Pet Store and Pet Ownership Horrors -

[UntimelyDhelmise]

A rather disturbing thing I've noticed is how willingly people just trade or give up entire swaths of their pet reptiles as if they're bargaining chips. I'm not talking selling babies (would be silly for a breeder to keep them all obviously), I'm talking people who amass collections and then constantly downsize or swap whatever they have for other creatures like it's some kind of Pokemon trading group. And then there are the ones who get a big collection, completely sell everything off for one reason or another, and then get a new pile of reptiles at a later date.

And the worst part is I know exactly why this happens too. It's far easier to just get rid of or swap out an animal you can't read like a dog or cat. As far as anyone's concerned they'd might as well be living decorations. But, they're not. Just from my own relatively fresh experience I've been able to pick up on what my snake does and doesn't like and get a feel for his perspective of the world; it's been so eye-opening yet it pains me to see so many others not give their own reptiles that same level of understanding.

 

[Clockwork_PurBle]

Here's a "not horrific but still cursed" pet store story.

Now that I'm out of school I'm exploring the small city where I now reside more. We have 3 pet stores here: PetSmart, Petco, and Pet Depot. I have no complaints about any of them: they're all very clean, the animals always look happy and healthy, and the workers are nice and knowledgeable. I briefly thought about applying to Petco. In regards to Petco specifically, even their bettas are kept in large cups and always have crystalline water. I enjoy visiting them from time to time, because "free zoo" and I love fish tanks. That's what I did today.

I experienced a bruh moment at PetSmart. At this PetSmart (I don't know if this is common for all of them) they have a room where they let the cats out to roam around and play. This room has a large window for people to look inside and watch them. When I went, the four cats up for adoption there were in their "hutches" napping, so the room was empty.

What was in the room, however, was a stuffed toy sitting on a cat tower nearest the window. What was the stuffed toy?

The neighbor from Hello Neighbor. I took a picture of it and now my phone is cursed.

 

[Niggernerd]

Back when i worked at petsmarts years back, we had some hills have eyes hilly billies come in wanting to adopt a guinea pig to replace the one they lost (i.e. retards left the poor bastard outside and a raccoon smashed it through the bars and took it) i really didn't want to but my manager is a jew about this shit so before giving it to them i gave the little guy a hail mary.

Another time, parents and their brat came in to replace the brats hamster because he drowned the last one. Again i didn't want to sell it to them, thankfully the manager wasn't there for the day so a hamster was safe.

Once, our manager ordered too many guinea pigs so they put like 20 of them in a pretty small cage. I leave for 4 days vacation, i come back and when i enter the new arrivals room, it smells like absolute hell because turns out one guniea pig got flattened to death by the rest.

 

[Clockwork_PurBle]

Back when i worked at petsmarts years back, we had some hills have eyes hilly billies come in wanting to adopt a guinea pig to replace the one they lost (i.e. retards left the poor bastard outside and a raccoon smashed it through the bars and took it) i really didn't want to but my manager is a jew about this shit so before giving it to them i gave the little guy a hail mary.

Another time, parents and their brat came in to replace the brats hamster because he drowned the last one. Again i didn't want to sell it to them, thankfully the manager wasn't there for the day so a hamster was safe.

Once, our manager ordered too many guinea pigs so they put like 20 of them in a pretty small cage. I leave for 4 days vacation, i come back and when i enter the new arrivals room, it smells like absolute hell because turns out one guniea pig got flattened to death by the rest.

So workers/managers/whatever have the ability to refuse the sale or adoption of a pet? I didn't know this.

 

[Coffee Druid]

A rather disturbing thing I've noticed is how willingly people just trade or give up entire swaths of their pet reptiles as if they're bargaining chips. I'm not talking selling babies (would be silly for a breeder to keep them all obviously), I'm talking people who amass collections and then constantly downsize or swap whatever they have for other creatures like it's some kind of Pokemon trading group. And then there are the ones who get a big collection, completely sell everything off for one reason or another, and then get a new pile of reptiles at a later date.

And the worst part is I know exactly why this happens too. It's far easier to just get rid of or swap out an animal you can't read like a dog or cat. As far as anyone's concerned they'd might as well be living decorations. But, they're not. Just from my own relatively fresh experience I've been able to pick up on what my snake does and doesn't like and get a feel for his perspective of the world; it's been so eye-opening yet it pains me to see so many others not give their own reptiles that same level of understanding.

Apologies for necro-ing the thread but that seriously irks me too. I have a couple snakes (blood python and garters). That's more than enough for me. I have acquaintances that also own reptiles and am part of online snake groups. It's literally a meme that "you must always have MOAR". It's apparently common to just go to a reptile expo and impulse buy, or snap up reptiles from petco because "I'm rescuing them!" I don't doubt that chain pet stores are not the best for animals but that just encourages the shop to keep buying more to sell. Plus the fact that they call their animals their "collection", as opposed to pets is telling. At the end of the day, if they take great care of the animals they own I can't complain too much. But I don't get it.

On another topic, spring time means chicks for sale. I got my chicks from a local feed store that can tell you all about the hatchery they source from, what vaccinations they have, and provide ample heat and food while they wait to get sold. Meanwhile the chain store tractor supply just feels...sad. I went in to pick up some items and looked at the chicks there. So many had advanced pasty bum (when poop dries up around their butts and builds up. Can be deadly) it was ridiculous. Plus they had no bedding, just plastic trays to walk on. I get that chicks aren't meant to be at stores long term, but at least put in some care. Also it's not the responsibility of stores, but I worry about the whole "buying chicks (and bunnies) around Easter time, they're cute and small and perfect for kids!" And not thinking about them, you know, growing up. I've never known anyone to have done so but I'm sure there are idiot parents out there.

 

[fishercat]

A family friend of mine recently adopted a puppy from an animal shelter. Said shelter apparently never tests their dogs for Parvo. Guess what that puppy ended up catching. Guess what required her to be quarantined for ages because the other dog they own has immune system issues that prevent her from getting vaccinations.

Go on. Guess.

The puppy is fine now, but the fact that the animal shelter apparently doesn't screen dogs they adopt out for diseases is disgusting to me. Especially Parvo, that shit's contagious as hell.

 

[UntimelyDhelmise]

Apologies for necro-ing the thread but that seriously irks me too. I have a couple snakes (blood python and garters). That's more than enough for me. I have acquaintances that also own reptiles and am part of online snake groups. It's literally a meme that "you must always have MOAR". It's apparently common to just go to a reptile expo and impulse buy, or snap up reptiles from petco because "I'm rescuing them!" I don't doubt that chain pet stores are not the best for animals but that just encourages the shop to keep buying more to sell. Plus the fact that they call their animals their "collection", as opposed to pets is telling. At the end of the day, if they take great care of the animals they own I can't complain too much. But I don't get it.

On another topic, spring time means chicks for sale. I got my chicks from a local feed store that can tell you all about the hatchery they source from, what vaccinations they have, and provide ample heat and food while they wait to get sold. Meanwhile the chain store tractor supply just feels...sad. I went in to pick up some items and looked at the chicks there. So many had advanced pasty bum (when poop dries up around their butts and builds up. Can be deadly) it was ridiculous. Plus they had no bedding, just plastic trays to walk on. I get that chicks aren't meant to be at stores long term, but at least put in some care. Also it's not the responsibility of stores, but I worry about the whole "buying chicks (and bunnies) around Easter time, they're cute and small and perfect for kids!" And not thinking about them, you know, growing up. I've never known anyone to have done so but I'm sure there are idiot parents out there.

Even some of the YT channels I occasionally watch that constantly badger you for keeping this or that wrong and act all high and mighty, still refer to their animals as their "collection" and just about every single video state how they want to add this or that to their "collection" in time when they already have well over a dozen animals.

Such people must be super rich and spoiled af as well, because just with my one snake it's been expensive as hell just taking care of housing alone (and it's still not done either since I have to wait for the permanent enclosure I ordered to arrive, which could take half a year or more based on other people's experiences).

 

[COCl₂]

People who keep large, working breed dogs in a cramped space while gone working 10-12 hours a day...just why? Get some 10lb yap dog that wants to be a lazy fuck.

 

[UntimelyDhelmise]

Problem with crabbers, too. There's two major groups in these communities. Kids and adults who take in people's unwanted crabs. The kids just see someone with a beautiful crabby family, which they want. This leads to more unwanted crabs. The claims of them having a short life are untrue. A well cared for crab can live well into its 30's. Heard about a guy who had a 40 year old one. Like parrots, these are multi-decade long commitments.

There's also people who will buy crabs to save them from the pet store's conditions. Good intention, bad idea. You're telling the store it's okay to house them in conditions even the spiders don't have to endure. Even snakes get a place to hide. Poor hermit crabs just have their shell.

Came back to this post because I just recently got back from a beach vacation. The place was very much a tourist trap and in nearly every souvenir shop there's hermit crabs effectively being sold as living trinkets (most places even say a crab is "free" with purchase of whatever minuscule plastic box they call a cage). Knowing what I do about hermit crab care, it was heartbreaking to know that 99.9% of the poor things would inevitably be consigned to a slow, agonizing death. They actually have gills and require high humidity (70% minimum) to breath properly, let alone all their other needs like warmth and deep burrowing material. In short, they all suffocate to death.

I'd argue they have it even worse than the likes of goldfish, since even the most simple of simpletons know a goldfish at the very least needs to be in water. Most have no idea about terrestrial gills and the humidity needed for them to function.

 

[Coffee Druid]

Even some of the YT channels I occasionally watch that constantly badger you for keeping this or that wrong and act all high and mighty, still refer to their animals as their "collection" and just about every single video state how they want to add this or that to their "collection" in time when they already have well over a dozen animals.

Such people must be super rich and spoiled af as well, because just with my one snake it's been expensive as hell just taking care of housing alone (and it's still not done either since I have to wait for the permanent enclosure I ordered to arrive, which could take half a year or more based on other people's experiences).

I just saw a post in a snake group I'm in: "I went to a reptile expo this weekend. My husband said no more snakes but tee hee, I spontaneously bought one!" That wasn't the exact words obviously, but it was the gist of it. And that's a common sentiment. Why on earth would you buy another living creature if you had no plans to (and presumably no enclosure ready) and the partner you live with did not agree to it?

People who keep large, working breed dogs in a cramped space while gone working 10-12 hours a day...just why? Get some 10lb yap dog that wants to be a lazy fuck.

Reminds me of boyfriend's mom. She's retired, and does nothing but sit in her room 24/7 watching tv. She randomly decided to adopt a young husky (obviously a high maintenance dog) from the local shelter. She hadn't really made any accommodations for it. Maybe the excuse could be made she was lonely and wanted companionship, but she just left it roaming the house while she was in her room all day with the door closed. This is also the person who left out fatty cuts of steak and pieces of fast food burgers as "treats" for our friend's dog before. Needless to say we had a discussion and ended up taking the dog back. She was cute, but would probably have a better life with more active and aware owners.