# Oh noes, The signs are wrong!!! Petco boneheads...



## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

I was rat shopping recently, and I went to petco because they are the only place that I know of with PEWs and I wanted one... (did not get one, for reasons below)

The females that I saw were so flighty, afraid, or just too small... well the lady there goes "we have larger ones over here" I said where, as all the female rats I had thought I had already seen, well there was a cage that I thought was males... you can't mistake males, anyway... so she goes "no, males are on this side but this side (the cage was split into two areas to make more room for males and females), has larger females... but she looks down and noticed that there was no sign marking that part of the area... so we lift the doors and what do I see? Two pregnant rats! It was so obvious... which means that they were not just pregnant, but REALLY pregnant, as in... someone could have easily bought themselves 10 rats for the price of 1. One of the rats looked like she was due any hour. 

So she said "oops, guess we got the signs mixed up recently...". 

I left without buying a rat... how could I? Wish this arrangement of males and females side by side, there is reason for me to think any could be pregnant. I ended up driving all across town, which eventually lead me to a place that had one female left... a rex. Our first rex. My wife adores her, and she has been no issue integrating with the other girls. Petco, a mixed blessing, it would seem, but they REALLY need to get their act together. I am not some animal protection nazi, but neglect of some, implies possible neglect of anything, so I would not be able to trust them, at any rate.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Most of petco's employees know nothing about the animals and most of them don't really care.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

Oddly, this person did know... she was pissed as ****. She immediately took the rats to the back and when I walked out she understood and was in the middle of both, trying to figure out how to fix the problem, and trying to explain to another person why rats were better than hamsters. 

But yeah, I am sure that she may have been the only person there that knew anything, and if we hadn't came in, they may have had a litter born in plain view.


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## madeittothemoon (Nov 1, 2007)

One of my friends got some fairly viscious rats from Petco... I really don't think I've ever heard anything good about that place.


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

I ended up with hamster babies from PetCo... Haven't set foot in one since. I'm glad she did separate them out, though I've also heard stories of some PetCo's removing "sick" (mostly) rats and then people seeing them on the floor hours later. Sigh.


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## teal (Oct 25, 2007)

I think PETCO must weather alot of complaints because they can't sex a rat and also sell ill rats. Caveat Emptor. I guess my only plus for them is that since rats are not such a common pet, at least they have them. I can imagine how much training their employees get.


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

its not hard to sex a rat (or guinea pigs or hamsters etc), i could tell what my guinea pig was and i was 4! my rats were extremely easy too. where i buy my rats, they come vet checked, atleast a ballpark estimate of when they were born, a 14 day warranty so if any problems arise, they will pay for the vet, and the girl who sold them to us had pet rats, and they only carried females (to avoid pregger rats) 

whereas when we got our boys from a different store, he had prolly 20 in a ten gallon tank, and they were on seed mix! then he told us that seed mix was so great for them blah blah blah, the he picked them out roughly by the MIDDLE of the tail and threw them in a box, we took them home and they pood and peed on us literally every 5 seconds, and it was green, slimy and gross! i looked at them thouroughly to discover they had bugs, and lots of them! i could see them MOVING! we took them back cuz my dad didnt want to pay for the vet (they had already spent $300 to take my dog to the vet that day) and they were NOT happy or friendly about it! they were such nice rats though, well, mine was, he sat on my shoulder and bruxed for half an hour :'(

there definately are petstores that should be avoided


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## Ishbel (Oct 24, 2007)

That's really sad, rat_ratscal!


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

a few days before my birthday to :'(

oh and in the 10 gallon, there were females AND males!


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

Yeah, they had a female or two over in the male side too... I mean... these were almost full grown rats, so... there was an absence of some stuff that clued me in.


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## RatGirl4 (Oct 31, 2007)

That kind of thing happens WAY to often. I don't think any petstore should be allowed to sell rats. Plus, anyone can buy them, so lot's of them end up going to bad homes. :evil:


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## Sparker (Jun 17, 2007)

RatGirl4 said:


> That kind of thing happens WAY to often. I don't think any petstore should be allowed to sell rats. Plus, anyone can buy them, so lot's of them end up going to bad homes. :evil:


Or worse. :?


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

RatGirl4 said:


> That kind of thing happens WAY to often. I don't think any petstore should be allowed to sell rats. Plus, anyone can buy them, so lot's of them end up going to bad homes. :evil:


Well that is kindof elitist. If it weren't for pet stores I would not have rats. 

Anyone can buy a dog or a cat too... they don't call them "pet" stores for nothing.

I suppose those of us that don't have access to breeders or don't want rescue rats (not everyone wishes to gamble this way) from the SPCA are somehow less diserving of a pet rat?

:roll:


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## Nightfallspy (Nov 5, 2007)

It all depends which one you go to, some can be TERRIBLE and some, arn't that bad, theres one I go 18 miles from my house just because they know alot small animals, and we've gotten a rescue cat there, we trust that place, everythings seperated and organized as well. (inc the animals  )


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## taralyncouture (Aug 23, 2007)

Theres a nearby pet store where i purchased my rats (the nearest breeder is 6 hours away) and i go in once a week and play with their rats. the people love me. but i know more then they do. the only reason i dont work there is because of my age. but i asked the sex on this lonly rat when i was looking for my second because he was laying so i couldnt check. well she brings him out and says she doesnt know how to tell the sex of rats. ARE YOU THAT RETARDED!?
I mean unless they magicaly have a giant growth on their vagina which i seriously doubt THOSE LOOK LIKE BALLS LADY!
haha so i'm basicaly volunteering their for the animals because the people are stupid haha


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## BlueSkyy (Sep 27, 2007)

taralyncouture said:


> well she brings him out and says she doesnt know how to tell the sex of rats. ARE YOU THAT RETARDED!?
> I mean unless they magicaly have a giant growth on their vagina which i seriously doubt THOSE LOOK LIKE BALLS LADY!


LOL!
excellent.
:mrgreen:


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## xxpinkfunxx (Oct 14, 2007)

Reason number 4659836443596 why I buy all my pets/supplies from a small family owned pet place. Plus the people that work there are much nicer. Altho after all ive been thru with my boys i might know more about em than they do now! lol


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## Sdaji (Oct 28, 2007)

Wow, pet shops really are terrible 

It's so good to see that you're all anti pet shop. So many people I know will go into pet shops, see neglected animals, take pity on them and purchase them! So what does the shop do? They keep neglecting animals so that people will keep rescuing them... making them nice and rich! Purchasing neglected animals from pet shops is a great way to sponsor animal cruelty!


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

i do always feel sorry for their cute little faces, looking at you and pleading for help :'(


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## RatQueen (Sep 26, 2007)

I have this one shop I go to. It's not that great but it's the best place I've been to! I chat with the people that work there every once in a while and almost every rat I've owned I got from there. All the rats have had good health and good life spans. ^.^ The only thing I've seen is every once in a while some of the rats get/have bugs. BUT when I bring it to their attention they start treating them asap and the bugs are gone by my next visit. ^.^ (in the next week or 2)


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

atleast there are a few okay pet stores........


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## Sparker (Jun 17, 2007)

Sdaji said:


> Purchasing neglected animals from pet shops is a great way to sponsor animal cruelty!


I agree completely. But I also think it depends on the pet store. There are a couple in my area that should be burned to the ground... :? 

My first rat (and the original reason why I love them so) was from one of the above mentioned pet stores. 

*I do not recommend that people do what I did, but...* I stole her. 

I was fresh out of high school and was working there while in college. I lasted four days of employment before I couldn't stomach the way the animals were treated and kept... and she was about to be "thumped" for a customer's snake... so I stuffed her into my purse, caused a scene screaming at the store owner about ethics (ironic?) and never went back. 

So, yeah, I agree.


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## Squeak (Sep 4, 2007)

That is terrible! I wish pet shops like Petco would take better responsibility, in caring for their animals, especially rats!


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## Nightfallspy (Nov 5, 2007)

Yeah some stores are terrible, I went to petsmart to pick up a new litter box, worst place ever, I looked at the little rats and it was feeding time, the guy picked them up by the tail and literally picked up the food dish one was sleeping in and dumped it 5 feet above the the cage, I felt so bad, I was like "Dude thats not right!" He just ignored me, On the other hand about 20miles away theres a great Petco with only a couple fish boneheads, they treat their rats like royalty, and have rescue pets. Then I went to another one and it was a dump, it all depends on which store you go too.


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## madeittothemoon (Nov 1, 2007)

Nightfallspy said:


> Yeah some stores are terrible, I went to petsmart to pick up a new litter box, worst place ever, I looked at the little rats and it was feeding time, the guy picked them up by the tail and literally picked up the food dish one was sleeping in and dumped it 5 feet above the the cage, I felt so bad, I was like "Dude thats not right!"


Really? I've never had problems with PetSmart... maybe it's just the one I go to...?


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

likely, though i'm sure that there is other goods ones out there too. like others have said before me, it all boils down to the store. the managers have a lot of lee-way in what way they want to run their stores, even the big name stores. unfortunately it seems that the bad stores are more common then the good ones and so the general feeling is to avoid pet stores if you have other options. but, i to have bought rats from pet stores. just because you don't buy them doesn't mean there won't still be a demand for them and so still be sold. 

as far as the pet store gamble vs the rescue gamble i don't see much of a difference. likely the ones at a rescue originally came from a pet store or a pet store pregnancy anyway so the genetics are not likely to be different either way. and just like pet stores rescues can have any range in age. also like a pet store, you can't tell what type of handling they have had until you handle them yourself. i think the only difference might be that a rescue is less likely to let aggressive rats go though some have slipped through. i just don't see where the difference lies in those gambles... perhaps i'm missing something.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

You are NOT going to get a 1-2 year old rat from a large pet store. You might get a 4-6 month old... but 6 moths is pushing it.

The gamble is the age. I don't want to get an SPCA rat of unknown age, and then have a mountain of vet bills a couple weeks later that are just due to old age... I also do not want to have to unlearn the rat of whatever was taught at the previous owner. At least at the pet store, I know the previous owner... bad or good, at least I know where the rat came from and how old it is. I can train a pet store rat, and I can take the risk of a pet store rat getting sick, but if I got a rat that turned out to be 2 years old and gave me a mountain of old age vet bills and died 3 months after getting him, not even long enough to truly make a connection to me, I really would be frustrated.

I go to Petsmart because the rats are of known age... and I can also get a rat that has had no owner, other than the store, if I wish, although some are "returns"... but even these have a paper trail.

Petsmart is the reason I could even get into rats... I know of breeders now, but they aren't exactly the hilton either. Petco, I will never shop at again, because I do have other options... other pet stores. Pet stores are not the problem, it is people.


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## crapola (Feb 12, 2007)

i got all but one of my girls from a pet store... but the staff in there really know their ratties... and they will only sell girls.

on a related line, my neighbours fell in love with my babies and went and got three of their own, but they didnt go to the same store (this was less than 2 weeks ago). anyway... she texted me the other night asking if i know how to tell if a rat is pregnant (they had only had them for 3 days)... so i go over there to have a look, and she is so much fatter than her sisters, and the nipples were pretty prominent compared to the others. i said to give it a couple of days and it will be more obvious. last saturday we went looking at cages for their girls (they have borrowed one of my spares), and i had another look at frisby... and she not only had nipples, she had boobs!!! i told them they are going to be grandparents in a couple of days...

yesterday, i got a text... frisby had 11 babies!!! so of course i went to check them out. my friend had just called the pet shop where she got them from, and they really had no idea. they blamed her for buying it. blamed her for buying a pregnant rat, blamed her for allowing it to get pregnant... you name it!! the kicker was when the person on the other end of the phone said to someone else in the store that my friends were stupid, letting a male rat get to their girls FOUR weeks ago!!!!! my friend told them they were stupid, the gestation period for a rat is no more than 23 days, and that she didnt sign on for 14 rats, only three, and then she slammed the phone down in this persons ear.

the babies are sooo cute. beckoned (my daughter who posts here occasionally) wants a couple of the boys, and we're looking for homes for the others.... but they will definitely not be going back to that pet store.

for anyone in adelaide, that crappy store is the one on prospect road (cant remember the name of it atm), and the two best pet stores here are pets paradise at tea tree plaza, and petwares in mt barker.


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