The British garter hobby ....

[gregmonsta]

It makes me cringe. I always keep an eye out for giving advice and seeing what's available. Sadly, reptile shops are a constant dissapointment. When you try to offer help with identifying mis-labeled snakes there is usually no response ....
It crops up all the time ... I've contacted shops at least ten times so far and never had a response (although I had one shop hastily change their picture from infernalis to parietalis before).
So, today, on another forum, someone was asking about parietalis availability in the hobby. Suprise, surprise ... another shop potentially using infernalis pictures to sell parietalis and another shop selling 'Northern' garters (the last time I found a snake selling 'Northern' garters they were Ribbon snakes) ....
Needless to say I've sent enquiries as always .... Maybe this will be a rare occaision where I get some feedback.

[guidofatherof5]

I think they(shop owners) feel they are the experts and refuse to listen to some bloke off the street.
Possible embarrassment is probably the driving force behind the attitude.

[gregmonsta]

The potential negative effects include selling people the wrong snakes, random hybridisation and ruined bloodlines.
There's no progressive attitude - you would think that shops especially would want to be up to date and provide positive ID's for their own sakes as well as the customers.

[guidofatherof5]

I agree but how do you get over the attitudes that block the truth.
I can't think of an approach(personal, letter, email) that will be greeted with an open mind.
Here in the States the same problem lives. Crickets/goldfish as food for garter snakes is a prime example.
The shops I've visited were shocked when I didn't answer crickets when they asked me what I feed my garter snakes.

[Stefan-A]

One online store here sold garters with the name and picture of T. sirtalis fitchi. The picture they used was of a wild specimen and I've seen it elsewhere on the internet as well as in at least one book (Rossman et al.?)

Most garters I've seen for sale have been correctly labeled, but not very accurately. Most of the time, they've gotten the species correct, but it's happened that they haven't been able to determine more than the genus. Apart from that first example, I haven't seen any store try to guess the subspecies.

Needless to say, there haven't been many opportunities to contact shops, because they haven't had any garters for sale. And I do hope none of my garters ever end up in a pet shop.

[Stefan-A]

I think they(shop owners) feel they are the experts and refuse to listen to some bloke off the street.
Possible embarrassment is probably the driving force behind the attitude.

I suspect they get "corrected" by know-it-alls all the time and are simply ignoring everybody as a result.

[guidofatherof5]

I suspect they get "corrected" by know-it-alls all the time and are simply ignoring everybody as a result.

Good point.

[Stefan-A]

Good point.

Thank you.

Clark's Law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hanlon's razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[gregmonsta]

There are actually only two shops that I would ever consider passing snakes to. One has an owner that has kept simils, tetrataenia and concinnus and is fully aware of care requirements (his shop sells CB religiously). The other is where I would have all the input on the care they would be getting in the shop as well as the info passed out to the customers (again a shop that only deals in CB).
At any rate, I will be selling my own surplus privately before anything else.
So many shops are truly archaeic when it comes to Thamnophis care.
Sorry for this thread but I really needed a rant.

[guidofatherof5]

No need to apologize.
We all need to do it once in awhile or more often.