[Grotesque]

We go to our local PetSmart mainly for our Oxbow food since they are the only place that carries it. We've been known to fall in love and adopt a rat baby from there once in a while (just ask Gizzard, Dash, and Ginger). There is a Petco across the street but we don't go there.

Anyway, when we bought Dash, the employee who opened the case had mentioned that if they suspect someone is buying the rats as a feeder, they will refuse the sale. They only feed their own in store snakes frozen rats (that were dead and frozen before they even arrived at the store). We always enjoyed how the employees really seemed to care about the rats.

Today, we witnessed something amazing. We were there to take advantage of a buy 2 get 1 free sale on Oxbow and we saw two adorable little rat babies. Of course we had an employee open the case so we could pet them and see if any of them REALLY wanted to come home. There were only two in there. A solid black and a black hooded.

We sanitized our hands before interacting with them. I was holding the black one and I noticed she was sneezing more than normal. I figured she'd sneeze one or twice because of the hand sanitizer. I picked her up to do a "rat phone" and I heard a little rattle in her lungs. I informed the employee. She took a listen and agreed.

She told us they will bring them to a vet to get antibiotics and them keep them in back until they get an "all clear" from the vet. I sort of thought she was saying whatever she had to in order to pacify the situation. I said, "Are you REALLY taking them to treat them or are you going to take them in back and kill them because if you are, we'll just buy them and take them in ourselves." She assured me they treat all sick animals, but they all need to go to the vet first since they can't just dish out antibiotics.

She told me about Baytril and their vet... more than what the average uneducated employee would know if they were just making something up. She even offered to call us when they get the health clearance to be put back for sale, though we kindly refused.

While we were still there, we saw her bring the quarantine holder out and scoop them both in.

Amazing place.

 

[kksrats]

I wish we could all have employees like that at our local petsmart. I'm constantly telling employees here that their leopard geckos are dying and they just keep them on display and keep putting out more dying geckos. I tried buying some and rescuing them from starving to death, but they were always too far gone and out of the 3 I bought at different times, only one survived. They really are an easy reptile to care for and the one I have now is so plump and happy that I jokingly tell my husband that he needs to go on a diet (they store fat in their tails, so a nice plump tail is a good thing). I get that the animals might have problems before they even arrive at the store, but don't put them on display when they look like they're about to turn into lizard jerky. The only rat I ever bought from petsmart was also very ill and they refused to treat him (this was a store in a different city). I'm glad you had a good experience, but I can certainly tell you it's not the norm.

 

[Grotesque]

Oh gosh! I guess I was foolish to think every store in a chain would be as great as mine in Milwaukee. Every time we've looked at rats, even before the case was open would tell us about each one's personality. NONE of the babies I've ever seen there were scared of hands. They loved being held, and were as sweet as pie from obvious handling.

Maybe I will write an email to the company, telling them about how great the Milwaukee store is and hopefully they can make an example out of it.

 

[kksrats]

That would be a really good idea considering I'm sure they mostly receive complaints. It'd be nice for more stores to employ a more passionate approach to their live animals.

 

[Drakmanka]

I wish my local PetSmart was that good! I've noticed that places like PetSmart and PetCo both tend to be good or bad depending on the area. In my area, PetSmart is terrible for small animals, while PetCo is awesome.