Rant: Impulse buying pets

[Muze]

Threads like these are great. Even if only person reads it & takes its contents to heart, that is one less animal that has to suffer.

I have to agree that I would blame the customer first. You should not go pick a pet like you would a pair of shoes. Research should be done beforehand so that everything is prepared. Next on the blame list are the stores that give wrong info. These people are supposed to be the experts! I don't rely on anything any reptile/pet store employee tells me. I may keep it in mind, and then go double check the info.

I'm still looking for trusted people to leave my BP collection to in my will. My dogs all have a place to go, but my snakes don't, and I feel guilty that I did not think about this beforehand. I may have a couple that will take care of them & are very trustworthy, but let's see how that goes...but everything else was in place weeks before I had my first BP.

[anendeloflorien]

I know most of what I have to say has been said already but I thought I would throw my .02 into the mix.

I just went to the reptile expo in Manchester this weekend and I just happened to overhear a couple of conversations which I know were going on all over. One this little girl (probably 10 or 11) talking to her parents at a table where the woman had some beautiful cresties. The girl says "oh mom I really like these can I have $65 to get one??" Her mom looks at her and says "Well if you want a lizard why don't we go to that table over there where they have geckos (I think they were just house geckos) for $5?" I know for a fact that there was no way that any animal they got would be properly taken care of and it would just wind up being another "throwaway pet" because they only paid 5 freakin dollars for it.

I don't think there is ever going to be a way to really do away with this mentality though. There is always going to be lower priced animals that will appeal to those people who don't really care about the animal but want to appease their little kid who is begging for a pet that they will forget about in a few weeks. I just hope that there are enough of us out there who are willing to put the actual work into keeping and maintaining HEALTHY animals and caring for them in the way they deserve to be cared for.

Sorry just had to add my little rant

[wolfy-hound]

If you know any of the breeders that you got snakes from, you can ask them about taking your collection when/if you die. That's what I did.
Yes, I have provisions in my will as to what happens to my pets. I've discussed with the various people what I do and do not find acceptable as to re-homing my pets. Mostly I trust the people I am leaving it up to, but there's always a "Make sure you NEVER give any of my dogs to XXX, because she's a wacko!" type thing.

[bc30629]

I need to start a rant thread about impulse buying ball pythons. You all post so many unreal pics of snakes and my impulses are outta control!!!!

[jglass38]

Personally, one of the things I find most disgusting are the tons of ads on Craigslist of people getting rid of their cats or dogs for various reasons, most of which make no sense to me. "Just had a baby and now we need to get rid of the dog". Why? Not enough love to spread around to the precious baby and your faithful companion? How about "moving and the new apartment doesn't take pets". Well find one that does. While it is sad when reptiles are passed around from person to person because people get bored of them, they don't have feelings of love towards an owner or the inevitable feelings of abandonment when they are kicked to the curb. Dogs and cats most definitely do. I couldn't EVER imagine giving up my dog. In my opinion, the people that do are selfish and uncaring. Pets are a commitment. If you can't commit to taking care of an animal for it's whole life, then don't get one.

[hondo1967]

Well as long as people breed the animals and put them up for sale, there is going to be impulse buyers, how many of us actualy ask potential buyers there experiance with an animal. Just look at kingsnake ads ads and more ads. We all contribute to it. How many people got into bps just to make a buck, im sure there are quite a bit.

[whitewolf]

I know most of what I have to say has been said already but I thought I would throw my .02 into the mix.

I just went to the reptile expo in Manchester this weekend and I just happened to overhear a couple of conversations which I know were going on all over. One this little girl (probably 10 or 11) talking to her parents at a table where the woman had some beautiful cresties. The girl says "oh mom I really like these can I have $65 to get one??" Her mom looks at her and says "Well if you want a lizard why don't we go to that table over there where they have geckos (I think they were just house geckos) for $5?" I know for a fact that there was no way that any animal they got would be properly taken care of and it would just wind up being another "throwaway pet" because they only paid 5 freakin dollars for it.

I don't think there is ever going to be a way to really do away with this mentality though. There is always going to be lower priced animals that will appeal to those people who don't really care about the animal but want to appease their little kid who is begging for a pet that they will forget about in a few weeks. I just hope that there are enough of us out there who are willing to put the actual work into keeping and maintaining HEALTHY animals and caring for them in the way they deserve to be cared for.

Sorry just had to add my little rant

I went to that show as well and it was my first reptile show. I saw what you were describing and it upset me. I have to say...it's even worse than a pet store if you're talking about impulse buying because some of the animals are being sold cheaper than the pet stores, making it that much easier for them to be "disposed of", especially if there's a kid involved. On the other hand, some vendors edcuated buyers regardless and they know more than the stores, so it might prevent some impulse buying, but it might not do much once an impulse buyer has made up their mind.
<p>
I too believe it is the customer's responsiblity to ask questions and do research as well, but my experience with one vendor there sort of changed my mind. I was just glancing at a table of snakes and this vendor said to me "please buy these we just want to get rid of them, we'll even give you one for free and discounts" when talking about some snakes I was looking at, some of which were only eating live pinkies. They sounded so desperate. I even asked them about the pattern on the snake, knowing exactly what it was called, and they had no idea what they were talking about
That upset me because that will most likely be very appealing to the adults with the whiny kids or to other people who only look at price and will lead to an impulse buy. I just expected better at a show, but I have never been so I guess even there you have those types of sellers.

[jglass38]

Well as long as people breed the animals and put them up for sale, there is going to be impulse buyers, how many of us actualy ask potential buyers there experiance with an animal. Just look at kingsnake ads ads and more ads. We all contribute to it. How many people got into bps just to make a buck, im sure there are quite a bit.

Just speaking for myself, I ask anyone who buys from me about their experience with the animal, make recommendations and if I am not comfortable with it, I won't make the sale to them. I've spent more money on animals and supplies than I will probably ever recoup. I do this because I love the animals and working with them.

[whitewolf]

forgot to mention, the snakes were like $15 or 20 and the discount was like $10

[Bettacreek]

There are still some reputable petstores out there. Unfortunately, they usually go under quickly, or just barely survive. The one store here (it's actually purely an aquatics store) is VERY reputable. One-man-show, he owns and operates, and he does it purely because it's what he enjoys doing. He does not refuse a sale, however, he does refuse to sell the big-time fish that are generally impulse buys that usually end up with horror stories. He will order those fish in (piranhas, oscars, red devils, etc) if you special order them and he knows you, but, otherwise, you have to get them somewhere else. I had at one point started the planning of a petstore (would still love to do it) and flunked out of it because petstores are based on impulse buys, and the ones that stick around are the ones with puppies from puppy mills and exotic reptiles and such that are all sold based on idiotic customers and impulse buys.

Do I personally make impulse buys? Yes, I'll admit, I can be impulsive. I see an exotic animal, I go home and sit on the computer for a little while and figure out why I can't have it. If I find no reason, I think about if I can actually care for it for the duration of its life, if we have the space for it, etc. If I simply cannot find a flaw, and hubby says it's ok, then I usually end up with a new pet. Yes, we've got a zoo running here, we've got BP's, a corn, rats, mice, a bunch of fish, a cat and two dogs, but, if I bought pets without researching and using my head, I'm sure we would have a bunch of pouched rats, sugar gliders, chinchillas, ferrets, more dogs, fish that got entirely too big for our place, tortoises, turtles, iguanas, parrots, etc, etc.