Need to rant/vent...

Some of my friends are not bright at all when it comes to owning a pet(s)!

Friend A. Has three cats. Three sweet / loving cats. Lastnight I was over his house and I went to the bathroom. In there I saw two nice sized kitty litter boxes FILLED with about 4 inches of cat poop. No wonder his cats pee and poop everythere in the house.

Friend B. She "LOVES" animals. She is ALWAYS getting a new pet. At the last reptile show, she bought another snake, a BD, and a Tegu. She does not need another snake, nor did she know anything about BD's or Tegus! I tried telling her that BD's need special lighting, and that Tegus get big and a 30 gallon tank will not hold it for very long. She didn't listen. I was just skimming craigslist and well LOOK WHO SHE IS NOW DUMPING / SELLING....
I could spit I'm so mad at her! Me and her butt heads A LOT when it comes to the care of her animals! I guess something new and sparky came along so she now has to get rid of some of her animals so the she can get the new ones....

Friend C. She bought a corn snake the same time I got Jinx. Both were about the same age/size. A few days ago I was over her house and I asked if she still had her snake. She said yeah and we went to get him out. This little snake is well over a year old and about 10 inches long and thinner then a #2 pencil! I asked her if she was feeding him... her reply was "I give him a pinky every 4 or 5 weeks". My mouth just about hit the floor. I asked why so long, her reply... "I forget". I asked her right then and there if she didn't want him, or if he was to much for her. She said she "loves" him. I tried!



UGH!

That's really frustrating Allison. I know I'd have a hard time not hollering at friends who don't care for their pets as they should. Some people think if any animal as disposable unfortunately. All you can do is keep trying to educate them or simply refuse to be friends with them if they upset you. Other than that, if the situation is horrific, you can always inform your local animal control officer but that's a hard step to take when it comes to friends.

Sucks they do that. I always want to think ahead. Hence why I've held off on getting a RTB. All 'cause when I move out, and 6-9' snake will be harder to get into a place then my other 2 who will max out at 3'.

Oh yeah and I forgot to add....

Friend D. He wanted a snake so I thought a BP would be the best starter snake for him. He seemed like he really really wanted this snake and the best for it. Asked a billion questions and read up on them and all. Well he has had this sname since the middle of August and he is only a little baby ball python. My friend has only fed him ONCE and he ate two fuzzie mice babies. He also was blue for 2 weeks straight and I told my friend over and over and over again that he had to mist the tank / snake. "He could find a mister" So I told him to soak the snake a few minutes each day while he was blue. Never did it and now the poor little thing is shedding in TINY pieces. I told him to soak the snake and let him rub though a towel. I highly doubt he takes my advice.

Maybe when you're around certain friends...you could downplay the "coolness" factor of your animals, and instead focus on how much drudgery, hard work, pain-in-the-tail days you have to constantly go through in order to take care of them. ;) Might put them off from wanting their own so badly?

we can lead a friend to knowledge... we can't make them think!

LOL that is a good thing to try, but I really don't talk about my snakes to my friends since a lot of them are not reptile fans. :( The few that are, well have them as pets and yeah you can see my feelings on those people above.

That is so true Aleesha!!!

I know someone that is similar to that, and this person grates on my nerves; WHY get so many new animals when you are neglecting the ones you have!? I will never understand. I feel your annoyance/pain. :(

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Originally Posted by JLC

Maybe when you're around certain friends...you could downplay the "coolness" factor of your animals, and instead focus on how much drudgery, hard work, pain-in-the-tail days you have to constantly go through in order to take care of them. ;) Might put them off from wanting their own so badly?

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Funny enough, this is EXACTLY what I do when ppl come to my house and think all my reptiles are cool..and suddenly want one of this , that and the other...so b/c I know how they are .. I down play the coolness thing and tell them about the work it takes, the expense and everything else, usually scares them away... with the question to me.."why would you want to do all that just to have these"..my answer, b/c it is worth it to me to put the time and effort into all of them.

the ones it dont scare, are the ones who really are willing to care for the animal right and begin to ask more questions.