The Puffer Forum

My lfs got a big shippment of GSP and they were on sale for 2.99cdn each. Saw lots of kids buying them becuase they r "small and cute". We all know what's gonna happen to them next. Makes me sad =(

I managed to talk a kid out of it tho. He ended up just getting a betta for his 5gallon tank. =)

I go right up to those folks & tell them about how to keep them. Even if they're just looking at the tank of them. That usually deters a lot of sales...

Pufferpunk wrote:I go right up to those folks & tell them about how to keep them. Even if they're just looking at the tank of them. That usually deters a lot of sales...

Got gently tossed out of a larger fish store for doing that.....I loved every second, so much that I stated critiquing his care sheets for his SW puffers and a bunch of his ill of his reptiles (loudly I may add) on the way out the store. The owner is such a cutey.

When we're in a store with puffers my husband will go up to people who are looking at them and tell them what they can expect. I'm not quite that bold, but he will say, "do you know how to care for this puffer?" especially if we are somewhere that has MBU puffers. Once he finishes telling them about the puffers, they move on and don't seem interested in them anymore.
I do wish that LFS employees would give customers better information about the fish these people are about to buy. It would be better for everyone if that were the case.

schismy007 wrote:I do wish that LFS employees would give customers better information about the fish these people are about to buy. It would be better for everyone if that were the case.

Me too. I usually try to talk people out of buying GSPs when I'm at a LFS.

This is pretty depressing too...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... p?t=259145

It would be nice if the people who work at these pet stores actually knew a little bit about the merchandise they were selling instead of just trying to make a sale regardless of the consequences. It's depressing to see people buying fish who you know can't/won't take care of them. Talking people out of buying puffers at pet stores is a good way to go.

It's amazing to me that people get these puffers and as soon as there's a problem, which they have no clue about and don't bother to find out even -- they get rid of the puffer! Why don't these people research what they are buying, or once they have them, try to find out what they need to care for these fish.

If you ask me, today's too much of a throw-away society. If we don't like something, get rid of it, if it doesn't fit our expectations, then get rid of it!

My heart is heavy when I think of all the poor puffers, let alone ALL the fish, that are just flushed, or left to die, because people can't and won't make the effort.

yea, and sometimes even after i tell them that puffers are not community fish and that they need a larger BW tank setup. i often get the answer of "don't worry, he's small right now, he will be fine, he's been in my tank for like a week and he's still alive!"

people just won't listen!!

sigh.... at least i told some of them about this forum and hope they will do some research about the puffer when they get home.

The impulse buying is a serious issue. So few people ever think about the animals before they buy them. Plenty of times I've seen parents buying fish tanks for their kids and buying the fish on the same day thinking that you just pour water into the tank and pour the fish in and that's that. It's terrible. And then they don't understand why everything dies. I just wish pet store employees had the knowledge they needed to at least give buyers good advice. I would hate to know the number of puffers, let alone all fish, that die for no reason reason other than people don't know how to care for them. I wish there were mandatory "Animal Care" training classes that pet store employees would have to take; at least that might help a little from the lack-of-knowledge side of things.

I agree with you totally ladyonyx. It should start with the LFS taking some responsibility, but I think so many of them have the "make a sale, make the profit" attitude that they don't care.

I know two different LFS's that will not put brackish water fish in brackish tanks because they have a central system for all the tanks, and it's too much trouble. I've seen brackish water puffers in freshwater and mudskippers in freshwater and it seems to me that people are going to think it's alright to keep these fish in freshwater, and then the poor fish suffers, or dies, and nothing ever changes. One LFS told me that he didn't care if they were brackish water fish. It was too much trouble for him to make up a separate brackish tank. And if the LFS's have this attitude, it's passed onto the stupid people that buy fish and don't bother to research what they need.

And I'm sorry to say that I think for all us good people who do care, there's so many more than don't. Bad news for the poor fish that already go through enough being wild caught, and transported under dubious conditions only to end up at a LFS that couldn't care less except making money on the fish.

schismy007 wrote:I agree with you totally ladyonyx. It should start with the LFS taking some responsibility, but I think so many of them have the "make a sale, make the profit" attitude that they don't care.

The thing is, they're between a rock and a hard place. It's hard, very hard, to make a living off of a small local business, and if they don't let unfit customers buy their animals, they'd have to shut down. I hate it, too. I really do. I could never work at a pet store.

Bigger chain stores have no excuse, though.