Disappointed in 'reptile specialist'

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ingie

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A friend and I went shopping today and decided to check out the local aquarium/reptile store in that area. We were pretty disappointed with what we saw!

Baby bearded dragons in a tank with only a UV tube above and no other heating at all. A filthy enclosure, and a bowl of 100% cabbage.

Adult spotted pythons in really small tubs, with no heat at all, and filthy wet newspaper with ancient poo on it.

It says 'Reptile Specialists' out the front....... Poor critters.
 
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yeah iv seen that aswell i didnt see the beardies but i was honestly tempted to take the spotteds. in tiny tubs like that
 
yeah iv seen that aswell i didnt see the beardies but i was honestly tempted to take the spotteds. in tiny tubs like that

As cruel as it is if you decide to buy an animal just because of the conditions it is being kept in only allows the place to continue keeping things in poor conditions.
 
I don't like the ones that have almost 200 hatchies for sale (you know the one ;)) they all can't be getting the correct care. I know how much work it was feeding 10 of them AND lizards AND rodents AND arachnids in the one day in one store and be on the sales floor at the same time!
 
That's pretty awful. I went to the vic markets a while ago, and to the reptile pat of the god-awful pet shop right near it. It's just Up from the Market, they sell Pets. ;)
Anyway, was looking at their (ridiculously overpriced) hatchies, and saw one with extremely obvious neuro issues, poor thing couldn't right itself, was just flailing around, then would just give up and lay there on its back all twisted up. So I thought I'd play dumb, and see what they had to say about it. I asked why it was doing that, and asked to get it out to have a look. They pulled the poor wretched thing out of its tub and I held it for a little while, and they told me "that's pretty normal, he's basically just being lazy and will be fine as he gets older." Honestly, I almost cried for that poor little snake. I was actually very very tempted to "accidentally" drop it and stomp on its head just to put the thing out of its misery. What I actually did though, was put the poor creature gently back in its tub, casually mentioned VERY loudly to my sister some choice words about the establishment that every customer heard, and left. In hindsight, I wish I did kill the poor thing, bugger the consequences, I could have made it look like an accident.
 
Surely there is someone to report that sort of neglect to?
 
This is exactly why you can't buy reptiles from pet stores, in nsw!
 
This is exactly why you can't buy reptiles from pet stores, in nsw!

but wasnt this supposed to change in the near future? and when and if it does NSW will eventually go down this same path..

personally I never even bother going into a "pet store" anywhere..
 
You're right there disintegratus - Last time I stopped by to check out some geckos, they didn't know the code to get the lock off the exo terra... eventually I just had to point out they could easily remove the top! :shock: The state of some of their reps is just sad.
 
That's pretty awful. I went to the vic markets a while ago, and to the reptile pat of the god-awful pet shop right near it. It's just Up from the Market, they sell Pets. ;)
Anyway, was looking at their (ridiculously overpriced) hatchies, and saw one with extremely obvious neuro issues, poor thing couldn't right itself, was just flailing around, then would just give up and lay there on its back all twisted up. So I thought I'd play dumb, and see what they had to say about it. I asked why it was doing that, and asked to get it out to have a look. They pulled the poor wretched thing out of its tub and I held it for a little while, and they told me "that's pretty normal, he's basically just being lazy and will be fine as he gets older." Honestly, I almost cried for that poor little snake. I was actually very very tempted to "accidentally" drop it and stomp on its head just to put the thing out of its misery. What I actually did though, was put the poor creature gently back in its tub, casually mentioned VERY loudly to my sister some choice words about the establishment that every customer heard, and left. In hindsight, I wish I did kill the poor thing, bugger the consequences, I could have made it look like an accident.

I was there on the weekend.

The reptiles in reptile area didn't look to flash, many with shedding issues. But the Bird section was a disgrace. 2 galahs and a long billed corrella housed all together in a tiny dirty "2ft x 2ft" cocky cage with one pirch. Female Electus with what looked like a broken foot and wing, sitting there looking like it was about to die.
 
photo's people and send them to the RSPCA and threaten to go to the media if they don't hop to quick smart. Photo's are the best evidence and they then have something to take to court!!!!! oh and send a copy to the local wildlife authority. thats what you can do!
 
Rspcaaahahaaa..welcome to QLD, theres not a thing you can do. DERM is toothless, RSPCA is laughably understaffed and spends your donations on their banging new offices and overpaid management. Feel free to try soemthing yourself though, you'll find out how happy the police are to have you for a night.
 
This is the exact reason I disagreed when QLD allowed pet sites to sell reptiles, and the fact they overcharge. I don't like the way the majority of them keep birds and guinea pigs, let alone reptiles...

Shops* I obviously meant haha
 
photo's people and send them to the RSPCA and threaten to go to the media if they don't hop to quick smart. Photo's are the best evidence and they then have something to take to court!!!!! oh and send a copy to the local wildlife authority. thats what you can do!

I actually have video footage of a local pet shop near me feeding their snakes live. I had been there previously and witnessed this same snake chowing down on a thawed rat, yet when I called the RSPCA, I was told "it's not illegal". The RSPCA is a joke, has been for many years. "For all animals great and small?"I call Bull**** on that one. For the sake of public relations, they dropped the first word of their slogan. it should read "Death for all animals, great and small"
Especially these days, if it's not a maimed kitten or a tortured puppy, they don't want a bar of it. I also reported another pet shop to them, One that's been "not" mentioned many times on this forum, because they were selling ferrets that couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 weeks old, in a tiny filthy cage with no shelter. As long as they've got food and water it's okay, nevermind that they're not old enough to eat it yet. GGGRRRRR!!!

And as far as taking offenders to court, if they ever make it there at all, at most they get a slap on the wrist or a fine. I acknowledge that the RSPCA doesn't have the power to increase sentences, but as an organisation run for the benefit of animals? They're a joke, and a bad one at that.
The media are worse than the RSPCA. They don't care about snakes or birds being neglected, those animals aren't nearly cute and fluffy enough to make a news story.

I'm sorry, I'm a cynic who believes that in the last 15 years at least, the RSPCA is doing far more harm than good for the animals they claim to protect.
 
some are good in their husbandry.. I worked for one(have worked for 4 in my time) and now I have such a high standard that no other pet store stands up to them

I actually have video footage of a local pet shop near me feeding their snakes live. I had been there previously and witnessed this same snake chowing down on a thawed rat, yet when I called the RSPCA, I was told "it's not illegal". The RSPCA is a joke, has been for many years. "For all animals great and small?"I call Bull**** on that one. For the sake of public relations, they dropped the first word of their slogan. it should read "Death for all animals, great and small"
Especially these days, if it's not a maimed kitten or a tortured puppy, they don't want a bar of it. I also reported another pet shop to them, One that's been "not" mentioned many times on this forum, because they were selling ferrets that couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 weeks old, in a tiny filthy cage with no shelter. As long as they've got food and water it's okay, nevermind that they're not old enough to eat it yet. GGGRRRRR!!!

And as far as taking offenders to court, if they ever make it there at all, at most they get a slap on the wrist or a fine. I acknowledge that the RSPCA doesn't have the power to increase sentences, but as an organisation run for the benefit of animals? They're a joke, and a bad one at that.
The media are worse than the RSPCA. They don't care about snakes or birds being neglected, those animals aren't nearly cute and fluffy enough to make a news story.

I'm sorry, I'm a cynic who believes that in the last 15 years at least, the RSPCA is doing far more harm than good for the animals they claim to protect.

I know, I've had my fair share of RSPCA problems. that's why I thru in the media thing. this all sucks
 
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Manda, you're right, unfortunately pet shops that do the right thing are the exception rather than the rule. And don't get me wrong, I have nothing but the utmost respect for (most) of the volunteers that work for the rspca, it's the company as a whole that makes me see red. They lost my support the day they stopped being a charity and started being a multi million dollar company.
 
I wonder if someone like Dept of Fair Trading or someone would be the way to go... the RSPCA might be toothless but surely there is a regulatory body within the govt that states the standards to which they must operate. Bit like the health inspectors that can close restaraunts.
 
Dont forget that they let shops keep them like that, where we keep them in excellent conditions yet we are the ones they target on trivial issues. They make sure we dot the i & cross the t on our paperwork yet don't actually give a **** about the welfare of the reptiles the paper is meant to be about.
 
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