What would you do?

[SnakeEyes]

Heres the scenario:

Your at the pet shop getting some feeder mice and a older guy walks in with a plastic container, shaped so it has some fake plants, a few ponds, and a little pull, and on the side it says "Planet Frog" as shown here:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...DL._SS500_.jpg

You also notice in the container there is a little frog. You take note the water is gross looking, prolly hasnt been changed in forever, the lid is being held on by tape, and the some parts of the wall looked like haven't been wiped down since he bought the thing. So being the nice person you are, which I am and I did, you let him go first so he can set the item on the counter. He talks to the guy behind the counter, which knows a great deal about snakes ie how to pop and probe etc etc. So the cust ask if the store does by backs as they purchased that setup from that store, if I was the guy behind the counter I would of said no way cause that cage looked gross, and he said. The cust explained his son is wanting a snake so he would like to see what they had to offer. So the guy behind the counter said to look around and he will be back there shortly to help him out.

(Heres where I got on edge)

So the cust goes back there looking for snakes and one of the other employees come back asking if they have any Garder (sp?) snakes. so the guy says no, they dont have any. so the kid goes back to the cust and comes back saying the guy really wants an garder snake, the dude says oh well they dont have any...but to show him the new baby ballpythons they just got in and see if he would like one of those since they are cheap and easy to care for.....

This dude is gonna sell a baby bp, which I just bought one of those myself, to some guy that cant even clean out a plastic frog container! This dude doesnt have a clue about snakes, and the store wants to see him a BABY BP cause they are cheap and easy to take care of!! First off, BP's are easy snakes, we can all agree on that, when compared to others. Baby bp's, not even close to easy. This is my first baby bp, and she is a toughy to figure out, but at least I have an idea what im doing and i have the patience for her. This guy is getting a snake cause his son doesnt want the frog ne more, he now wants a snake, wtf is gonna happen when the son doesnt want a snake any more, toss it in the woods?! So i buy my feeder mice and left and was thinking about it, should I have said something? Should I have gone back there and told him baby bp's can be really tough to take care of and require more work then adult bp's that are at least eating normally? Should I have gone back there and actually tried to not let them make the sale? So this guy prolly bought a BP, has a crappy cage for it, prolly one hide, little or too much heat, and the poor thing is a baby!!

So, I ask, what would you all do?

[LadyOhh]

Well, You can't judge people so quickly.

NICELY ask him about the frog and how often the son takes care of it. Suggest that even though snakes require less daily care, that he as the father should probably watch the care of the animal that he is purchasing a bit more closely, as responsibility is something that needs to be taught.

If I were there, I would explain to them that snakes are not as easy as one might think, offer them advice and even maybe suggest buying a book on the snake that he may have bought.

But, it also depends on how defensive one can be and how willing someone is to listen. If a complete stranger came up to me about my husbandry, I would be a bit taken aback, honestly.

It is a slippery slope when talking about things like this.

You may have done the right thing by walking away. The shop may have given this man all the advice he needed AFTER you left....

[Nate]

It probably would have been bad news if you tried to stop the sale...however, had you been kind and mentioned your experience with ball pythons, mentioned the fact that you have experience with the cost, mentioned they're not a cheap animal to keep, they're not an easy animal to keep, they require daily attention, spot cleaning etc....it may have made him think a bit about what he's getting into. Another great idea would be to mention how important it is to do some research and write down ball-pythons.net on a card or something and bring him here so he can get learnt (That one's for you Kim )

[rabernet]

Hehehe, kind of like my local pet store was trying to sell a puppy, and the customer wanted a "teacup" (not sure if it was poodle or something else) and the kid says to her "we don't sell teacups, because all breeders of teacups starve the puppies for the first six months of their lives to keep them small".


I'm getting my mice out of the feeder bin and say "excuse me, can you please repeat what you just said?" He says it again, and I say "that is NOT true". He proceeds to argue with me and ask me "you wanna bet $100 bucks? John (the owner) says it's true so I believe him!" I just shook my head and the customer left when she realized the kid didn't have a clue.

[Nate]

Hehehe, kind of like my local pet store was trying to sell a puppy, and the customer wanted a "teacup" (not sure if it was poodle or something else) and the kid says to her "we don't sell teacups, because all breeders of teacups starve the puppies for the first six months of their lives to keep them small".


I'm getting my mice out of the feeder bin and say "excuse me, can you please repeat what you just said?" He says it again, and I say "that is NOT true". He proceeds to argue with me and ask me "you wanna bet $100 bucks? John (the owner) says it's true so I believe him!" I just shook my head and the customer left when she realized the kid didn't have a clue.

Ha yeah what the really do is give them to Wayne Szalinski

[wolfy-hound]

I probaly would have mentioned that I have a lot of experiance with balls, and that perhaps a baby wouldn't be a good idea. Then mentioned the proper setup, and suggested that he research it a bit more so he didn't spend lots of money for a pet that his son might decide he didn't like, since it wasn't assured that he could return the equipment for a full refund since it would be used.
If you are non-confrontational, and calm, act disinterested and appeal to the money side as well, you'd probaly get a better reaction than just blurting out "What are you a moron?" which is what lots of us would no doubt LIKE to say when confronted with the disposable pet attitude. To us, the reptiles are beloved valued pets, members of the family, and investments. To them, they are a toy to keep a kid amused, and therein lies the idea of appealing to the money side. If they realize that they'll spend a significant amount of money to be sure that the snake doesn't die outright, and that they can't get that money back by returning the equipment, then they might think it over.
I think ball pythons are a fairly easy snake, compared to many others. Hatchlings aren't as hardy, and without a proper setup, not even subadults will thrive. They all deserve at least the minimum setup.
It's similar to the fishtank syndrome. Someone buys some fish and a ten gallon tank, with a cheapo filter. Pretty quick you're bored with it, and you want better fish, or you give it up. Better fish means a bigger better tank, with better filters... a heater... special lights maybe... and then you might be set up properly. But it doesn't mean that those first fish suffered any less. We just need to head off the impulse buy and get them to go for the proper smaller set up to start with.
Wolfy (who would prefer that NO pet ever be a impulse buy)

[SnakeEyes]

They gave him $4 for that frog he sold back to the store......


As for impulse buying, I will admit I fell into that. I went in a few weeks ago getting a mouse for my male and thats when they said they had baby BP's in for $20.00. Well, I have been wanting a female for as long as I owned my male, and a baby? hells ya, great learning experience, and cheap! So I bought my female that day and took her home. Def an impulse buy, however, I backed up that impluse buy. On the way home I bought a new UTH, thermometer, hydrometer, a plastic tub, two hides, and some aspen bedding. Granted it was an impulse buy for sure, but I backed it up with knowing how her tub needed to be.

I just feel bad knowing one of those babies prolly got bought and is now really having a crappy time.

[wolfy-hound]

Well, you already had ball pythons, you already were thinking of getting another one, so it doesn't count as a real impulse buy. I fell for the pygmy mice at a show, was so enchanted with them that I bought a pair, and regretted it the next day. I had a place to put them, I had picked up food for them, but... the fact was, I hadn't thought out the purchase and ended up feeding them to the cornsnake later on. They were VERY expensive feeders. I did(to my credit) try to find anyone that wanted to take them, and even offered the full cage setup too, but no one including the local zoo would take them. At least I know they didn't suffer any.
Wolfy

[Lobo_Reptiles]

I'm sorry wolfy but I had to giggle at your post for the sheer fact that I used to keep rats. They used to sleep during the day and throw themselves at the top of their tank every single night. I joked about feeding them to Kozma every single day. I came really close to it too. In the end I found someone to take them. Don't feel bad

You can't save them all. One of the best things I've ever done to try and prevent pet store retardation is to give them caresheets to hand out to every customer that purchases a BP. Not saying they'll go for it, but the owner is leniant with me especially because I buy all my feeders from him

[Sausage]

Personally? I would have told the guy about the care and requirements a BP needs. The other day I saw a young couple at PetCo, the guy had pants down to his knees. They were looking at the baby burm, saying "Aww look how little he is! We should get him!" I walked over and just plainly said, "You know, that snake's gonna get 15 feet long." They both had an "Oh God!" reaction and left.