[Emma53]

so heres my vent for the day....
i went into the pet store today to get some food for my little critters...
AND whilst getting my food and after reading everyones messages about pet stores and caring for their animals i decided to give the store workers a little test... and... turns out everyone was right!! they know nothing!!
FIRSTLY i asked them what you fed gerbils they showed me a bag of parrot food that was full of all kinds of things that were listed as treats only on all pages i researched... when i asked if they could have hamster food they told me no gerbils were on a very special diet!?!?
SECONDLY i asked them if i could see the ones they had they had 2 pairs of male and females!!! and when they picked them up to show me them they grabbed them by the tips of their tails ... and ... when i asked if there was a chance that they may be brother and sister they told me yes there was a good chance!?!?! so why continue to breed them!!
AND FINALLY when i asked them if they could please pair them as male an male and female and female they told me no that i was no expert... (but ya know ...clearly they are)
AND when i asked if it was ok i bought just one they told me yes people buy one all the time and that it was no different than buying a hamster....
anyways thats my rant....:talk:

 

[FlickeringHope]

Also, did you know that apparently guinea pigs can't mate beyond a certain age? I actually had the MANAGER of a mall chain pet store back in NY tell me that. He told me that when I questioned him if the guinea pigs together were the same gender because one of them was rumble-strutting. And he was like, "Oh, don't worry. They can't mate beyond a certain age." Fortunately both of the guinea pigs were female.

Edit : ^ Realizes the above statement has nothing to do with gerbils or hamsters, just thought I'd add that bit of ridiculousness in, though.

 

[Emma53]

haha yes it is actually amazing that the people that work at pet stores actually know LESS than people that love animals but do not own them...

 

[bluebird]

i plan on getting some rats and my pet store knows quite a bit but not enough because i am 14 and know more but that is because every day i look up information on animals:talk:

 

[christine]

Oh don't get me started! I called the manager of a petco while i was in there once and they had the wrong wheel for a gerbil! When I called he was like, oh you're right. Let me order that! YOU HAVE IT IN STOCK!!! Also I was telling people how much gerbils love dust baths and the associate walked up and said no they don't. They never do that do to where they originate! I was shocked. I wonder if that's why the pet stores won't hire me LOL. I might put the others to shame....

 

[Emma53]

BLUEBIRD: yes that is the only way we will ever learn only note that not all you read online is always true... its always good to talk to a breeder if at all possible that way you know where they come from and what they are used to

CHRISTINE: i totally agree the more they said while i was there the stupider they seemed and completely infuriated me i completely understand you cant learn everything about every animal but thats why the people should have a couple of animals that they HAVE to completely research before they are allowed to work with them... your not allowed in nursing homes or hospitals without severe training so why would you be allowed to work with animals with no training its all lives theyre no different!!

 

[christine]

i know. I don't get why Petshops SAY they love animals liek family but then act like they don't care a thing about em. I understand that teh employees may love animals, but I think it's only THEIR animals they love! I love em all. Will stay away from snakes and spiders, but unless they're attacking me I won't touch em. And even when they attack I'll try to just move em or avoid em. Idk how such people can say how much they care about animals but know so little.

 

[Jess]

Ugh, I hate pet stores. Especially when their animals are sick/practically dead, and when you tell them they need to see a vet, they're like: "Oh, don't worry. It's fine. I'll take care of it later... Maybe..."


If you guys think their knowledge of rodents is terrible, just try quizzing them on reptiles... It's REALLY pathetic.


I'm going to try to get a job at Petsmart this summer (I'm pretty sure you can be 17 to work there?). I tried for a job at Petland, but they didn't hire me... Probably because I said that I thought it was important to be honest and knowledgeable with the animals/customers at the interview, LOL.

 

[FlickeringHope]

Actually, the Petco here in Michigan had us pretty awestruck. I pointed out a tortoise(they're land, right? they had a little wading pool in the cage) that wouldn't open his eyes. I thought he was dead, so I got an employee, and she nudged him, and he moved, and then she tried dipping him gently in some water to motivate him, and when that didn't, she called over the employee that worked in that department, and he immediately came to call, and gave the tortoise some eye drops. Apparently their eyes can get gunked up sometimes? Anyway, I don't know much about reptiles, either, but the kudos points for me are for being there and acting, instead of shoving it aside like has been my experience all too often at Petsmart. I've never had any issues at any Petco I've been to, to be honest.

 

[Emma53]

actually we had a similar kind of experience when we were in the petstore that same day too (regarding the reptiles) they had a huge tank with little guppies some frogs and a couple of black and red lizards (sorry i dont know the names:S) but one of the black and red lizards was actually dead and lying upside down and the other things in the tank had started to eat it (thats how long were assuming it had been there) anyways when we told the guy that worked there he was like oh yeh we already know about that... ?!?!? why would you not take it out then?? they were all just standing around anyway... it was so sad

 

[Emma53]

so glad to hear about the tortoise though see it wouldnt even be so bad if they all made an effort to appear like they care instead of just shrugging it off

 

[FlickeringHope]

That's what always happened to me at Petsmart. Nearly every time I went in there something looked sick, and I'd tell a employee and they'd be like, "Not my department, sorry. *point* Try them, over there. That's their department." And I'd go over there, and tell them, and they'll say they'll be over there in a few minutes and.....never are. Now, granted, I can't always fault the employee. There was an employee working at another of the mall chain pet stores back in NY. They had a bunch of bunnies, but no sign stating what gender they were. And I asked her if she happened to know, and she kinda looked down ashamed and said, "No...when we get them our manager just puts them all in together..." So I went over and personally checked. All were female. When I told her, she looked relieved. So, it's not always the employees caring more about their own pets, I think most times they get blind-sided by their manager telling them what's worth doing, and what's not worth doing. I don't even go into Petsmart anymore. I can't handle it. I've had my fill of sickened and ill animals with no way to do anything about them.

But yeah....I've never had an issue with Petco. Someone has always been on the dot, and I've rarely had any experiences with a critter looking ill at Petco. And if they have been, someone comes to call. Their birds are always in a small, draft-free room, unlike Petsmart, where their birds have been out in the middle of the store, and I ALWAYS saw several shivering. Any critter I've adopted from Petco has been healthy, and lived a long life.

 

[Jess]

I had the same issue with Petsmart- There was this baby Chinese Water Dragon who I thought was dead until it moved. I told the cashier, and she was seriously the rudest employee I have ever met. I stood there argueing with her for the longest time about weather or not the lizard was actually sick, and she said it was fine, but she wouldn't even come back to look at it. She looked like she was only a few years older than me, and she had a serious attitude problem! I waited in there for half an hour before someone finally came and took the lizard out, and she said that it looked like it had a fungal infection and took it in the back. You have no idea how much I wanted to rub it in the cashier's face that I was right!
Their reptiles are generally a lot better cared for than the Petco's are though. I've had a lot of experiences with rude people at Petco too, but at least they actually listen to you when there is a sick pet. I'm still really disgusted with them though... When I observe at the vet clinic, there are always a lot of REALLY sick Petco animals that need to be put down. It's really sad.

 

[FlickeringHope]

Oh, I know, I've heard opinions of Petco that vary far differently than mine. I even heard from an ex-employee herself that the way the Petco operated where she worked lacked in several areas. Apparently there wasn't enough exercise wheels for the amount of rodents they had in one cage, etc etc.. and they were careless on the sick.

I'm just sayin', the two Petco's I've been in in New York, and here in Michigan, I've been impressed with. I'm sure it always varies. There's a woman a ways away from us that runs a pet supply only store, because in her words, she's afraid she'd lack in the care of the animals if she carried them, because she doesn't think she'd be able to split that time and take care of her clients as well. I'd love to give her more business - but she lacks in small animal supply variety; and even though she's offered to order Oxbow, I'm not sure what the additional expense would be tacked onto that.

Still, I'm sure the morals of the pet stores vary from state to state, and it's not entirely conclusive to being a chain, or only state-wide. Why, there's a small chain of pet stores inclusive to Michigan(as far as I know), and I've only been in there once, and will only ever be in there once. I was disgusted by what I saw, but I honestly don't want to go into that right now.

Now I'm AFRAID to go into a pet store. Isn't that terrible? I'm afraid of what I might see.

 

[christine]

I know that therei sa great chain of websites, all owned by the same company. I get the magazine from them for horses (have to point out I now want the pink saddle...but anyway). I bought from www.ferret.com but since I metnioned saddle I'll also say www.horse.com and they have www.dog.com Go to any of these and it will have a link at the top for the other sites. I love them! Great prices in my opinion and then I don't support the selling of animals too!