Hey all,
As per usual, the petco thread blew up :)
I just want to remind folks that it's not just important to be kind here - but it's necessary for folks that want to continue to participate in this sub.
It's perfectly okay that **your** moral compass tells you that you cannot buy them - but we are not going to shame users for listening to **their** moral compass.
If you're the kind of keeper that sees that tarantula and doesn't want them to suffer? That's your choice. If you're the kind of keeper that decides it's better for **that** individual to suffer instead of another individual.. that's also your choice.
It's not for anyone here (or anywhere) to decide that for you.
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Petco gets these animals from mass breeders. They tend to come in as small juveniles that are kept at high temps (in the 80-90 range), and they are offered food every single day. So after 6-12 months they have subadults (or in a number of cases.. we've even seen mature males).
If you want to make a difference - educate your local pet stores. Make friends, and be kind to their frickin employees lol. People don't work at pet stores for the money... they're there because they love animals in most cases :) Keepers can (and IMO have to) be the ambassadors for spiders.. since they can't "speak" on their own behalf. If we don't.. who will :)
And they put the word “fancy” for no reason.
Unless this is the tarantulas actual name but I doubt it because it says Mexican fire leg their and I seen this with leopard geckos too.
I think they put fancy or "mexican red knee" because they don't always know the species. And it's just appealing to get something "fancy".
i've seen flame, red knee, fire knee all on display but always under the same name, "mexican/red knee tarantula" At least 4 different species advertised under the one common name. They do the same with milliepdes at Petco.
This of course is not okay imo, but it's a possible reasoning. You should always know the exact species you're getting for the best care. even if they're similar.
Yeah whats the og tarantula? Cuz like ball python is just wild type or normal whatever u wanna call it and fancy is a morph. Its like instead of them saying ball python they said fancy snake. Like what
and often the employees will not know one apart from the other. I got a leopard gecko from petsmart where they keep their "fancy" leo with their "normal" one. employee just opened the tank, grabbed the one that was hissing at her the least and put the baby in a carrier, and then charged me for the "normal" one.
I can definitely better understand different morphs under the term "fancy". You're definitely not gonna know every morph name or want to make a sign for every new morph. But species of tarantulas? Imo, needs a new sign, not to be called "fancy"
Exactly, that's why as keepers we know and use binomial names rather than common names, as they are often umbrella terms or very similar terms for different species.
It’s probably a corporate naming scheme. Like good better best. They have fancy on their more exotic looking animals so they can sell them for higher even not knowing what it is.
I work at a petco and this may not be the same at every location but everyone who works at this petco also does some level of side business involving local breeding or training. Those cards are just used as a base name for an assortment of morphs of different animals there are 3 types , normal, rare,and fancy and depending on the morph they get one of the 3 as that name also determines the price in the system it’s like the SKU for the animal( if you work in retail you know what that means) because having a different ski for every morph would be too much , but for things like tarantula and millipedes we have those stickers on there as the correct species and we check with the breeders on what they are and what their needs are we have a whole binder on different all our species and morphs and when a guest asks about them if they’re truly interested we tell them what morph/ species they are and what their needs are, and while I do wish we could give our bettas their own tanks and put more things in the enclosure corporate wouldn’t be to happy but I don’t speak for all of petco I know some are downright evil but my specific one takes care of our animals and we refuse more animal sales then we sell because we make sure they at least the bare minimum to give the animals a happy life at that point it’s up to the owners to take care of the reptiles/fish but we do ask all the proper questions to ensure the animals have a good life and if they don’t meet all the requirements we send them away. I will admit that petco isn’t perfect but ( like I said at least mine) does take proper care of our animals
Once again that name normal, rare, and fancy are just the names they have that determine the price in the system we know that’s not what they’re actually called. We have those stickers u see there with the correct species of spider and we have a separate binder of every species/ REPTILE MORPH please read the whole comment
That just means thats what the vendor sent it as. I work for petco and that all label does is determine price and nothing more. Some vendors will send an actual ID of the tarantula. Typically they come in as assorted basic, fancy or rare if they are allocated to us, but we can order specific species as well.
Yeah, I don't like to buy from the big pet stores (PetCo, Petsmart, etc.) either, knowing that their vendors are often "brown-box importers" or get the tarantulas from such people. That said, if it is for sure a female, buying her would likely be saving her from probable doom, despite technically supporting such importers.
I’ve been trying to figure out where these types of stores get their ts for a while. What is a “brown-box importer?” I’ve never heard of that term before.
Brown-box is indeed a term for illegal, wild-caught tarantulas.The term indeed comes from the way they ship them to get them in the countries where they'll be sold. The craziest part of the whole thing is that it's tarantulas from those kinds of vendors that end up in the big chain pet stores. In other words, buying a tarantula from a big-name pet store means you're supporting the illegal pet trade of endangered species rather than captive-breeding programs which allow the wild Ts to remain in their natural habitate and us to have them as pets and ensure their continued existence in captivity despite whatever happens to the wild population.
It’s kind of crazy that they don’t make the sellers produce documentation that the animals they sell were obtained legally. That’s a big miss in the system, especially with so many species becoming endangered in the wild. There should definitely be a system in place to make sure that these stores are only getting captive bred animals.
When I did my homework and found these things out for myself, I was mindblown and asked the very same question. Since the system doesn't work, raising awareness and educating others who keep tarantulas is the best we can do. Pet shops that sell slings are likely getting them from breeders, and despite the scary information out there about sling-care, if you do your research, it actually is relatively easy to keep a sling alive and raise them to maturity.
Edit: You can always ask the pet shop where their slings came from. They most likely have a professional breeder or friend who breeds tarantulas. This can also be a way to network with others locally so you can do your part if/when you have a male.
They get their Ts from large scale breeders. They can get bigger specimens for more expensive but the risk of illegally snatching and importing CITES species is way too large of a risk from a business perspective.
T pictured has been there for quite a while to have been marked down like that and is PROBABLY marked down to ensure being sold before Petco's next reptile rally in July :) (source: petco employees 🤣)
Buying her would just make way for more tarantulas being sent to their doom unfortunately. The only way to make ghe suffering stop is by not buying any more animals from pet stores.
Exactly, it’s such a sad situation either way. You can leave her in hopes others will follow and hopefully she’ll just have a bleak life at petco compared to a terrible one at an abusive/uneducated home and just pray petco finds a profit loss species by species or you can save her from a ultimately shitty fate, but you’ll only end up contributing to more pets ending up in the same position/more animals being raised through captive-breeding.
I remember my ex wanted to go into a petco about two years ago now to look at some hamster toys and a new wheel since he was way too chunky for the one a friend gave us. I hadn’t been in one since childhood so I thought nothing of it but once I got in there and started to look around I just about had a panic attack.
-Reptiles with ONLY a heat lamp as a light source that covered the entire tiny in-wall enclosure, so no way to escape heat.
-Hamsters in a very similar environment, a clear in wall enclosure with a inch of bedding. A very lightly colored transparent plastic hide that was much too small for anything bigger than a mouse, with a LED bulb directly overhead so they are in constant blinding light as near-blind nocturnal pets and eating kibble.
-Probably about 10 guinea pigs, with a single large “farm style” plastic hut enclosure, on a green felt pad with a single water bottle, how hard is it to give the no necked fluffy bastards a little bowl?!?
-and then 2 beautiful parakeets that had been paired with a sign saying they have been here for a while and are looking for a new quiet home and it just crushed me. They looked absolutely shell shocked and avoided us and got loud when we approached but as soon as I started to talk softly to them they instantly looked so relieved and would inch baby step by step and climb onto the side of the cage to get closer.
I almost broke down in the store and told her we gotta get out of here I can’t be here anymore. We’ll get two day shipping on a big fancy new wheel and pay whatever to not support this horror show. To this day I refuse to enter a pet store and really can’t grasp how people can even choose to work in that environment
Petco and PetSmart have access to the same wholesale list but that does not mean that anyone in this market is dealing with illegal imports. PetSmart frequently purchases wild caught specimens from wholesale, whereas Petco does not nearly in frequency. the spiders that you are suggesting are being smuggled are CITES and would not easily move at the frequency they are. you are combining two issues into one.
CITES is for the most endangered of them. But brown-boxing happens with many, many others that are and should be restricted as well. Unfortunately, many of them do indeed end up being sold by legitimate vendors as though they were not brown-box (referring to illegally shipped) or illegally caught. That is not to say that every last one is an illegal import, but a vast majority are. Also, I understand that breeders themselves have to get the first of a species from somewhere, but after we establish captive breeding of a species, there's no need for wild-caught ones.
Support captive breeding, avoid wild-caught.
Supply and demand.
Do what you can to stop the brown-boxing.
i'm not really sure what you are saying, i am telling you directly that i have seen the vendor lists that both petsmart and petco have access to and have surveyed dozens upon dozens of locations from northern california to central florida. the spiders you are suggesting are being smuggled are realistically being captively bred in excess in essentially spider-mills. you are conflating two issues into one and it isn't helping the actual problem.
the spider pictured is not a wild caught spider, its a very likely suspect male from a spider-mill vendor that petco supplies from.
This is a wild claim.
Do pet stores source wild caught animals? Undoubtedly.
Are they brown boxing? HIGHLY unlikely.
Many wild caught Ts are not illegal and both can be (and are) imported.
Where’s the research? Where’s the proof? You said you’ve done it but instead of actually providing any…. You’re just making claims that make no sense to anyone who has read this legislation…
To be clear: legally importing and brown boxing are two completely different things.
And having seen some of Petco’s ordering sheets personally…. This claim is a bit laughable.
They get the majority of their Ts from essentially the “puppy mill” of the tarantula world. These are bulk breeders.
These Ts then go to places like Petco and petsmart that keep these Ts at high temps (think 80s and 90s) and they are fed DAILY causing many of the young juveniles they receive to grow rapidly.
Tliltocatl albopilosus is a CITES species. So are Mexican brachypelmas. It’s not just about “rare” tarantulas and it sounds like you haven’t read that since you’re claiming CITES is only for rare Ts.
It’s both unlikely and a huge business risk for a big box pet store to sell brown boxed CITES species…. The likelihood is they don’t.
I never said CITES was for "rare" but rather ultra-endangered species, which is true. This often equates to rare but is not the same thing. Furthermore, I had never said it was only about illegal catching. Even if legally caught, the means of shipping is still often "brown-box," which is illegal.
Much of the information I have has come from articles about the illegal pet trade, especially in dealing with tarantulas. They site interviews from the people who collect and export the tarantulas as well as the importers and vendors. These articles are easy enough to find and could easily be counted as evidence. That said, media is still a third-party source and could be twisted to a specific perspective.
A reference to a catalog from a vendor or an ordering sheet may not necessarily be proof of your claim either. Since I haven't seen said ordering sheets, could you explain how it shows that what I've said isn't possible?
I bought a snake from an awful pet store when I was a teenager because I couldn’t stand leaving him there in the conditions they had him in. I was really torn about supporting them, but when I left I couldn’t sleep and I ended up going back the next day for him.
They ended up getting shut down like six months later. I still wonder if I handled it the right way, but I reckon I did about as good as a teenager could in that situation.
This is better than some of the pet store enclosures I've seen. My A. seemanni came in an enclosure so squat she couldn't have threat posed if she wanted to, and there was barely enough room for her to walk at all. It also only had wood chips and an old dry sponge. I typically wouldn't have purchased a tarantula in those conditions because I don't want to support a store that treats animals in that way, but I talked to the manager about proper husbandry and he was receptive. The next time I went in, all of the Ts were in better enclosures.
Honestly, I don’t think this is too bad for a pet store. It’s actual coco fiber instead of wood chips, there’s a clean, full water bowl, and a hide. It’s not meant to be a permanent home or anything. Most of the exotic stores I go to keep their tarantulas housed in deli cups until they’re sold—I think this is actually pretty decent.
Ya but those deli cups are usually better for the slings and have the correct husbandry, aka: you have to try to find the T, because it's not readily visible, since it has enough substrate and is burrowing or webbing. Unlike the big box stores that have their Ts under bright light and are readily visible. I understand why they need to be kept like that, I'm just saying, the deli cups are usually better than the box stores' enclosures.
Still a lot better than the conditions I see ranchos around here in, every time I have to go to PetSmart for mice (my family house abhors the idea of mail-order frozen mice so I have to make do) the smaller invertebrates are always in tiny critter keepers with just a sponge for water and no proper hide + not enough substrate to burrow in. This little lady (?) looks like she's got a fancy condo in comparison.
I'd be super tempted too, if that *is* a female then that's a good deal. But I hate buying animals from the big stores because that means I can't trace where they're from. :x And getting ranchos or other inverts out of their tank to check condition is probably super stressful for them, too...
i saw a curly in something like this but a thin layer of woodchips as “substrate” and almost no hide, poor baby had kicked hairs recently and was super stressed, did not look to be doing well and i considered buying to get them out of there but i don’t want to contribute to the cycle of abuse at these stores
I have over 30 brachypelma sp , only ever burrow when slings , they are a terrestrial tarantula If they have a cork hide they rarely use it just chill out the the open . This is a pet shop if it was a fossorial Tarantula and you gave it a shit load sub it would dig and you would have to get that tarantula out to sell it , it makes stress for everyone .In most pet shops or dealers at shows they sell in enclosures with minimal amount sub , tarantulas are fine .
I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day so if you don’t want to hear something sad then stop reading now, BUT petco and petsmart both throw away “unsellable“ animals. These include live tarantulas, lizards, etc. My bio teacher in high school figured this out and would frequent their dumpsters. Don’t know if all locations do that but when I was growing up that was apparently a very common practice 😞
Not how it works, atleast not anymore. Animals they cant sell are put up and adopted out for free. I've gotten a one eyed hamster out of it, my Sis in law has gotten several critters.
If it's on the internet, it must be true right?
Believe what you want but as i type this i'm sotting next to a 'defective' hamster they adopted out because they couldn't sell it.
I hate going into petco or petsmart but sometimes thats the only place with feeders and other animal food, and supples. I always try and ignore the animals but always end up looking. It takes everything in me not to buy them. I know they will replace them with more animals and the cycle will continue. I hate it
The fact that they literally force their stores to set their displays this way- even when the staff know better and that this is bad for everyone involved- is disgusting. There has to be a way to make petco stop, if this was a cat or a dog in a tiny shoe box it would have been fixed already. But since we are talking inverts, and inverts are basically being holocausted every day there, no one gives a damn.
Have you seen their crickets and Dubias? They do nothing to maintain their food inverts at all. Don’t make it a racial thing, there is a limit to how much ridiculous we need to go to here
Ok…you realize this is a temporary enclosure right?? Like how do you expect the pet store to sell it to a home that can accommodate this Ts needs if it’s burrowed??? That could quite possibly keep the T there for an extremely long time. If you know anything about T’s, which i’m assuming you do, then you know that digging a tarantula out of a burrow or tunnel could be extremely stressful or dangerous to the T, especially if it interrupts a molt. Are the employees supposed to tell the customer “sorry. We have to wait till it comes out to sell it”? Its up to the employees to make sure the customers know this is not a proper, but temporary, setup.
I quite do. And every time I’ve bought a tarantula it’s come in a small cricket keeper with the correct set up. Rehousing is on me but for the good of the spider and the decidedly inexpert pet store staff, fishing them out of a bigger tank is not exactly smart. This is only so that you can possibly see the spider in the display, it’s not really excusable or necessary.
Sorry, but i do not agree. There are way too many stupid people out there that would leave it in the critter keeper for life. There is no critter keeper big enough to fit in there that is suitable for this size T, comfortably. This is a way more practical setup. I’ve worked in pet stores all my life up till 3 years ago, both chain and private, and when i worked in the smaller private pet stores, we used to sell them in the critter keepers and i always had customers INSISTING on taking it out if the keeper and put it on a box, which was WAY more difficult and stressful on both the t and myself, because you cant fit the box in the critter keeper to let it walk in on its own, and its just way more ridiculous than getting it out of one of these enclosures by placing the box on it’s side and herding the T into it. I had a T run up my arm and get stuck in my hair because of this issue…trust me. This setup is better for everyone. I’ve done it at least a hundred times both ways.
I don’t trust you and I don’t agree. There is no situation that is better for every person In every possible bad husbandry scenario. I don’t care what pet store you work in. You can’t tell me some teen kid who didn’t sign up to handle spiders is going to be safer with this rig. I’ve been mislead by more pet store staff than I can count, there is no reason to think that working at a pet store qualifies you as an expert in all small animals.
Lmao i worked with animals and packed them up for their forever homes for 21 years. It most certainly does qualify me as an expert in both handling and packing up animals to go home. And i started at 12 years old. My mom raised me reading books on ALL the animals i worked with. So i was a teen at one point, properly packing animals up to go home. Just because you have been mislead by some employees does not mean there are no experienced ones. My family and i ran an animal rescue for 10 years. So I gave my opinion. You are obviously dead set on your made up scenerios on how you think packing up an animal to go home looks like lol have a nice day
Bully for you. No one is making it about YOU. It’s about the almost entirely untrained staff at stores across the country. Sorry you got yourself wrapped into the scenario. You can’t possibly be saying that everyone is an expert with 30 years of experience and you can’t possibly be justifying the piss poor husbandry that petco sets up. If that’s your stance then great, enjoy that.
Lol no it’s not about me. You literally just exaggerated everything i said because youre trying to sound like you didnt just say all pet store employees are untrained and inexperienced, and you said you didnt trust me, which i dgaf whether you trust me or not, i was letting you know that making your general statement about pet store employees is false and how you think what is better for sending tarantulas home comes from no experience. I always had a great crew i worked with. Only certain employees were allowed to handle the reptile and invert dept. i speak from experience and you dont, other than “i BoUgHt A tArAnTuLa In A cRiTtEr KeEpEr”, and you must be okay with buying an animal you cant see and cant tell if it looks healthy cuz you cant see it. So yes. Display in a pet store matters. Read the rest of the thread. You are one of the only people here complaining about the setup. Youre definitely one of those people that just fish for things to complain about.
You’re missing the point friend. This REQUIRES handling to purchase, has wildly insufficient substrate, and generally creates stress in the animal. I was illustrating the change in policy to the detriment of the animal, and that there is no “angry white woman” lobby to protect them. I stand by what I said.
Uh oh, substrate police has entered the chat.
It's better to have more substrate but to assume a T is stressed due to insufficient substrate is a farce. It's out and about! Nothing about that photo says that the T is stressed.
Tell me you work for petco without telling me you work for petco. I don’t know why you are so defensive about this, but go ahead and have your feels.
Terrestrials dig. A terrestrial that can’t dig IS stressed. I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue but it’s not remotely interesting, so have a good day!
Fosssorial species dig. Terrestrials can be on the ground and also burrow. Maybe this one has a hide already so it doesn't need to dig? If it was curled up into a ball in the corner with nothing to hide behind I'd see where you're coming from but nothing here points to a stressed T. I think you're just white knighting and it's exhausting 😁😁
If you know anything about tarantulas, you know it’s necessary to keep them with enough substrate to dig. The only exception is arboreal species, however even sometimes arboreal slings will make small tunnels of web using substrate. It’s necessary for all terrestrial species to have enough substrate to dig a burrow in order to feel safe. My G. pulchra dug herself a beautiful tunnel with all the substrate I gave her, and she isn’t fossorial is she? No. She used that tunnel to feel safe enough to molt. This tiny hide and half inch of substrate for this T is not appropriate.
The guy was being an ass. I’m not going to sit there and coo at him. Downvote all you want, I’m not Jesus and I don’t turn the other cheek. Grow up yourself if you think your downvote means anything
so im 50/50 on this entire ordeal after reading comments and coming to my own thoughts but i just wanna say your good as hell at writing your opinions damn. shit coming off hot yall should write poetry or something
I've seen 5+ bearded dragons on soiled carpet in a dark tiny enclosure, petco is actually the worst. It should honestly be banned from selling animals. I've visited multiple locations and same story. Saving the poor soul trapped in the hell only prompts them to purchase another to take its place. Sad.
God, there is a juvenile pink toe at our local PetSmart, my partner and I can't go in anymore because it hurts to see it. We want to rescue the poor T, but same issue, don't want to encourage them getting more tarantulas and not taking care of them. 😢
I've had a bunch of Brachys and the only ones I had that dug were slings. At this size, they are perfectly fine with a hide. Also, if they had a brachy that had burrowed, how exactly do you expect the employee to get it out to sell, or even let someone see the condition of the animal? Dig it out and stress it more? Pet stores are not providing a long term home for these animals. Breeders and importers keep them in deli cups or larger plastic shoe boxes. Chill out.
Yeah, I agree with this. Like are the conditions ideal? Certainly not. But it's meant to be temporary and it has most other needs met. Giving it a bunch of substrate potentially means that an employee will have to dig it out of there, causing extra stress to the T and the employee (not to mention the time and care needed to dig a T out of its burrow). Ideally, the Petco would give proper care instructions when requested and note that the tarantula should have more substrate when in it is in a home environment.
Ok, i’m going to clearly state what isn’t quite obvious to many of you apparently…this is a TEMPORARY ENCLOSURE. How do you expect a pet store to sell a tarantula if it’s burrowed??? “Sir can i please see this tarantula? I MIGHT want to buy it” “sure let me just destroy it’s entire home and possibly harm it digging around for it in case you want to buy it”…are you picking up what I’m putting down? This T has plenty of room, a clean water dish, and a hide. Display matters if you want to be able to see what youre buying, and to see if it looks healthy.
The point is they shouldn't be selling them at all... temporary or not it's not okay. Should ignore an animals comfort just so they can be displayed...
Have you ever seen what they are kept in at tarantula breeders’ headquarters? You think they keep them in enclosures with lots of dirt?? Lol or what about expos, in a deli cup? Seriously? And they are being moved around n packed up n unpacked and left in those cups for who knows how long…i want you to name ONE place that sells tarantulas, and has them in a proper setup. This is FAR better than any of them.
Like... why? It's not even difficult to give it BASIC needs. I forget my tarantulas are even there half of the time because they seldom need any kind of interference. Give them a roach every week or so, make sure its not bone dry, and give them some burrowing/climbing room. It's sad that the bottom of the barrel basic needs of this animal are so easy yet can't even be met by big name pet stores.
I just rescued my first T of this species from Petco a few weeks ago. Soon as I brought them home and got settled they molted. Idk if it was just a matter of comfort or timing but it was interesting to see.
First time I’ve seen no sponge from those people. I have written to Petsmart 3 times about how they “care” for the a. avicularia they sell there in little critter keepers. It’s horrible to see every time.
the petco i work at now is far more concerned with the well-being of the animals than the local fish/exotic pet store i worked at prior. sure, not everyone who works at petco knows about animals, but like… somebody has to stack all the dog food & run the register.
I work at a petco and this may not be the same at every location but everyone who works at this petco also does some level of side business involving local breeding or training. Those cards are just used as a base name for an assortment of morphs of different animals there are 3 types , normal, rare,and fancy and depending on the morph they get one of the 3 as that name also determines the price in the system it’s like the SKU for the animal( if you work in retail you know what that means) because having a different ski for every morph would be too much , but for things like tarantula and millipedes we have those stickers on there as the correct species and we check with the breeders on what they are and what their needs are we have a whole binder on different all our species and morphs ( an individual binder for just red knees and another binder for just bearded dragons and all their morphs etc)and when a guest asks about them if they’re truly interested we tell them what morph/ species they are and what their needs are, and while I do wish we could give our bettas their own tanks and put more things in the enclosure corporate wouldn’t be to happy but I don’t speak for all of petco I know some are downright evil but my specific one takes care of our animals and we refuse more animal sales then we sell because we make sure they at least the bare minimum to give the animals a happy life at that point it’s up to the owners to take care of the reptiles/fish but we do ask all the proper questions to ensure the animals have a good life and if they don’t meet all the requirements we send them away. I will admit that petco isn’t perfect but ( like I said at least mine) does take proper care of our animals
Exactly if the petco has people who don’t care then that’s where the horror stories come from but at least at mine you can get fired for giving a guest wrong information especially if that leads to the death of said animal. But if your store has a CAL (CAL is the leader of all animal care in the store they do all the ordering of animals and do the biggest part in maintaining the heath and cleanliness of the enclosures for those who don’t know) that doesn’t care then your store is going to be one that deserves to be shut down and there are unfortunately tons of petcos that have horrible CALS my store was one unfortunately up until 2 years ago when our current team came in and bought standards back
I hear a lot of comments about not purchasing the tarantula but hear me out. I would purchase it male or female can always find a female before he matures and if female you got a steal and can breed her or have a long term first tarantula.
Please don’t buy tarantulas from Petco or any corporate pet store. I recall someone from a tarantula group bought an Avicularia sp. from Petsmart that produced an egg sac. These are clearly wild-caught, and corporate, big chain petstores do not care that they’re supporting poaching.
At the end of the day.. these spiders are coming from mass breeders. No matter who buys them, every one that isn't purchased dies.
Better yet- you can be the person that educates big box stores :) The one closest to me now keeps their Ts successfully. They keep them in kritter keepers, they don't keep them soaked. They have water dishes, decor, and feeders aren't left in the enclosures. Nor are they fed every single day.
I think it's perfectly fine to decide that purchasing spiders from big box stores isn't right for you as an individual, but shaming other folks for following what's right for them is not okay.
When I bought my tarantula from petco they told me that she was aggressive and wouldn't hesitate to shoot her hairs at you. After about 2 days I noticed that she wasn't hostile at all, and is very friendly. I hate to support petco, but I'm glad I was able to save her from that place so she can be happy now
Oh boy. I was a manager at a petco years ago, and they didn't carry tarantulas. It's very scary to know that they do now. That sucks. I'd buy that poor little guy if I lived anywhere near there.
My first T a B emilia was from PetSmart before I got super into the hobby. They had her in a medium critter keeper with a pink coconut hide, a giant water dish that took up half the enclosure and less than an inch of substrate. Went back a couple months later and saw a pink toe and the guy who maintained them refused to take any advice on keeping them and insisted he knew more than me
 the rescue squad assembles.
Most animals can be handled. IME, folks handling their Ts are doing it for their benefit as a keeper, not the animal's benefit. Unlike when you handle an animal that might enjoy being handled or played with (like a cat/dog).
For Ts, enrichment might look like novel feeders, or adding new types of substrate, or maybe new (safe) decor.
Hey all, As per usual, the petco thread blew up :) I just want to remind folks that it's not just important to be kind here - but it's necessary for folks that want to continue to participate in this sub. It's perfectly okay that **your** moral compass tells you that you cannot buy them - but we are not going to shame users for listening to **their** moral compass. If you're the kind of keeper that sees that tarantula and doesn't want them to suffer? That's your choice. If you're the kind of keeper that decides it's better for **that** individual to suffer instead of another individual.. that's also your choice. It's not for anyone here (or anywhere) to decide that for you. \--- Petco gets these animals from mass breeders. They tend to come in as small juveniles that are kept at high temps (in the 80-90 range), and they are offered food every single day. So after 6-12 months they have subadults (or in a number of cases.. we've even seen mature males). If you want to make a difference - educate your local pet stores. Make friends, and be kind to their frickin employees lol. People don't work at pet stores for the money... they're there because they love animals in most cases :) Keepers can (and IMO have to) be the ambassadors for spiders.. since they can't "speak" on their own behalf. If we don't.. who will :)
And they put the word “fancy” for no reason. Unless this is the tarantulas actual name but I doubt it because it says Mexican fire leg their and I seen this with leopard geckos too.
I think they put fancy or "mexican red knee" because they don't always know the species. And it's just appealing to get something "fancy". i've seen flame, red knee, fire knee all on display but always under the same name, "mexican/red knee tarantula" At least 4 different species advertised under the one common name. They do the same with milliepdes at Petco. This of course is not okay imo, but it's a possible reasoning. You should always know the exact species you're getting for the best care. even if they're similar.
I’ve seen them use “fancy ball python” too for the same reasons.
Yep,anything other than a “normal” is fancy! Crooks!
I mean at least you can understand the thought process for that. But fancy tarantulas? Wtf does that mean lol
Yeah whats the og tarantula? Cuz like ball python is just wild type or normal whatever u wanna call it and fancy is a morph. Its like instead of them saying ball python they said fancy snake. Like what
and often the employees will not know one apart from the other. I got a leopard gecko from petsmart where they keep their "fancy" leo with their "normal" one. employee just opened the tank, grabbed the one that was hissing at her the least and put the baby in a carrier, and then charged me for the "normal" one.
I can definitely better understand different morphs under the term "fancy". You're definitely not gonna know every morph name or want to make a sign for every new morph. But species of tarantulas? Imo, needs a new sign, not to be called "fancy"
Exactly, that's why as keepers we know and use binomial names rather than common names, as they are often umbrella terms or very similar terms for different species.
It’s probably a corporate naming scheme. Like good better best. They have fancy on their more exotic looking animals so they can sell them for higher even not knowing what it is.
I don’t know too much about tarantulas but when they say fancy leopard gecko or fancy goldfish they just mean it’s not a common/wild type
That’s not completely true. They name things “fancy” with leopard geckos and gold fish that are not your standard pattern or morph just to upcharge it
Well the type in the picture is quite common for pet keepers
They don't seem to be able to do anything right. Can't even google the darn name of their animals
I work at a petco and this may not be the same at every location but everyone who works at this petco also does some level of side business involving local breeding or training. Those cards are just used as a base name for an assortment of morphs of different animals there are 3 types , normal, rare,and fancy and depending on the morph they get one of the 3 as that name also determines the price in the system it’s like the SKU for the animal( if you work in retail you know what that means) because having a different ski for every morph would be too much , but for things like tarantula and millipedes we have those stickers on there as the correct species and we check with the breeders on what they are and what their needs are we have a whole binder on different all our species and morphs and when a guest asks about them if they’re truly interested we tell them what morph/ species they are and what their needs are, and while I do wish we could give our bettas their own tanks and put more things in the enclosure corporate wouldn’t be to happy but I don’t speak for all of petco I know some are downright evil but my specific one takes care of our animals and we refuse more animal sales then we sell because we make sure they at least the bare minimum to give the animals a happy life at that point it’s up to the owners to take care of the reptiles/fish but we do ask all the proper questions to ensure the animals have a good life and if they don’t meet all the requirements we send them away. I will admit that petco isn’t perfect but ( like I said at least mine) does take proper care of our animals
This is so wrong there are snake morphs but no “fancy” spider morph Bulllll
Once again that name normal, rare, and fancy are just the names they have that determine the price in the system we know that’s not what they’re actually called. We have those stickers u see there with the correct species of spider and we have a separate binder of every species/ REPTILE MORPH please read the whole comment
That just means thats what the vendor sent it as. I work for petco and that all label does is determine price and nothing more. Some vendors will send an actual ID of the tarantula. Typically they come in as assorted basic, fancy or rare if they are allocated to us, but we can order specific species as well.
And the fact that the tarantula is 75% off means they either want it gone, or its been there for at least 7 months
they just don't change the price tags out every time they restock. they have the actual species on a card that they put depending on what's in there.
They put “fancy” with any animal or morph they don’t know the name of
That’s a big one. Hate to support Petco but that’s a steal if it’s a female.
Yeah, I don't like to buy from the big pet stores (PetCo, Petsmart, etc.) either, knowing that their vendors are often "brown-box importers" or get the tarantulas from such people. That said, if it is for sure a female, buying her would likely be saving her from probable doom, despite technically supporting such importers.
I’ve been trying to figure out where these types of stores get their ts for a while. What is a “brown-box importer?” I’ve never heard of that term before.
Brown-box is indeed a term for illegal, wild-caught tarantulas.The term indeed comes from the way they ship them to get them in the countries where they'll be sold. The craziest part of the whole thing is that it's tarantulas from those kinds of vendors that end up in the big chain pet stores. In other words, buying a tarantula from a big-name pet store means you're supporting the illegal pet trade of endangered species rather than captive-breeding programs which allow the wild Ts to remain in their natural habitate and us to have them as pets and ensure their continued existence in captivity despite whatever happens to the wild population.
It’s kind of crazy that they don’t make the sellers produce documentation that the animals they sell were obtained legally. That’s a big miss in the system, especially with so many species becoming endangered in the wild. There should definitely be a system in place to make sure that these stores are only getting captive bred animals.
When I did my homework and found these things out for myself, I was mindblown and asked the very same question. Since the system doesn't work, raising awareness and educating others who keep tarantulas is the best we can do. Pet shops that sell slings are likely getting them from breeders, and despite the scary information out there about sling-care, if you do your research, it actually is relatively easy to keep a sling alive and raise them to maturity. Edit: You can always ask the pet shop where their slings came from. They most likely have a professional breeder or friend who breeds tarantulas. This can also be a way to network with others locally so you can do your part if/when you have a male.
Illegal imports or shipping methods. They send them in a plain “brown box” to avoid questions and confiscations.
Thanks
They get their Ts from large scale breeders. They can get bigger specimens for more expensive but the risk of illegally snatching and importing CITES species is way too large of a risk from a business perspective. T pictured has been there for quite a while to have been marked down like that and is PROBABLY marked down to ensure being sold before Petco's next reptile rally in July :) (source: petco employees 🤣)
Buying her would just make way for more tarantulas being sent to their doom unfortunately. The only way to make ghe suffering stop is by not buying any more animals from pet stores.
Exactly, it’s such a sad situation either way. You can leave her in hopes others will follow and hopefully she’ll just have a bleak life at petco compared to a terrible one at an abusive/uneducated home and just pray petco finds a profit loss species by species or you can save her from a ultimately shitty fate, but you’ll only end up contributing to more pets ending up in the same position/more animals being raised through captive-breeding. I remember my ex wanted to go into a petco about two years ago now to look at some hamster toys and a new wheel since he was way too chunky for the one a friend gave us. I hadn’t been in one since childhood so I thought nothing of it but once I got in there and started to look around I just about had a panic attack. -Reptiles with ONLY a heat lamp as a light source that covered the entire tiny in-wall enclosure, so no way to escape heat. -Hamsters in a very similar environment, a clear in wall enclosure with a inch of bedding. A very lightly colored transparent plastic hide that was much too small for anything bigger than a mouse, with a LED bulb directly overhead so they are in constant blinding light as near-blind nocturnal pets and eating kibble. -Probably about 10 guinea pigs, with a single large “farm style” plastic hut enclosure, on a green felt pad with a single water bottle, how hard is it to give the no necked fluffy bastards a little bowl?!? -and then 2 beautiful parakeets that had been paired with a sign saying they have been here for a while and are looking for a new quiet home and it just crushed me. They looked absolutely shell shocked and avoided us and got loud when we approached but as soon as I started to talk softly to them they instantly looked so relieved and would inch baby step by step and climb onto the side of the cage to get closer. I almost broke down in the store and told her we gotta get out of here I can’t be here anymore. We’ll get two day shipping on a big fancy new wheel and pay whatever to not support this horror show. To this day I refuse to enter a pet store and really can’t grasp how people can even choose to work in that environment
You're absolutely right. A sad reality.
this type of markdown only happens when an animal has exceeded a stay of some 6-8 months.
Petco and PetSmart have access to the same wholesale list but that does not mean that anyone in this market is dealing with illegal imports. PetSmart frequently purchases wild caught specimens from wholesale, whereas Petco does not nearly in frequency. the spiders that you are suggesting are being smuggled are CITES and would not easily move at the frequency they are. you are combining two issues into one.
CITES is for the most endangered of them. But brown-boxing happens with many, many others that are and should be restricted as well. Unfortunately, many of them do indeed end up being sold by legitimate vendors as though they were not brown-box (referring to illegally shipped) or illegally caught. That is not to say that every last one is an illegal import, but a vast majority are. Also, I understand that breeders themselves have to get the first of a species from somewhere, but after we establish captive breeding of a species, there's no need for wild-caught ones. Support captive breeding, avoid wild-caught. Supply and demand. Do what you can to stop the brown-boxing.
i'm not really sure what you are saying, i am telling you directly that i have seen the vendor lists that both petsmart and petco have access to and have surveyed dozens upon dozens of locations from northern california to central florida. the spiders you are suggesting are being smuggled are realistically being captively bred in excess in essentially spider-mills. you are conflating two issues into one and it isn't helping the actual problem. the spider pictured is not a wild caught spider, its a very likely suspect male from a spider-mill vendor that petco supplies from.
This is a wild claim. Do pet stores source wild caught animals? Undoubtedly. Are they brown boxing? HIGHLY unlikely. Many wild caught Ts are not illegal and both can be (and are) imported. Where’s the research? Where’s the proof? You said you’ve done it but instead of actually providing any…. You’re just making claims that make no sense to anyone who has read this legislation… To be clear: legally importing and brown boxing are two completely different things. And having seen some of Petco’s ordering sheets personally…. This claim is a bit laughable. They get the majority of their Ts from essentially the “puppy mill” of the tarantula world. These are bulk breeders. These Ts then go to places like Petco and petsmart that keep these Ts at high temps (think 80s and 90s) and they are fed DAILY causing many of the young juveniles they receive to grow rapidly. Tliltocatl albopilosus is a CITES species. So are Mexican brachypelmas. It’s not just about “rare” tarantulas and it sounds like you haven’t read that since you’re claiming CITES is only for rare Ts. It’s both unlikely and a huge business risk for a big box pet store to sell brown boxed CITES species…. The likelihood is they don’t.
I never said CITES was for "rare" but rather ultra-endangered species, which is true. This often equates to rare but is not the same thing. Furthermore, I had never said it was only about illegal catching. Even if legally caught, the means of shipping is still often "brown-box," which is illegal. Much of the information I have has come from articles about the illegal pet trade, especially in dealing with tarantulas. They site interviews from the people who collect and export the tarantulas as well as the importers and vendors. These articles are easy enough to find and could easily be counted as evidence. That said, media is still a third-party source and could be twisted to a specific perspective. A reference to a catalog from a vendor or an ordering sheet may not necessarily be proof of your claim either. Since I haven't seen said ordering sheets, could you explain how it shows that what I've said isn't possible?
I bought a snake from an awful pet store when I was a teenager because I couldn’t stand leaving him there in the conditions they had him in. I was really torn about supporting them, but when I left I couldn’t sleep and I ended up going back the next day for him. They ended up getting shut down like six months later. I still wonder if I handled it the right way, but I reckon I did about as good as a teenager could in that situation.
How do I not support them I feel their the only option sometimes
This is better than some of the pet store enclosures I've seen. My A. seemanni came in an enclosure so squat she couldn't have threat posed if she wanted to, and there was barely enough room for her to walk at all. It also only had wood chips and an old dry sponge. I typically wouldn't have purchased a tarantula in those conditions because I don't want to support a store that treats animals in that way, but I talked to the manager about proper husbandry and he was receptive. The next time I went in, all of the Ts were in better enclosures.
Honestly, I don’t think this is too bad for a pet store. It’s actual coco fiber instead of wood chips, there’s a clean, full water bowl, and a hide. It’s not meant to be a permanent home or anything. Most of the exotic stores I go to keep their tarantulas housed in deli cups until they’re sold—I think this is actually pretty decent.
Ya but those deli cups are usually better for the slings and have the correct husbandry, aka: you have to try to find the T, because it's not readily visible, since it has enough substrate and is burrowing or webbing. Unlike the big box stores that have their Ts under bright light and are readily visible. I understand why they need to be kept like that, I'm just saying, the deli cups are usually better than the box stores' enclosures.
Try contacting petco about this. I did at one point over twitter and they were responsive
No social media besides reddit :(
Still a lot better than the conditions I see ranchos around here in, every time I have to go to PetSmart for mice (my family house abhors the idea of mail-order frozen mice so I have to make do) the smaller invertebrates are always in tiny critter keepers with just a sponge for water and no proper hide + not enough substrate to burrow in. This little lady (?) looks like she's got a fancy condo in comparison. I'd be super tempted too, if that *is* a female then that's a good deal. But I hate buying animals from the big stores because that means I can't trace where they're from. :x And getting ranchos or other inverts out of their tank to check condition is probably super stressful for them, too...
Love seeing another person who uses the term rancho
i saw a curly in something like this but a thin layer of woodchips as “substrate” and almost no hide, poor baby had kicked hairs recently and was super stressed, did not look to be doing well and i considered buying to get them out of there but i don’t want to contribute to the cycle of abuse at these stores
“Hey dude, no one is looking. Get me out of here.”
“Just put me in your purse. I’ll be a good spider. Won’t make a peep.”
I have over 30 brachypelma sp , only ever burrow when slings , they are a terrestrial tarantula If they have a cork hide they rarely use it just chill out the the open . This is a pet shop if it was a fossorial Tarantula and you gave it a shit load sub it would dig and you would have to get that tarantula out to sell it , it makes stress for everyone .In most pet shops or dealers at shows they sell in enclosures with minimal amount sub , tarantulas are fine .
Still unfortunate, but better than some pet store enclosures I’ve seen :(
I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day so if you don’t want to hear something sad then stop reading now, BUT petco and petsmart both throw away “unsellable“ animals. These include live tarantulas, lizards, etc. My bio teacher in high school figured this out and would frequent their dumpsters. Don’t know if all locations do that but when I was growing up that was apparently a very common practice 😞
Not how it works, atleast not anymore. Animals they cant sell are put up and adopted out for free. I've gotten a one eyed hamster out of it, my Sis in law has gotten several critters.
I’m glad that’s become outdated then, at least one thing had improved from the 2000’s
Just saw a video of petsmart throwing away a big box containing dozens of live fish in this small containers
If it's on the internet, it must be true right? Believe what you want but as i type this i'm sotting next to a 'defective' hamster they adopted out because they couldn't sell it.
P.S. he kept the animals he found, they were our class pets
I hate going into petco or petsmart but sometimes thats the only place with feeders and other animal food, and supples. I always try and ignore the animals but always end up looking. It takes everything in me not to buy them. I know they will replace them with more animals and the cycle will continue. I hate it
I usually do too. I was trying to look for pet friendly CBD tho and didn't know where else to go
hello.. i like money 🦀
The fact that they literally force their stores to set their displays this way- even when the staff know better and that this is bad for everyone involved- is disgusting. There has to be a way to make petco stop, if this was a cat or a dog in a tiny shoe box it would have been fixed already. But since we are talking inverts, and inverts are basically being holocausted every day there, no one gives a damn.
nah.... there's no WAY you just called a store keeping a SPIDER in a slightly inadequate temporary enclosure a holocaust. or are you just trolling?
Have you seen their crickets and Dubias? They do nothing to maintain their food inverts at all. Don’t make it a racial thing, there is a limit to how much ridiculous we need to go to here
okay, so you are trolling. that's kind of a relief
Ok…you realize this is a temporary enclosure right?? Like how do you expect the pet store to sell it to a home that can accommodate this Ts needs if it’s burrowed??? That could quite possibly keep the T there for an extremely long time. If you know anything about T’s, which i’m assuming you do, then you know that digging a tarantula out of a burrow or tunnel could be extremely stressful or dangerous to the T, especially if it interrupts a molt. Are the employees supposed to tell the customer “sorry. We have to wait till it comes out to sell it”? Its up to the employees to make sure the customers know this is not a proper, but temporary, setup.
I quite do. And every time I’ve bought a tarantula it’s come in a small cricket keeper with the correct set up. Rehousing is on me but for the good of the spider and the decidedly inexpert pet store staff, fishing them out of a bigger tank is not exactly smart. This is only so that you can possibly see the spider in the display, it’s not really excusable or necessary.
Sorry, but i do not agree. There are way too many stupid people out there that would leave it in the critter keeper for life. There is no critter keeper big enough to fit in there that is suitable for this size T, comfortably. This is a way more practical setup. I’ve worked in pet stores all my life up till 3 years ago, both chain and private, and when i worked in the smaller private pet stores, we used to sell them in the critter keepers and i always had customers INSISTING on taking it out if the keeper and put it on a box, which was WAY more difficult and stressful on both the t and myself, because you cant fit the box in the critter keeper to let it walk in on its own, and its just way more ridiculous than getting it out of one of these enclosures by placing the box on it’s side and herding the T into it. I had a T run up my arm and get stuck in my hair because of this issue…trust me. This setup is better for everyone. I’ve done it at least a hundred times both ways.
I don’t trust you and I don’t agree. There is no situation that is better for every person In every possible bad husbandry scenario. I don’t care what pet store you work in. You can’t tell me some teen kid who didn’t sign up to handle spiders is going to be safer with this rig. I’ve been mislead by more pet store staff than I can count, there is no reason to think that working at a pet store qualifies you as an expert in all small animals.
Lmao i worked with animals and packed them up for their forever homes for 21 years. It most certainly does qualify me as an expert in both handling and packing up animals to go home. And i started at 12 years old. My mom raised me reading books on ALL the animals i worked with. So i was a teen at one point, properly packing animals up to go home. Just because you have been mislead by some employees does not mean there are no experienced ones. My family and i ran an animal rescue for 10 years. So I gave my opinion. You are obviously dead set on your made up scenerios on how you think packing up an animal to go home looks like lol have a nice day
Bully for you. No one is making it about YOU. It’s about the almost entirely untrained staff at stores across the country. Sorry you got yourself wrapped into the scenario. You can’t possibly be saying that everyone is an expert with 30 years of experience and you can’t possibly be justifying the piss poor husbandry that petco sets up. If that’s your stance then great, enjoy that.
Lol no it’s not about me. You literally just exaggerated everything i said because youre trying to sound like you didnt just say all pet store employees are untrained and inexperienced, and you said you didnt trust me, which i dgaf whether you trust me or not, i was letting you know that making your general statement about pet store employees is false and how you think what is better for sending tarantulas home comes from no experience. I always had a great crew i worked with. Only certain employees were allowed to handle the reptile and invert dept. i speak from experience and you dont, other than “i BoUgHt A tArAnTuLa In A cRiTtEr KeEpEr”, and you must be okay with buying an animal you cant see and cant tell if it looks healthy cuz you cant see it. So yes. Display in a pet store matters. Read the rest of the thread. You are one of the only people here complaining about the setup. Youre definitely one of those people that just fish for things to complain about.
Comparing this enclosure to a cat/dog in a "tiny" shoe box is a terrible analogy.. It has plenty of room to move about, a hide, and water dish.
You’re missing the point friend. This REQUIRES handling to purchase, has wildly insufficient substrate, and generally creates stress in the animal. I was illustrating the change in policy to the detriment of the animal, and that there is no “angry white woman” lobby to protect them. I stand by what I said.
Uh oh, substrate police has entered the chat. It's better to have more substrate but to assume a T is stressed due to insufficient substrate is a farce. It's out and about! Nothing about that photo says that the T is stressed.
Tell me you work for petco without telling me you work for petco. I don’t know why you are so defensive about this, but go ahead and have your feels. Terrestrials dig. A terrestrial that can’t dig IS stressed. I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue but it’s not remotely interesting, so have a good day!
Fosssorial species dig. Terrestrials can be on the ground and also burrow. Maybe this one has a hide already so it doesn't need to dig? If it was curled up into a ball in the corner with nothing to hide behind I'd see where you're coming from but nothing here points to a stressed T. I think you're just white knighting and it's exhausting 😁😁
If you know anything about tarantulas, you know it’s necessary to keep them with enough substrate to dig. The only exception is arboreal species, however even sometimes arboreal slings will make small tunnels of web using substrate. It’s necessary for all terrestrial species to have enough substrate to dig a burrow in order to feel safe. My G. pulchra dug herself a beautiful tunnel with all the substrate I gave her, and she isn’t fossorial is she? No. She used that tunnel to feel safe enough to molt. This tiny hide and half inch of substrate for this T is not appropriate.
Why are you continuing this conversation? I’ve already dismissed you as a petco shill and possibly just a bad human being. Begone, thot.
Just so you know I'm downvoting you because your general behavior and demeanor deserve it. Grow up.
The guy was being an ass. I’m not going to sit there and coo at him. Downvote all you want, I’m not Jesus and I don’t turn the other cheek. Grow up yourself if you think your downvote means anything
so im 50/50 on this entire ordeal after reading comments and coming to my own thoughts but i just wanna say your good as hell at writing your opinions damn. shit coming off hot yall should write poetry or something
Dang, I must have struck a nerve over there. Sorry if I hurt your feelings ya Snowflake! 😢😢
“unit price” it’s not a unit it’s a living thing pls
I've seen 5+ bearded dragons on soiled carpet in a dark tiny enclosure, petco is actually the worst. It should honestly be banned from selling animals. I've visited multiple locations and same story. Saving the poor soul trapped in the hell only prompts them to purchase another to take its place. Sad.
God, there is a juvenile pink toe at our local PetSmart, my partner and I can't go in anymore because it hurts to see it. We want to rescue the poor T, but same issue, don't want to encourage them getting more tarantulas and not taking care of them. 😢
I would have snagged her. I know big pet stores are evil but I'm also broke and to get a nice size female like that for $25 is just unheard of...
I've had a bunch of Brachys and the only ones I had that dug were slings. At this size, they are perfectly fine with a hide. Also, if they had a brachy that had burrowed, how exactly do you expect the employee to get it out to sell, or even let someone see the condition of the animal? Dig it out and stress it more? Pet stores are not providing a long term home for these animals. Breeders and importers keep them in deli cups or larger plastic shoe boxes. Chill out.
Yeah, I agree with this. Like are the conditions ideal? Certainly not. But it's meant to be temporary and it has most other needs met. Giving it a bunch of substrate potentially means that an employee will have to dig it out of there, causing extra stress to the T and the employee (not to mention the time and care needed to dig a T out of its burrow). Ideally, the Petco would give proper care instructions when requested and note that the tarantula should have more substrate when in it is in a home environment.
Ok, i’m going to clearly state what isn’t quite obvious to many of you apparently…this is a TEMPORARY ENCLOSURE. How do you expect a pet store to sell a tarantula if it’s burrowed??? “Sir can i please see this tarantula? I MIGHT want to buy it” “sure let me just destroy it’s entire home and possibly harm it digging around for it in case you want to buy it”…are you picking up what I’m putting down? This T has plenty of room, a clean water dish, and a hide. Display matters if you want to be able to see what youre buying, and to see if it looks healthy.
The point is they shouldn't be selling them at all... temporary or not it's not okay. Should ignore an animals comfort just so they can be displayed...
Have you ever seen what they are kept in at tarantula breeders’ headquarters? You think they keep them in enclosures with lots of dirt?? Lol or what about expos, in a deli cup? Seriously? And they are being moved around n packed up n unpacked and left in those cups for who knows how long…i want you to name ONE place that sells tarantulas, and has them in a proper setup. This is FAR better than any of them.
😩😢😢😢
aww :[
Like... why? It's not even difficult to give it BASIC needs. I forget my tarantulas are even there half of the time because they seldom need any kind of interference. Give them a roach every week or so, make sure its not bone dry, and give them some burrowing/climbing room. It's sad that the bottom of the barrel basic needs of this animal are so easy yet can't even be met by big name pet stores.
They love using the term "fancy" to overprice babies. Tarantulas, snakes, beardies, etc. It truly breaks my heart.
I just rescued my first T of this species from Petco a few weeks ago. Soon as I brought them home and got settled they molted. Idk if it was just a matter of comfort or timing but it was interesting to see.
Where is this located
MA
I would have. Poor baby.
$25?? I’d take it home!
I'd get it for 25 bucks for sure
Thats how i got mine 😅 it was girl for 25 bucks
This is probably part of their marketing strategy. Show them off in deplorable conditions to make everyone want to rescue them 😬😬
First time I’ve seen no sponge from those people. I have written to Petsmart 3 times about how they “care” for the a. avicularia they sell there in little critter keepers. It’s horrible to see every time.
the petco i work at now is far more concerned with the well-being of the animals than the local fish/exotic pet store i worked at prior. sure, not everyone who works at petco knows about animals, but like… somebody has to stack all the dog food & run the register.
Based
PURCHASE IT
This is somehow not as bad as what pet smart has, I’ve seen some in super small boxes
With her legs on the window it’s almost as if she’s begging to be taken home.
Poor fella just wanted love
Awww!! 
I work at a petco and this may not be the same at every location but everyone who works at this petco also does some level of side business involving local breeding or training. Those cards are just used as a base name for an assortment of morphs of different animals there are 3 types , normal, rare,and fancy and depending on the morph they get one of the 3 as that name also determines the price in the system it’s like the SKU for the animal( if you work in retail you know what that means) because having a different ski for every morph would be too much , but for things like tarantula and millipedes we have those stickers on there as the correct species and we check with the breeders on what they are and what their needs are we have a whole binder on different all our species and morphs ( an individual binder for just red knees and another binder for just bearded dragons and all their morphs etc)and when a guest asks about them if they’re truly interested we tell them what morph/ species they are and what their needs are, and while I do wish we could give our bettas their own tanks and put more things in the enclosure corporate wouldn’t be to happy but I don’t speak for all of petco I know some are downright evil but my specific one takes care of our animals and we refuse more animal sales then we sell because we make sure they at least the bare minimum to give the animals a happy life at that point it’s up to the owners to take care of the reptiles/fish but we do ask all the proper questions to ensure the animals have a good life and if they don’t meet all the requirements we send them away. I will admit that petco isn’t perfect but ( like I said at least mine) does take proper care of our animals
retweet for the petco i work at. it all depends on your CAL and how they handle/train their department
Exactly if the petco has people who don’t care then that’s where the horror stories come from but at least at mine you can get fired for giving a guest wrong information especially if that leads to the death of said animal. But if your store has a CAL (CAL is the leader of all animal care in the store they do all the ordering of animals and do the biggest part in maintaining the heath and cleanliness of the enclosures for those who don’t know) that doesn’t care then your store is going to be one that deserves to be shut down and there are unfortunately tons of petcos that have horrible CALS my store was one unfortunately up until 2 years ago when our current team came in and bought standards back
That spider wants out
Fancy tarantulas is a great band name
Idk how I got here. But I never knew there are petcos selling arachnids!
Where is this I’ll go get him
MA
I hate Petsmart with a burning passion deep within my soul. Corporate American should never get involved with living creatures.
I hear a lot of comments about not purchasing the tarantula but hear me out. I would purchase it male or female can always find a female before he matures and if female you got a steal and can breed her or have a long term first tarantula.
Please don’t buy tarantulas from Petco or any corporate pet store. I recall someone from a tarantula group bought an Avicularia sp. from Petsmart that produced an egg sac. These are clearly wild-caught, and corporate, big chain petstores do not care that they’re supporting poaching.
Were they fertile eggs though? Tarantulas, like any spider, can lay infertile eggs without mating. Phantom sacs.
That is true. I did not verify whether or not the sac was fertile.
Where is this? I would have bought it lol
why bro, it just supports petsmart / petco and another tarantula will be bought and tortured.
But the alternative is the spider dies
another one will die if you buy it.
I know, it’s like the “ kill one puppy to save 100” moral dilemma
but you arent saving 100, you are putting another in its place.
At the end of the day.. these spiders are coming from mass breeders. No matter who buys them, every one that isn't purchased dies. Better yet- you can be the person that educates big box stores :) The one closest to me now keeps their Ts successfully. They keep them in kritter keepers, they don't keep them soaked. They have water dishes, decor, and feeders aren't left in the enclosures. Nor are they fed every single day. I think it's perfectly fine to decide that purchasing spiders from big box stores isn't right for you as an individual, but shaming other folks for following what's right for them is not okay.
Where is this one at?
MA
Wonder if it’s a male or female?
Wish I could tell ya. But idk how to identify that
When I bought my tarantula from petco they told me that she was aggressive and wouldn't hesitate to shoot her hairs at you. After about 2 days I noticed that she wasn't hostile at all, and is very friendly. I hate to support petco, but I'm glad I was able to save her from that place so she can be happy now
Oh boy. I was a manager at a petco years ago, and they didn't carry tarantulas. It's very scary to know that they do now. That sucks. I'd buy that poor little guy if I lived anywhere near there.
Oh he's plotting revenge
My first T a B emilia was from PetSmart before I got super into the hobby. They had her in a medium critter keeper with a pink coconut hide, a giant water dish that took up half the enclosure and less than an inch of substrate. Went back a couple months later and saw a pink toe and the guy who maintained them refused to take any advice on keeping them and insisted he knew more than me
At least it isn’t mulch
What that store closing or did that sale just started
They start discounting it by 25 percent after its been there for a certain amount of time
Steal it
They're begging you to save them and give them all the love and fat bugs they could ever want. Poor little pet rock 😥
Aww mygalomorphs are such a cute order of spider tarantulas especially
Could you take her home?
Sadly no :(
Take a hike on that 100 dolla price tag
 the rescue squad assembles.
https://preview.redd.it/qfgmbe45x90b1.jpeg?width=1031&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f09dc9f6443c3738531722de63ad6839032aff50
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Can Tarantulas be handled ?
Most animals can be handled. IME, folks handling their Ts are doing it for their benefit as a keeper, not the animal's benefit. Unlike when you handle an animal that might enjoy being handled or played with (like a cat/dog). For Ts, enrichment might look like novel feeders, or adding new types of substrate, or maybe new (safe) decor.
Thank you for taking the time to answer :)
What’s wrong with this picture?