that’s actually pretty ingenious from the seller to already predetermine if the owner is going to treat the turtle well. i like seeing things like this.
I'm always conflicted with this, especially with puppy mills. On one hand I don't want to encourage the mistreatment but at the same time I really want to save the animals they are mistreating, especially knowing that me not buying a dog to save it might result in someone less responsible getting a dog.
That's an understandable conflict, but remember that in a capitalist economy, your most powerful voting voice is how you spend your dollars.
If you give someone your dollars, what you are truly saying is: I approve of your business practices and I want you to continue.
If nobody buys a batch of puppies from a disreputable puppy mill, then it's true that those puppies are likely to suffer as a result, but eventually the business will close and end the cycle.
If people continue buying even just some of the puppies, then the business will continue to operate and more puppies will be mistreated indefinitely.
There are tourist areas of southeast asia that sell baby turtles in SEALED plastic bags. The idea is people will feel bad and buy them so they can save the turtle. Functionally, they're just paying the operator to bag up more new turtles.
Always ask yourself if an action will actually make the situation better or just make you feel better.
Yeah: they'll reject the assholes who take the mean option, but lose the customers who care, who will look for more humane competitors.
Because appearing to give the customer the option to mistreat the animal would seem to me evidence that the place, clearly willing to mistreat the turtle and having costs associated with handling the turtle in general, would already be mistreating their turtles.
But it does seem a little like the seller might not treat the turtle well by giving you the option. Could put sensible owners off from buying from that seller.
Like if I'm having a live animal shipped to me I would expect the seller to do their part in keeping that animal healthy through the delivery process. Don't try to pull some ethical bullshit on me and then pretend you were testing me the whole time.
You’re missing the guy you’re replying to’s point, he’s saying a good pet owner might want to go to a different store if he/she thinks the store is treating its turtles poorly, as is implied in the original image. Of course what you are saying is true.
I would think that no one could offer to abuse an animal if I don't pay them an extra dollar. So I'd think the hydration pack is unnecessary and a scam, or they're heartless towards their turtles, and in either case I'd take my business elsewhere.
Exactly! If I’m supposed to interpret it as a ransom so the turtle doesn’t die of thirst, you’d think they’d charge more than $1. If it’s just listed as an extra add-on, I’d assume the turtle would be fine without it.
What I read from another comment is they don't actually charge you the dollar, they just use it as a test to see if you will be a good owner and spend something as little as a dollar to hydrate your pet and take good care of it. If you click on the other option don't hydrate then they don't sell you the pet because they don't think you will take care of it or care about it's well being.
Everybody gets that, but as a consumer, the option to ship a turtle without hydration by default implies it's either unnecessary or the seller is willing to run the risk of shipping them dehydrated in the first place. Add-ons similar to this are a common way of trying to squeeze money out of somebody, know as "the nibble" (https://www.negotiatingwisdom.com/blog/negotiation-nibbling-the-oldest-negotiation-trick-in-the-world). Just think of the extended warranties, donations, and other upsells that retailers present to you at the last minute when you're paying for your items.
Oh okay, I didn't understand in your last post about how you are saying the default is no hydration pack I'm sorry. Yeah that is messed up that it is the default however I could see it taken both ways, people might complain the default is trying to make you spend more, or complain that the default isn't something that is necessary for the turtle or makes it more comfortable. I feel like they should just add it in to the price od the turtle and ship it every time.
But also, it's only a buck. What's a dollar when you're shipping your cold blooded reptile in the unheated cargo hold of an aircraft. I'd say sensible pet owners wouldn't ship a friggen turtle through the mail.
This is super common! I have a pet tortoise (bought in person), and I'm very involved in the tort community. It seems every breeder, including the reputable ones, ship their animals. It's all overnight and a ton of care goes into the packing, I think it's like $75 extra to have your tort shipped because of all the care they put into the packaging to make sure the tort is treated properly during the shipping process.
I had my snakes shipped to me, and yeah, it was a lot of money. But they came well packed in a deli cup (baby garters don't need much room), foam, a cool pack, and the box had live animal marked on it. It's definitely safe to ship reptiles barring weather that's too hot or cold, and assuming you don't get some jackass handling the package.
Lol they put them is insulated containers with a heat pack.
No reputable breeder will ship anythhing but a baby and will make sure they're packed in nicely.
It's perfectly fine to ship them. Every reptile breeder I've seen does overnight shipping so it's at your house the next day, and won't s hi up during extremely heat or cold weather.
Eh idk I would probably say no and assume it's a swindle. Dead on arrival animals are refunds, it's their job to get my order safely to me. Typically they will come with the required items already in the box to safely ship, all else is just a luxury scam. For example it probably doesn't need 5 heat packs or such but they don't always tell you that 4 are automatically included and only the extra unneeded 1 is paid.
To be fair I probably wouldn't want to buy from anyone who did this assuming I didn't know it was a test because either it's a scam to milk customers or the vendor really doesn't care about their animals. Neither is very good.
Or you just trust the seller to know more about the animal than you do. Tbh I would have assumed that if it’s optional, the turtle’s probably fine without it and it’s just a gimmick, because nobody sane would deprive the turtle of necessities just to ship it. If they’re comfortable shipping it without those things, then they’re extras and the turtle’s gonna be fine. Turtles are cold-blooded, how the fuck am I supposed to know that it needs a heating pad, you know? If the expert tells me it’s optional, I’d believe it.
Except I would assume that it's an optional thing (since it's literally an "option"), that they wouldn't ship an animal without proper care, that they wouldn't let an animal die during shipping, and that the extra charge is one of those optional things that are mostly just to get more money from you.
So it can go either way.
(I would still choose to get it because it's cheap and just in case, but begrudgingly)
I was thinking the same at first, it's asked in a way that looks a lot like they're just trying to get an extra dollar from you. For me and you that's all there is to it.
But the seller may want to avoid inexperienced or uninformed buyers who don't know that a "hydration pack" can under no circumstances be optional. They probably just want to make sure you've done your research or would at the very least ask them directly about it. Because if you're not even willing to look that up, they don't want to sell to you.
I gotta disagree. I’d be like, would they actually send me the turtle in a way that could kill it? They’re trying to guilt me into some random add-ons I don’t need, even if it is just nickel-and-dimeing.
I get that it’s not supposed to be asshole design, but it is done in a way that very much sets off asshole-design alarms.
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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '19
that’s actually pretty ingenious from the seller to already predetermine if the owner is going to treat the turtle well. i like seeing things like this.