oh my, thats quite a story. i always hate walking in pet stores too because i always go straight to the tanks filled with the little ratties. ah well, i think im just gonna stick to the adopting from ppl and rescues. i hope your fingers ok =)

 

Well around here PET SMART is the BAD BAD BAD one!!

PETCO is the good good good one!! Petco helps the humane society and other animal rescues ALOT in my area! They have enough small animal's that need adoption that they rarely order new ones for their store from a "breeder" and I use that term loosly. They keep kittens, dogs, any small animal, bird or reptile that needs a new home instead of getting their own. I actually was talking to the manager yesterday about the Humane Societies rescues that were there and they said they haven't had to purchase a guinea pig, hampster, ferret, even a bird in over 2 years now because there are so many rescues that it keeps their store fully stocked!! They said last week they got in 17 guinea pigs from a rescue 90 miles north of us. Get this... only 2 of them were left!! YEAH!!!! They are doing great things in our area for adopting unwanted animals intead of purchasing animals for them to sell!!

 

Petsmart and Petco are both okay around here. They both have crowded tanks and such, but the animals are in good condition. It's the little business pet stores that kill me. We have these awful little pet stores that breed in store and will just have a ten gallon full of gerbils and gerbil babies and the owner doesn't even let you pick out your own. She chooses for you. It's quite disgusting. Smells like shite and everything is dirty. My Petsmart rats are absolutely fine and dandy. Petsmart (I thought they did this everywhere) here has adoption Saturday and Sundays where they work with animal rescues and hold dogs and cats and some other small animals for people to come and possibly adopt at the store. It works fairly well. That is where I got my dog six years ago. They also give out vouchers for discount and free spaying/neutering. They are a big business still and run cheaply but at least they are clean and help out with the overrun animal population.

 

well that sounds nice but the worker in the petco I went into said the "vendor" sent them, and unfortunately, I didn't see any rescue animals in the whole store. I suppose it depends on the location but I have seen Pet Smarts with rescue animals in them but really most pet stores are quite terrible . Also it didn't help that the tanks were labeled small, medium, and large for the rats. I think there was a discussion on that a long time ago but can't they at least pretend they care a little bit about their rats!

Even when a pet store takes in rescue rats, they won't guarantee it won't be sold as food, so what's the point? They want to give off a good impression but they won't go the extra mile that a rescue or breeder would to ensure their rats are going to a safe and loving home.

Ultimately, there needs to be no animals whatsoever in petstores!

Oh and ratlover my finger is ok! I'm just sad those ratties aren't getting the attention they deserve.

 

Pets at Home also has an adoption section, it has for a while now. Some posters are up about animals needing homes too (those that aren't in the store).

They still buy in animals though I'm guessing, as only one section has the adoption notices above their enclosures. My two boys came from Pets at Home, but there were no rats in the adoption section at the time. As my first rats I wanted to get them as babies too, and there are rarely babies for adoption.

 

It's the little business pet stores that kill me.

I know what you mean. I went into a place in Philly that made me walk out immediately in tears! It was a long time ago, and I didn't know what I should/could do about it.

BTW peoples my first two ratties are pet store ratties, and I love them very very much. I think people can and have found wonderful ratties in pet stores but since joining this forum, and seeing things that I never noticed as a child, I realize most of them shouldn't be allowed to get away with what they do. Also, maybe petco and petsmart aren't the worst out there but it still doesn't make everything I've heard about either right! A lot of it really depends on location or even a particular branch but the bad ones ruin it for everyone!

 

I wanted to get them as babies too, and there are rarely babies for adoption.

I can understand you on that one. It was a bit of a process to get my first pet store rattie to trust me, and she's still pretty nervous around others! I suppose that's one of the problems that some people face though. If there are no reputable breeders around, or no rescues, then a person who could give an animal a home is out of luck.

I dunno..... maybe just better laws and actual enforcement of them!

 

It was a bit of a process to get my first pet store rattie to trust me, and she's still pretty nervous around others! I suppose that's one of the problems that some people face though.

It didn't really take any persuasion for my two to get used to me, maybe I was just lucky?

Spike doesn't like cuddles for long, but that's just how he is lol. He's very friendly, very licky and jumps on me all the time though. Max on the other hand LOVES cuddles. When he gets stroked, he lies down totally flat and goes completely floppy :lol:. You can do anything you want to him, flip him on his back and tickle his belly, hold him any way you want. As soon as he's picked up he goes into his floppy state lol.

I've read that rats don't like their hind legs not being supported. They tend to panick and wave them around. Max doesn't care, all his limbs go limp hehe. He's one chilled out rattie. When he's out for free range he's a nutter. I'm sure he'd be in a mental institution if he was a person :lol:

ps. apologies for going off topic slightly and rambling!

 

Our petsmart is wonderful. None of the tanks are crouded, they use carefresh bedding, and all the rats act like theyve been handled. Uncle Bills is the one that got me. I started crying by the way this lady pickd them up bytheir tails and jerked them around. I got my two new boys from there because I personally love adopting them from petstores just to give them a happier life. They're doing so much better now except for the fact Jacob developed an abscess but its being fixed . When I first got them they had diarea, they smelled horrible, and they had tiny bugs crawling all over them and the cage. It was gross but now theyre a lot healthier.

 

When you buy from big stores you aren’t rescuing the rats, you’re just encouraging the chain of animal cruelty, if your boys had diarrhoea and bugs thats probably the same environment that a new rat will be put into. As for carefresh, it’s rubbish, so dusty and expensive.

 

mites, yep. The pet store I was talking about was like that. The old lady that owned the joint had to chase down the gerbils with her hand. It took her forever to catch one in a tiny tank. She had to pick it up by its tail just to keep hold of it. Those animals were completely terrified of everything. I haven't gone back since the last time when I had no choice.

 

mites, yep. The pet store I was talking about was like that. The old lady that owned the joint had to chase down the gerbils with her hand. It took her forever to catch one in a tiny tank. She had to pick it up by its tail just to keep hold of it. Those animals were completely terrified of everything.

You do have to chase gerbils to catch them. One of mine I can't hold anyway, but the other one, you always have to chase him. They aren't known the standing still and being cuddly. She shouldn't have been holding them by their tails though :|

Well, that's how mine are anyway lol.

 

You can report petshops to the local humane society. For mistreated/ill cats and dogs, in the US, you can report them to the US Department of Agriculture.

We just went through this process after we bought Lucky at a petshop. I reported the shop to the Humane Society, and then you can also call the local police- The HS "assists" in the investigation, but it's actually the local cops who enforce the animal-cruelty laws. At least that's how it works in my rural little county.

My friend's petshop was shut down through the process. Unfortunate, but she wasn't able to continue to stay open. (long story... Not entirely her fault, but she did do the right thing and close down when she couldn't take care of the animals in stock any longer. And she was able to send them to a good, reputable local store.)

There are good privately owned stores, and some not so good. Same, I think with the "big box" stores.

Thanks to whomever posted about the rat mill... I'm now a much more educated consumer! and will not buy another "warehouse" animal again.

Mopy- Hope your fingers heal quickly! Yeeps. I suppose it's a chance you take with any strange rat. Your fingers must've looked tasty. 8O

Like my husband always says when he gives his dog a treat - "Careful! The pink ones are MINE!" :lol:

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary

 

Stace: your rat may be a nutter but he sounds completely adorable! Oh and no worries I didn't really think you went off topic

rattielvr and steak: yeah! you really can get a way different experience from store to store! For example, I've heard terrible things about walmart, and how they treat their employees but I know people who have worked at walmart, and they absolutely loved it! Also, I seriously wish I could keep my experiences at petco/petsmart straight. I don't even remember which one I adopted Penny from but they picked her up by the tail, misinformed me, and sold me a lot of useless crap! My fault for trusting them, and not doing additional research myself.

marysmuse: "warehouse animals" make me very sad, and all we can do is try to stop it (i dunno how but somehow), and my finger doesn't look too bad now, which is surprising for the amount of blood that came out of it. It barely hurt during the bite but it sure is sore today! LOL darn ratties really know what they're doing!

sigh....... I just keep thinking about those ratties. Am I heartless for not going back to adopt them all? I feel like their only chance at a good life is being fostered by a person with some patience and experience. Truthfully though I don't have too much experience with rats who bite. Penny was extremely hormonal when she was pregnant but I knew how to deal with it. I'm not sure where I'd even start with these ratties.

 

sigh....... I just keep thinking about those ratties. Am I heartless for not going back to adopt them all?

No you're not being heartless at all. If we all went and adopted every rat we saw in a pet shop we'd be overrun with them 8O and they wouldn't each get as much time as they deserved. Also the amount of them that seemed aggressive would worry me I think.

 

I guess I'm lucky around here because none of the pet shops are really bad. Even the feeder rats and mice have nice big cages, are split by sex (as in one store has one sex another store has another sex). Ok, so they aren't really nice cages they are still tanks, but they are huge for the amount of critters they keep in them. They have huge tanks in the back (that are typically home made with plexi glass or clear plastic) and I would guess it's about 1 rat per 40 gallons (as in like the size of a 40 gallon aquarium) so about double the sq. footage they really need. They are kept on good bedding, fed decent foods (ok so not petco or petsmart, they feed the crap blocks in the bag but the others do well), and are given plenty of things to do. They even keep their feeders entertained with tons of toys, hidey holes, ect. No they aren't socialized, but at least they don't pick them up by their tails!! The put on gloves so they don't get bitten and pick them up the right way!

There was on hole in the wall petshop that the humane society closed down. They were all over the news about the way they kept their reptiles (apparently their other animals weren't bad) and people around here just stopped going there and ran them out of town.

I guess things really vary from state to state don't they.