# ggrr it makes me so mad!!!!!!!!!!!



## stacie (Feb 13, 2006)

i went to my local rep shop on sunday and left really stressed out. 
I watched a group of people who didnt know anything about reps tryin to buy a water dragon, then a leopard gecko, then a bearded dragon, royal phython, and finally what annoyed me the most a chameleon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ive been workin and owned reps for 2 years now and i still wouldnt even try a chameleon, or am i just bein a scardy cat?) they didnt have a clue!!! and the shop assistant didnt even seem to mind that they didnt have a clue. 
both me and my partner felt gutted to hear that they were coming back in the morning with their finally decision!!!! grrrrrrrr it makes me so mad they were just running around the shop tryin to get better than sum1 else they knew. The mum seemed more interested in it than her son (which was who it was for). 
is reptiles just some fashion at the moment??? well it seems to be!!! it just :censor: me off!!!! :banghead: :banghead:


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Yeah that does sound a bit worrying.. hopefully they will get the Leo (and some good care information).


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## stacie (Feb 13, 2006)

yeah thats what i was thinking!!!! but they sounded like the chameleon was gonna be the finally decision. lets hope not!
i felt like jumpin in ad sayin...'well personally i think the leo would be the best option bla bla bla..'


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## beckys_dad98 (Jan 23, 2006)

you should have jumped in. I used to get into trouble at the petstore before because people were wanting a ??? and if I didn't think they would be able to care for it properly, I used to suggest other things or else tell them to do more research. The salesguy used to give me shit for ruining his sale, then one day his boss was there and we got into it. I basically told them I know they are in the business of selling pets and such, but it is also their responsibility to make sure the animal is going to be properly taken care of once it leaves the store and not just figure thats the person knows what he is doing, and also to make sure the advice they were giving out was the correct advice... I'm not saying all the advice I have given on here is 100% correct, but if I know I don't know the answer, I will not try b-s'ing my way through it...
Steve


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## Reptilerescueden (Jan 2, 2006)

Gota agree that pet shop owners need to be more responsible to whom they sell to and should include care sheets as part of their service to the animals and the public. Sadly at the moment there is no law in place for pet shops but if the animal welfare bill does come in with the changes they propse this will be one of them, which that part can't be a bad thing. Personally all i trust my 12 yr old with is a garter snake, which he is looking after and i am impressed but he does want to move onto something more challenging and i wont have it just yet. I'm, just a mean old mum lol. :twisted: Parents have a role to their kids and their pets.


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

Half the reptiles i want are far too advanced for me to look after so i am waiting. If anyone i know has a rep i ask them how they are keeping it and then butt in if i think its not being looked after properly. I sometimes lose friends for a while but i think the animals should be cared for properly and not an accessory to look cool.


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## frankie (Mar 24, 2006)

hi im new to this site and im a bearded dragon and blue tongued skink owner. i agree wiv you on this petshops should have to by law send home care sheets with people and make sure the animals are going to good homes. we have been given alot of bad advice with our beardies and there for have had issues with our smallest dragon. i also feel that more should be done to make sure these reptiles are looked after properly whilst in the pet store.


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

Well the new pet shop i go to ask about how they expect to care for the rep and all the consequences and rewards you would get. They make sure you are taking it to a good home.


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## frankie (Mar 24, 2006)

thats good news they arent all bad, its just the bad ones give the others a bad name


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

yeah. When i went to get my snake they just sold her to me. I didnt buy the viv then or anything and they didnt ask any questions. They just asked for the money and handed her over. I was annoyed as i was about to say what a nice set up she had :lol: :lol:


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

the person i got my snake from was in-between I suppose. Not great but not bad either :lol:


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## nicky (Jul 13, 2005)

yeh and the annoying thing is they don't get looked after properly then we all get a bad name.... :evil:


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## frankie (Mar 24, 2006)

just out of interest how quickly would a chinese wd die go dark and dry out


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## hullreptilelover (Mar 4, 2006)

There does seem to be alot of bad practice and advice given out by some reptile shops (Not all).  
I own a reptile shop in Hull and I always make sure the customer knows exactly what they are taking on when they buy there reptile. I make sure our customers get a careguide and hand out my telephone number so they can contact us for any advice. 
We have some staff working for us who we are training on reptiles and I am enrolling them in a basic herp course to benefit them and our customers (I think this should be standard practice with all unexperienced staff at reptile shops) I tell my staff NOT to give out any advice if they are unsure of what they are saying and they come and get me to speak to the customer.  
We had a girl come into our shop the other day to buy a boa constrictor, she had never kept any reptiles before and I explained that she would be much better off starting with a cornsnake. She said that she didnt want one of these and definatley wanted a boa. I told her how big they get and her reply was.... "Thats okay, when it gets too big I will just get rid of it!!!!" That sort of attitude really annoys me. My reply to her was.... I'm sorry, but I dont feel you would be a responsable snake keeper and I'm afraid I wont be selling you any of our reptiles. She didnt like this but at the end of the day, I am one of a few responsable reptile shops and I care about the wellbeing of my reptiles and only sell them if I am sure they have a good home to go to were they will be loved and cared for, for life.
It really hacks me off when I hear of reptile shops giving out bad or wrong advice or selling reptiles just for the money as in the end it is the reptile that suffers. :evil:


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## cornmorphs (Jan 28, 2005)

its one of those things... some shops are great, others really shouldnt be open at all


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## pie_man (Oct 1, 2005)

yes but if you look at it from the rep shops point of view (no offence hullreptilelover this is not aimed at you) you go in not knowin what you are doing you buy lets say a chameleon a set up thats gunna cost a fair bob or two you get it home your chameleon dies after a couple of months you kids are devastated so you go buy another...........what does that spell? (till rings) thats rite more money..........i am obviously not excusin em but doesnt this explain why they are like they are...also this kinda means in there eyes less effort in from them means that the customer knows less anyway............these are just my views and how i see it..........personally i research till it comes through my eyeballs before getting an animal and i wil continue to do so in the future


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## Kryton (Mar 23, 2006)

I agree, You can tell the muppets who go into pet shops that ACT LIKE A BUNCH OF KNOBS!!!
They are the type of people that need to look at a name of a often kept snake, (lets say a corn for example) Then they go and say "i''ve had loads of these" I've personally seen them do it.

I just cant stand people that do not know anything about reptiles, or any anmals as a matter of fact but act like they know everything. All they want to do is get the reptile and show off to their mates. Then when that wears off, they cant cope with the care which the pet needs, due to them knowing complete F*** All!! :x :x


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

Yeah i know what you mean. You see a lot of people saying "that would make me look really cool, my mates will think im great" So theyll go out and get the prettiest one which then dies cos they dont feed it properly or they just sell it on. :evil:


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

^ Guy I shared a house with at uni was doing that. He was asking me what big, vicious-looking reptiles he could keep. I told him to get a bunny rabbit :lol:


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

LMAO...its like my mate wants a uromastyx cos it looks cool. Thats the only reason. And his gf wanted a beardie until i showed her the frill i was getting. She then decided she wanted one of them cos they looked cute. Im waiting her to see the frills come out and find out how vicious they can be.. then see her running towards a beardie :lol: :lol:


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## plums (Feb 20, 2006)

It seems that there are so many people that are sold Reptiles without the guidence they need to enable them to look after them to the level they deserve.

Its not on, But it will continue to happen & continue to be just as frustrating.. poor things...


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## NNY (Feb 2, 2006)

the only thing we can do is be there to take the unwanted or injured reps and give them a proper home.


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## hull-beardie-fan (Mar 26, 2006)

i no hullreptilelover personally and no that she would never sell a reptile or any other animal infact to anybody who wouldn't be able to care for it properly and take care of the needs that percific reptile needs.


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## hullreptilelover (Mar 4, 2006)

Hi Ryan! About time u joined this forum! :lol: 

Bazza_2005 - No offence taken :lol: I agree with you completley and as a shop owner, you can only go on first impressions with a customer but if I personally feel they dont have the reptiles best interests at heart, we simply wont sell them.


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## beckys_dad98 (Jan 23, 2006)

I know what you are saying... The pet stores should make sure that people know what they are getting into when they buy certain animals. On the other hand the person buying the "pet" should also consider the level of commitment it takes to look after a certain animal and do all the research on it. A prime example is Iguana's. The reptile club that I am in has worked hard to stop the chain pet stores from selling Iggy's because of how many we have in the rescue society and how many we have to have put down each year. People buy them when they are maybe a foot long because they are "so cute", but then in a couple of years when they are nearing 4-5 feet and becoming "vicious monsters" they can't deal with them any more and when they can't sell them they dump them off somewhere. The majority of the animals that are in the rescue are either Iguana's or Boa Constrictors. Get the occasional smaller snakes or lizards but seems to be the bigger ones that go to animal rescue. The 2 people in our club who do the work running the rescue deserve a lot of credit. They always look after the animals and are able to place a lot of them, but before they do place them, they "interview" to make certain the animal is going to be properly looked after... and all this is on top of their regular jobs...
Steve


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## hull-beardie-fan (Mar 26, 2006)

recently at work we have obtained a sub adult iguana that was dumped on the street probebly due to its size and temprement. we have gave it a new loving home at our shop and he is now called sprout or zues the staff haven't decided yet lol. yes zues/sprout can give a nasty bite to a person but what reptile cant? If you cant house these reptiles i advise you DONT get them! in the end u dnt suffer the reptile DOES! thanks :?


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## hullreptilelover (Mar 4, 2006)

I dont like stocking things like iggys for this very reason, they appear on our lists ten a penny and if I wanted to, I could sell them all day long but dont because I know half of them wont get the care they should do. We know a local lad called anthony who runs a hull based reptile rescue and if we have a customer who seriously wants an iggy and seems to know what he is doing, I'll pass his number on and help try and rehome them that way. 
As hullbeardiefan said, we got a rescue iggy for the shop (Ryan, he is called Zeus, I aint naming him bloody SPROUT!! lol :lol: ) as a display, I think it was better for us to get the rescue and offer it a home this way because the iggy is now getting a second chance at having a loving home with someone who will care for its needs correctly. 8) Once he is on the shop floor, I will put a notice up on his tank to let people know that he is a rescue and was unwanted by his previous owners and that this is why they should research any reptile they are thinking of getting and understand what is required of them to be a responsible herp owner....


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## eeji (Feb 22, 2006)

Thats a brilliant idea having a big iggy in the shop - if people can see how big they get and not just go in and see cute little babies, it may make them think twice about getting one if they don't have room.


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