# Petsmart debate



## Voltage

There are a lot of mixed feelings about petsmart and I just wanted to share my views and findings. I got all four of my girls from petsmart and they are the most amazing ratties I could ask for. So far no major health issues that petsmart didn't help with. 
Anyway since I moved back to my home state I've been going to ever petsmart possible. So far I've only hit three and I took pictures of each cage. One I went back to less than a week later.

Petsmart one first visit -

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The cage was incredibly clean, their water bottle was full and the tank was gigantic. I could easily have fit inside of the tank curled up.The wheel is too small and wire but I'll address more on that on the second visit

Petsmart one second visit -

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As you can see this time they have a much bigger wheel and even totally different colored bedding and this was less than a week later. The water bottle is still full to the top and the cage is very clean. It seems the igloos are not the same ones though. 
In the second picture you can see the two inhabitants, two lovely girls. One is a beige berkshire and the other is siamese. 

Petsmart two -

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As you can see this cage is a little bit smaller but they have a gigantic wheel and their cage is just as clean as the first one. 
Their water bottle is almost full but it looks like the thing holding it up broke and the bottom is almost touching the ground. It looks like it is hard to drink and I'm hoping they fixed it very soon after.
There are two boys in this tank, one black hooded and a color I'm not sure of. He was brown but not sure if agouti or not.

Petsmart three -

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This tank like the first is huge and again they have a huge wheel. Every petsmart here I've been too as you can see has a gigantic wheel to suit their exercise needs. The tank is very clean and the water bottle is full.
In this tank there are four black hooded boys.

My dad does a lot of coupon shopping and he hits targets all over town so in exchange for going with him he lets me check out the nearest petsmart to take a picture of the tanks. 
Every petsmart I've ever been too both here and in Michigan have excellent care for their rodents. The people always seem very knowledgeable and helpful. They have pamphlets with accurate information as far as I can tell and they asked if I had a buddy for Peanut Butter when I got her. My girls are the sweetest little things and they just love attention and were very easy to "tame" 
My boys who were born and raised in a rescue aren't nearly as social and friendly as them even though I've had them for longer than it took my girls to trust me.
I haven't had any serious health issues other than Toast who had an ear infection a few days after coming home. Petsmart took her to the vet for me and got her two visits and full treatment and even sent her home with a nice big chew toy and a box of bedding and food. (the box being the carrier)
I've had nothing but good experiences with petsmart.

And I understand they get their rats from a place that breeds them irresponsibly and keeps them in horrid conditions but once at the store life seems pretty good for them. I know carefresh isn't the best bedding but its a whole lot better than pine or cedar. 

I will be posting pictures of more petsmarts as I go to them.
And this is open for debate.
And feel free to share your stories both good and bad.

I'd also like to add that petsmart is not my first choice to get my rats from. I would much rather adopt from a rescue or a breeder but as far as I know there aren't any here in Vegas


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## nanashi7

PetSmart is good as a pet store. It isn't comparable to better places, but as a chain store that gets things from a mill it has great conditions. They have even listened to my suggestions. All pets are sent home with a pamphlet. 

PetCo seems to be catching on in my area. They've increased cage size and decreased cage occupancy. Maybe they've realized good prices isn't enough. They still don't give a care about the pets post-sale, as they've never asked me about it. Live feeding policies I think make such the difference. 


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## Phantom

I've been to the pet stores in my area, and there are good ones but also very questionable ones. Most of the petsmarts I've been to are clean, but the cages are a little tiny. The all male petsmart near by house as super tiny hamster-size aquarium cages and houses a male in each, but they also have a giant tank were they house a few more males. The wheels are also way too small. 

The all female store near my house is a little better. They have a decent sized tank for their rats and a decent sized wheel. 

Petcos in my area are always terrible. The aquariums are 20 gallons I believe with several rats in each. I've seen them feed the males oranges and lettuce, and there have been several times when I've seen cuts and gashes and blood on the walls (mostly in the male mouse tank). Most of the rats are always sneezing and coughing.


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## Eden10

I haven't had very good experiences with my local Petsmart, which is a shame coz I do like the store in general...the cages are WAY nicer than my work (i work at a small chain pet store) & I love all their products. My last rattie I got from them died a couple days after I got him...they were pretty sympathtic about it tho. I definitely won't be buying anymore rats from them, but like I said I do like their product selection...especially compared to my job & our other local pet store.


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## cagedbirdsinging

The root of the debate is not often related to the individual stores and how they care for their animals. The problem is where Petsmart and Petco get their animals from. You don't want to see those pictures.


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## Siringo

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised that there are pet stores that clean the cages! The pet store chains in my area has similarly sized tanks, but the igloo will always have this thick coat of sticky old urine on it, showing it hasn't been washed in.. months probably. Also poops everywhere and a corn+seed mix for food. I have never seen a petstore rat that looked remotely happy or healthy 

I dunno what is up with the tiny wire wheels either. Anyone who took a look at those fully grown boy rats would realize they can't even get their body in a hamster wheel.


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## xolectic

Two of my rats came from Petsmart. They fought like crazy, and one died from a respiratory infection a couple weeks ago. My current rat, Henry, is extremely friendly to people, he has never bit a person for any reason. He lives alone due to his inability to get along with other rats, but he seems to enjoy being alone more than other people's rats. I believe that Petsmart does not socialize rats properly. He does not like being outside his cage for more than a minute or so, he gets very nervous in open spaces. His appetite is pretty good (a little too good) and he weighs 1.6 pounds.


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## CrayonWinter

I was only in petsmart once, to buy mice, years ago. This is unrelated to rats but I have steered clear ever since this incident. 
The tank was labeled "boy" mouse, however, there was a female and a male in there! I tried to speak to one of the employees but she insisted that that mouse was male. Sure she was a female, I took her home with me and got her a friend a few weeks later. I've deemed my petsmart unreliable. All of the rats I have gotten from Petco have been aggressive and have had biting problems.


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## Daniel

PetSmart is a good chain that I have always defended. I am friendly with the management of one store that explained their pet stock and where they get them from, that they are not all from the horrible mills, but I guess this is not universal. Some are worse than others.

As far as how the pet rats are kept, they seem roomy enough, maybe a little bored since the only out time they get is during cleaning and 'shoulder training' (that most PetSmarts do with rats).


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## Daniel

xolectic said:


> Two of my rats came from Petsmart. They fought like crazy, and one died from a respiratory infection a couple weeks ago. My current rat, Henry, is extremely friendly to people, he has never bit a person for any reason. He lives alone due to his inability to get along with other rats, but he seems to enjoy being alone more than other people's rats. I believe that Petsmart does not socialize rats properly. He does not like being outside his cage for more than a minute or so, he gets very nervous in open spaces. His appetite is pretty good (a little too good) and he weighs 1.6 pounds.


I grew up in Springfield. If you're talking about the PetSmart in town, I'd call it average, but I've not had these problems with their rats. One of my boys came from the Springfield PetSmart.


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## Daize

I like Petsmart. The cages are always clean, in the ones I've been to, and they're quite roomy too. The cages are never over crowded and the rats are friendly and healthy. They even have Dumbo rats. The employees play with them daily to help socialize them, before they're sold. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a rat from Petsmart. They take excellent care of all of their animals. 

Petco is't as good a Petsmart in my area. The rats are still healthy, but not as friendly. They tend to over crowd the cages and sometimes they mix sexes in the cages. They try to keep them separate, but sometimes they still end up mixed. If you're looking for a younger rat, then Petco has them. Petsmart, in my area, only gets in rats that are 3 months or older. Petco will get in rats that are as young as 5 weeks. I've never seen dirty cages at Petco. I've only seen over crowded cages.


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## smopey

cagedbirdsinging said:


> The root of the debate is not often related to the individual stores and how they care for their animals. The problem is where Petsmart and Petco get their animals from. You don't want to see those pictures.


I agree. I don't think the debate is about cleanliness and/or how they care for their animals. Considering Petsmart is a chain, I'd imagine that they have pretty high standards as far as cage cleanliness goes. The problem with places like Petsmart is where they get the animals from and how they're bred. I got two rats from Petsmart and they both developed pituitary tumors within months of each other. My first rat died a little over a month ago and my second rat is about to pass any day now. They weren't even a year and half before they started developing these tumors. My vet said it would be rare for two rats to develop the same thing at the same time, but since they were from the same litter he said it was likely a breeding issue.


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## TikalKeria

I went to a lot of different pet stores and handled rats from each and Petsmart rats were by FAR in the best conditions and the FRIENDLIEST rats. if you do get from a pet store, I think Petsmart is your best bet ._.


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## Pheyra

I like the company as a WHOLE, but the PetSmarts around where I live are terrible.
I picked up my two ratties at PetSmart, and I think i saved their lives.

I asked the manager if they had any rats left in-stock since there were none in the display cage, and his response was, "uh....I don't know. let me check."
Turns out, there was a whole Tupperware container sitting in the hot stockroom full of 6 rats. No food or water. Sitting in the stockroom for 4days. WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER.
Bought two babies, brought them home, and they were fighting over the food and water i gave them.


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## jasper1230

I have worked as a pet care associate at a PetSmart for the last year. I understand people complaining about where the animals come from but for the most part it's a good company. I usually end up bringing animals to the vet about once a month or so whether it's from a wound, age, illness, or some other reason. PetSmart spends a lot of money to keep the animals healthy. My manager adopted one of our rats with head tilt once after the store spent over $250 in medical bills for a rat they just gave away. We work our butts off constantly cleaning, medicating and try to socialize all the animals at least a few times a week with weekly bedding changes and food/water changes every other day. I also saw a post saying something about them recommending we give out care guides with each animal we sell. That has been a policy for years and that is an employee problem not a company issue. I also saw a post about no one caring about animals after they go home. The store is always willing to take an animal back and pay hundreds of dollars for vet bills within the 14 days and the whole mission statement of the store is "Total Lifetime Care". I haven't met an employee yet who doesn't ask a pet parent how their new pet is doing every time they return to the store. Anyways....rant over. I just wanted to say that it's not a horrible company. All the other chain pet stores and the privately owned stores in our area all have so many more issues than PetSmart.


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## Voltage

jasper1230 said:


> I have worked as a pet care associate at a PetSmart for the last year. I understand people complaining about where the animals come from but for the most part it's a good company. I usually end up bringing animals to the vet about once a month or so whether it's from a wound, age, illness, or some other reason. PetSmart spends a lot of money to keep the animals healthy. My manager adopted one of our rats with head tilt once after the store spent over $250 in medical bills for a rat they just gave away. We work our butts off constantly cleaning, medicating and try to socialize all the animals at least a few times a week with weekly bedding changes and food/water changes every other day. I also saw a post saying something about them recommending we give out care guides with each animal we sell. That has been a policy for years and that is an employee problem not a company issue. I also saw a post about no one caring about animals after they go home. The store is always willing to take an animal back and pay hundreds of dollars for vet bills within the 14 days and the whole mission statement of the store is "Total Lifetime Care". I haven't met an employee yet who doesn't ask a pet parent how their new pet is doing every time they return to the store. Anyways....rant over. I just wanted to say that it's not a horrible company. All the other chain pet stores and the privately owned stores in our area all have so many more issues than PetSmart.


This makes me really happy to read. Petsmart went above and beyond for my little Toast and I will always love that store now

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## Daniel

One other good thing about PetSmart - not only are they (99% of the time due to their one sex only per store policy) good about seperating sexes (and thus having rare pregnancies with their females), but I also notice they have a super long quarantine period. I was told it was 2 week min for things like returns, etc but when they first get rats/other small animals, I understand the Q period is over a month.


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## jasper1230

Daniel said:


> One other good thing about PetSmart - not only are they (99% of the time due to their one sex only per store policy) good about seperating sexes (and thus having rare pregnancies with their females), but I also notice they have a super long quarantine period. I was told it was 2 week min for things like returns, etc but when they first get rats/other small animals, I understand the Q period is over a month.


The policy is 3 days for all small animals, 7 days for birds, no quarantine for reptiles unless they have an issue, and 7 days for fish.


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## Daniel

jasper1230 said:


> The policy is 3 days for all small animals, 7 days for birds, no quarantine for reptiles unless they have an issue, and 7 days for fish.


Not what I was told, though I was discussing returns. I know that the boys I returned didn't show back up in the main area for over 2 weeks.


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## Rat Daddy

My big issue with my local petsmart is that they only get in older rats. The best rats for most new owners are still pups. But realizing that there is more profit to be made on adult rats, that's what they sell. One petsmart had an accidental litter and actually sent them back to the breeder rather than sell them. I mean they had been played with by the staff and were in great health and would have made much better pets than the neurotic neglected animals they had out on the floor, but they sent them to the breeders to be screwed up! 

And every rat at my local petsmart is 3 to 4 months old, regardless of how long it's been there... somehow their rats never age. So the unsuspecting rat buyer might bring home a rat that's twice if not more times as old as what he thinks he's buying. I spoke with the local staff and they now have a policy of discounting rats that don't sell after a while, especially when they go seriously anti-social, so now you can get two dollars off on a screwed up biting rat, if that's ever a bargain.

Hey, I go to the pet shop nearby, and get my pups right out of the feeder bin for under 3 bucks. I asked why that shop doesn't sell pet rats, and they said it's because they don't want to warrantee them. So I guess I've never gotten a warantee, but for $2.99 I'm thinking it's still a fair deal. I'm pretty good at spotting a healthy rat, and both Fuzzy Rat and Max came from the feeder bin as did our somewhat less successful rats. They may not have become true shoulder rats, but each was very special in it's own way.


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## Daniel

Rat Daddy said:


> And every rat at my local petsmart is 3 to 4 months old, regardless of how long it's been there... somehow their rats never age. So the unsuspecting rat buyer might bring home a rat that's twice if not more times as old as what he thinks he's buying
> .


That happened to me. Parsley is a PetSmart rat, he was sold as 'about 4 months' - he is about 1 year and maybe a month or so old. I am bad at aging rats but the vet said there was no doubt because of how grown he is.

Though it was worse with the hole in the wall pet store somewhat near me...I got a double rex there 'about 10 months old' that is actually a year + and more likely a year and a half.


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## Rat Daddy

When I buy a rat, it's either weened or not weened. I love playing with rat pups and wouldn't miss the best part of their lives!

But I once asked a girl how old a rat was at petsmart... she said it was 3-4 months old. I asked how old it was when they got it and she said 3-4 months old and I asked her how long it had been there and she said 3 months, so I asked her again how old it was and she said it was 3 to 4 months old... she was nearly tearing up so I didn't push the issue.... Either the young lady was very sad about being unable to add, or she was having trouble with corporate or store policy that prevented her from telling the truth. People want rats that are 3 to 4 month's old and that's exactly what they are going to sell you or at least tell you.

Seriously folks.... how is it that so many people miss the fun of raising pups? I mean pups are playful and charming and bond better than any other rat.... Fuzzy Rat came to us at 3 weeks old and Max was two weeks old when we got her and she's already a true shoulder rat. I can't see why anybody would intentionally miss the rat pup experience, especially if they are adopting a store bought rat. If you have never raised your own pup, don't miss the experience next time you go looking for a best furry friend. Buying a year old rat is like buying a 7 year old dog. It's still way better than not having a rat at all, and there are great one year old rats out there, so I'm not knocking folks for buying older rats, just wondering why not start with a pup?


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## Daniel

Rat Daddy said:


> Seriously folks.... how is it that so many people miss the fun of raising pups? I mean pups are playful and charming and bond better than any other rat.... Fuzzy Rat came to us at 3 weeks old and Max was two weeks old when we got her and she's already a true shoulder rat. I can't see why anybody would intentionally miss the rat pup experience, especially if they are adopting a store bought rat. If you have never raised your own pup, don't miss the experience next time you go looking for a best furry friend. Buying a year old rat is like buying a 7 year old dog. It's still way better than not having a rat at all, and there are great one year old rats out there, so I'm not knocking folks for buying older rats, just wondering why not start with a pup?


Well, it's probably not a good thing to advocate getting them that young if it means separating them from their mother. I have a 3 week old, but his mother was nowhere in sight, so it was more of a rescue, but if she was there I would have waited a week.


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## rubytuesday

Well, the associates at my local PetSmart always tell the truth about rat age and as a result they have 4 males that are about 1 year old and seriously anti-social. The babies they often manage to sell, but I'm afraid the older ones are going to spend their entire lives at the store.


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## Rat Daddy

My girls come from feeder bins where they are in with surrogate mothers. I really wasn't big on the idea of a two week old rat pup when we found Max. She was the only walnut brown hoodie in the bins with natural color eyes. One of the few I've actually locally seen and she was larger than the rest and already had her eyes mostly open. She was calm and seemed in good health and she had just arrived at the store. We liked her even if it was just a gut feeling. Still, I dragged my daughter out of the store and told her that if the brown hoodie was still there in a couple of weeks we'd pick her up. 

My daughter made a very valid point that the chances of any rat pup in a feeder bin actually surviving two weeks there was pretty much slim to none and I had just killed her chosen rat. So after an evening of moping about and nasty looks I took my daughter back to the store after school the next day and picked up max and a couple of travel packs of KMR. So, we kept max with us 24X7 and fed her with an eyedropper every couple of hours and she turned out pretty much fine. She lacks Fuzzy Rat's easy going charm and has a tendency to be impulsive and take stupid risks, but she's a true shoulder rat never the less, a major accomplishment for any rat. Fuzzy Rat was 3 weeks old and we only supplemented her dry food with cereal and milk.

When you have the option to wait, I would absolutely agree that rat pups are best off with their rat mom AND daily human handling. If you have to adopt a very young pup, expect to put in a few weeks of sleepless nights and long days...

But still, rat pups are awesome! They just ooze love and play fight and hop around like silly children. They go from barely crawling to running to climbing to jumping, from little furballs to real rats right before your eyes. I can't imagine anyone missing the experience.


That's Max in my 7 year old daughter's little hand. She weighed just one ounce. The artificial light makes her look black, but she is actually walnut brown.









And she just oozed cute and cuddly. 


As to the petsmart with year old rats, if the store really cared they could have socialized the rats and discounted them. People will buy year old rats if they are friendly. But it's unfair to their customers to send them home with screwed up and biting animals. Which we have all seen done all too often. Unfortunately, it's people new to rats that don't know better that buy the screwed up rats and they are the most ill-equipped to deal with the problems they bring home. I mean I can fix most screwed up rats, but why would I want to when rats like Max only cost a couple of dollars and need rescuing even more.


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## rubytuesday

Rat Daddy said:


> As to the petsmart with year old rats, if the store really cared they could have socialized the rats and discounted them. People will buy year old rats if they are friendly. But it's unfair to their customers to send them home with screwed up and biting animals. Which we have all seen done all too often. Unfortunately, it's people new to rats that don't know better that buy the screwed up rats and they are the most ill-equipped to deal with the problems they bring home. I mean I can fix most screwed up rats, but why would I want to when rats like Max only cost a couple of dollars and need rescuing even more.


I agree Rat Daddy. But at the very least the associates at that store are willing to be very honest about the rats. I was told that those rats are screwed up biting animals, and honestly I don't think the employees at a PetSmart know how to fix rats. I suppose the solution would be for them to not mess them up to begin with.


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## Rat Daddy

They could always donate the rats to a rescue where skilled people might be able to fix them... but there's no way to put that transaction into the computer at a chain store. And yes, at least they are honest.

I might add that stores sell rats pretty much at a loss anyway in order to sell cages, litter, food toys etc. I can't imagine they are going to sell too much to anyone with a rat attached to their fingers, so dumping screwed up rats onto potential big ticket customers really doesn't make much sense.


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## jasper1230

Most rats that are over a year old and antisocial like my Mama Rat are up for adoption...so free. They don't advertise things that way but any pet care manager who cares does that for any rat with a genetic, cosmetic, or age related issue that makes them hard to sell. They still would rather you buy a rat so they don't tell you that they occasionally have animals up for adoption but they do. Just call around and ask if you want to adopt a rat. I adopted Mama from the store I work at...she is around 18 months old...she used to be terrified of sound, people, movement and you couldn't really touch her without her squealing and shaking. Now about a months later she loves everyone, terrorizes the cat, and rules the rat cage.


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## Rat Daddy

Honestly, most rats can be fixed by people with experience and/or perseverance. That doesn't mean however they aren't going to get bit along the way. Unfortunately, for the most part experienced rat owners know how to avoid problem rats in the first place. Thus the 18 month old biting rat goes to 10 year old Annabelle who wants the big puffy one that's all alone and doesn't even notice that the sales associate put on three pairs of leather gloves, an army jacket and safety glasses before reaching into the cage and lifting the rat out by the tail. I can't even imagine how this scenario is ever going to have a happy ending although I'm sure some do. But with a first experience like Annabelle is likely to have, there's no wonder so many rats wind up on Craig's list as part of a package that includes a free cage and half a pound of food.

I have a great deal of respect for people like yourself, who have animal handling experience and know what they are getting into and still adopt a screwed up animal, then work through it's issues to make a wonderful pet out of a problem rat.


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