ? Only to be told " it's the one which eats birds" lmao


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