People who dont research

[got spots?]

This upsets me and I really doubt I am alone. Everyone seems to be buying pets such as leo. Butttt no one knows how to keep them correct. No one seems to know even the basic info besides a Uth(which some people still dont know!) about leos. So all I see on forums is how a leo is sick due to the owner not spending an hour to look at caresheets.
Okay I am done

 

[gitrdone0420]

Oh, this bothers me too! Its not just with Leos, it is with any animal! I see this all of the time as a veterinary technician! People just want to play ignorant and not learn how to properly take care of their pets. Simple research on their part can go a long way! It frustrates me because these animals are completely dependant on us! And it is our duty when we take in an animal to provide the most perfect care that we are capable of! I love the phone calls I get at three in the morning at work, "My dog has been vomitting for three days now..." or " She is coughing up blood... Is that an emergency?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I have told people this on several occassions, "Would you go to the hospital if that was you?"... People just amaze me...

 

[got spots?]

I know what you mean. Its amazing what people think about animals. I think it was Stephen who told me someone asked him if leos need water since they are desert animals...
Really just take 1 hour and learn to care for a pet. About the dog vomitting though I it depends how often . But really pet stores do not help it at all. They sell you sand for leos. I had this experince a few days ago, my mom bought like a rubbery chew toy thing that is safe to eat. For some reason rubber does not seem safe to me. But it was for my pet Pug. My lab mutt ate it.. Luckily he didnt get impacted but yacked most of it up poor guy.
People these days..

 

[Lucara]

The worst seem to be with iguanas. I spent an hour explaining to some stupid lady that her iguana could not live on lettuce and carrots and that setting its cage in front of a window would NOT regulate enough heat to keep the thing alive. Sadly she was insistent that the stupid pet store clerk knew more on the subject and HAD to be right.

I hate that people purchase them because their $20 in a pet store, not realize they'll spend hundreds on keeping them PROPERLY cared for.

I guess some people just dont care enough to take the time. Sadly its the animals that suffer or die because of it.

 

[LizMarie]

I know how you feel but the thing that annoys me more is when people ask you to do their research for them. We tend to get those posts, like I just got a gecko and I need to know everything RIGHT NOW, can you hurry!.. and then they get annoyed when you give them a link to a well written and thought out caresheet because they just wanted a quick outline to read or when they getting annoyed because what you told them is different from the petshop you got them from. I honestly no longer respond to these posts unless I'm bored.

 

[LizMarie]

The worst seem to be with iguanas. I spent an hour explaining to some stupid lady that her iguana could not live on lettuce and carrots and that setting its cage in front of a window would NOT regulate enough heat to keep the thing alive. Sadly she was insistent that the stupid pet store clerk knew more on the subject and HAD to be right.

I hate that people purchase them because their $20 in a pet store, not realize they'll spend hundreds on keeping them PROPERLY cared for.

I guess some people just dont care enough to take the time. Sadly its the animals that suffer or die because of it.

Oh lord the iguana must be one of the most neglected and abused reptiles I've ever come across, besides turtles. My neighbor had one that she bought on the street and had it in a bird cage. I was telling her they get big and need an adequate space with heat lamp, UVA/B, specific temps, supplements, an assortment of veggies, something to climb on, etc. I gave her a REAL basic run down of the little knowledge I had acquired reading up on the net in a few different books and I got the oOh he's fine, this is how the guy I bought him from keeps them. Ummmm.. a few months later his tail turned black and was slowly creeping up. I told her that's NOT normal and could be a number of things and he should see a vet I was even willing to take him off her hands. I was about to section off my living room, lol, poor guy died a month later

 

[sammer021486]

Yes, it is amazing how people are like that. My mom works at an elementary school and one of the kids who goes there is in grade 5 or lower and he has done a full project on the care of geckos. I am not sure of the extent that he has gone into for their care, but if a 10 year old can take the time to sit down and learn how to care for a pet, why can't a teenager or adult do it.

I get into trouble because it sometimes takes me weeks to make a purchase on a pet, supply, or product. Some times it is a money factor, but most of the time I am weighing the pros and cons of the purchase.

A lot of the times the employees at the pet store are just relaying the information that they have been given by the owner or corporate manual. My pet store is still bad for using very course sand in the enclosure, no supplementation, no mealworms because of the myth and fear that the mealworm will bite the gecko's mouth, that topped with its hard for the gecko to digest the exo-skeleton of the meal worm. The store has made some progress and one employee has gotten the owner to allow her to dust the crickets with calcium, but that same employee insists on the meal worm myth. They also do not keep any leopard gecko on sand under the age of 6 months or less than 3" STV.

 

[Gregg M]

Here is my take on the situation... I know how some of you feel but look at it like this...

People are going to impulse buy no matter what any of us say about it... The best thing to do is just educate those who ask questions no matter how stupid the question is or how simple the answer is...

The fact is the huge majority of caresheets are full of regurgitated, outdated info that even if they find care sheets the info is not really that good... For example, stating that a leopard gecko will burn if it has a basking spot over 93 degrees is totaly wrong and will keep new keepers from providing a proper hot spot for their gecko...

These forums are not just to show off pictures of our cool reptiles... These forums are also for giving and taking information to help take optimal care of our reptiles and to help if someone is having a problem with their animal...

In my opinion, the only stupid question is a question not asked especially if it means the difference between someone getting solid info to help their pet thrive or having their new pet die because they were scared to be ripped apart for asking a question...

 

[Kolkri]

I so wanted an iguana. But once I started reading on them and found I would have to convert my spare room into a living space just for one. Sort of changed my mine real fast.
People just don't get how much space they need. They for some reason think they stay cute and little.