I went to a pets at home and noticed the rats for sale did not have any food, so I told the guy working there and he said theyve had their food for the day and they would be fed again in the morning. He didn't even seem to care and this was in the afternoon. His attitude towards the animals and me was disgusting.
I'm sorry but I had three rats and they always had plentiful food with extra vegetables and treats.
Those poor rats.

 

That place make me so mad.
The rats are cleaned and fed by the people who are cleaning them out at 6am. One small bowl of rat nuggets and water. The lad should not give you the attitude of not caring, that is just disgusting. But i do know he wouldnt be able to do anything about it as he will get wrong. The store has a budget and we were told to give the hamsters , guinea pigs and rabbits only half of what they had previously. Where i worked , they would go round and check to see how much was food was in the bowls and if too much we would be pulled in the office and get told off. At 4pm we would give the guinea pigs a top up of hay and some more veg and that would be it until 6am the next morning.

 

I went to my local pets at home to talk about pregnancy vitamins the manager said they don't need anything ! I replayed what before after and in whelping he said no she will be fine ! , but then again my daughter asked to see the g-pigs once and they went out the back brought out a 3 day old baby and said they have them out the back pregnant and then sell the baby , then I asked another worker and they said all the pets are born on a really nice well looked after farm, then brung to the shop and sexed etc , but heard a lady in there returned a pair of rabbits because they was supposed to be 2 girls and was a girl and a boy and well you know the saying at it like rabbits ain't it for no reason

 

I went to my local pets at home to talk about pregnancy vitamins the manager said they don't need anything ! I replayed what before after and in whelping he said no she will be fine ! , but then again my daughter asked to see the g-pigs once and they went out the back brought out a 3 day old baby and said they have them out the back pregnant and then sell the baby , then I asked another worker and they said all the pets are born on a really nice well looked after farm, then brung to the shop and sexed etc , but heard a lady in there returned a pair of rabbits because they was supposed to be 2 girls and was a girl and a boy and well you know the saying at it like rabbits ain't it for no reason

Oh their animals are often from farms, not of the really nice & well looked after variety though.

Missexing & unexpected pregnancy in animals from there is also commonplace.

 

They are ordered in but as said but no proof from a nice farm lol. And also yes some are will have babies because they have come into store that way or because they have been sexed wrong by the people who think they know best. I have guinea pigs and studied them for 2 years before i worked there. They dont even know what type of coat they have never mind what ever else. And NON of the cages are suitable for them never mind rabbits. X

 

I just want to start of by saying I'm not writing this in defence of pets at home I'm just curious.

My local petshop (not pets at home) keeps animals in terrible conditions and they sell cages that are totally unfit for purpose. I have also asked basic questions which they had no clue about.

However I have been to two different pets at home outlets one in Loughborough and one in Hertfordshire. Both places provide the pets with big cages and wheels to exercise in. The staff where very helpful and informed about where the pets had come from and how old they were. They told me about the breeder and how often they are brought in and kept out the back before they are put up for sale.

Yes some of the cages are a bit rubbish but they also sell great cages like the Ferplast Duna Fun.

Have I just been lucky and come across some good stores and this generally isn't the norm?

Before I start that I have a diploma in animal care
I have an issue with pets at because basically most of the people who work there don't know much about the animals and their needs. They stopped doing it now but they use to sell reptiles and they were behaving unnaturally and I was told that was normal for them. As I they use to sell corn snakes which a lot or proper who have them will agree that they have to be one of the most friendliest breeds of snakes and they will rarely bite but the one I saw at pets at home was constantly striking and bite anyone who tries to clean it which is not normal at all.
The last thing is that I bought 2 rabbits from there (this was before I knew better) one was unweight and not even half the size he should have been he then died 4 weeks later I took him to the vets and they found out that he had worms. The second rabbit was not tamed at all. He would not let me stroke him, it has taken me 3 years for him to allow me to approach and let him and he still barely let's me pick him up and I spend time with him everyday

 

1. They encourage breeding mills.
2. Too many unwanted pets in need of adoption as it is.
3. They sell pets to anybody and don't care if they will be well cared for
4. They sell disgustingly small cages for hamsters and for Degus/chinchillas.

 

Having listed the cons they also have pros
1. They have an adoption part in each store
2. They sell larger cages on their website and some in store
3. Unwanted pets can be returned for adoption
4. They supply lots of pet toys
5. They don't breed cats dogs and birds
6. Their reward card goes to supporting animal charities