# FIRE Orlando



## Superlativescience (Sep 2, 2012)

We had some ups and we had a bad down at FIRE today. I am a science K-5 lab teacher. I have a lot of lab critters for the students which for the most part, I fund out of pocket. We loaded up on crickets, wax worms, horned worms, fruit flies (premium crickets). We purchased a new small zoomed habitat, bought "dumpy" white tree frogs (thank you, Hang Ten reptiles!) Visited Pinellas County Reptiles and picked up some supplies for "Forrest Gump" our chameleon we bought from them in June in Tampa. Our oldest beardie got a scarf from "Neon's" mom (sorry, can't remember the name). And unfortunately, bought 2 dart frogs from House of Reptiles (for a tank my husband has put about $500 into). They died before we left Orlando (within 2-3 hours). We went back to the vendor and "all he could do was offer us two more at half price." He said they got too hot and that I should take responsibility for that. I say he should take responsibility for educating a new pet owner! If I had known how sensitive they were, I would have bought them right before we left and rushed home. All of our other purchases survived just fine. These frogs did not leave us. We carried them around the expo and by the time we left and stopped to get gas, they were dead. My daughter cried all the way home, and my students will be sad come Tuesday. Shame on that vendor!


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Very sorry to hear of your bad experience. 

It's heartbreaking to lose any animal for any reason.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

That is very sad 

If they were left in an un-airconditioned car for any amount of time, it could be deadly. Cars heat up so fast. But that would go for many animals and people even. Or just walking around outside in the hot weather. 

It's possible they aren't dead. Leave them be, in their containers, in the cool house, overnight and check them again tomorrow. 

Before blasting the vendor, I have to say that it is always best to do research on the care and needs of an animal before purchasing. Darts should not be kept over 80 degrees, in general. This is very basic husbandry knowledge. You could turn this into a learning experience for the kids; research, research, research. 

So sorry...


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## Gocubs (Apr 23, 2012)

Sorry for your loss. I am also a tracher and have toyed with the notion of bringing a viv to school. how do you control temps at school?


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## Superlativescience (Sep 2, 2012)

I have timers on everything at school and I am there a lot! I even go up on the weekend. Everything comes home with me or critter sitters for long breaks and summer. 

As for the vendor, very basic husbandry knowledge or NOT...customer service is HUGE in any business. My husband is a Publix manager and you could forget a gallon of milk for two days and Publix would still replace it or give you your money back.


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

Guaranteeing milk and guaranteeing living organisms are two very different things.


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## c81kennedy (Dec 24, 2010)

Florida heat is a killer.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

tarbo96 said:


> Guaranteeing milk and guaranteeing living organisms are two very different things.


A multi-million dollar corporation and a hole in the wall pet shop are also two different things.
I agree with frogface, sounds like proper research wasn't done prior to purchasing. I wouldn't point fingers at the vendor, especially at a large busy show.


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## Superlativescience (Sep 2, 2012)

Wow.
Customer service is still customer service. It doesn't matter if you are a small business or a multimillion dollar corporation. 

Bad business will always come back to bite you... Karma is a b-tch. 

Thank you to everyone with the wonderful wisdom and love of the almighty dollar. This forum is obviously not for me. Moving on to better morality. Peace.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

Small darts can over heat so quickly you would not believe it, the heat will kill them far more quickly than cold will....even just walking them around outside here for any length of time in a cup with no air movement will do it. Most froggers here will carry insulated boxes with gel packs for transport.
Knowing these vendors are at a show to make $$, it would be easy to understand that once you walk away with seemingly healthy frogs, they are yours. This is a great community and sometimes the answer is not what you want to hear but learning from our mistakes is a tough but long remembered lesson.
Asking lots of questions here will get you usually enough info to keep your animals healthy, a responsible vendor at a show in Florida should mention to not let them over heat but there is a chance they don't know a lot about what they are selling.
ps if you think we are about the almighty $$ you should check to see how this community came out to suppport a long time breeder in Pinnelas Park, Bill Schwinn, that shoudl tell you a lot about how this community is.


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## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

No offense but that's like trying to bring a car back after you crash it and saying you didnt tell me if it rains my car could hydroplane..

Knowledge is power
Please do research and know what you own.

Or as we say in the stock world
Do your DD

Due diligence




Superlativescience said:


> Wow.
> Customer service is still customer service. It doesn't matter if you are a small business or a multimillion dollar corporation.
> 
> Bad business will always come back to bite you... Karma is a b-tch.
> ...




Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2


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## herpkeeper10 (May 1, 2012)

Superlativescience said:


> Wow.
> Customer service is still customer service. It doesn't matter if you are a small business or a multimillion dollar corporation.
> 
> Bad business will always come back to bite you... Karma is a b-tch.
> ...


Customer service will obviously be impacted by $$$. A multi million dollar corporation has the resources to assign an employee specifically to customer service i.e. publix. Where a single person that is selling dart frogs ( depending on the vendor but most likely a hobby as there isnt much $$$ in this business) is not going to be able to do that. Especially the fact that its at a very busy reptile show.

I wasnt even going to comment until i saw that you were saying this community is all about the money, which is obviously far from true. But honestly, what did you expect? Iv been to plently of reptile shows and i know it gets very hectic, i could understand if he failed to explain that to you in his store front but i dont think its possible to explain very basic knowledge of taking care of these animals to every person that goes to his table. I would assume if you are at a reptile show purchasing these animals, that you would have looked up how to care for them. You cant expect this person who is doing this probably just to make enough money to keep his hobby going to reimburse you for your negligence. I think the deal he gave you was plenty fair. As for a place of better morality, how is failing to properly take care of your animals and pointing the finger at the person who sold them to you good morals?

Anyway i hope i am not being to hostile but that comment rubbed me the wrong way. I hope you can see this is a great community and a great place for getting proper information for caring for your animals. I hope you will not be scared away because you did not like the fact that some people disagreed with you, it is a way of life.



...rant over.


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## bgmike64 (Mar 16, 2008)

Where are you located?? I'm pretty sure a local wouldn't mind providing you some assistance, whether it be with a discount or donation since it's for the kids and education. We're everywhere! Don't let this experience sour your perception of dart frog hobbyist. We can be pretty cool!!


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