Petstores

[Lil_Branchette]

How can you tell how good a petstore is? Of course, you can look at the animals, but say the animals were fine: they had good food, plenty of water, males were separated from females, males were separated from males, etc. How else would you be able to tell? It's just that many people seem against petstores, so I'd like to learn to recognize a good one from a bad one...

 

[minrex]

Talk to the people who work there, and get an idea of how much they know about the animals. One mark of a "good" pet store is that the employees will be knowledgeable and obviously care about the well-being of the animals.

 

[Lil_Branchette]

Ok, thanks!

 

[LucksAngel28]

Talk to the people who work there, and get an idea of how much they know about the animals. One mark of a "good" pet store is that the employees will be knowledgeable and obviously care about the well-being of the animals.

Agreed! And, whether their cages were big enough, well ventilated, had hidey places, wheels, type of food, and how they are handled by employees. For instance, at the local pet store, they would not pick up the hedgies at all, so they were not very socialized. You just want to find people who know what they're talking about and provide proper care as close as possible to what you would provide at home. It's rare, but I'm sure there are some out there... Good question!

 

[3CsMommy]

Read their care sheets.

One of the best pet stores I know of is only about an hour's drive from where the York chinchilla show is held every year. They husband their animals well from what I've seen, the staffers I've talked to have known their stuff and adoption events are pretty common. They're the only pet store I've ever seen keep a chinchilla in the store for life in a proper cage... but even with a darn good chinchilla vet a local phone call away, their website's care sheet suggests carpeting a chinchilla's shelves, using mesh or side-bar wheels with open tracks, and feeding commercial chin treat mixes, raisins, and fresh foods as treats.

I'll be pointing out the dangers behind those suggestions when I visit there this weekend. (I actually printed the sheet and made notes in the margins so I can give it directly to a manager as I check out.)