It's a wonder how people can give such bad advice freely...

M

Merli

Guest
I'm still new to the lizard world, and back when I had the monster I was still rather uninformed and not really sure of things. When I first got her I took her to a pet store because I wasn't sure if she would survive or not (her tail was completely black and shriveled up, and I was really worried about it). But anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point is, the guy I talked to seemed knowledgeable to me, and so I thought he was well-informed on reptiles. I am interested in getting corn snakes in the future, and I specifically asked him if the tank he sold to me would be big enough to house corn snakes, he said yes.

The tank he sold me is 5.5 gallons.

I only learned recently through a little researching that a 5 gallon tank is barely big enough for anything! It suited my purposes because the monster was so small and she didn't really need a whole lot of space, but that's not the point. The point is he sold me a 5.5 gallon tank and told me it would be big enough for a corn snake. It's a good thing I've been researching --'.
 

nrich

Member
Messages
168
Location
Pasadena, CA
not having had a gecko for long, I can't attest to the quality of herp advice, but I've kept fish for a few years and I am always astonished at the horrible advice I've heard when it comes to fish, from keeping a goldfish in a one gallon bowl to mixing male and female bettas.

I would never depend on a store clerk's advice. I am a true believer in doing my own research and seeking advice from multiple sources.
 

Leopard.Geckerz

New Member
Messages
387
Location
Ontario, Canada
Research is key with herps, I've heard a lot of scary advice over the years too, both first and second hand. And then again everyones standards can vary as well. What is okay to some, is not ok to others.
 

Alusdra

New Member
Messages
475
Location
Washington, DC
I think I might be more scared that you went to a pet shop with an animal you thought might die. That would be a question for a vet.
 

ajveachster

New Member
Messages
1,185
Location
NE Ohio
You are correct that there is a lot of bad advice. You are also correct that you need to do a lot of research on your own to be a responsible herp owner. Hope things go well with your snakes. You should be able to make some good connections here to get some solid advice. IMO the best advice I ever got from somebody at a large chain store was to not get an animal from there or take it to their vet. She wasn't happy with her own animal's care from there.
 
M

Merli

Guest
Okay x-x'. Let me try to explain myself a little bit better. I work in a grocery store, sometimes we get spiders in our grapes in the summer. But last august a little lizard came in on our grapes. The grapes are kept in a 40 degree cooler until we take them out and put them on the shelf, so for one I didn't know how long she was inside our cooler. Also, our grapes come from California, I do not know if she was on the truck the whole ride from California, so that's another thing. When we found her, I thought she was dead because she wasn't moving and her tail was all shriveled up and black. When we put her in a deli cup she started moving a little bit better and became more active. I felt a little responcible for her because I was one of the two people who found her. So other than killing her, I thought I would give her a home. I went to a pet store that night to buy a tank and stuff and ask questions there because I didn't know much about lizards, it was then that he pointed out to me that the tail looked a little odd. He agreed to keep the lizard for me and look after her to see if she might be all right. After she warmed up her tail regained its color and looked fine, she lost it sometime before we found her, so I don't know if that was part of the problem.

So please don't think badly of me because I was kind enough to save a lizard my workplace wanted me to kill. Yes, I could have taken her to a vet, but it was the middle of the night and I didn't know any vets that might have been open. I didn't know if she would make it, or if she would be healthy. I didn't want to spend all this money if she was just going to die within a few days. I ended up having her for six months. This was a impromptu thing and after warming up and eating she looked fine, her tail regained its coloring and wasn't nearly as shriveled up. Not to mention I live in the middle of nowhere and I wasn't even sure if there were vets around here that knew much about lizards. I was just trying to do the best I could at the time x-x'.
 
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Spooki

caffeine zombie
Messages
235
Location
NY
I think I might be more scared that you went to a pet shop with an animal you thought might die. That would be a question for a vet.
it's amazing how many people do that... some of them are people who just want someone to be able to actually tell them if the animal is sick or not, others actually want us to diagnose and treat it. :main_no:


with any advice it's best to at least get a second opinion. with reptiles and fish i find so much conflicting stuff it makes my head spin. even with the books we sell in my store i'll find there will sometimes be conflicting advice. don't rely on any one person or source to be a pet care bible.
 

justindh1

New Member
Messages
1,584
Location
Pilot Grove, Missouri
No matter were ya go there is going to be someone who gives crappy advice or gives the person negative responses for wanting to ask a question. Whether its at a pet store or on a forum thats the way it is. People just want to feel like they know all and want to make others feel the same. Pet stores are just in it for the money so most people will tell you what they need to in order to make a buck.
 

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