~does going to pet stores upset you?

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~SG~

~SG~

Orchestrating Chaos
Joined
Sep 14, 2010
Messages
494
Location
VA/NC line
I had some time to kill yesterday and googled pet stores in Winston and took a drive.

The first one closed 30 minutes before their posted hours :(

The 2nd one was a cluttered place with very little chin stuff and what they had Chins couldn't have for the most part. (balls, bad wheels, Katee food, lots of plastic....) Me and my baby wandered around looking at all the snakes, mice, hamsters, bunny's, guinea pigs, ferrets, birds birds birds......... I finally had to go ask for help and was looking for a chin chiller stone. Had heard of it but had never had anyone want one, wasn't sure what it was.

Anyways they asked me if I saw their chin, no where? One woman says, "well he's very timid and you can't handle him" but I get her to show him to me. She takes me back to the middle of the rabbit section and he's in a ferret cage with all the plastic tubes everywhere and plastic shelves. She opens the door and reaches in to grab him and he runs to the back. I ask her to let me try. I ease my hand in, let him smell me and give his chin a scratch. Wouldn't you know that little fella stood there and just loved every minute of it. No I didn't bring him home but I wanted too.

The third pet store had a chin in a deplorable rested cage :( He was terrified of everything and hid in his plastic igloo. The owners wouldn't open the cage to let me see him since I told them honestly that I wasn't looking to buy right then when he asked. Only katee and sunseed food. Lots of plastic toys and junk for chins. Had never heard of a chin chiller and when I explained it tried to sell me stuff for a aquarium.

The 4th place I went had Mazuri food, blue cloud dust, and finally the stone I had been looking for. No chins though. They also had a bunch of stuff marketed for chins that wasn't good for them.


It just seemed I was happy I found my stones for my chins but was kinda sad at the state those poor pet store chins were in :( Does going to pet stores leave anyone else depressed?

and by the way, neither chin lays on their stone so far :wacko:
 
Lots of pet stores are like that, sadly. I just don't go to them anymore, I buy everything off the internet. I may be getting a job at a pet store that has 16 chinchillas and I plan on educating them thoroughly...

As for the chinchiller, some chins like them, some chins don't, some chins sleep on them all the time and some chins only step on them when they're warm. In any case, it's way cheaper to buy a granite tile for $5 from a home improvement store than a chinchiller for $10... if the store has a wet saw, they'll even cut the tile (they're about twice the size of a chiller) for you, either for free or for a small fee.
 
I haven't been to a store that carried tile, my local hardware store doesn't. I only paid $6 each for the tile so it wasn't a bad deal anyways
 
I only go to my local Mom and Pop pet store which carries lots of fine products for chins, from the real flying saucer wheel to busy bunny willow products. Oxbow and APD are also carried along with hanging toys from Chins-to-go. They actually went to all the rescue groups prior to opening and asked what products they wanted to see. The store did so well it expanded. They carry no pets.

I hate going to stores that carry animals, especially the Mom and Pop ones.
 
The pet stores I got to are decent but the chins NEVER have hay. I don't know if they think the hay makes a mess of the cage or they really don't know to give it. I always remind them but they just smile and nod.
 
Unfortunately, I am forced to go to pet stores because I have other pets that are not chinchillas. I have dogs, cats, gerbils and fish and some of the things I need for them can not be found at my local Wal Mart. But, I know which ones of them sell chins and other animals and what the conditions are and I do not go to those stores. I order all of my chin items on line and most of them from forum members here. But my other animal supplies I go to one certain pet store and get my other supplies from them.
In an ideal world, I would love to have all pet stores get educated on the animals they sell, before they sell them but I know that is not going to happen so I have to do what makes me feel okay with my decision to go to them at all. This way, I do not go home depressed and can resist the urge to bring home every animal I see.

But I do understand how you felt at seeing what you saw and empathize with you.
 
Yes, petstores upset me. Any place that sells anything more than baby chicks or maybe a few other birds usually makes me angry...so I don't go to those places at all. I don't want to see the feeder rodents, it makes me sad.

I go to places that do not sell animals. The place I buy dog food and supplies has everything and supports shelter adoptions. And, the place that I buy things for the chins is just basically a bulk distribution center...there are no animals there and there never will be. :) I really do prefer to support places that focus on appropriate supplies rather than trying to sell the animals just to fail at the care and what is really needed for them.
 
My petstore options here are mom & pop shops, and one of them is Awesome. She bought the place from someone who did everything wrong and did a complete 180* with it. Her reptiles are in appropriate habitats for their ages/size, the birds have flight cages big enough for them to play, the rodents are separated by sex on carefresh and have a decent amount of space. The fish tanks are excellent and she's quick to talk about what can and can't live together and what size home they need, etc. If I decide to get my "nephew" the Mollies he said he wanted, we'll be going there.

However, when I went there originally, she had a pair of chins that she'd purchased as breeders. Her female just passed away at the age of 10, and she's sold off the HUGE cage with chin spin from the back of the store and is trying to sell the last kit and the male. She says they're way too much work for a pet store environment, and she's absolutely right.

The other mom & pop nearby is... not good. They stock good supplies (carefresh, kd pine chips, a couple decent brands of dog food), but I'm not impressed with their fish tanks, and while their birds are in okay situations, the rabbits and chinchillas in single level plastic bottomed cages underneath the mice, hamsters etc. in the back room just screams NO to me. My plan is to, a little at a time, make my face known and ease into the rodent care topic while I'm there. "I'd love to shop here for my chinchilla, but..." kind of thing. It upsets me, but I realize in that kind of environment, decisions are made based on cost and (frequently) bad information. I can provide better information, and if I show them I'm willing to spend money, they have more incentive to create a happy customer. Doubt it'll work, but it's the only kind of pet store where an owner has a chance to improve things for the animals. Corporate owned stores generally need to be threatened with law suit to change policy. :(
 
I have a pretty good ma and pop shop near me. I have to travel a little further to get there but its well worth it. The only animals they carry are fish, and over half the store is dedicated to them. It seems everytime I go in there one of the owners is cleaning tanks. They have a satilite of the local shelter in the back of the store as well. They do carry some things that are unhealthy for chins, but would be ok for rabbits etc. They have the best dogfood selection I have ever seen, and they dont carry the big brands made of crap. It is always clean as well. They do have several birds, but they are the owners pets and not for sale, so Im pretty pleased with the place. They do carry plastic wheels- the silent spinners though.

I basicly refuse to go to the bigger pet stores, I buy almost everything online now. When I used to go to petco(its way closer) they never had chins, but they have a lousy selection for all animals in my opinion. They're dog food section is a joke, even the "natural" ones are crap. I do feel bad for the animals in petstores. I always just want to take them all home and love them.... but then I think they will just be replaced by more animals. Its a vicious cycle and the only way to stop it is for people to stop buying animals from pet stores and the breeders who sell to them.
 
It took a few years for me to forgive the mom & pop pet store by me. I got my first 2 chins from them back in March of 2004. This shop has been around for over 30 years and the owner's live in the community as well. It was very personal with what happened in my situation and I had to shell out a lot of money for my mistakes as well as theirs and now I no longer have those chins anymore :(. They weren't bad people, they made mistakes too and took responsibilty and have now stopped selling chins since the first day I walked in their blubbering my eyes out. They genuinely felt bad about the whole situation. I go in there every now and then for things for my dog and slowly they have started stocking up on the "good" supplies for rodents. I see alot of Oxbow products now and they got rid of the whole Kaytee line of products.
 
yes they make me sad. the only thing that you can do is try to educate but for the most part i stay out of them. i now shop almost exclusively at my local feed store. the only animals they have are fish, baby chicks & the occassional kitty or bunny they are trying to adopt. they carry the dog food i feed my girl, oxbow GP food, and my chin pellets, oxbow hay, & my shavings. i have made "friends" with the manager. any other products for my chins that i need i purchase from member here.
 
My husband sighs when I head for a pet store because I always find an animal I want to rescue. Problem is, there aren't very many mom and pop stores left in my area because we have prominent representation of both major chains. I can get my chin pellets, litter and bird food at one store and some hermit crab supplies at the other. The rest of my supplies I've had to buy on line. I've given up trying to educate store personnel about chins and hermits. They only want to know what the store tells them.

Got 4 of my 6 'keets and one 'tiel from these stores and on different months either one will sell you a sick bird. And they know it because they have an in-house "vet"! It's heartbreaking. Thank goodness for knowledgeable people willing to sell over the internet and forums like this one offering education and help. Otherwise, I'd have to gain my chin and hermit crab knowledge the way I did my budgie knowledge. By accident!
 
I've only been to one pet store and that was in St. Cloud it was a relatively wealthy pet store and they only hold two chins at a time, and they try to sell them together, when I asked to see them they brought them out into the play area where they let their puppies and kittens run around for families to look at them, these chins seemed very happy and were running around with a lot of energy. I however did not get to see the cage, but that pet store didn't seem so bad. But I have heard about pet stores which were not very good with dealing with their chins. I hope that I never have to see an chin in that state because to be honest I would end up buying it right away.

But I do have a question, what's wrong with Kaytee food? I use it for my chins and they seem to like it fine, after I mix it with guinea pig timothy hay based food.
 
Kaytee food is junk. Chins will "like" most foods, just like little kids like candy. That doesn't mean it's good for them. The food you pick should be pellet only. Most people here stick with either Mazuri, Oxbow, Tradition, or Purina Rabbit Show. You can get them in bulk at a local food store, by the pound from one of the sellers here, or you can buy (overpriced) Oxbow and Mazuri at all the pet supply chains. If you want to learn more about pellets, make a post in the Diet & Nutrition forum.
 
If you have to mix it with another food, to get them to eat it, then they are trying to tell you that in reality, they hate it! (IMO) And why are you mixing it with a guinea pig food? Guinea pigs have different diet and nutrition needs and just because it is a timothy based food does not mean that it has everything a chin needs for optimal health. I recommend you switch to one of the foods that IsabellaWhateva recommended. Not only are they better for the chins, but even having to order from a supplier and pay for shipping is cheaper in the long run, than buying from the store.
 
christin.a.bnormal said:
But I do have a question, what's wrong with Kaytee food? I use it for my chins and they seem to like it fine, after I mix it with guinea pig timothy hay based food.
Click to expand...

Usually Kaytee food is not all pellets. It can have dried fruit and seeds and nuts mixed in with it. These are not good for chinchillas to begin with because of their particular digestive tract (they are hindgut fermenters); they do not digest certain sugars well and do not digest an excess of them well along with serious problems digesting an inappropriate amount of other nutrients (protein and others). Chins can't handle fruits and veggies because of the way they digest sugar, and seeds and nuts have too much fat and protein in them to be fed anywhere near regularly.

But, since these are the things in the food that tastes better to them, they usually pick them out and eat only the non pelleted food. Besides their digestive problems, now they are only getting a fraction of the nutrients that are listed on the bag, so you really don't know exactly how much of what (fiber, fat, etc) they are eating. It is both healthier and easier to monitor their nutritional health if an all pellet diet is fed.

Quality chin foods are considered to be Oxbow Chinchilla deluxe, Mazuri, Purina Rabbit Chow Show, Tradition and others I can't think of at the moment, hehe. Most good feed is alfalfa-based but my thinking is as long as it has a good guaranteed analysis (GA) and good ingredients, then it's fine. Some chins with health problems like bladder stones or dental issues have to be on a timothy based diet.

This is an ideal general GA for some of the main nutrients in chin food. Some quality food has percentages outside this range but not by much. This is just a general range, and I am not a veterinarian, but this is what I have deduced through information from this site and research and talking to my vet.
Protein: 16-18%
Fiber: 18-23%
Fat: 2.5-3.5%
The vitamins and minerals are much harder to quantify an amount that is healthy. There's not a lot of studies, at least in english, about what specific amounts are best for chins.

EDIT: Wow, I take way too long to type up a response. A couple members have beat me to answering your question.
 
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Thanks for the educational answers!!

My pair was on rabbit food with the goodies mixed in it, they had no problems when I switched them to Mazuri. They eat it just as good as they did the 'junk food'.

and my rabbit gladly took the rabbit food ;)
 
i do not feed my chins GP food, not do I feed my GP chinnie food.

i give my chins Purina Rabbit Show Chow, after many of them were not really eating their Mazuri and they would not touch the Oxbow (much to my dissappointment). they seem to be doing well the the PRSC and it is very cost effective.

my guinea does get the oxbow cavy cuisine and it is really the only food she will eat.
 
The person that I got them from told me to mix it with guinea pig food and that rabbit food can make them sick, I was originally giving them rabbit food with chinchilla pellets. And they actually eat it plain as well, so they like it either way.
 
Going to a pet store does not bother me because I have learned through the years to simply go in buy what I need, do not look at anything else and leave. I'm lucky as I don't have to go to pet stores very often. I have a feed store I buy my chinchilla food at and a small petstore that doesnt have animals for sale to get the Baxter's food.

I know everyone wants to change the world and especially the pet stores-but if there's anything I've learned in my 47 years of age it's that you can't.
 
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