Was in an exotic pet shop recently when a lady came in asking about lighting for terrapins. Being a nosey bugger, I was listening and it turned out a garden centre was selling yellow bellied turtles without proper equipment or advice (no suprise there). They'd sold her two, in a tank too small with an internal filter and a water heater. Thats all folks!! No UV, no heat lamp...*shakes head* So I started chatting to the lady, I mentioned the importance of purchasing a UV source/starter kit and a heat bulb as I have a terrapin...etc. This got the pet shop a sale of a starter kit and a 8% UV light (hey, wheres my commission??! ) and she was coming back for the heat source the following week. What really annoyed me, is the sheer brass neck of a garden centre to sell a specialised exotic pet without so much as a bloody caresheet, or even carry all of the stock required to maintain it!! Thats like selling plants but no compost or food. Totally stupid. I've informed the other half we will be touring garden centres in the Yorkshire area in the near future (terrapin is upgrading from her glass tank to an indoor pond - how posh??!) and I will be on the look out for terrapins and turtles inappropriately for sale and may God help the poor unfortunate sales assistant who serves me...

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My Reptiles0.1.0 Rosie - Amel corn1.0.1 Duncan - Ghost motley stripe/Zipper corn1.1.0 Max & Milly - Brazilian rainbow boas1.1.0 Bruce & Matilda - Irian Jaya carpet pythons1.0.0 Ronnie - La Bahia dwarf boa0.1.0 Ruby - Central American dwarf boa, 50% het albino0.1.0 Skipper - Red eared slider terrapin

"Challenge everything....believe nothing"

http://www.freewebs.com/slitheringsnakes/

Run it by me... why does a water turtle NEED UV? They eat whole prey.

How were all those water trutles raised and bred years ago before the advent of UV in a box?

I'm up for a lesson... Why is UV necessary today and not yesterday.

Pat yourself on the back you did well. You got the shop to sell some equipment that was not necessary. You might have a calling in the retail business.

don't all of the pet shops there in the uk follow the same guidlines or have an organization that they all are members of like we do here? sounds like from various threads that they all do things as they feel fit.

What Is PIJAC? - Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council

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who the hell is 'we'... that's presumptious.

I do think the UK does have an equivelent... if they don't they should. I'm willing to bet PIJAC was created as a result of the crap that goes on in the UK.

'they feel fit'?

Most of the shops I know of in the UK are run by herpers who are trying to deal with the fn' nutcases that are the vocal majority... herpers... take note. The vocal majority are not the majority but are the minority who are the biggest whiners. Hey... they've managed to set the rules in the UK. (ref:shows)

Dudes... speak up. Get involved. It's easy with the net.

most water turtles don't eat as much whole prey as one thinks. they do but they are all serious scavengers that go for the rotten. D3 is primarily stored in the liver, an organ that quickly rots and is sought out by all scavengers. i fish for turtles and chicken liver works like a charm.

turtles have high Ca requirments and thus need high levels of UV in order to produce D3 and thus enable them to absorb the availible Ca.

for years and years turtles were almost exclusively raised on massive turtle farms in the southeast usa...mostly sliders. japan buys millions of baby sliders every year... it's an industry here.

in captivity, turtles rarely get any natural sunlight. UV bulbs are lame in comparison to the full sun of georgia, usa. but with a strong UV bulb and proper supplements, a good Ca level in the turtles blood can be maintained by the average joe and won't get harvested from the bones.


Turtle farmers take fight to the halls of Congress - Breaking News Updates New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

this may verify some of what i've said... i just googled a turtle site real quick.

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by 'we' i just meant us americans. that's all. and yes, an organization exists because it was necessary. it's something at least for here. it's a start at trying to standardize things in the industry and to put a face on the pet business.... no big deal...

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very few reptile shops in america. just no money in it.

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Unfortunately garden centres are some of the worst offenders when it comes to selling exotic animals without giving proper advice, IMO they should stick to selling garden stuff, as their name suggests.

forget the percentage of responsibility that lies with the customer to have a clue about an animal they are buying.

Evil shop! Burn them!

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Mason

1.0 of "Quixotic_Axotlotl"





http://masonexotics.co.uk/ourcollection.aspx

Locality Boas and Retics A Passion.

i have a garden centre not far from me that has started selling Reptiles aswell.
I went there for a visit and they had uros in there with the basking temp of 70!!!!! i was so angry and imformed them that it should be 120+ and they said how do you no and started questioning me about the care of my reptiles as if i was the one in the wrong, I then noticed that the had a salad (lettuce, cucumber, totmatoes) in with thier chams. I did pull them up on this aswell but they failed to explian themselves and asked me to leave the shop.
They should if they are going to open a reptile section get someone that is experienced in reptiles. Not someone that had read one book. or just stick to selling plants

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