Quote Originally Posted by simplechamp View Post
In a perfect world, an ethical petstore would forbid people to do this. If someone came in and wanted to buy fauna and setup all in one shot the employee would insist on selling them a book instead. Tell them to read the book and come back in a week or two if they still really wanted the animal. We all know this isn't the case and profit is king. That's why there are so many mistreated/rescue/abandoned pets.
I agree completely...which is why I used to do just that. The management hated me, but the customers adored me. I would tell them all about the animal, show them books or, even better, give them websites to research and give them a rundown on a proper enclosure and costs. If they knew they wanted the animal after that, I would get an enclosure and stuff for them...but not the animal. They had to set up the stuff and have it going first.

I did that with reptiles, birds, rodents, and especially fish. Everything we sold at the time. I am SO glad I'm not there now, as they sell snakes at that store and the employees are 90% terrified of them. Not to mention they're in cramped cages with the wrong setup. SIGH.

As for the money thing...sadly it is true. Those stores work totally on impulse, even for their non-living merchandise. That's how they turn the high profit that the stores are really about.