Pet Store Terrarium

[KittyKatMe]

I was at the pet store the other day and I saw a beautiful 40 gallon half and half tank that housed FBTs, 'Firebellied' (really Paddletail) newts, and Bullfrog tadpoles. The tank was perfect for all the species - if they were housed alone. I saw a tadpole with only a stub for a tail, and I saw a dead paddletail newt. All the FBTs were on the land area and all looked sick and I'm pretty sure the newt was attacking everything. I tried telling the owner, but she told me that they came in like that and since the tank was so big, all of them were happy in the tank. Even worse, she told me that they all ate frozen bloodworms. I know for a fact that that is a ridiculous thing to give to tadpoles or toads. The whole situation mortified me, and I'd rather shop at Petco. What are your opinions on this?

[Shade38]

This is sooo common and I never know what to say to the stores. I mean, how to say it POLITELY without putting someone on the defensive. Sometimes I'll play dumb and say something like "Isn't it stressful for different species to be housed together?" or feigning surprise, "Oh, I don't think that's what they're supposed to be eating."

It's completely bizarre that they would "come in like that." Are suppliers really that dumb?

I'm definitely curious to see how others might word it in a friendly non-offensive way.

[toxxxickitten]

I've seen this is so many cases I just don't bother being 'friendly' anymore, but that's just me. I would go find some care sheets or some research and give it to them to read over to try and attempt to fix their mistakes. That's about all you can do is educate. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink...

[arielgasca420]

I worked at a reptile shop that constantly housed different frogs together. It saved them money to do it that way but it is very misleading to the customer because it is obviously not a permanent enclosure. just a temporary until they can get some buyers. In your case it sounds pretty bad. I have never witnessed a community tank like that before.