Customers Who Did Not Get the Animals They Came For (LONG)

[TheSnakeLady]

And no, despite what the label says, these guys didn't wind up snakefood...

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

A couple friends of mine 'inherited' someone else's animals. The gent in question died & they found homes for most of his menagerie. The couple then got licenses to own some of the specimens (Siberian steppe eagle) and took care of the rest. They do a lot of raptor rescue now. They had to get training for the license anyway, might as put it to good use.

The bearded dragon that they got ended up being so spoiled. She pined when the original gent died and would only eat if they hand fed her crickets. She got used to the hand feeding and wouldn't live feed anymore. Silly Mrs Beardsley.

[Saydrah]

Aww! I might have to get a quail just for the quail now, and give the eggs to my raw-fed cat and dog! They're so cute!

[TheSnakeLady]

Hehe... baby quail are adorable. If you're going to breed baby quail though, you need a male... and male quail do a pretty good rooster imitation. If you just want eggs, you only need a female. 2 is better than one, as they then have company. When housing adult quail, use a wire rodent cage, not a bird cage. Too much headroom gives them just enough space to break their necks. Bubblewrap on the ceiling of the rodent cage prevents head injuries if they get startled. Make sure you feed them the appropriate kind of gamebird chow (layer feed for adult egglayers) and NOT chicken feed, as they need lots of protein in their diet. And quail love mealworms as treats. Make sure they're directly on the substrate -- don't use a wire bottom or it will hurt their feet, as they're pretty much a ground bird (they can "fly" but mostly they just jump-flutter, even if their wings are not clipped). And make sure they have plenty of water -- quail drink a lot.

[Saydrah]

Do they imprint like ducks and geese if you raise them from eggs? I so miss my little geese I raised who followed me all around the neighborhood like puppies. They went to live on a nice farm after they tried to kill my ducks. Now they think they're chickens and try to roost on tiny chicken roosts. Strangely, they haven't injured the chickens- they tried attacking the farm dog, but he just ignored them.

[TheSnakeLady]

I haven't seen it work very well, no... About the only thing my birds instantly recognize and run towards is the mealworm container. But with handling and treat-feeding, they recognize you as a friendly thing and not a predator.

[Saydrah]

Hehehe! Another mealworm muncher in the house would be fun. My rats will eat them to oblige me, but they'd really rather have a chocolate chip. The hedgehog happily crunches them down, though.

[MadMike]

Good job refusing those sales. As someone else said, some people don't seem to understand that animals are living beings with feelings, and not disposable objects.

I got into it on PFB with someone a few years back. They wrote a complaint about how a pet store had refused to sell them an animal that they didn't want to buy the necessary equipment. They felt that all the store should have just sold it to them, and that it was none of their business what happened to the animal once it left the store.

I ripped into them pretty good. It wasn't one of my prouder moments.

[tropicsgoddess]

Good GAWD! People like that disgust me! I just don't understand how people can be so callous and abusive towards innocent creatures! I would love to send those assholes to hell via just like they did to that little fish for no reason!

[RebeccaOTool]

Fish-in-the-disposal? Good Gawd, that's horrible!!

[Jade Pheonix]

Smoothly done. I bow to you!

Thanks. I figured then that simply telling the guy "No" would make his head go all explodey. He was ( and still is, as far as I know) a regular customer and has what everyone called a "Diva complex" to put it nicely.Not too bright and disconnected from reality (as you can see from that last question he asked me) . So I thought it best just to speak his language instead of risking a shouting match

[jerkface11]

Why do egg eating snakes need quail eggs? Some nutritional difference? Or just a size issue? If it's a size thing then you could always get a bantam chicken they have quite small eggs and are about the same size as a quail.

[mntpython]

It just doesn't make sense. It is the year 2008 and man has progressed so little, if not regressed somewhat overall. So few seem to have patience and compassion and still strive to pass along these feelings with their inferior genes to their children to assure that progress will be slow to evolve.

[Toujin]

Sadly, some of my middle and highschool classmates were quite cruel. Although I never saw them actually killing animals, they had some disturbing fantasies, and some bragged about what they supposedly did. One of the worst of their lot actually claimed that he'd eaten a cat's head!

[Polenicus]

Bleh, it sucks some people who wind up as pet owners. Especially parents who teach their kids bad attitudes towards pets.

I firmly believe that how the family pets are treated when you're young has a major impact on how you view pets as an adult. In my family we always had animals... dogs, cats, the occasional birds and fish. I was always involved in caring for them (Feeding, walks, cleaning cages, etc) so when I hit adulthood I knew EXACTLY how much work an animal is, and what kind of resources are needed to properly care for one. There is no such thing as a low-maintenance pet: Fish Tanks must be emptied and thoroughly cleaned, animals must be taken to the vet for shots, spaying and neutering (Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a vet that'll neuter a male dwarf bunny? Or fix a broken leg on another bunny when she tries to vault her enclosure?), cats, rabbits, and many other small animals need regular (And I mean DAILY!) litterbox cleanings, dogs need regular walks... ANY type of pet requires regular attention if you want them to be anything other than antisocial and poorly adjusted to people.

So many people get a pet without having any idea what it involves, or having any value on the life of the animal they're taking into their care. It's too easy to just go buy an animal, and too much work for them to properly relocate that animal once they're no longer 'fun'.

When I have kids, they ARE going to have pets, and I'm going to make darn sure they DO take care of them, and understand exactly what is involved.