Argh!

[Kurt Baird]

Back in February last year I started working in an exotic pet shop. I worked there until June at which point I left for a job that paid better money.

Anyway, when I started there things were awful for the T's at the shop. Nothing had water (not even a bowl), kept in tiny little tubs (and I mean tiny, barely room for the T to turn around), dead bugs everywhere, you get the picture.

I did loads to try and improve the conditions. I put everything thing into decent sized enclosures, not the best but at least there was room for movement. Everything had a water bowl that was full and I changed it every other day. When I fed them I went back the next day to check if it had eaten and removed what hadn't etc. This took me nearly the whole time I was there ti implement these changes because I had to convince the owner it was the right thing to do.

Anyway, since I quit I have been going back their for live and frozen food. Standards have slowly been slipping every week; empty water dishes, cobalt blues in bone dry setups, rotting food...

I go in today, they have two new Goliaths in. One is kept in a nice big tank, one that would probably suit an adult. Good ventilation, moistened substrate, full water bowl. Problem is, the tank is about 18" high... there is about 1cm (if that) of substrate at the bottom... Other one is kept in a tiny tub, and everything in there now has bug gel for water...

Sorry for the rant, just needed to get it off my chest. I spent so much time correcting things and then it just goes back to normal I mean, how difficult is it to change a water bowl every 2/3 days? To take out dead bugs?

[wayne balcombe]

i can totally understand where you are coming from there kurt, it really gets me riled up to see the conditions some of these shops keep there spiders. if they thought about it they would probably sell more and loose les stock if they kept them properly, nothing looks better when walking into a pet shop and seeing well laid out viv's with a happy animal and some nice decor inside, its worth the extra work that needs to be put in to see the result and have healthier animals.

[Craig Moore]

Agreed. It's puzzling, a person owns a petshop but doesn't even have the courtesy to look into some basic care needs.

[Kurt Baird]

The sad thing is the owners are actually nice people, and I know them really well, and also out of the four pet shops I frequent, these are probably the best kept T's of any shop in the area. :/

The problem is the staff (one person now) is lazy. The two owners just sit at home and don't really do anything, and the guy that works there spends half the day on Twitter / Facebook. :/

[Mark Harrison]

Most of these appauling conditions of exotic pets in general is lack of knowledge, and i cant honestly see many pet shop staff who would want to deal with tarantula's esp since some people are scared stiff of spiders and give T's an unwanted reputation. Things wont change, at the end of the day a pet shop is a business, and although i agree the healthier a specimen the more chance of a sale etc. Most places sell T's as a side attraction = to make some extra money and to get ppl in the shop. Sad but true

[Mrs Linda Street]

So many gardens centres are also guilty of this kind of neglect, also neglecting their boxes of crickets, I've never yet seen them fed or any moisture in their tubs whatsover.