Petco Needs Help

by libbylovesmice Fri 08 Jul 2016, 9:44 pm

I ran to Petco today literally just to grab the gerbils some more Higgins treats, and I spent an hour in there holding various animals and buying WAY more than I wanted to. First, I looked over at the small animals and saw a male gerbil that was just adorable, so I had to hold him. A young boy (probably a high schooler) tried to get him out for me, but he couldn't. So he just grabbed the very tip of his tail and pulled him out! It made me shutter. As soon as he gave him to me, I showed the poor chap how to properly handle a gerbil. How insane is that? That Petco can't even train their employees how to handle an animal correctly? It boggles me. I'm just glad that he didn't rip the poor gerbil's tail off Sad

It was also dirtier than usual. Maybe it was because it's basically run by teenagers now that it's summer, but it made me want to drive across town to PetSmart!

by GabbiLuvsMice Fri 08 Jul 2016, 9:49 pm

Petco has been known to not have the best conditions! But my local ones have finally started to use flying saucers!

by CinnamonPearl Fri 08 Jul 2016, 10:24 pm

I never expect much from any pet store. I used to be crazy passionate about these sorts of things a few years ago, but I pretty much have compassion fatigue for it now.

by Rodents rock! Fri 08 Jul 2016, 10:39 pm

That is terrible! You are not supposed to pick up gerbils by their tail at all, not even by the base of the tail. Wits End

Stuff like that makes me so frustrated!

by Bandit Cat Fri 08 Jul 2016, 11:24 pm

Tell me about it! Petco is so disgusting, I have stopped shopping there. The mice are crowded, they employees aren't trained and are rude, and the fish are usually sick. It's unbelievable! They claim they "love" their pets, while they are just in it for the money.

by CallaLily Sat 09 Jul 2016, 8:59 am

It really depends on location. While my nearest Petco isn't perfect, it isn't near as bad as I hear others describing their local store. I haven't seen gerbils there but my biggest complaint with the other small animals there is too small wheels. I frequently look at their hermit crabs too and they do pretty good with them as well. For a pet store.

by River Sat 09 Jul 2016, 9:15 am

My local Petco isn't too bad. Syrians are always housed alone, which makes me pretty happy, and the cage for the rodents are all around 20 gallons. They use Carefresh bedding and large mesh wheels. Of course, the cage itself is bland - a mere igloo house, food, a wheel, and water - but that's alright, I guess. They feed Kaytee lab blocks, which doesn't impress me, but at the very least, the conditions are clean and the mice don't seem to mind. And the one employee I once asked to handle the mouse, did it so gently! He herded them into a tiny box and let me examine them.
The guinea pigs and ferrets are all kept in far too small cages, though...
I do hate how stores keep their betta fish, so any store I walk into disappoints me greatly. But, there's not much I can do, I guess.

by CinnamonPearl Sat 09 Jul 2016, 9:34 am

Has anyone noticed that Petco now seems to be stocking mice as pets too? I was at my local store, and away from the feeder tanks, they had a couple of boys in a split tank labeled as "silky mice" who cost $6.99. There was an agouti and a light mock chocolate (like Henry). Kinda weird! Anyone else seen something similar?

by River Sat 09 Jul 2016, 9:37 am

My Petco doesn't specify whether they're feeders or not; they're just 'mouse'. No idea what that means, but they're kept aside with the pets, so I guess they get their fair share of both snake food, and pets.

by CinnamonPearl Sat 09 Jul 2016, 9:39 am

Well the PEWs in the big tanks are pretty generally feeders. Even the employees think of them that way and call them that. It doesn't say on the bin, but everyone knows it. The new "silky mice", however seem to be pet only!

by MouseLover Sat 09 Jul 2016, 9:42 am

CinnamonPearl wrote:I never expect much from any pet store. I used to be crazy passionate about these sorts of things a few years ago, but I pretty much have compassion fatigue for it now.

SAME. I used to get angry whenever I was in pet stores, seeing animals in tiny cramped cages, ones that obviously looked ill, or didn't even have a wheel, things like that. And then I think you get to a point where you don't even have the energy to get angry about it any more, so you just try not to think about it Worry

by CallaLily Sat 09 Jul 2016, 10:07 am

The only mice I've seen in tanks seperate from the main mouse cages at Petco were ones up for adoption. Mine mostly gets PEW in but occasionally gets other varieties which they place in the main cages. They're not labeled "feeder" but of course they will sell them as such. The mice up for adoption I believe are pet only.

by GabbiLuvsMice Sat 09 Jul 2016, 11:52 am

Petsmart was always my pet shop of choice, they always just seemed more reliable to me!

by MesaMouse Sat 09 Jul 2016, 12:52 pm

CinnamonPearl wrote:Has anyone noticed that Petco now seems to be stocking mice as pets too? I was at my local store, and away from the feeder tanks, they had a couple of boys in a split tank labeled as "silky mice" who cost $6.99. There was an agouti and a light mock chocolate (like Henry). Kinda weird! Anyone else seen something similar?

Yes. The Petco nearest me now has two bins, "Female Mice" and "Female Fancy Mice," the only difference being color and price. I haven't gotten mice from Petco for several years but was always appalled that the associates would pick up the desired mouse by its tail! PetSmart stocks only one gender of rodents per store -- a very good thing! -- and houses female mice two or three to a small viewing tank. As their mice are sold only as pets, there is only one price. All of their rodents always look healthy, even if they're feed "junk" diets. My last five mice have come from my local PetSmart and have been gently handled by the associates who used a scooping technique to pick them up. I am not a Petco fan but they carry Kaytee Clean and Cozy whereas the closest PetSmart does not and my dog's groomer is at my local Petco so I reluctantly patronize them for some things but generally head a mile further west to PetSmart for most pet supplies (and pets! My non-adopted hermit crabs are from PetSmart -- much better conditions there).

by CinnamonPearl Sat 09 Jul 2016, 2:09 pm

I wouldn't support Petco, but it's the only pet store near me, so unfortunately I have to sometimes, especially since I've lately been gathering supplies for Henry and Felix. I would rather go to Petsmart, but the closest one is an hour away.

by Sponsored content

Petco Needs Help

Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help

Re: Petco Needs Help