OMGWTF~ The "official" bad care rant thread! :D

[Mircheese]

Hey everyone!
I would have just made this to show you something really stupid I found, but to avoid cluttering up the forum with a bunch of similar threads, this topic should have a bigger use! So here you are welcome to post any poor care information you come across and educate people as to why it is wrong, etc etc. If you want to express your dislike for someone's pet care or want to get something off your chest just because it's annoying you, this is the place for you! Any and all discussion is welcome! emotion_awesome

I'll start off by sharing this "OMGWTF" caresheet I found:

Soft-shelled turtle

This is like, wrong on soooo many levels. gonk

[Eveille]

(Would help if you explained what was wrong about it razz )

The site looks all legit and stuff, those are the worst sad , the most confusing and insidious. It's like that mermaid 'documentary' on Animal Planet that has been making the rounds of the internet.

I went to their index and they want to stop a bill that I happen to approve of, so meh at them.

[Xiphophorus]

what
how is
that's like telling someone that a bearded dragon will stay 4 inches if you keep it in a 4 inch habitat
no you idiots jesus christ

worst care guide i've seen so far?
the betta guides at petco

also someone telling a guy that they could put their crested gecko on carpet with little to no humidity and cricket only diet and expect it to thrive
and then the local pet store selling someone a savannah monitor and telling them to put it on coconut bark shavings. luckily the person made the connection and came to us and got the right stuff.
and then an associate at a pet store telling someone that cory catfish thrive off of algae
ugh

[Moth Feathers]

Eveille

(Would help if you explained what was wrong about it razz )

The site looks all legit and stuff, those are the worst sad , the most confusing and insidious. It's like that mermaid 'documentary' on Animal Planet that has been making the rounds of the internet.

I went to their index and they want to stop a bill that I happen to approve of, so meh at them.

Excellent point about the explanation thing.

Quote:

SOFT-SHELLED TURTLES WILL GROW TO THE SIZE OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT. If you want your Soft-Shelled Turtle to stay small, you must keep it in a small tank. Do not put your Soft-Shelled Turtle in a large (i.e. 10 gallon) tank unless you want it to grow HUGE! Soft-Shelled Turtles placed in large tanks or ponds can grow to 4 FEET in diameter.

This is wrong because animals grow to the size of their environment as much as kittens grow to the size of the jar they're placed in. You can easily raise animals to full-size in tiny environments; it's all a matter of how hygienic their environment is. A turtle in a small tank is going to be in a very polluted environment simply because small tanks don't contain enough water to dilute their wastes..polluted environments = stunted growth.

Quote:

ANDLING A TURTLE WILL NOT MAKE YOU SICK. The salmonella bacteria is a form of e-coli, which lives in the G.I. tract of nearly every living creature, including humans. Most people have a natural immunity to this bacteria, which is why the disease is extremely rare. In order to get sick, you would have to let your turtle’s water get so filthy that it’s black and stinking--and then drink the water. Simply handling a turtle will not cause or spread disease. (See cleaning tips below.)

This is stupid too. You definitely can get salmonella from handling turtles- in fact, from interacting with practically any animal. The prevention is to wash your hands after handling yer critters, especially after being in contact with their feces.
And it's not "extremely rare", and while immunocompromised people (which includes children, pregnant ladies, and the elderly) get it much more often than 'normal' people, pretty much anyone can get it.

Sort of off topic, but do you enjoy having pets other than cats or dogs? So-called "exotic" pets? HR 669 can and will ban most/if not all non-domesticated animals, which includes all lovely parrots (and finches and softbills like toucans) and lots of fish species and reptile species.
It is much better for states to make their own decisions on what animals pose a threat to their climate- the giant Everglade pythons in Florida won't survive out in Idaho, for instance, because of the climate. Lories (a nectar-eating parrot) could pose a threat to native birds in Hawaii but not in the continental US.

It would be very sad if we were all limited to owning just dogs and cats.

[Moth Feathers]

Anyway, back on that site you mentioned:

on the red-eared slider turtle care page, some memorable quotes:

Quote:

If you want your slider to stay small, you must keep it in a small tank. Do not put your slider in a large tank (i.e. 10 gallons)

Emphasis mine.

This is definitely a typo, right? 10 gallons aren't large. At all. I'm sure they meant 100 gallon.

Quote:

You can buy expensive de-chlorination chemicals to treat your slider’s water, but why waste the money? Simply fill a clean, empty milk jug with water, and let it sit out uncovered overnight. Then fill your slider’s tank with that naturally-aged water. A single milk jug can last for two or more weeks.

Emphasis mine.

Oops, considering that a milk jug is only one gallon of liquid..looks like they did mean about ten gallon tanks being 'large'. confused

Dechlorinator isn't expensive, super fancy stuff either. A 9 dollar bottle of Prime is rated for 2500 gallons? A bottle like that would last you probably two years for a 10 gallon. 24 months/9 dollars = 8 months of dechlorinator for 3 dollars.

And everybody's favorite, Aqualand Pets Plus. I don't like to visit the site so I won't be quoting any passages, but just take a peek through their care guides on various species if you haven't.

[Mircheese]

Thank you, Moth. xD

I was just about to quote and emphasize those same points. :3 But I think they probably do mean 10 gal is large... They probably want you to keep your turtle in a bowl or something, lol.

At least the bearded dragon care sheet looks good. They seem to emphasize using a staple of high-calcium greens, using proper heat/light, no heat rocks, and they even say to get your beardie a 90-gallon tank! biggrin So if they know this maybe they just are in it for the money with the turtles and they want them to be disposable to people... Dx

Or the care pages are all written by different people... The iguana one uses first-person and keeps emphasizing "I told you iguanas aren't smart now are they?" or whatever... ffffffffff iggys are like one of the most intelligent reptiles ever! <3

[Mircheese]

-looks at link-

lol, "make sure you give your finches pelleted diets! veggies as an occasional treat" "clean the cage liner at least once a week..... OR..... hang the cage high enough where you don't have to look at it!" emotion_facepalm

and they prefer UGFs over power filters, and they keep making a sarcastic big deal out of the law to not sell baby turtles under 4 inches, and lol, not even gonna say anything about the iguana feeding section... and the whole rat page is basically wrong!

then bettas, actual direct quote: "since they came in these tiny bags, you know you can keep them in bowls." gonk -reads the rest of betta housing page- oh, God, I can't do this anymore! emotion_puke

[PocketSasha]

Reading that 'information' made me cringe.
Crap like that shouldn't even be allowed. What's worrying is, some one's going to view that site and think that's legit information and follow it stare

[Keen Incisions]

Xiphophorus

worst care guide i've seen so far?
the betta guides at petco

emotion_facepalm
Yeah. Some of the care sheets....really, really need to be revised.

As for the turtles thing, I have to deal with that ALL the time. emotion_donotwant My area is notorious for giving away/selling red-eared sliders at carnivals that are ridicuusly tiny. And of course the people who take them don't bother learning about their turtle. We get turtles dropped off at our store all the time because "we didn't know they grew." emotion_facepalm

[Xiphophorus]

I'm literally crying while reading the aqualand pets crap. The information they're saying about paradise fish makes me want to hurt something. Generally, anything related to a betta should have similar care to a betta... They're talking about how the paradise fish can be kept in dirty, nasty water. They also have pictures of their DEAD paradise fish, talking about how they don't really turn black until they're dead. Wow. Any bubblenester needs a heated, planted tank with good filtration and a slow stream. It states that betta and gourami are its cousins -- if so, why not give them the same exact care? It even says "Most of the anabantids live in very warm water." but also says they can go in outdoor ponds AND cold-water tanks. /RAAAGE

WAS THIS WEBSITE WRITTEN BY A FIVE YEAR OLD WHO WAS PULLING THIS CRAP OUT OF THE AIR

[Eisefin]

Moth Feathers

And everybody's favorite, Aqualand Pets Plus. I don't like to visit the site so I won't be quoting any passages, but just take a peek through their care guides on various species if you haven't.

I absolutely despise care sheets made by pet stores or little pet shops. It can be frustrating when I have potential owners fill out applications for some of my rats and, unfortunately, they give me facts that they were given by employees at PetSmart, Petco, or other places and when I correct them with the proper information they get offended and decide not to buy my rats. I don’t get frustrated because they don’t buy my rats, I get that way because they’re likely to buy some other rats and not give them the healthy lives they deserve. sad

This website is just so...sad. This is my first time looking at it and I'm already very disappointed.

[Moth Feathers]

Eisefin

Moth Feathers

And everybody's favorite, Aqualand Pets Plus. I don't like to visit the site so I won't be quoting any passages, but just take a peek through their care guides on various species if you haven't.

I absolutely despise care sheets made by pet stores or little pet shops. It can be frustrating when I have potential owners fill out applications for some of my rats and, unfortunately, they give me facts that they were given by employees at PetSmart, Petco, or other places and when I correct them with the proper information they get offended and decide not to buy my rats. I don’t get frustrated because they don’t buy my rats, I get that way because they’re likely to buy some other rats and not give them the healthy lives they deserve. sad

This website is just so...sad. This is my first time looking at it and I'm already very disappointed.

What kind of bad info do your potential owners give you? I know that pet store cage size recommendations are way too small, but that's easily fixed.

[Eisefin]

Moth Feathers

Eisefin

Moth Feathers

And everybody's favorite, Aqualand Pets Plus. I don't like to visit the site so I won't be quoting any passages, but just take a peek through their care guides on various species if you haven't.

I absolutely despise care sheets made by pet stores or little pet shops. It can be frustrating when I have potential owners fill out applications for some of my rats and, unfortunately, they give me facts that they were given by employees at PetSmart, Petco, or other places and when I correct them with the proper information they get offended and decide not to buy my rats. I don’t get frustrated because they don’t buy my rats, I get that way because they’re likely to buy some other rats and not give them the healthy lives they deserve. sad

This website is just so...sad. This is my first time looking at it and I'm already very disappointed.

What kind of bad info do your potential owners give you? I know that pet store cage size recommendations are way too small, but that's easily fixed.

I have never turned down an application because of some misinformed information. I am always willing to help educate a potential owner by presenting them the care guide I have typed up with the help of my exotic veterinarian. I only turn them down when they refuse to make the changes I suggest.

I have had pet store employees and potential owners pass on their information saying that rats should be kept by themselves, one rat to a cage, because they’re territorial and aggressive and will kill one another if faced with an “opponent”. They have also gone on to say that they should be fed only their special made rat blend, which is nothing more than a slightly altered mix of finch and hamster feed (mostly fatty seeds), fresh fruits and vegetables should only be rare treats, meat should be absolutely banned from their diet because it’s bad for them, and that it’s perfectly fine to have oranges as treats for both male and female (citrus causes cancerous tumors in males). Bedding should be strictly wood chips (they never inform them that pine and cedar is toxic), they should be kept in those small hamster cages and that plastic is a-okay. Changing their bedding one every two weeks is sanitary and fine.

These things can be changed by informing the potential owner of the real facts and information, but so many people trust these pet store chain industries that it can be quite difficult and a lot of these things drive the rat to an early death. It has even been said to me more than once that "the rat's life expectancy is only one year, why should I do all of this?" when I presented them with the care guide. sad

Edit: Captcha narrow-minded lol

[Mircheese]

I know, right, you guys? I read the Aqualand website the other day before going to bed and I was honestly crying too. It almost gave me bad dreams. That "LA" guy is just a cruel, sarcastic, @$$ who needs to never have any pets in his care.... crying

He's not a five-year-old, probably just some stubborn, ignorant old man who refuses to give better care as the information changes. Maybe he's just a troll and none of this is real??? biggrin

[hawkass]

Eisefin

Moth Feathers

Eisefin

Moth Feathers

And everybody's favorite, Aqualand Pets Plus. I don't like to visit the site so I won't be quoting any passages, but just take a peek through their care guides on various species if you haven't.

I absolutely despise care sheets made by pet stores or little pet shops. It can be frustrating when I have potential owners fill out applications for some of my rats and, unfortunately, they give me facts that they were given by employees at PetSmart, Petco, or other places and when I correct them with the proper information they get offended and decide not to buy my rats. I don’t get frustrated because they don’t buy my rats, I get that way because they’re likely to buy some other rats and not give them the healthy lives they deserve. sad

This website is just so...sad. This is my first time looking at it and I'm already very disappointed.

What kind of bad info do your potential owners give you? I know that pet store cage size recommendations are way too small, but that's easily fixed.

I have never turned down an application because of some misinformed information. I am always willing to help educate a potential owner by presenting them the care guide I have typed up with the help of my exotic veterinarian. I only turn them down when they refuse to make the changes I suggest.

I have had pet store employees and potential owners pass on their information saying that rats should be kept by themselves, one rat to a cage, because they’re territorial and aggressive and will kill one another if faced with an “opponent”. They have also gone on to say that they should be fed only their special made rat blend, which is nothing more than a slightly altered mix of finch and hamster feed (mostly fatty seeds), fresh fruits and vegetables should only be rare treats, meat should be absolutely banned from their diet because it’s bad for them, and that it’s perfectly fine to have oranges as treats for both male and female (citrus causes cancerous tumors in males). Bedding should be strictly wood chips (they never inform them that pine and cedar is toxic), they should be kept in those small hamster cages and that plastic is a-okay. Changing their bedding one every two weeks is sanitary and fine.

These things can be changed by informing the potential owner of the real facts and information, but so many people trust these pet store chain industries that it can be quite difficult and a lot of these things drive the rat to an early death. It has even been said to me more than once that "the rat's life expectancy is only one year, why should I do all of this?" when I presented them with the care guide. sad

Edit: Captcha narrow-minded lol

Eisefin, I'd love to have a chat with you about your ratty breeding some time. smile When we get into our new place, we've thought about getting into it. Of course we want to do it right, so we've been doing a load of reading, but there is nothing better than talking with someone who is actually already doing it. smile

I breed my mice. But that's mostly just for food. But it's a little different if I want to start in on show quality ratty's.