I posted a thread a few days ago about some "axolotls" for sale that looked like tiger salamander larvae. Thanks to the wisdom of one of the forum members who replied, I felt more confident about asking the seller where she got them, how long she's had them, etc. and got a quick reply saying she purchases them at Pet Planet and that they were selling them as water dragons so she couldn't guarantee the actual species they were but promised they were 100% neotenic.
I decided to take a 30min drive out to this pet store to ask about their axolotls. They did sell axolotls (in bad conditions), but they were much larger than the 2-3in ones that the lady was selling. I showed one of the employees the Ad and the pictures, and he said that their store has never carried those colors before and that these looked wild caught, and might be "mud puppies". He also said that they had never sold their axolotls as anything but axolotls.
So maybe this lady was lying?? Or just confused? She mentioned that she was selling them to get a tortoise for her kid, but I noticed that she had an Ad selling a tortoise that was posted the same day as the "axolotls." I sent her her own Ad telling to get it for her kid (I don't think she actually looked at it though) and replied that she already currently owned 2 tortoises. (This all happened yesterday) She also said that she was sold out and that I couldn't get one.
I don't think she sold all her larvae (she didn't have any takers until me yesterday) AND purchased two tortoises from 5pm yesterday to early this morning. There's a whole lot of holes in her story. Pretty sure she still them, and that she took them from the wild somewhere. Am I overreacting? Should I tell someone? I'm pretty sure it's illegal to take wild animals native to a specific state and then sell them in that same state. I remember because our class had such a difficult time trying to get permits for catfish (native to utah) for our aquaponics/ gardening system. In the end, we had to give up-- there wasn't anyone who had a permit to sell them to us.
Tiger salamanders use to be quite abundant in Utah, but they have become a rarity and something special to catch a glimpse of in the wild, due to encroaching land development and people catching them for pets.Taking animals from their natural habitat is wrong, and making a profit from diminishing a species, hurting their chances for future survival is even worse. Should I ignore this incident, or take action? It almost seems pointless and futile to change the ways of humans in the end.
If you want to see the ad or any of the pics let me know
I decided to take a 30min drive out to this pet store to ask about their axolotls. They did sell axolotls (in bad conditions), but they were much larger than the 2-3in ones that the lady was selling. I showed one of the employees the Ad and the pictures, and he said that their store has never carried those colors before and that these looked wild caught, and might be "mud puppies". He also said that they had never sold their axolotls as anything but axolotls.
So maybe this lady was lying?? Or just confused? She mentioned that she was selling them to get a tortoise for her kid, but I noticed that she had an Ad selling a tortoise that was posted the same day as the "axolotls." I sent her her own Ad telling to get it for her kid (I don't think she actually looked at it though) and replied that she already currently owned 2 tortoises. (This all happened yesterday) She also said that she was sold out and that I couldn't get one.
I don't think she sold all her larvae (she didn't have any takers until me yesterday) AND purchased two tortoises from 5pm yesterday to early this morning. There's a whole lot of holes in her story. Pretty sure she still them, and that she took them from the wild somewhere. Am I overreacting? Should I tell someone? I'm pretty sure it's illegal to take wild animals native to a specific state and then sell them in that same state. I remember because our class had such a difficult time trying to get permits for catfish (native to utah) for our aquaponics/ gardening system. In the end, we had to give up-- there wasn't anyone who had a permit to sell them to us.
Tiger salamanders use to be quite abundant in Utah, but they have become a rarity and something special to catch a glimpse of in the wild, due to encroaching land development and people catching them for pets.Taking animals from their natural habitat is wrong, and making a profit from diminishing a species, hurting their chances for future survival is even worse. Should I ignore this incident, or take action? It almost seems pointless and futile to change the ways of humans in the end.
If you want to see the ad or any of the pics let me know