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Old 12-02-2007, 09:53 PM   #1
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Default Pet stores and live animals - a rant

I cannot stand pet stores and will not buy any live animals from there. (Except I did buy my pet rat from one to save him from being snake food.)

I went into a pet store yesterday to look at the puppies because from far away they looked very, very small. Too small to be sold. Two breeds - a Cav King Charles X (always with the X) and a Jack Russell X were being sold, available on the 4th of December. They were smaller than Suzy was at 6 weeks. I was mortified! I didn't dare ask how old they were because I would have cried. They were tiny, tiny babies. I felt so sorry for them.

I then went over to look at what Mum was looking at, a Malt X Australian Silky. The poor dear had very sparse, wirey hair. The hair around his face was pure white, Mum commented that he'd have to have his eyes tattooed because of this. (She used to breed Malts.) We were both absolutely appalled at what the 16 year or so old girl said about a X Maltese... Mum commented that he'd have to have his eyes done and the little girl said "Oh no! You wouldn't need to do that. Just put a hat on him, he'll be right!" Put a hat on a puppy. Yeah, sure, that'll work wonders. Thanks for the tip!

We quickly left. I told my boyfriend about the experience and he has now banned me from going into pet stores as I get too upset.

One more thing - I was looking at buying either a Chihuahua or a Yorkie, I called a number of breeders of both to find out as much as I could so I could make a decision. I learned that a purebred with microchip, papers, vaccinations etc would be $1000. I looked at one in a pet store and out of curiosity asked how much it was. $1500. For a CROSS. What the heck is wrong with these people? It makes me so angry!

The mayor of Sydney, Australia has recently called for live animals to be banned from being sold in pet stores. I'm very, very happy about this and I hope that it happens.
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Old 12-03-2007, 05:09 AM   #2
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I cut out going to Pet Stores that sell live animals other than the small ones (birds, rodents, fish). It's way too depressing, and I feel the need to tell people that are looking at the puppies/kittens about puppy mill and responsible breeding.
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Old 12-03-2007, 05:32 AM   #3
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I can understand that and encourage telling people to do research before purchase but I'm totally against all animals being there. I've had so many bad experiences (except in the case of my rat, but he was very special) with all sorts of animals.

I have 7 male and 4 female Betta fish, too and since learning more about them I am disgusted at the types of things fish-mills do to their fish. Some places even inject them with dye to make their colours more prominent. They're often sold when they're much, much older so that their colours have fully developed. So the fish you get could be 1-2+ years old and they have a short life expectancy, so they spend the first part of their lives in a very confined space. Fair enough they can live in puddles, but technically humans could spend their entire lives in one room of a house but that doesn't make it ok. And don't even get me started on betta fish living in a vase with a plant.

As for birds, my Mum breeds Budgies as a hobby. Every budgie we have gotten from a pet store has died within a month of joining the rest of the aviary. However the ones we've gotten from breeders have lived on to be very healthy and easy to breed with. I had the most beautiful, stunning purple budgie who died suddenly within 6 months of us getting him for no apparent reason.

Rodents on the other hand upset me the most. Mostly they are sold live for snake food. (Correct me if I'm wrong but) England have a policy that states no live feeding for reptiles. I'd love to see other countries adopt this policy. Although they have a bad reputation rodents are gorgeous creatures, my pet rat was so incredibly beautiful - completely litter trained, wormed, spayed etc and was such a treasure. Everyone who met him fell in love with him. Now I understand that snakes need to eat, but honestly, feeding them live rodents is very upsetting.

(I'm a HUGE animal lover, it's pretty obvious isn't it!)
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Old 12-03-2007, 05:50 AM   #4
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I've learned to accept the food chain of the animal world, its not like animals can make decisions on what to eat or not.
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Old 12-03-2007, 06:03 AM   #5
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Ok... I understand the food chain, too. Big eats little. I see where you're coming from but I have a different view on domesticated reptiles.

There's a very big difference between a pet snake and a wild snake. The same as wild dogs and domesticated dogs. When an animal is domesticated it's under the care of a human, the human makes the decision on what the snake eats. Although the rodent is dead, if a domesticated snake has only been fed pre-killed rodents then that's "normal" to it. If it doesn't eat it straight away then it can be encouraged to do so through a number of methods - teasing it by making the dead rodent move with a pair of tongs, if this doesn't work then "attacking" the snake with the dead rodent so it thinks it's being struck, encouraging the smell of the rodent by slicing it...

In the wild it's free for all, but a pet snake is different.
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Old 12-03-2007, 08:54 AM   #6
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Glad you didn't buy one, and I think it would be wonderful if all pets were banned from selling live animals.
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Old 12-03-2007, 11:16 AM   #7
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IMO, there is no such thing as a domesitcated reptile. You can have reptiles as pets, they live in captivity, but you can never 'domesicate' them. There is a big difference in a domesticated animal and one that can live in captivity. Under human care does not mean domesticated. Alligators can be under human care (in captivity), but you couldn't have one as a pet walking around freely in your house (domesticated).
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Old 12-03-2007, 11:29 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BamaFan121s View Post
IMO, there is no such thing as a domesitcated reptile. You can have reptiles as pets, they live in captivity, but you can never 'domesicate' them. There is a big difference in a domesticated animal and one that can live in captivity. Under human care does not mean domesticated. Alligators can be under human care (in captivity), but you couldn't have one as a pet walking around freely in your house (domesticated).
I agree. I also agree that eating live rodents is vital to a snake's psychological health. Snakes don't really play, and most of the time don't enjoy companionship by others of the same species, so catching and constricting prey is the only natural form of mental stimulation they get.

This was tough for me to accept as well. I have been around snakes and other reptiles my whole life. My "baby" growing up was my boa constictor, Cornelious. I adored him, but as he got bigger, he ate bigger creatures, and it became really hard for me to feed him rats, rabbits, etc. Feeding days involved me cuddling with his food beforehand, giving them names, and then placing them in the feeding cage and running out of the room crying. I eventually had to give him up. He's now a mascot of a reptile supply shop somewhere in the midwest. I still miss him terribly, but the feeding process was too horrible for me to endure, and there was no way I could deprive him of his need to eat live rodents.
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