# don`t you just love reptile shops



## asnakecalled? (Apr 9, 2006)

about a year ago (befor l learned how to probe) i got 4 royals from my local reptile shop, they were suposed to be 1 male and 3 females well gess what i probed them today and it turns out they are 3 males and 1 female. ok so i understand its hard to probe hatchlings, but the 5 year old proven female has tirned out to be a male, how do you make a mastake like that ?

so come on people lets here about the experiences like this youve had from your local shops (please dont name the shop).


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

sorry, i ran the last one around here. they are...no more.......


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## Beardies (Sep 30, 2006)

I got a female annery from a breeder and a shop told me because of the size she is a deffo he but she laid eggs just over 2 months ago but with only 1 fertile one sadly it died though  but the shop was busy and dont blame the people in there


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## Onissarle (Mar 1, 2007)

Our first two reptiles were a pair of patternless leopard geckos that we bought as female from a shop fairly close to us. They both turned out to be male but by then we were too attached to get rid of them.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I wonder if I should start a thread saying "don't you just love reptile breeders", and citing the times where a breeder has told me something was the wrong thing.. :Na_Na_Na_Na:

People make mistakes, I've learnt the hard way (and not from buying from shops but private keepers) that you need to sex it yourself to be sure.. otherwise assume everything is "sold as female..." not "guaranteed female.."

I'm sure i've sexed a few things wrong in my life time, I always say, I can't guarantee, but i'm 90% sure it's a male/female based on explanation/probe/popping/whatever. Never 100% guaranteed.


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## Onissarle (Mar 1, 2007)

Athravan said:


> I wonder if I should start a thread saying "don't you just love reptile breeders", and citing the times where a breeder has told me something was the wrong thing.. :Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> People make mistakes, I've learnt the hard way (and not from buying from shops but private keepers) that you need to sex it yourself to be sure.. otherwise assume everything is "sold as female..." not "guaranteed female.."
> 
> I'm sure i've sexed a few things wrong in my life time, I always say, I can't guarantee, but i'm 90% sure it's a male/female based on explanation/probe/popping/whatever. Never 100% guaranteed.


Very true. We were a little annoyed when we found out our first two girls were actually boys but it taught us a valuable lesson. I never take gender for granted now, especially not with young reptiles. Reptiles can be incredibly difficult to sex sometimes so you can't really blame anyone for getting it wrong from time to time.

I can see why people would be annoyed if they were sold something as a 'definite' or 'proven' gender though.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I like the ones where you are told that this snake laid eggs just last April... and then it gets there and you probe it and it's a boy.. and the seller changes their mind and says, uh.. my friend said it laid eggs.. might have been a different snake... that's happened to me  Then you can blame someone.


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## Onissarle (Mar 1, 2007)

Athravan said:


> I like the ones where you are told that this snake laid eggs just last April... and then it gets there and you probe it and it's a boy.. and the seller changes their mind and says, uh.. my friend said it laid eggs.. might have been a different snake... that's happened to me  Then you can blame someone.


If I bought something as a proven breeder (for the purposes of breeding) and it turned out to be the wrong gender, I'd want my money back.


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## shiva&kaa123 (Jul 20, 2007)

Hey, I work in a rep shop! I think that alot of shops are really crap and give us all a bad rep but then there are places like us :smile:, CPR, South Coast Exotics etc. which are amazing :smile:
Ben


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

i've done that a few times lol, bought a snake "oh it laid 28 last year" and then it locked up with a known female of mine..

i have never bought one royal who has been the sex they thought it was either. thats gone both ways. male into female, female into male..

mind you, i get it wrong too, i probed a corn for someone, as a male, 3 months later it laid eggs.. even with the best intentions it can be gotten wrong!

would agree with christy tho, private breeders are every bit as bad as shops when it comes to sexing!

N


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

But heaven forfend you should try to sell something unsexed or "best guess" sexed!


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## leptophis (May 24, 2007)

What a nice thread this is, reptile shops are made up of human beings like breeders and keepers, they can make mistakes like everyone can, thats the way we human beings work, none of us are perfect, but have to say i am so tired of seeing these winging moaning threads about shops and reptile businessess, so after talking to a few shops, we thought maybe we should start a thread called, "dont you just love keepers", all of these are true quotes from keepers, lets hear you shop customer nightmare quotes, 

"my tortoise is lethargic" customer asks, 
"what do u keep it in" shop worker says
a cardboard box next to a raditator he replies

or how about the customer who was having problems with his tortoise when he infomred the shop he was feeding it on bread and jam, when asked why she replied, he likes it of course

or the customer whos iguana had kidney problems, when asked about his diet they replied they fed it totally on fray bentos steak and kidney pies

or the animal college who informed a shop they didnt need uv for beardies cos they dont require uv.

or the customer whos beardie had extreme mbd and when asked how long he had noticed it they replied about 6 months previous.

or the leopard gecko that was brought in, with a feeding problem , when examined the lizard had 5 layers of slough all over it and had numerous medical problems,

how about the royal python which was brought in with third degree burns, and the owner had actually tried to sell her in this condition in a local paper,

these are juust a few stories from shops where keepers had brought the animals in for advice, shops may not be perfect but most of them try there best


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## Trice (Oct 4, 2006)

asnakecalled? said:


> about a year ago (befor l learned how to probe) i got 4 royals from my local reptile shop, they were suposed to be 1 male and 3 females well gess what i probed them today and it turns out they are 3 males and 1 female. ok so i understand its hard to probe hatchlings, but the 5 year old proven female has tirned out to be a male, how do you make a mastake like that ?
> 
> so come on people lets here about the experiences like this youve had from your local shops (please dont name the shop).


that is quite a mistake to make!

is the female the one they called a male?


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## matty (Feb 17, 2007)

leptophis said:


> What a nice thread this is, reptile shops are made up of human beings like breeders and keepers, they can make mistakes like everyone can, thats the way we human beings work, none of us are perfect, but have to say i am so tired of seeing these winging moaning threads about shops and reptile businessess, so after talking to a few shops, we thought maybe we should start a thread called, "dont you just love keepers", all of these are true quotes from keepers, lets hear you shop customer nightmare quotes,
> 
> "my tortoise is lethargic" customer asks,
> "what do u keep it in" shop worker says
> ...


 
very well said


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

My best so far was
"You know you told me not to get Tortoises to live with my Beardies? Well I did and they're very happy together."


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## Trice (Oct 4, 2006)

Ally said:


> My best so far was
> "You know you told me not to get Tortoises to live with my Beardies? Well I did and they're very happy together."


WTF? Lmfao. .Thats soo. um random..


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

Hmm... She didn't seem to understand about them needing different requirements - or want to listen. Apparantly I was wrong and know very little abut reptiles because I thought they should not be kept together...


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

leptophis said:


> What a nice thread this is, reptile shops are made up of human beings like breeders and keepers, they can make mistakes like everyone can, thats the way we human beings work, none of us are perfect, but have to say i am so tired of seeing these winging moaning threads about shops and reptile businessess,


But then again... the KEEPER is not selling something to the shop... but the shop IS selling something to the keeper.

Yes, keepers do make stupid stupid stupid mistakes and sometimes completely inexcusable mistakes. So do shops. The difference is that a novice keeper expects the shop to know what they are talking about - and to give them the correct advice and information.


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## leptophis (May 24, 2007)

the point is both parties are human beings and not perfect


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## Johelian (Nov 25, 2006)

If the sex is not definite, they really shouldnt claim that it is one or the other...I personally wouldnt mind if a store couldnt tell me for certain the sex of an animal, since it can be a difficult business. I do however feel irate when someone says definitively that its one gender, when in reality its just a guess. Dont mind an opinion - actually, I like hearing someone elses opinion as it gives me a second view to consider - so long as its made clear that thats what it is.


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## welshgaz (Dec 12, 2005)

I think as said get good shops you get bad shops but what ultimatley sticks out here is some people just DO NOT want to listen or simply DO NOT do there own research before jumping in head first... everyone wants everything on a plate and it just doesn't work like that !

people even have different ways of keeping reptiles. some people keep groups of certain snakes together others don't, people keep certain lizards on sand others don't. Nothing is 100% correct but at least listen to advice and understand where you could be going wrong.

some shops get blamed as well for stuff that basically they shouldn't. customers will buy certain items for reptiles only to come back blaming the shop saying they sold them the wrong item and there reptile has something wrong with it now. sorry but i think any reptile keeper should have done there own research before they go out buy something ! its not the shop keepers responsibility to ask what they are using it for... it could be for heating or lighting a small cupboard for growing weed for all they care.

Some shops get bad press simply because certain individuals are morons ! some get it because they deserve it... you also get good and bad breeders or importers remember.

The only way to gaurantee something is to do it yourself ! problem is people are lazy


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## charlesthompson (Feb 11, 2006)

Leptophis you are bang on the money!!! - The amount of clueless, halfwit, pretend to be know it all consumers, who waste my time, and erronously care for their animals and then have the cheek to get the hump when i vehemently tear a strip off either them or the shop from which they bought it.

Ignorance is not a sufficient reason to mis-treat an animal. - And we have had at least one example of all of the above mentioned by Leptophis and loads more besides.

The other thing is they are annoyed when i hand them a vets business card. "No sorry sir, i am not super - human and cannot apply some magic balm to wipe away the 2,3,4 years of abuse you hsave given this animal". And the first question they always ask is "How much will that cost" - I dont fu$%ing know im not a mind reader. They also tend to become annoyed when you say sorry madam that cardboard box is not suitable for that llegal tortoise that your nephew brought back in his pocket from turkey. This setup will cost you £180.00 and will help keep your tortoise healthy. They usually reply " We'll think about it never to be seen again" - or they go to another place in leeds thats has already been shut down numerous times for animal cruelty offences. Anything goes in there it seems.

cheers chaz


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## brian (Oct 22, 2005)

:lol2: THE,LAST TWO POSTS ARE POSSIBLY THE BEST IV READ FOR A WHILE :no1:


It looked like this post was started to pass the blame to shops and breeders I dont agree with that type of post (as you will see if you read my past posts) but this has turned it round to the customer WELL DONE 
THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALLWAYS RIGHT


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