VickyChaiTea
Snake enthusiast
Just thought this thread would be fun, there is a thread like this on another forum I frequent and I thought this place needed one too.
Don't use any names or actual business titles just to keep things sort of private.
I know as a pet store employee people often come in and say the stupidest or most frustrating things. And we've certainly all encountered pet store workers who are just as bad, so let's share those experiences here! They don't have to be about pets either, if you have any funny or interesting stories from other places feel free to post them. I'll start (there are a ton so prepare for a wall of text)
Me: Do you have a tank at home set up? (talking about a tank for a betta)
Customer: Oh, yeah I have one of those vases with the plants.
Me: Do you have food too?
Customer: Oh, they eat the plant roots so I don't need to feed them.
(Fortunately, so far all of the customers who think this have been understanding when I explain to them how terribly wrong they are.
Someone had their water tested. They brought it in because they had some "mysterious fish deaths"
Me: Well... you're ammonia is as high as this chart will read. It is essentially toxic sludge, and quite frankly I'm surprise you have any fish alive at this point.
This guy had a SEVERELY overstocked pond. If I recall, he had something like 10 common goldfish and several koi in a 300 gallon pond. He just replace the fish whenever they died. He figured he was doing well because the fish he had generally lived for 3 years or so. Uuuuuuuuug.
Customer: I bred my hamster, and after the mother died I kept the babies in with the dad. I figured he wouldn't mate with any of them because he was their dad you know? But I caught them doing it one day. *sighs*
Yeah, because hamster have morals. And how did the mother hamster die anyway? She never told me.
*guy comes in with his amazon parrot to have it boarded. He spoke poor english*
Customer: Here is her food *hands us a jar of sunflower seeds.*
Me: This is all? No seed mix or vegetables?
Customer: This is what she likes to eat. I give her seeds and she always eats the sunflower seeds so I just give her this.
*co-worker and I share a look*
Co-Worker: Here, how about we give her some seeds and see if she eats them. Sometimes they're picky.
Customer: No, she'll only eat the sunflower seeds. It's ok.
*Co-Worker fills her dish with seed mix and the bird starts eating at right away.*
Me: That's a good quality seed mix, you should probably start giving her that from now on.
I was horrified. He had been honestly feeding her nothing but snflower seeds for god knows how long. I am absolutely crushed and appalled at how people treat their birds.
Customer: I'd like one live pinky please.
Me: Ok *goes and gets it* Here you go.
Customer: I had a question. When do you know you should give a snake a bigger mouse? I'm afraid to give mine something that's too big.
Me: Well, generally you want the food to be at least the width of the snake at it's widest part, and no more than 1.5 the width. What kind of snake do you have and how big is it?
Customer: A ball python. It's young *gestures a little less than a foot*
Me: *facepalm*
*testing customers water because they had some fish die off.*
ME: Your ammonia is extremely high, that's why your fish died. How often do you change your water"
Customer: I have to change it? I thought the filter cleaned it.
Me: I wouldn't recommend adding those, you'll overstock your tank big time. (I don't remember what fish it was exactly)
Customer: Eh, that's ok. They'll be dead in a little while anyway. I'll just get some more when they die. *said as if he has a lot of pride in what he's saying* I don't follow the rules with my tank.
Customer: Can I get a large rat?
Me: Sure, live or frozen? (we carry both in a back room that only employees are allowed into)
Customer: *looks POSITIVELY OFFENDED* LIVE! Pffh, live. My snakes get LIVE food ONLY.
He was just so... MAD at me for even SUGGESTING frozen.
A guy was looking for a new basking area for his turtles, and I showed him the ones that use magnets to stay in place. He said, and I quote, "Magnets... how does that work?" While smiling and I just laughed. After a long awkward silence I realized he had no idea that he just made a joke and I became embarrassed, then explained to him how it worked.
If you don't know why I thought he was referencing a joke, watch this, it's become a well known joke on the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmvxAcT_Yc
Customer: Yeah, my friend had a boa once. He let it roam around his house!
Me: That's extremely irresponsible.
Customer: I know! It got caught in the walls one day and they never found it. I'd never let a snake go around like that. I mean, I let my bearded dragon loose without a cage, but not a snake.
Me: That's still very dangerous, you should keep it in a cage. He could get into all sorts of dangerous things.
Customer: No, it's ok. He's tame. (wtf how does that make letting him roam around ok?)
This was actually the same customer:
Customer: I had used to have corn snakes. I had three, till I fed them. They all started fighting over the food so I took one out, then one day I don't know what happened and one died.
Another gem from her: I had one corn snake that got really big. I mean huge! He was an albino that got THIS BIG *gestures about a foot long*
I just... it was like listening to a horror story right in front of me, only it was real. I was appalled.
Customer: I got a mouse from here once. It got huge! *gestures the size of an adult RAT*
Me: Are you sure it wasn't a rat?
Customer: Oh, I KNOW it's a mouse. It was sold to me as a mouse. It looks just like those mice there but a LOT bigger.
Me: Rats and mice are very similar, but no mouse gets THAT large, I can guarantee you it's a rat sir.
Customer: No no, it's ALL white see? Red eyes too. That means it's a mouse. (at this point I'm facepalming)
Me: I will show you rats and mice, they both come in red eye albinos. *shows him rats/mice*
He still didn't say he believed me. He was just being stubborn by the end of the conversation, I think he knew he was wrong though.
Customer: Yeah, I tried the fish thing. I really wanted it to work but it never did. I spent all this money on a big 55gal tank, fish, filters, the works. But my fish kept dying.
Me: Really? What was wrong?
Customer: I don't know. I came in here and tested my water and everything. I followed their advice and they still died.
Me: *sneaky suspicion I know what was wrong* How often did you change your water?
Customer: Well the people here kept telling me to do a partial change once every three months or so.
Me: That's your problem RIGHT there. I can pretty much guarantee 100% that was the issue. You absolutely HAVE to do weekly water changes on pretty much every tank.
Customer: Really? But you guys said not to. Even the owner.
Me: Well, not all of my co-workers know what they're talking about. You seem like you really want to enjoy fish and keep them, it's a shame they gave you bad advice. You should start up your tank again and do things right. Weekly water changes, lots of research, don't overstock, etc.
He seemed interested but still very put off by his previous experience, which was a shame. He seemed like a nice guy who would really be interested in aquariums had things gone better.
Now this one isn't making fun of people, but I get a kick out of them coming in and taking a guess at what the fish in the large 480gal display tank are. It's a Jardini Arowana and a common pleco.
Referring to the arowana:
Is that a piranha?
Is that a trout?
Is that an Oscar? (this is the most common guess)
Is that shark?
Is that an eel?
Is that a bass?
Is that a perch?
Also I heard the strangest thing today... A woman came in, saw the pleco in the 480, pointed it out to her son and told him "That's an iguana. It's in the iguana family." I like, stopped what I was doing it surprised me so much. XD She was sooooo far off it's hilarious. I can understand mistaking it for a different type of fish but a reptile? Come on.
A couple came in and said their daughter had caught 5 garter snakes a month ago and they were keeping them. One had died so now they had four. They said they were very young, they kept them all in the same cage, and get this...
They had been trying to feed them bits of cooked ground beef and lettuce...
They came in asking what else they could feed them and wanted to give them crickets. Cue my speech on their care, yadda yadda yadda. In their defense they were mortified to learn that they were starving and eventually going to kill them and took home 4 frozen pinkies and agreed to release two and keep two, and to house them separately. They also were surprised to learn to feed them separately and that they would grow. I'm just glad they came in when they did. No wonder one of the poor things died.
Don't use any names or actual business titles just to keep things sort of private.
I know as a pet store employee people often come in and say the stupidest or most frustrating things. And we've certainly all encountered pet store workers who are just as bad, so let's share those experiences here! They don't have to be about pets either, if you have any funny or interesting stories from other places feel free to post them. I'll start (there are a ton so prepare for a wall of text)
Me: Do you have a tank at home set up? (talking about a tank for a betta)
Customer: Oh, yeah I have one of those vases with the plants.
Me: Do you have food too?
Customer: Oh, they eat the plant roots so I don't need to feed them.
(Fortunately, so far all of the customers who think this have been understanding when I explain to them how terribly wrong they are.
Someone had their water tested. They brought it in because they had some "mysterious fish deaths"
Me: Well... you're ammonia is as high as this chart will read. It is essentially toxic sludge, and quite frankly I'm surprise you have any fish alive at this point.
This guy had a SEVERELY overstocked pond. If I recall, he had something like 10 common goldfish and several koi in a 300 gallon pond. He just replace the fish whenever they died. He figured he was doing well because the fish he had generally lived for 3 years or so. Uuuuuuuuug.
Customer: I bred my hamster, and after the mother died I kept the babies in with the dad. I figured he wouldn't mate with any of them because he was their dad you know? But I caught them doing it one day. *sighs*
Yeah, because hamster have morals. And how did the mother hamster die anyway? She never told me.
*guy comes in with his amazon parrot to have it boarded. He spoke poor english*
Customer: Here is her food *hands us a jar of sunflower seeds.*
Me: This is all? No seed mix or vegetables?
Customer: This is what she likes to eat. I give her seeds and she always eats the sunflower seeds so I just give her this.
*co-worker and I share a look*
Co-Worker: Here, how about we give her some seeds and see if she eats them. Sometimes they're picky.
Customer: No, she'll only eat the sunflower seeds. It's ok.
*Co-Worker fills her dish with seed mix and the bird starts eating at right away.*
Me: That's a good quality seed mix, you should probably start giving her that from now on.
I was horrified. He had been honestly feeding her nothing but snflower seeds for god knows how long. I am absolutely crushed and appalled at how people treat their birds.
Customer: I'd like one live pinky please.
Me: Ok *goes and gets it* Here you go.
Customer: I had a question. When do you know you should give a snake a bigger mouse? I'm afraid to give mine something that's too big.
Me: Well, generally you want the food to be at least the width of the snake at it's widest part, and no more than 1.5 the width. What kind of snake do you have and how big is it?
Customer: A ball python. It's young *gestures a little less than a foot*
Me: *facepalm*
*testing customers water because they had some fish die off.*
ME: Your ammonia is extremely high, that's why your fish died. How often do you change your water"
Customer: I have to change it? I thought the filter cleaned it.
Me: I wouldn't recommend adding those, you'll overstock your tank big time. (I don't remember what fish it was exactly)
Customer: Eh, that's ok. They'll be dead in a little while anyway. I'll just get some more when they die. *said as if he has a lot of pride in what he's saying* I don't follow the rules with my tank.
Customer: Can I get a large rat?
Me: Sure, live or frozen? (we carry both in a back room that only employees are allowed into)
Customer: *looks POSITIVELY OFFENDED* LIVE! Pffh, live. My snakes get LIVE food ONLY.
He was just so... MAD at me for even SUGGESTING frozen.
A guy was looking for a new basking area for his turtles, and I showed him the ones that use magnets to stay in place. He said, and I quote, "Magnets... how does that work?" While smiling and I just laughed. After a long awkward silence I realized he had no idea that he just made a joke and I became embarrassed, then explained to him how it worked.
If you don't know why I thought he was referencing a joke, watch this, it's become a well known joke on the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmvxAcT_Yc
Customer: Yeah, my friend had a boa once. He let it roam around his house!
Me: That's extremely irresponsible.
Customer: I know! It got caught in the walls one day and they never found it. I'd never let a snake go around like that. I mean, I let my bearded dragon loose without a cage, but not a snake.
Me: That's still very dangerous, you should keep it in a cage. He could get into all sorts of dangerous things.
Customer: No, it's ok. He's tame. (wtf how does that make letting him roam around ok?)
This was actually the same customer:
Customer: I had used to have corn snakes. I had three, till I fed them. They all started fighting over the food so I took one out, then one day I don't know what happened and one died.
Another gem from her: I had one corn snake that got really big. I mean huge! He was an albino that got THIS BIG *gestures about a foot long*
I just... it was like listening to a horror story right in front of me, only it was real. I was appalled.
Customer: I got a mouse from here once. It got huge! *gestures the size of an adult RAT*
Me: Are you sure it wasn't a rat?
Customer: Oh, I KNOW it's a mouse. It was sold to me as a mouse. It looks just like those mice there but a LOT bigger.
Me: Rats and mice are very similar, but no mouse gets THAT large, I can guarantee you it's a rat sir.
Customer: No no, it's ALL white see? Red eyes too. That means it's a mouse. (at this point I'm facepalming)
Me: I will show you rats and mice, they both come in red eye albinos. *shows him rats/mice*
He still didn't say he believed me. He was just being stubborn by the end of the conversation, I think he knew he was wrong though.
Customer: Yeah, I tried the fish thing. I really wanted it to work but it never did. I spent all this money on a big 55gal tank, fish, filters, the works. But my fish kept dying.
Me: Really? What was wrong?
Customer: I don't know. I came in here and tested my water and everything. I followed their advice and they still died.
Me: *sneaky suspicion I know what was wrong* How often did you change your water?
Customer: Well the people here kept telling me to do a partial change once every three months or so.
Me: That's your problem RIGHT there. I can pretty much guarantee 100% that was the issue. You absolutely HAVE to do weekly water changes on pretty much every tank.
Customer: Really? But you guys said not to. Even the owner.
Me: Well, not all of my co-workers know what they're talking about. You seem like you really want to enjoy fish and keep them, it's a shame they gave you bad advice. You should start up your tank again and do things right. Weekly water changes, lots of research, don't overstock, etc.
He seemed interested but still very put off by his previous experience, which was a shame. He seemed like a nice guy who would really be interested in aquariums had things gone better.
Now this one isn't making fun of people, but I get a kick out of them coming in and taking a guess at what the fish in the large 480gal display tank are. It's a Jardini Arowana and a common pleco.
Referring to the arowana:
Is that a piranha?
Is that a trout?
Is that an Oscar? (this is the most common guess)
Is that shark?
Is that an eel?
Is that a bass?
Is that a perch?
Also I heard the strangest thing today... A woman came in, saw the pleco in the 480, pointed it out to her son and told him "That's an iguana. It's in the iguana family." I like, stopped what I was doing it surprised me so much. XD She was sooooo far off it's hilarious. I can understand mistaking it for a different type of fish but a reptile? Come on.
A couple came in and said their daughter had caught 5 garter snakes a month ago and they were keeping them. One had died so now they had four. They said they were very young, they kept them all in the same cage, and get this...
They had been trying to feed them bits of cooked ground beef and lettuce...
They came in asking what else they could feed them and wanted to give them crickets. Cue my speech on their care, yadda yadda yadda. In their defense they were mortified to learn that they were starving and eventually going to kill them and took home 4 frozen pinkies and agreed to release two and keep two, and to house them separately. They also were surprised to learn to feed them separately and that they would grow. I'm just glad they came in when they did. No wonder one of the poor things died.
