pet store

[luvboyrats]

Okay, this is really only vaguely related to rats and mice but I like this forum best

Anyway, lately pet stores have been really pissing me off. I can't tell you the number of places I've seen that "vet assure" a sneezing rat or make you get them out to examine them yourself because the sales associate is afraid to touch them (this truly infuriates me), but y'all know all that.

Anyhoo, it has been my dream for a while that later in life when things slowed down a bit for me and my husband I would open my own petstore, only carry healthy animals, actually carry supplies that won't kill them, and give every pet owner accurate researched care information. Wouldn't that be awesome? But is it truly possible?

I wonder how it would be done. Obviously you'd have to have enough of a profit margin to stay in business, this is very difficult to do when breeding your own animals, and you could never possibly breed enough different species to keep a store running anyway. So then you're at the same place all other petstores are at. To keep your store stocked you have to buy either from local breeders, from large wholesalers or both. Are there ever enough local breeders to fill your entire inventory? If not are there any wholesalers at all out there that care for and breed their animals in a responsible way?

It really has me thinking. I mean we're all very critical of petstores, and rightfully so, but I honestly wonder if it's actually possible to do it responsibly without completely losing your shirt. What do you think?

[wickedlyspiced]

I think it's definitely possible. The pet shop I got my girls from on the weekend sold me a cage with mesh floors and gave me pine bedding in my "starter pack". It wouldn't have put them out of pocket to give me a suitable cage and suitable bedding, they just obviously don't give their employees the education required. I think it's a brilliant idea for someone who knows exactly how to look after an animal to open a pet shop. If I'd had a choice between a chain pet shop or a privately owned pet shop with a good reputation (even if the price was slightly higher) I'd have gone to the privately owned one for definite. I had so many questions when I got my rats, and she couldn't really help me, and that's not her fault. Luckily I found this place! I say go for it, I think it's an awesome idea!

[laydeerodentzz]

yeah! I'm really thinking about the types of jobs I'd really like to do and thats really opened my eyes! I think it can be done and it's a wonderful idea, however, would you really have enough time and money to run the shop as well as breeding all those animals and keeping them healthy at the same time? If I were to open a shop of my own it would probably just contain rats, mice and maybe hamsters, so I would name it the 'Rat, mouse and hammy pet store' hehe
no, but seriously I think that people truly deserve the best for their animals and if your thinking of giving these people that, then you go girl! I'd love to see that happen, maybe it will open peoples eyes even more! If only every pet shop already had that...

[Vanilla_Rat]

I think it is possible,as long as you had knowlagable animal lovers working too.People who would make sure the animals were healthy and cared for and who would give new pet owners advice and help.

[fatratwitdachee]

yea the little pet shop down the road from me hass this deal where you get almont any animal they have in stock for free if you buy the overpriced cage and everything else they say you need for your pet(why do they always give you pine bedding)
so you pay somethinh like200 bucks for a free rabbit(39$ actual price) and the cage is too small its the wrong bedding and they give you the crapiest water bottle and the smallest bag of food ive ever seen. Also on several ocasions ive gone in there at opening and see a bloodbath in almost every rodent cage i dont know how they let people walk in on that stuff.

JUst sad what some petstore owners think they have to do to compete with the big name petstores. Or maybey it comes down to "oh no i put everything i have into this petstore im gonna loose everything" so they resort to shifty sales tactics just to make a buck.

I think maybey you should do something with rodents out of your home first before trying a full out pet store. Just hate to see something someone loves become a burden to them.JUst think of how much it would cost to feed an entire petsore full of animals say 50 or so for a month and you mayby sell one or two animals.

[luvboyrats]

Oh no definitely, true. This is something we're considering years from now.

I just don't know if you can ever make money selling animals in an ethical way. Because you're right it should be totally possible to give good advice, be knowledgeable, and offer the best products, it's the animals themselves though.

Either you breed them yourselves so you have no profit margin after you spend all that money breeding, you depend on local breeders so you can never depend on being fully stocked all the time, or you go the route of most petstores and buy at least some of your animals from the large wholesale suppliers which means yeah you have loads of animals to sell, but they're just as likely to be sick as everyone else's. I wonder if there's any way around that aspect of it.

[fatratwitdachee]

well breeding is the only way you can be positive your stock is 100% but I think the only way to proffit from it is to sell in mass quantities like feeders and to pet stores, selling only a few animals to individual people just isnt cost efective if you want to properly raise each animal and still be able to sell it at a price where most people will buy it.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Quote: Originally Posted by fatratwitdachee well breeding is the only way you can be positive your stock is 100% but I think the only way to proffit from it is to sell in mass quantities like feeders and to pet stores, selling only a few animals to individual people just isnt cost efective if you want to properly raise each animal and still be able to sell it at a price where most people will buy it.

Not nessicarily.Unless your are sure your breeding stock is super healthy and free of disease,illness or whatever...then it may not be the way to go.

I still think it is possible tho.
Maybe if you provided vet care and have them on good bedding and a good diet.

[fatratwitdachee]

well i personaly think that anyone that breeds or sells unhealthy animals should be shot thats why i breed my mice cuz someone cane tell you their stock is helthy then it starts growing tumors or just flat out dies on you.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Quote: Originally Posted by fatratwitdachee well i personaly think that anyone that breeds or sells unhealthy animals should be shot thats why i breed my mice cuz someone cane tell you their stock is helthy then it starts growing tumors or just flat out dies on you.

Yes,but there are many people who breed unhealthy animals to make a buck.I have bred rats and mice before (they were healthy fortunatly),and know that you barely make any money off of breeding (if any) and whatever you do make,goes right back on the animal's care.But some people will breed hundreds of animals to try and make money and do not put in effort to make sure the animals are healthy.

I am mainly reffering to small animal mills...the supplier of most pet stores.

[fatratwitdachee]

exactly you realy cant make profit from breeding unless you breed hundreds to ship out to other stores i just cant see how anyone can properly manage that many breeding sets without having prolems

[Vanilla_Rat]

Me too.
Unless you had hundreds of knowlagable,caring people too! Sadly,that will never happen!