Visit to the pet store

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jeninak907

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So I went to get some supplies for my tokay gecko and there was a man asking questions about the russian torts that petco had of course he was talking with a representative that worked there. I chimed in with some facts about russians and their care and the fact that it takes ALOT of work and they should do alot of research before buying one. Well come to find out the man was wanting to buy the russian as a christmas presant for his 8 yr old son....:(. And the sales person new this and he kept trying to sell him the tort.. I was very sad because I knew how it would end eventually. Some pet store people dont care about the pets just the sales...:(
 

Baoh

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I wish I knew how things would end. I would play the lottery.
 

StudentoftheReptile

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Sadly, that is pet stores for you. At the end of the day, they are a business, and their goal is to make money.
 

GBtortoises

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jeninak907 said:
So I went to get some supplies for my tokay gecko and there was a man asking questions about the russian torts that petco had of course he was talking with a representative that worked there. I chimed in with some facts about russians and their care and the fact that it takes ALOT of work and they should do alot of research before buying one. Well come to find out the man was wanting to buy the russian as a christmas presant for his 8 yr old son....:(. And the sales person new this and he kept trying to sell him the tort.. I was very sad because I knew how it would end eventually. Some pet store people dont care about the pets just the sales...:(
The reality is, like it or not, pet shops are in the sales business, not the care and education business. Everything in their store is inventory and that is how it's looked at. While it may be live animals that they're selling, at the end of the day they're there to make a profit. No different than a shoe store or any other retail shop. Like any store they're good ones and bad ones. Most serious reptile keepers aren't fans of PetCo and PetSmart. There is a reason for that!
 

jtrux

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Gotta agree with Baoh here...exactly how is it that you know that this guy and his son had no intention of providing proper husbandry for this tortoise? I had many pets when I was that age with very good results.
 

Icantdrive49

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Yeah, I tend to agree. Maybe the guy did all his research and the russian will be in good hands. I bought my tortoise from petsmart and I obsess about his husbandry.
 

mainey34

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Unfortunately sometimes you have to turn the other cheek. So to speak..im sure your intentions were good...
 

ustwoandthekids

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That is sad to hear, I got my tortoise from a pet shop which is not something I would normally do with this kind of animal but the pet I go to is just a small family run reptile shop and I know the owner quite well and trust, even though they know I have had a tortoise before they still checked I knew what I was doing and that I had everything and i wouldn't even think about going to a larger pet shop, often the staff don't have a clue :(
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I get that your 'on the spot impression' was that the customer was at the beginning of their education, and not what might be considered well informed. So from this point of view I understand your seeming pessimism that there will not be a long term good life for the animal. I also see that your further seeing into the future, and statistically you are probably correct, the odds are the tortoise and the person getting the tortoise may not get on well. But all that does not make it a lost cause. Maybe for the individual animal, maybe not. I am pretty sure that very nearly everyone who is someone 'well qualified' to keep a pet tortoise at one time was not well qualified, including well known current "chelonian experts".

How many times have you read threads here where some one acknowledges learning something one year ago, and their next post speaks of there ability is been going on for XX years, like they somehow magically knew everything from the first day they had a pet.

A learning curve absolutely sucks for those we learn from if they are animals. For those learning it's a great thing to feel the learning going on, to gain some expertise, even when we mess it up some.

So as a few have said here, maybe not all so bad for that specific animal, maybe it will be. The person getting the tortoise, the child, maybe knows alot from doing some bit of self learning, while the person buying did know nothing or very little. When I was in the sixth grade I could identify all US aquatic turtle by latin name. I had no idea about sports statistics like most of my friends. Maybe the child getting the tortoise is up to the task.

Will
 

Tortus

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There are too many possible variables to know for sure how it would end up. I remember being 8 and seeing how many other kids treated their pets. My dad always told me not to play with (as in handle) reptiles and puppies too much because it would make them sick, so I tried to be extra careful.

My cousin, on the other hand, always had a new pet at that age because he recently killed the old one. I remember seeing him walking down the road, throwing a small kitten up in the air and catching it like a ball. It was dead a few days later.

Hopefully this kid isn't as destructive and his father will be supervising the care.
 

jeninak907

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jtrux said:
Gotta agree with Baoh here...exactly how is it that you know that this guy and his son had no intention of providing proper husbandry for this tortoise? I had many pets when I was that age with very good results.

I talked with the guy and he was very suprised with all the care that actually went in to a tort... so I was judging by his and his wifes reaction that he had done little to no reasearch.
 

dawnredwood

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Everybody has to start some where, its just a shame that the animals some times suffer! but with the internet it is so easy to get good info, so fingers crossed it turns out for the best.
But as a side note the big box stores dont normally give good advice and often keep the tortoise on peat moss.
Lets breed tortoise and stop the wild importation of them and then we can control and advice on there future care!
 

Yellow Turtle

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We certainly can't control things happening in pet stores unless the government releases some law to regulate for pet care there. You did a good thing reminding the guy so lets just hope for the best that he gonna do some research after he buy the tort.
 

Baoh

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If one went by my father's knowledge, who might buy me a tortoise from an exotics shop for one of my childhood birthdays, one would assume it was as good as dead upon going home. My father was not the caretaker, however, and such an assumption in this hypothetical scenario could not be further from the truth.
 

bigred

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MOST people not ALL start out new with not alot of knowledge about how to raise a certain type of tortoise. Then you have some that do a little research on how to house and meet the needs of the new tort. People gain knowledge and experience as they keep them. I dont think we really know where this person that was going to buy the tort was at in this process. Some torts do suffer and die during this learning curve, Its just the way it is
I stopped by my friends house and he told me he had a box turtle in his backyard that was sick sometimes. I asked him if I could see it and we went to check it out and it looked like a russian to me. I dont know alot about russian torts but I would assume they need some heat in the winter. I told him the little guy probably needed some heat and an antibiotic soak and he heard what I had to say and that was it. He will do nothing to change the conditions for this tort. He has had box turtles and misc. torts for years and they all have escaped and now he just has this one sick tort left. Then again some people are still under the impression that any kind of tort. or turtle you have just gets put in the backyard with no care at all. It just depends on what the person is willing to learn or not willing to learn
 

Tom

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Such pessimism.

How do you know that little 8 year old boy isn't going to do a google search, find this forum and become a better Russian keeper than anyone here? Maybe he will start PMing other Russian keepers, learn all he can and then come up with new and better ways to house and care for them. This could be the start of something beautiful...
 

KingInCulver

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I dont agree with the pessimism here either. I didnt know anything when i first got my sulcata, and bought all the wrong equipment. A simple google search brought me to this forum, and ever since i've been making all the efforts and adjustments to provide my tort with a good life. An eight year old likely knows how to use the internet, and no doubt with the wealth of knowledge housed in these forum threads, both parent and kid can learn proper husbandry. And besides, even if a keeper doesnt possess all the knowledge a veteran breeder may have, it doesnt mean they will care for or love their tort any less. Its a positive sign that the parent was even asking questions rather than just bringing the tort home without any premeditation. The first four words a potential newbie tort owner should hear: Tortoise. Forum. Dot. Org.
 

tickle

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U should have given the man this site address.remember everyone starts somewhere.I find dads do this to teach there kid responcability and I do think the tort is better off with him then at the store.he could post here and we could help him.
 
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