Question: How to tell my LFS theyre doing it wrong?

Hi!
I just bought my 2nd axolotl from my LFS (a different one to my other axi)
After leaving him to settle in over the weekend i found a small pile of 3mm ish gravel on my sand substrate which could only have appeared through defication. When i bought him I asked them why they had them on gravel and they said theyd never had any problems with impaction (though they all look a bit bloated) and the shop owner said him and his father beforehand have been breeding axis the same way since 1920.

Im pretty sure my axi will be okay, hes eating both earthworms and pellets still and my tank is usually very cold so fridging isnt necessary.

How do i go about telling the LFS that theyre doing it wrong (and selling some tiger salamander larvae as axis) without causing offense?

Maybe you could print them out the page on axolotl housing from axolotl.org and print out a couple of impaction horror stories from caudata and give it to them to read over? That way you aren't lecturing them, just giving them literature to peruse when they get round to it.

Oh boy that is a tough one. I had a world of fun with my local and they don't even breed them.

Along with what Steve has said, do you still have the stones from your axie?

Yeah i scooped out the stones, theyre quite small but it was a sizeable pile for the poor little axie. It definitely matches the gravel in their tanks. The problem is ive told them about it before and i dont want to tell them again in person cause theyll hate me and i wont have somewhere friendly to buy everything

It gets so difficult! It really annoys me - it's not as if it's that much trouble to change from gravel to sand. It's just laziness and neglect! Grr! I would certainly take the gravel back there to drive the point home a bit - you're perfectly within your rights to complain. The annoying thing is I'm guessing you can't even boycott the store - shops that even sell axies (let alone ones in good condition) are few and far between

In my personal experience in dealing with LFS it is almost impossible to get them to change their ways.

I have been selling fish on a wholesale level for over 15 years to fish stores and god forbid if you tell them that they are doing anything wrong.

Keep in mind that odds are you need them a lot more then they need you as far as business goes and they can easily take offense to your best intentions and tell you to not come back.

Just be polite about it. There isn't any need to be rude with what you're saying, as long as you stay calm and polite you're not doing anything wrong. Point is you've taken home an axie who ended up having to shift a lot of gravel. So it's not just about how they keep their axies now, it's about how their care effected your axolotl prior to bringing it home.

I had to speak to a couple of people on a number of occasions, most were polite about it. One man wasn't so much. After that I realised it wasn't going to be driven home and I informed the council (they license the petshop afterall).

I told the truth, they are a good petshop, one the best in the area who are good with their animals, I just worried their knowledge was lacking a little in the axolotl area. By no means is mine anything special, but I knew gravel at least could cause problems. Last time I went in there was no more gravel.

That though was the final step I took after talking to a number of people and having a couple of upsetting experiences, not a step I'd say to jump right into.

Wondering if the RSPCA might help?
They are meant to check conditions in pet shops (there are certain specifications for cage sizes, quaratine, ages e.t.c.) so maybe they could help to educate the breeders a little further? You could direct them to the axie site if your local RSPCA don't have personal experience + you could show them your evidence too. That way you can stay anonymous.
Might seem like a fairly drastic way forward, but if you're possibly saving the lives of the little axies already there + the possibility of many future generations...

The RPSCA do help, but it's not a good idea to call them until you've tried to talk it out, handed over some care sheets etc, the last time I called the RSPCA it was because someone refused to talk to me about the condition of the axolotls.

The last set of people I was talking to about this exact problem, I emailed them some care sheets, some horror stories and they emailed back saying they'll immediately change to sand substrate, sometimes it just takes a little ear pulling, but keep on at them, politely take in the gravel try to talk to the manager about it, reffer them here, take in some horror stories. If they blatantly refuse everything being said they're the ones being rude then it may be time to call in the RSPCA, but even still before that maybe you have an axolotl savvy vet near you that might be willing to go take a look in their shop, they may be more willing to listen to a vet then a normal consumer.

Crysta said:

The RPSCA do help, but it's not a good idea to call them until you've tried to talk it out, handed over some care sheets etc, the last time I called the RSPCA it was because someone refused to talk to me about the condition of the axolotls.
.

Click to expand...

+1, hear hear!

Erzs said:

Point is you've taken home an axie who ended up having to shift a lot of gravel.

Click to expand...

I had to read that bit twice! :rofl:

siona said:

I had to read that bit twice! :rofl:

Click to expand...

Haha trust me I know why, even I read it wrong after reading over it the first time.