Local Pet Store Horror Stories!

kyriri · #1 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 11:07 AM

So, I've seen a thread like this on some other boards, and I thought this would be a pretty funny one here. For all of you on here (me included) who work in a pet store and actually TRY to be good at what we do, lets hear the stories of those idiotic customers who make us want to tear our hair out.

For those of you "idiotic" customers (

) out there who have had to deal with us silly employees who don't know a snakes head from its butt, I'm sure you have a bad story or two to tell as well. So please share!!

I'll start off. I'm sure some of you T people have heard a similar story at least once.

I was in a Petco in my area that sold tarantulas, talking to an employee. The employee proceeded to tell me about a T that had 'died'- all curled on its back. So he threw it away.

I proceeded to lecture him for a good fifteen minutes on the difference between a death curl (the legs curl UNDER the body) and molting (legs curled while the T is on it's back)... I felt so bad for the little bugger. Stupid employee didn't even feel bad.

Your turns!!!

SUAD · #2 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 06:48 AM

My favorite are the people who compliment us on our iguanas whilst pointing at the bearded dragons. Right up there with the ones who ask if we carry "poisonous" snakes...or the ones who (right after they hear that I'm the resident snake expert at the store) proceed to tell me how many snakes they've killed in their yard this summer. I had one guy tell me that his snakes enjoyed when he played his rap music as loudly as possible because "the bass made them move". I've also had people tell me how they "had to kill their snake", because it bit them and apparantly: once they bite they have the taste for human blood.

Yeah, I've heard a few fruitloops out there as well. It's hard not to become a bit of a sarcastic, jaded jerk with a lot of people after enduring these types of incidents for X amount of time.

BlackLava · #3 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 06:53 AM

dude, i had a guy who asked me if he could keep a ~4-5in pacu in a betta bowl that was only 1 pint

i wanted to cry

to make things worse, he was one of those people who didnt know english so he wouldnt have understood a darn thing i said

SUAD · #4 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:00 AM

Haha, insanity....I had a guy that was just convinced that keeping a ball python and a 20 gallon tank with a corn snake was absolutely fine and dandy. As I tried to talk him out of this, he became more and more agitated and finally just walked off. *shrug*

Rex322 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:10 AM

haha where do you want me to start? i can go from "i have a ball boa, burmese boa, columbian python, columbian reticulated boa..." that goes on. my favorite one though, when i worked at a local petstore, guy comes up to me and goes, "man why aint my ball python be eating?" so i ask him, well, what are your temperatures at? he says "temperatures?" with a confused look on his face...i respond, "how warm do you have the cage its in?" he says to me.."oh, you have to have heat for them?"

theres the guy who tryed to argue with me that retics only get 4'

there was someone who tryed to tell me that their boa had a broken leg....yes a broken leg...

had a customer bring in a 7' burmese python, describing it to everyone as a ball python saying it was only 3'...when i corrected them and told them it was more around 7', and was a burmese python, she agreed, then went back to saying it was a 3' ball python when i walked away.

had someone try to sell me a baby nile crocodile telling me it was tame, as it was trying to eat the wall of the rubbermaid.

had someone tell me their snake barks.

someone told me they had a 6' leopard gecko, and even point out the leos in the cage.

had a customer bring in a ball python with mites one time. i pointed them out and they said they knew about them..so i pointed out a product that actually worked to kill them....they say to me. "their friends, why would i want to kill his friends"

yea, interesting area of town this store was in.

telefrag · #6 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:18 AM

I find it easiest not to engage in coversation with anyone working in a pet store other than general pleasantries.

I used to work in one for many years

snakelady · #7 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rex322

haha where do you want me to start? i can go from "i have a ball boa, burmese boa, columbian python, columbian reticulated boa..." that goes on. my favorite one though, when i worked at a local petstore, guy comes up to me and goes, "man why aint my ball python be eating?" so i ask him, well, what are your temperatures at? he says "temperatures?" with a confused look on his face...i respond, "how warm do you have the cage its in?" he says to me.."oh, you have to have heat for them?"

theres the guy who tryed to argue with me that retics only get 4'

there was someone who tryed to tell me that their boa had a broken leg....yes a broken leg...

had a customer bring in a 7' burmese python, describing it to everyone as a ball python saying it was only 3'...when i corrected them and told them it was more around 7', and was a burmese python, she agreed, then went back to saying it was a 3' ball python when i walked away.

had someone try to sell me a baby nile crocodile telling me it was tame, as it was trying to eat the wall of the rubbermaid.

had someone tell me their snake barks.

someone told me they had a 6' leopard gecko, and even point out the leos in the cage.

had a customer bring in a ball python with mites one time. i pointed them out and they said they knew about them..so i pointed out a product that actually worked to kill them....they say to me. "their friends, why would i want to kill his friends"

yea, interesting area of town this store was in.

Some time the gene pool needs chlorine!!!!

BlackLava · #8 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:39 AM

WOW rex, i wanna laugh but its too sad that those stories are true and happen far too much

i dont get too many bad reptile people at work, but ugh....when it comes to fish, im SO sick of people telling me their fish will only grow to the size of the tank

then when i say its not true, they counter it with, we (or one of their friends) used to have one and it only grew to the size of the tank.....then i say, yea, prob cause it wasnt being fed enough/properly or the water quality turned to crap cause there was lots of big fish in a small tank....i always tell them that the fish evolved the way they have for thousands of years to survive and they cant override genetics by putting them in tiny tanks. they are so amazed that i have seen tons of fish that grew huge in a tiny tank, so big that they were constantly hitting their faces on the glass and had permanently disfigured faces

BlackLava · #9 (**permalink**) 09-21-2009, 07:41 AM

oh, and you cant forget the people who think hamsters wont bite.....OR the people who talk reptiles with me always have to mention the little girl in FLA and all the other escaping pythons that have made the news. luckily they seem to always agree that those people were stupid cause they didnt have proper caging and they didnt have required permits to even keep the animals. then they ask if mine escape like that

Elizabethlea27 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-05-2010, 09:35 PM

As a customer I get sick of going into Petco and ALWAYS seeing their snake water bowls bone dry, and you can see the lines on the bowls where it slowly evaporated too. I've called them, I've told them, but every time I go in there all the water bowls are empty. I would go there to get my pre-killed mice... am definitely going to a different store from now on.
Oh and by the way, the reason I think they are empty is because no one wants to go near the snakes in that store, they ALL strike, even the ball pythons. I know because I went there looking for my first prospective snake. The employee was too terrified to handle them, I tried, they all individually struck out at my hand. Now, how would you like to water that every day? No idea why they are that aggressive (except maybe the store's no-handling except if you are buying policy) while at Petsmart I could hold the ball pythons, the corns, and they were all relaxed and none struck out. So needless to say my first baby corn came from Petsmart.

Wow that was much longer than expected. Lol. Sry.

Beardo · #11 (**permalink**) 09-05-2010, 09:49 PM

I've worked in several petstores (chains & locals) and have heard all the stuff above and much much more. It makes my head hurt to even think about it, lol.

tucuxi88 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-06-2010, 02:47 AM

I've had a customer ask me if they could keep their anoles in a cardboard box. (why even have them then?!)

One story I always got was: "My friends cousins sister (ect.) used to sleep with her boa every night until the snake started sleeping totally stretched out beside her...." I'm sure we've all heard this story. I mean, that girl seems to be veerrry popular with the boas in my town.

Don't even get me started on fish people.... That was straight-out animal cruelty that most people were committing.

People are miserable creatures.

LSDillinger · #13 (**permalink**) 09-06-2010, 03:16 AM

When I bought my pueblan milksnake the guy at the pet store told me she was diurnal. Other than that I can't really share much here, I'm lucky enough to have access to a pet store where the staff actually know what they're doing. When I bought my redtail she was in excellent condition, no mites, no rot, great muscle tone, and very well tempered. I guess I found the exception to the rule.
I could say a few things about a particular kingsnake they have, who apparently hasn't been handled by anyone but me for several months. He's always in a really bad mood, he usually bites me a few times before I get him to settle down. I just think it's sad that he'll probably die in a pet store because the stress of being in a pet store made him unfriendly (he's in a really bad spot, out in the open and within tappy fingers kid-reach). That's not very likely though since aside from his temperament he's in good health, so I'll probably buy him eventually. it does sort of irk me though that most of the staff seems to have given up on handling him, and the ones that want to see him tame and a happy again don't know enough about handling snakes, let alone a #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& off five-footer with good aim.

pixie · #14 (**permalink**) 09-07-2010, 08:19 AM

What irks me, is people who WORK in a pet store...that do not like/scared of the reptiles....That's why up until we moved I only went to the local reptile shop. I refused to go to petco.

I was in petco one day with my kids and we were looking at some of the reptiles...and there was a female worker there with another customer who was holding one of their garter snakes...well the garter snake got snippy and the FRICKING GUY DROPPED THE SNAKE...and the worker screeched and said I hope you catch him cause IM NOT GOING TO....my 5yo old daughter caught the snake and I placed it back in the cage...I was so po'd that I told the worker she shouldn't take the job if she isn't going to take care of the animals...ALL OF THEM.

Caligula13 · #15 (**permalink**) 09-07-2010, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackLava

WOW rex, i wanna laugh but its too sad that those stories are true and happen far too much

i dont get too many bad reptile people at work, but ugh....when it comes to fish, im SO sick of people telling me their fish will only grow to the size of the tank

then when i say its not true, they counter it with, we (or one of their friends) used to have one and it only grew to the size of the tank.....then i say, yea, prob cause it wasnt being fed enough/properly or the water quality turned to crap cause there was lots of big fish in a small tank....i always tell them that the fish evolved the way they have for thousands of years to survive and they cant override genetics by putting them in tiny tanks. they are so amazed that i have seen tons of fish that grew huge in a tiny tank, so big that they were constantly hitting their faces on the glass and had permanently disfigured faces

on a side note about the fish and tank size and stuff, something i have noticed is when i move certain fish from a small tank to a larger tank they seem to definitely get a growth spurt so to speak. I have seen this with many types of cichlids, endlicherii and ornate polypterii, and others. I know a small tank does not limit the size size of a fish, but i would say that it has an effect on its growth somewhat. what do you think?

in regards to the original posts, i've been pretty lucky to have a petco that was lucky enough to hire a very knowledgeable aquarium specialist who owns his own aquarium treatment company on the side. he always has good information, but the reptiles do often get neglected at these places. oh, and i love how i get these evil looks from customers and employees alike when i get feeder fish. i mean really, try feeding flakes to an infant gar and a clown knife fish haha. they were made to hunt

Special K · #16 (**permalink**) 09-07-2010, 09:30 AM

Zombie thread!

tucuxi88 · #17 (**permalink**) 09-08-2010, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Special K

Zombie thread!

At least it's the same month! Consider it an anniversary of some sort.

Pertaining to the fish/tank size. The reason Your fish have a faster growth rate isn't because the size but the cleanliness of the water. A smaller amount of water will get mucked up faster. (obviously)

Kind of gross but the best way I can explain it.
If someone "lets one go" in your kitchen, you might smell it but it will go away fairly quickly. But if some one rolled up the windows in your car and decided to share his/her fragrance with the rest of the group...

Sometimes they just don't make filters big enough...

beelane · #18 (**permalink**) 09-08-2010, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tucuxi88

I've had a customer ask me if they could keep their anoles in a cardboard box. (why even have them then?!)
One story I always got was: "My friends cousins sister (ect.) used to sleep with her boa every night until the snake started sleeping totally stretched out beside her...." I'm sure we've all heard this story. I mean, that girl seems to be veerrry popular with the boas in my town.
Don't even get me started on fish people.... That was straight-out animal cruelty that most people were committing.
People are miserable creatures.

Whenever people find out I'm a snake owner they tell me this story. Always a "friend of a friend of mine".. The same person always brings the snake to the vet and gets it put down because its sizing them up. Mhmmm haha..

Anyways, there's this self proclaimed reptile expert that works at Pets Unlimited who has told me numerous untrue things. I always end up arguing with him but give up because he has to be right. He must think I'm a moron because I'm blonde or something LOL. Apparently my python doesn't need ANY humidity.. Blood pythons are also ball python morphs. Did I mention boas lay eggs? Ugh it makes me mad thinking about it haha

Beardo · #19 (**permalink**) 09-08-2010, 01:06 AM

When I worked at petstores, I would always keep a supply of good herp books around and pull them out on the occasions where I needed printed evidence of customers' stupidity, lol.

Sliding Scales · #20 (**permalink**) 09-08-2010, 01:13 AM

Up until recently, and not knowing anything about HOTs, I called them poisonous snakes. But that is why I am here on RTB, to learn about something that I will never have. That said, it is amazing to me that people will always ask, when you say you have snakes, "Is that one of those poisonous snakes?"
I can understand that they, like me made the wrong description, but to think that anyone with a snake has a venomous one is so crazy.

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