I am Heartbroken....and really TICKED! :-(

Quick background...I got some axy eggs from a forum member here and raised them up to almost 3 inches, kept 5 and then took 20 to our local 'specialty' fish store after talking to the owner.

It's been almost 3 weeks since I took them and there are about 12 left, but they haven't GROWN, they have NO GILLS, and they all are missing at least one foot or leg!!!! I was in tears! I had gone there to buy more frozen blood worms and live black worms and found their tank and almost threw up!!! There were pellets in the bottom of the tank and they were circling the tank like sharks. They look HORRIBLE!! My poor babies! I completely freaked out on the employees that were there and told them that it is HORRIFIC what has happened to my beautiful axys! I also asked them to give them back to me....not sure what I could have done, but give them clean water and feed them the yummy stuff they were used to...but at least I would know they would be taken care of, you know? BUT! They wouldn't! I was told that I would have to BUY them. So now I will never set foot in that store again, and I will NEVER give my babies to any of the fish stores here!

I'm uploading a video to photobucket of the 5 that I kept from the bunch that I took before I fed them tonight in the gallery section so you can see how pretty their 'feathers' are and how big and healthy they are...I swear, the ones in the store are less than half their size! I took my girlfriend with me and she could not believe the difference either. I am just SO SAD, and SO MAD!

Thanks for letting me vent...Ours are about 4+ inches and they were playing in my hand and climbing around my arm while I was turkey bastering their poop and feeding them. I couldn't help but think of the poor others in that dang store and had to 'write it out'!

That sounds like a horrifying experience!

I would be tempted to buy them back and never set foot in that store again. I have to admit, I got a little nervous when you mentioned that you giving them away to a pet store.

How much are they charging? I'll chip in some money. I hate to think of your beautiful little axies being neglected like that.

That is SO AWFUL!!!! I got my first axie not long ago because I went to my local pet shop to pick up dog treats and (as per usual) went to look at the fish for a while, I found my baby (Floyd) tossed in, alone, with some big koi fish who were nipping at her. She was so sick and freaked out that I bought her there and then!! Because of experience with that particular shop and the fact that they told me "They had 3 axies but two got eaten" I was convinced pet shops were just horrible!!! But thank god, the lady who owns the aquarium shop in my town has been raising her own axies for 7 years and kept the pair I bought from her a few days ago extremely healthy and even offered to nurse my little one for free to get his strength up again.

It made me feel better to meet her and talk to her, so you know...the point is that at least some places are decent and that's nice to know!

aw that's terrible!! I'd be demanding to speak to the owner and get them back before they are all dead! Poor things I generally avoid pet stores like the plague, their employees tend to be just kids who are untrained and uninterested in the animals and my heart always breaks for them when I see dead fish floating in the tanks or sad puppies sitting in a hot, smelly glass box with brats knocking on the glass like a freak show display. I got lucky with my local fish guy, he's very keen on fish, and knows a lot about them and how to care for them!

After seeing how every pet shop hold them in my town I am deeply worried they get eaten by other fish or left alone but with bad water growing fungus on them. The sooner i find a real breeder and a person who cares for them the happer I will be.

You should go and punch them in the face

That's awful. There are few Pet stores you can trust. I know 1 that I can trust in my area for fish and 1 that I can trust for herps. There are 59 within 15 miles of me. Animals are commodities for most of them.
I agree with Danielog... an assault record isn't so bad and a punch in the face can really make a point. After you get one a page or two long you can get a copy. Then you don't have to do anything but whip it out in the offending business and tell them to stop.

That is heartbreaking, and it is so unfortunate that this has happened to your babies. It angers me so much that they betrayed your trust and if I were you, I'd try to talk directly to a manager/owner - whoever it was that you made your arrangements through!

Have you considered Shoegal's offer? Don't think that she wouldn't - she would! If we were in the same state, I'd be there too!!

When I had some newts to sell that I bred, I put a sign up w/ a picture of them at the local pet store, with my number, and promised them a cut (they declined that) and made people answer ten questions about care before I would sell them. I only sold two of them. I can't bear to sell animals myself just to avoid such a horrific experience, and I'm truly sorry for your pain.
Some pet stores will let you put up a sign with tear-off name/number pieces (I hope you know what I mean) for animals you want to sell or find homes for. You could try that next time.

Tiffanymac~ I think we should pool together some funds, and buy all the babies back. I'm sure there are caudata members who would be interested in taking them in.

I'll throw in $75. I can send it to you via Pay Pal.

I am so sorry to hear that. That is awful!! Talk to the manager about getting them back and if not, buy them back (I'm a poor college student but I'd send you what I can). Then post feedback about the store on Yelp, City Search, newspapers, etc.!! Especially if you didn't sell them to the store, they should just give them back.

And let us know who they are. :evil:

Mac Myers said:

And let us know who they are. :evil:

Click to expand...

I agree. Maybe if we all write letters and call they will just give them back?

Seriously, a bunch of us crazy rabbit people called and wrote to the shelter about this and they finally gave the rabbit up:
Rabbit bites and is almost euthanized

It is worth a shot.

Everyone is so AWESOME IN HERE!!!!! The thing that gets me is that they have them listed on the tank for $7.99 "reduced"....well GEEZ! No kidding! they're missing half their poor little body parts! They appear to be SUPER knowledgeable about fish and amphibians...the owner is actually quite a 'know-it-all' and that's the only reason why I left them with him. His other tanks are GORGEOUS!!! He has "cannot be with other fish" on the tank also. I am going to go to the store tomorrow and see what I can do again...even though I SWORE I wouldn't set foot in there again. I hate to see what has happened to them since I was there last...

....also, it is The Fish Place in North Tonawanda, NY 14120 and the owner's name is Jake.

Tiffanymac~ Please buy them all back tomorrow. We will all throw in some $ to cover the expense. I'm sure we can find homes for them on the Forum. Dragonlady mentioned that she could be talked into taking one.

I am definitely going back tomorrow. They have shortened hours because it's Sunday, but I'll take my 13 year old son with me (he's bigger than I am!) and he'll probably punch him in the face when he sees the condition our babies are in.

I will gladly nurse them back to health and get them beautiful again...I'm hoping that I can find them all homes here, where I know that their new mommys and daddys will love them and take care of them like me!

I was vacuuming out the tanks (yep...I have the 55gal with our 5, and also on our island in the kitchen I have a 20gal, 10gal, and 2 - 5 gal tanks with little ones from Michael Shrom's eggs...) and I swear to you, I could barely even do it because they love playing in my fingers and hands! They are the silly-est, most comical little guys! Not sure if they think I'm hiding treats between my fingers or what!

I love them all to pieces and would love to keep them all. I didn't know how attached I'd become in trying to get one of each color...that was the plan - get some eggs, raise up babies and get one of each color, but now the personalities are what's getting me! lol! The one is about 4 inches and gets a bit bullyish at feeding time, and when I put my finger out, point to him and tell him no, he lifts his little hand and puts his head down like a scolded puppy! Cracks me right up!

Shoegal, I totally understand why you give your babies away in here and ask just for the new owners to pay the shipping costs...no amount of money is worth the babies being mistreated or not cared for! <3

I'll kick in a few bucks as well.

While it sucks that I live in Canada and shipping would have been ridiculous and also not too good the axos for the distance. I hope your little axolotls will be better off soon!

The babies there probably didn't like the pellets and therefore were eating each other's limps. Awwww. =(

I third the punch in the face plan!!

I would actually demand them back!! Can you threaten them with the ASPCA or something??

just go in with bags and take them. If i lived there i would do it for you!

Mel