*shrug* The petco I go to have healthy looking animals, they even use carefresh instead of the wooden shavings of pine or cedar.
They also have care sheets for all the animals they sell and I've yet to see a half eaten animal on the bottom of a cage, which is more then I can say for others. They also refuse to sell rodents as live food and have a sign explaining why and encouraging people to buy frozen instead.
Also I've noticed, this is mostly in California, San Fransisco to be exact. Take it from someone who works in a chain store, they're not all the same.
I also visit petsmart =)
Oh, by the way, I stopped by what I think is a privatly owned pet store, and they treat the exotics, ferrets, skunks, hedgehogs, like royality, but the rodents are in horrible condition, over crowded and in a small area. Their cages are poorly ventilated and I could smell the pine and urine eminating from it.
Also, the animals looked unhealthy, their fur was just, off and dull and..I dunno clumpy. I noticed this in the gerbils especially.
Also, there were half eaten animals in the cages. Like I said earlier.
Now, this could just be an animal lover being over dramatic, but is it enough to report on?
And, I got the rat cage, it's a cage made for rats, but has three levels, it's very nice, a little bit of a pain to carry outside to hose down. There's a wheel that one rat actually uses =3