so...
i work at prehistoric pets. i've worked there on and off for 5 years or so. there are plenty of people that will say plenty of bad things about the place, and the reason i've worked there, was to help change the conditions of the place i considered my local shop.
i'm not an "expert" or anything, but when i found flat rock scorpions at work with their stingers clipped, i had to ask who on earth would do that. turns out it was my boss and the shops owner, jay brewer. i confronted him on why he would do this and he said so they could be used at birthday parties. he said that he does it "all the time", and that "scorpions don't use their stingers to kill prey". i said "you've owned a herp shop for 20 years and never seen a scorpion sting a prey item"? of course he hadnt, that was ridiculous. i said you take the venom from a snake and it messes with its digestion, and he said "people devenomize snakes all the time its fine." personal feelings on THAT topic aside, people outside rural india dont just clip the fangs out of their mouths.
now, first of all, if you have to take a scorpion to a birthday party where kids are going to hold it, don't take one that is going to sting somebody. second, i've personally been stung by several flat rocks while doing these parties and never had more than a little red mark appear.
maybe i'm a little sensitive to the idea being that i'm watching a show about conflict diamonds and seeing images of people with their arms hacked off, but by the same logic, those people are fine. they dont need their arms for eating or breeding....
that was his argument, as long as they can breed and eat, its fine. am i in the wrong here?
