72 replies to this topic

[Mommomkris]

Great post, Lucas. I would like to add, do your own research before going to a pet store. I've only been in two pet stores and was never greeted by an employee. I figured I must look like I know what I'm doing and/or the employees are busy, but I do get the attention of an emploee if I need something or have a question.
My son and I did some research before we got our first four legged furry pet named Speedy! But I have been constantly reading up on information on dwarf hamsters. Learning a lot!

[cloudane]

I'm in two minds when it comes to big stores.  Admittedly both of mine have been from Pets at Home, who can be a mixed bag (will get to that).  I know the argument not to give the big stores your custom at all (and so not create demand through them), but the other side I see to it is that the hamsters have already been born and been brought in and need love, it's not their fault they were born into a bad system.  So I'm more for encouraging improvement in these places over boycotting.  Also as others have pointed out, they're not all bad.

 

But yeah you really have to know to do your own research and not rely on things like what the shops say about cage sizes or safe bedding.  Their biggest cages are still too small for the Syrians they sell and they still sell that known dangerous cotton wool type bedding.

 

I will also say that our Poppy, who was in her own solo cage in the "new hamsters" bit where the babies are, I suspect - but can't prove so won't outright claim, but suspect - that she may have already been owned and returned.  They said she'd just been held back in the back room pre-sale area for an extra week or two because of a bit of a struggle to settle (used to scream when approach and chewed the bars til her nose was raw) but the size of her... I wasn't convinced... colleagues also said things like "oh the rescue one?" before being swiftly corrected and informed that she didn't go through that route in the end, which also makes me wonder.  Either way we kind of could tell she needed taking on by us as experienced, conscientious owners and not some random kid - no offence to the youngsters on here who are well informed, I just mean typical random customers - as it really wouldn't have ended well, so took her on and finished off the slow, gentle taming she'd already been undertaking in the shop.  Let me be fair about the P@H, they knew she needed special care and gave it to her and waited til she finally calmed down before allowing her into the shop.  She's so happy now that she's with us, but still lives with some kind of PTSD, just has never completely been able to stop flinching at the slightest noise.  Goodness knows what happened to her before we had her.  Something terrorised her as a baby, I feel sure of it.

Assuming they were honest about her age then she's about 9-10 months now.  She's mellowing out a little though and gaining a slightly rougher appearance to her coat, bit of thinning on the back of the neck, the sort of things that didn't happen with Holly until about 1.5-2 years.  Just don't know, obviously all hams are different anyway, but makes you think.  I think IF there was any bending of the truth it was probably well intentioned (the staff themselves do care deeply about their welfare, that much I could tell, and often have their own) as obviously she'd have a better chance being passed off as new than in the adoption area with her life history written down.  But that's the sort of thing that I think goes on in the big shops, likely under various pressures from Corporate. 

I don't say this to cast aspersions on P@H, there are too many things I don't know, can't prove etc.  Just try to know what you're dealing with when visiting a shop and make decisions accordingly...

Edited by cloudane, 13 June 2018 - 11:33 PM.

[LarryBaby]

Our local Petland is clean but the hamster cages are not good. They have those terrible wheels where the hamsters little feet can get stuck and so many of them housed together. I did ask them why they would not put better wheels in there since they don't even sell the bad ones at the store but they pretty much just waved me off and said because the hamsters aren't there for long bla bla bla. Terrible excuse. And a lot of buyers will probably go ahead and buy that same wheel bcuz they see it in the cage and don't know any better.
The cages are also open on top so anybody can put their hand in there and grab a hamster. It is truly a sad situation. I am very sure hamsters are getting dropped and who knows what else.
Petsmart is better since they are housed in closed cages and no one can touch them. But Petsmart has no wheels.
I am originally from Germany and it is so different over there. This store close to where my parents live is extremely nice. My kids always tell people how good the animals have it there. They truly have great cages for them with lots of things to play with, huge wheels. All housed by themselves. Now this is true for a lot of pet stores that we have visited in my hometown. You are not even allowed to purchase just one guinea pig, you have to adopt two bcuz they are such social animals.
So there is definitely a lot of room for improvements but sadly it is all about money and I have seen employees at Petland not treating animals nicely. It breaks my heart.

[cloudane]

Pets at Home is the English name for Petsmart I think.  At least the branding is the same.  Our P@H have enclosed cages with locks on (sliding glass door sort of thing) and rather than a wheel they use those "saucer" things which I think are fine.  Of course they don't tell you that for a Syrian you need an 8-12" wheel or saucer once they grow to full size which (even if they're sold young as they're supposed to be) is so soon you needn't bother with the small stuff.

 

They're savvy enough to separate them into single cages if any of them ages a bit, and they don't put them on sale until they've been at least somewhat pre-tamed out back so that they don't have to worry about a family doing a full taming from scratch.

[PeachyBaby]

My pet store has very tiny cages, although all hamsters inside ( almost always) the right sex. Although the employees - me sitting down for a gigantic rant-

They mean the best, but none of them know anything about hamsters -except for one- and have no idea what wet tail even is. ( I asked when purchasing a new hamster if they have had any cases of it)
When I see them giving new, bright hamster owners a tiny pink cage, wire wheel, a diet insufficient for any living creature, and a little bitty energetic Robo I just CRINGE
Anyway ( I’m sorry about the rant but whenever I say something they always glare at me) their hamsters seem to be in good condition except for the fact I saw where there breed, and how cruel and unsanitary the conditions are.
I don’t know what to do, as my state has no adoptions or breeders ( I know it says I’m in a different country. That was me being a total spazz 😝) should I buy a hamster and risk any problems and support the industry? I can’t can’t can’t go without a hamster.... but really....

Edited by PeachyBaby, 29 August 2018 - 07:50 AM.

[MerryBB]

My pet store has very tiny cages, although all hamsters inside ( almost always) the right sex. Although the employees - me sitting down for a gigantic rant-

They mean the best, but none of them know anything about hamsters -except for one- and have no idea what wet tail even is. ( I asked when purchasing a new hamster if they have had any cases of it)
When I see them giving new, bright hamster owners a tiny pink cage, wire wheel, a diet insufficient for any living creature, and a little bitty energetic Robo I just CRINGE
Anyway ( I’m sorry about the rant but whenever I say something they always glare at me) their hamsters seem to be in good condition except for the fact I saw where there breed, and how cruel and unsanitary the conditions are.
I don’t know what to do, as my state has no adoptions or breeders ( I know it says I’m in a different country. That was me being a total spazz )

 

Are you sure that store is absolutely your only option?

 

If you are in the U.S, have you checked the Pets section of Craigslist? Or perhaps you have some sort of Animal Classifieds in your area. Many shelters (kill shelters, Humane Societies, private rescues, etc) will take in small animals like hamsters and mice on occasion, so you'll want to check sites like Petfinder and monitor any shelters near your area (if you have any).

 

Most people don't have a hamster breeder or rodent-specific rescue near them, but a lot of other ways to get a hamster without directly contributing to rodent mills / similar breeding conditions in pet stores are easily overlooked.

[PeachyBaby]

I’ve tried, no rescues, not one. The humane society only has guienia pigs
As for Craigslist, I’m kinda nervous as far as buying from there, as I have another hamster and wet tail is a concern for me.
There is another pet store, it’s seems promising and I’m going to go check it out as soon as possible

[nebit]

I’ve tried, no rescues, not one. The humane society only has guienia pigs
As for Craigslist, I’m kinda nervous as far as buying from there, as I have another hamster and wet tail is a concern for me.
There is another pet store, it’s seems promising and I’m going to go check it out as soon as possible

I would say the risk of wet tail is far lower with a craigslist rehome than with a hamster from a pet store. A hamster from Craigslist is A. Likely to be too old to get wet tail and/or B. Likely to have come from an environment with few other hamsters, if any.

 

Meanwhile pet stores constantly have hamsters coming and going from very large breeding operations, and wet tail is extremely common. even if the hamsters in the tank appear healthy today, there's no guarantee that there wasn't a sick hamster in that tank yesterday, or that they weren't exposed at the mill etc.

[FancyEevee21]

I think this is a great list to figure out which pet shops are useful to support and which to avoid. However I do think some thing son the list could be improved The part about the smell in the store, well you can't really comment about that because well, there's a lot of animals who use the bathroom in there and in any place where there's animals it's not going to smell as clean as a perfume department, so it's kinda like commenting that the floor of a public pool is wet. It's a pool, you can't walk into any pool expecting to see dry floors. Unless the store smells so bad it makes you sick I don't think this is worth commenting about.

The part about the employees greeting you or not. Well some stores do have greeters who say hi to the people walking in at the door however just because the workers don't greet every person walking in doesn't really relate to animal care wise.

Now the part about judging based off the workers animal knowledge. That's rather a controversial big thing. You see, as an animal caregiver you should never be asking some minimum wage sales people for their advice because more than half the time it's outdated, wrong, or just advertised according to what they sell, not what's actually ideal or convienient for animals and you. ErinsAnimals who is specialized in hamsters said a really great quote on her channel long ago which was "If you wouldn't get diet advice from grocery market workers, why would you get animal advice from pet store workers?" -ErinsAnimals. See, I love that quote because it is a great anology to show that you should never 100% trust adivenon anything from any minimum wage workers because no special knowledge is required for any minimum wage retail job. Grocery store workers aren't nutrition expert even though the store specializes in food, Fast food workers are not cooking experts, clothing shop workers are not fashion and dressing experts, pharmacy workers aren't medical experts, so pet store workers certainly aren't animal experts. The only real people you should ever consider "animal experts" are trained vets, biologists, Any animal scientists or anything that requires a degree of knowledge. Pet shops are nowhere near that and just care about money, they aren't an animal rights co operation like Humane Society.

I can't speak for others but the biggest deal about the store really isn't the workers. They're just minimum wage workers and it's a fantasy to expect anything that big from them. As long as you can clean animal cages and give them food and water then well they're hired. They don't have to socialize with the animals or really do half the stuff a real pet owner would. Half their job is just stocking shelves and cleaning, and running a register. Basically a grocery store concept except with cleaning animal cages and feeding them. You don't have to love animals whatsoever to work there. As long as you're not rude to people and can tolerate what you're told to do then you're hired.

I wouldn't judge about whether they have pets at home or not because well, some people can't have pets for many reasons such as their parents won't allow it or they just aren't really into animals they're just working for money which is fine because well, it's a job. Plus owning animals at home doesn't mean you're an expert either, I once overheard an employee in a store telling someone about how she let a dog and chinchilla play together all night free range. Um what? That's not safe if you ask me. I also overheard a worker saying she puts rabbits in wire bottom cages and gives them a dust bath to stop their fur from being matted. What the actual *Beep*. That's the biggest price of garbage I've heard. To stop animals fur from being matted you brush them everyday, dust baths are unsafe for any animal except chinchillas.

Anyways I'm really sorry if I rambled on too much but I again I think this is a good list to determine which pet shops are worthy.

[nebit]

Sure, all pet shops have a bit of an animal odor- but bad pet shops tend to stink, literally. A bad smell is actually a pretty good gauge of a store's quality.

 

And shops where employees greet you tend to be better trained and attuned to customer service and detail than those that don't.

 

As far as not taking employee advice- this makes me sad. Many employees are highly informed animal lovers. There's no reason to not talk to them, ask their advice etc. The key is to be well informed enough to know when you are being good advice vs bad advice. My local stores have employees of both types- some I prize as highly experience folks with advice I seek out. Others I wouldn't follow at all.

 

However, a petstore worth it's salt will make sure it's employees are getting at least a basic education in care requirements for the animals they sell- so this is actually a pretty good way to judge store quality. Do they give terrible advice? standard advice? really stellar top of the line advice?

 

A store with terrible advice I will avoid, a store with standard advice is about average, and a store with top of the line advice is a store I will intentionally seek out.

 

pharmacy workers aren't medical experts

Pharmacy employees actually often ARE medical experts. To be a pharmacist requires a PhD, they work in tandem with your doctor to be sure your medications are safe and appropriate. Because they focus solely on medications, they often know more about a particular medication than your doctor does. The techs work directly under the supervision of a pharmacist and must be licensed, the entire industry is tightly regulated as far as who can do what or advise on what matters.

[PosieHamster]

I think this is a great list to figure out which pet shops are useful to support and which to avoid. However I do think some thing son the list could be improved The part about the smell in the store, well you can't really comment about that because well, there's a lot of animals who use the bathroom in there and in any place where there's animals it's not going to smell as clean as a perfume department, so it's kinda like commenting that the floor of a public pool is wet. It's a pool, you can't walk into any pool expecting to see dry floors. Unless the store smells so bad it makes you sick I don't think this is worth commenting about.
The part about the employees greeting you or not. Well some stores do have greeters who say hi to the people walking in at the door however just because the workers don't greet every person walking in doesn't really relate to animal care wise.
Now the part about judging based off the workers animal knowledge. That's rather a controversial big thing. You see, as an animal caregiver you should never be asking some minimum wage sales people for their advice because more than half the time it's outdated, wrong, or just advertised according to what they sell, not what's actually ideal or convienient for animals and you. ErinsAnimals who is specialized in hamsters said a really great quote on her channel long ago which was "If you wouldn't get diet advice from grocery market workers, why would you get animal advice from pet store workers?" -ErinsAnimals. See, I love that quote because it is a great anology to show that you should never 100% trust adivenon anything from any minimum wage workers because no special knowledge is required for any minimum wage retail job. Grocery store workers aren't nutrition expert even though the store specializes in food, Fast food workers are not cooking experts, clothing shop workers are not fashion and dressing experts, pharmacy workers aren't medical experts, so pet store workers certainly aren't animal experts. The only real people you should ever consider "animal experts" are trained vets, biologists, Any animal scientists or anything that requires a degree of knowledge. Pet shops are nowhere near that and just care about money, they aren't an animal rights co operation like Humane Society.
I can't speak for others but the biggest deal about the store really isn't the workers. They're just minimum wage workers and it's a fantasy to expect anything that big from them. As long as you can clean animal cages and give them food and water then well they're hired. They don't have to socialize with the animals or really do half the stuff a real pet owner would. Half their job is just stocking shelves and cleaning, and running a register. Basically a grocery store concept except with cleaning animal cages and feeding them. You don't have to love animals whatsoever to work there. As long as you're not rude to people and can tolerate what you're told to do then you're hired.
I wouldn't judge about whether they have pets at home or not because well, some people can't have pets for many reasons such as their parents won't allow it or they just aren't really into animals they're just working for money which is fine because well, it's a job. Plus owning animals at home doesn't mean you're an expert either, I once overheard an employee in a store telling someone about how she let a dog and chinchilla play together all night free range. Um what? That's not safe if you ask me. I also overheard a worker saying she puts rabbits in wire bottom cages and gives them a dust bath to stop their fur from being matted. What the actual *Beep*. That's the biggest price of garbage I've heard. To stop animals fur from being matted you brush them everyday, dust baths are unsafe for any animal except chinchillas.
Anyways I'm really sorry if I rambled on too much but I again I think this is a good list to determine which pet shops are worthy.

Hey! Chain pet store worker here
I just wanted say that while I agree with many of the points you made, some pet store employees are very knowledgeable and really care about what is best for the animal. I've worked at a chain pet store for about a year and a half and in that time met several amazing knowledgable co-workers who pride themselves on their up-to-date extensive pet care advice. Most of us only know proper care of the animals we personally have, so we always seek out the most knowledgeable employee whenever a costomer has a question. I've been reading about hamsters for years and while I am in no way an expert, I am confident in my ability to provide customers with 100% updated hamster care advice. At my location we do our best to read up on animals on our own time because we know our company's care advice is severely outdated. I've become the resident "hamster lady" at my store, lol Cage sales are down but the company isn't complaining because hamster owners walk away with many enriching hamster toys, dried mealworms, Higgins and Mazuri, and Whimzees instead!
I'm totally not saying that every pet store employee is knowledgeable, but some pet store employees are passionate about updated and proper animal care and are members of animals forums and animal Facebook groups and have valuable information.

Edited by PosieHamster, 24 September 2018 - 10:56 AM.

[Cream17]

I got my new Syrian hamster At petsmart, the lady who helped me said she didn’t like Syrian hamsters because they bite. But she helped pick out a more friendlier Syrian hamster out of 5 they were all new arrivals but their were two other slightly older Syrian in the cage next to the new ones but she told me they weren’t friendly. Any suggestions on selection a new hamster next time?

[lil BIG dwarf]

I got my new Syrian hamster At petsmart, the lady who helped me said she didn’t like Syrian hamsters because they bite. But she helped pick out a more friendlier Syrian hamster out of 5 they were all new arrivals but their were two other slightly older Syrian in the cage next to the new ones but she told me they weren’t friendly. Any suggestions on selection a new hamster next time?

 

Generally, you can't tell there personalities much in pet stores. In all honesty, I would have gone with the one you had a gut feeling with, because she could have perceived one as not friendly, but it could have been scared, depressed, or something else. And even a few bites wont define the whole species. I would suggest adopting, as they tend to have seen more hamsters from different places/areas and seen more personalities, as well as less stress from a pet store to see there true colors, and a general idea of how they act. If you can only get from a pet store though, the most I can say is to not return an animal if you can help it, and realize that this bright place full of smells must be unnerving for them.