dodgy pet shops??

[lee smith]

hi all

i was wondering about who to speak to about pet shops that are selling T's but don't have a clue about what they are selling?

the reason is; one of my local shops (which is a reptile specialist) is selling T's that are really badly labeled, eg- they are selling some that are labeled as "orange african tarantulas" and i saw one that was just sold last week (for £90) that was labeled as "brazilean giant tarantula" i asked the guy in the shop what it really was and he said it was a "goliath",(on close inspection it looked to be a L.parahybana, which fitted with the chaps description of its behavior too)

is there anything that can be done about these sorts of pet shops before something bad happens to somebody and the T hobby ends up getting some really bad press.

i hope someone can give me some advise

thanks

lee

[Phil Rea]

Absolutely nothing you can do. It's not only pet shops either, as to be fair there are a fair few decent ones of those around.

[lee smith]

i agree with you totally, it just seems a bit unfair on anyone who buys a T from this shop, espessially the chap who thought he was getting a black coloured goliath and all he got was a overpriced wrongly named L.parahybana.

[Phil Rea]

i agree with you totally, it just seems a bit unfair on anyone who buys a T from this shop, espessially the chap who thought he was getting a black coloured goliath and all he got was a overpriced wrongly named L.parahybana.

It is unfair, but really it's 'buyer beware' in these sorts of situations

They will label it as whatever they have bought it as, so whoever has supplied them is probably equally at fault. The pet shop is unlikely to have the expertise to differentiate what to them is just a spider either.

[Simon Batten]

When I bought my A.Avic the man at the shop who they called over to serve me because he was 'the spider specialist' didnt have a clue, back then nor did I really I went to get a B.Smithi so done research on keeping them but when i got there they only had tiny Smithi slings.

So I looked at what else they had and asked what would be subtible for a relative beginner, (I had a G.Rosea as well) and he said the A.avic which is a good starter aboreal true so far, then when he got her out her abdomen was basically bald and he told me that these were good because they had no urcilating hairs and I said she wasnt as big as my Rosea and he said shes still a baby she will grow alot well when I got home and read up I realised shes near enough an adult.

For a tarantula specialist he wasnt very helpful.

[Richard Gallon]

The vast majority of pet shops which stock tarantulas do so as a side-line and have little interest in them specifically (however, there are notable exceptions where staff members keep and breed Ts).

Bargains can be had at some pet shops. I've heard of places in the past selling captive bred adult Brachypelma smithi (etc.) for £20; simply because somebody who no longer wanted it gave it to the shop, and they didn't realise the true value.

However you are more likely to get a good deal from a private breeder, but the down side is they rarely sell grown-on tarantulas.

Many pet shops only sell tarantulas by their common names, so it can be difficult working out exactly what you have just purchased (and even more problematic when it comes to trying to breed the thing).

Richard

[CJ_GRISDALE]

I think most of them do go of what the wholesaler or whoever sells them to the store, everytime I go in our 2 local reptile stores they keep picking my brain, one of them actually asked me to identify the 3 he had for sale in the shop as he had no clue and on inspection 2 where dead, 1 I identified as a king baboon which had been left in desert conditions (no water or humidity whatsoever) and perished. the other 2 i wasnt sure on.

[Ray Hale]

The BTS are aware of this problem. Many years ago before I was involved in the hobby on a big scale there were a number of pet shops around like the one you describe. Funny enough they are no longer with us..........

The truth is that many pet shops buy their stock from one of two sources. Either from breeders ( me and you) or from importers. On both counts they are dependant on what name the spider is sold to them as. I once saw a
" Giant golden green pad footed tree spider" that was in fact P.murinus.

Then there are those dealers who "add" names to make the offer seem too good to miss ......"Giant Brazilian White Legged Bird Eater...grows to 10inches"

There have been some great shops in the past and Im sure there are some great ones about now. As already stated on this thread its buyer beware out there.

Of course there is another way to ensure you get the best deal. Join the BTS, learn about the spider you want and then get along to the BTS Exhibition and get it from a reputable vetted dealer.

Ray

[lee smith]

i now only buy from shops advertised through here, or from one shop near me which is quite strict on where they get their T's from.

[CJ_GRISDALE]

Im the same I only buy from breeders with pedigree of here now, wouldnt dream of purchasing from a "pet shop" again, and im allready saving for may Ray lol i cant wait

[Adam Smith]

The bottom line on this is if you come to a pet shop even if they are the most savvy reptiles dealers and keepers if they know bugger all about the spiders they are selling dont buy them as you will be ripped off paying rediculous price or it was treated badly in store and you take it home to drop dead in a weeks time. I purchased a few ts in a reptile specialist store whilst i was living in devon in exeter and they were not too bad although on one occasion i bought a juvie what was named c fasciata but was in fact a chilobrachys fimbriatus which in my opinion was a better spider and think it was a bargain so it can be an advantage if something is mis labelled although this is rare. My advice buy from people who specialise in ts and no what they are doing. I always get mine online now and no probs Lee and the spider shop are the best business i have come across and have yet to see another site better it.

[Simon Batten]

my first two Ts came from a pet shop the rest came from a couple of websites, thespidershop.co.uk and the-invertabrate-shop and tarantula-shop.com I also got a few off of Mary the petshop prices are double sometimes triple the net prices and I know the people im getting them off know what there talking about

[Nicola Dolby]

purchasing

I think everyone has pretty much said it. All my spiders have come either from 'the spider shop', the 'BTS show' or from traders recommended by the BTS committee. There are some excellent other online stores out there as well, but if you want to buy a tarantula there are plenty of online galleries and information sites out there to help you to know what you are buying (try Guy Tansley's for a start). Also shop around. I noted at the BTS show last year a sub-adult female P. ornata going for £22. She was in A1 condition and a great buy. One particular site (Faunology) are currently selling a sub-adult female P. ornata for £89.99!!!! If in doubt contact the people at the BTS over pricing, don't get caught out.

[Warren Beattie]

The bottom line on this is if you come to a pet shop even if they are the most savvy reptiles dealers and keepers if they know bugger all about the spiders they are selling dont buy them as you will be ripped off paying rediculous price or it was treated badly in store and you take it home to drop dead in a weeks time.

Hmm. The owner of my usual exotics shop admits he doesn't know much about spiders, but then he doesn't keep too many in the shop, they're usually hardy species, well-fed and given decent surroundings; and he has a few books and a spider-keeping assistant to fall back on. His biggest failing is labelling them with common names and relying on the latin names the dealer(s) give him - not so bad with some, but others are head-scratchers.

About price: some will beef up the price through ignorance or money-grabbing tendencies, but I mentioned something about mark-ups on another topic. I don't know how big a factor that is but I'll guess it'd disadvantage pet shops more than other sources.
Anyway, on Friday, in the shop mentioned, I decided to ask to see the tarantulas as well as getting my usual crickets. Good thing I did when he happened to have a mature male Pterinochilus murinus RCF in stock. Got it for £20 - less than half the labelled price. 'Course, that's mostly because he's generous towards regular customers and it already had a deposit down by someone who never came back for it, but that's beside the point.

On pet shops in general: a lot of pet shops cashed in on a '90's exotics bubble, here in Northern Ireland (same with the rest of the UK, I assume?). It was my first experience of exotic pets, and I'd guess it was similar to a lot of others. I was sold an anole, along with a 'Flintstones'-styled plastic tank that came complete with gravel; small, spiky plastic plant; and a 10-watt bulb in the lid. Now, I'm surprised the lizard lasted as long as it did.
It made me a strong advocate of reading up before buying; but I think for a lot of other, less interested owners, having their snake or lizard or spider waste away and die would discourage them from buying more, or a replacement. I think that's one reason that whenever I go into a pet shop now, I rarely see anything more 'exotic' than budgies and neon tetras (badgering by the USPCA might have had a hand too, I suspect).
On my first visit to Belfast's Petsmart outlet (now Pets At Home) in years, I made straight for the exotics section, interested to see what they had but bracing myself for how they might be kept. Only to find the section wasn't there any more; it was replaced by displays of cupboard stands for aquariums. At the time I felt a little disappointment, but a lot more relief.

[sarah Smith]

On the topic of doggy pet shops I have a horror story for you, our local exotics shop has just started out with T,s now and has them in display vivs with overhead light for heating and sponges for water. I attempted to explain about sponges but got told sponges were fine for T's and the person then stated that they did not have time to talk. Sadly there is little I can do to get this sorted out so all I can do is to never use that store again which is a pity due to the good quaility snake food they do there. I know tighter laws wont be good for the hobby but at times when I hear and see stuff like this I think that something needs to be done to prevent pet shops just jumping on profitable sale band wagons and not looking after animals properly. I dont know how or even if it would be possible but I really think there should be some kind of body that specialises in exotics and sees to it that bad pet shops get either corrected on their care or prevented from selling exotics in some way. I know that the RCPCA in genreal try but their not to knowladgeable on the care of exotics themselves, and have adopted a policy of dont keep them they dont make good pets.