# Petco vs. Petsmart



## Emile (May 18, 2008)

I was wondering what your guy's experiences have been. I know that pet stores are bad anyway, but I was wondering out of these two, which one is less evil. Personally, I prefer Petsmart. The two girls I have now are from there. I've had them for about two months, and they basically never sneeze and seem all-around healthy. The day I got my rats I went to Petco first. When I looked in the rat cages, there were males that looked way too young to be adopted, and there was poryphin coming out of their eyes while they were lying on their backs breathing heavily. I asked to look at them to see if they were even alive. The guy came over and was very surprised I wanted to look at them and not just adopt them right away. As soon as he opened the cage door, the two boys came to life and were absolutely petrified. The guy went on to grab them by their tails and comment on how nasty they are. At Petco, they only had albinos, and he said albinos easily contracted diseases and should only be used for snake food. That really set me off. I know many of you guys own PEW/albino rats, and that's not even true, is it?
Anyways, my sister had two boys at home, so I didn't adopt from Petco since I didn't want to get them sick. I was still searching for my two rats to give a home, but after Petco, I went home, took a shower, and waited three hours first to ensure any remnants of the Petco rat sickness had worn off. That evening I went to Petsmart, and as soon as I spotted these two dumbo-eared black and white girls, I knew they were mine. The person who helped us commented on how great of pets rats made, and I prepared for him to pick my rats up by thier tails. He actually picked them up the proper way! I was so relieved. My two girls look like twins with black patches in pretty much all the same places. My one girl, Ella (short for Cinderella), is very loving and always has been. My other girl, Ariel, is a bit skittish, but she's getting better.
Well, that's my two cents and feel free to give yours.


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## courtuhknee (Jun 18, 2008)

I work at Petsmart.. 

and before I applied I actually checked out both stores and went whooooleheartedly with Petsmart. 
I think it does vary between stores, though. Just because they're chains doesn't mean that they all operate the same way. 

That being said.. in my area.. Petsmart is ten times better. The Petco had overcrowded rats, for feeders.. A couple of them had very runny eyes and did not look well at all. They also had at least 10 ferrets in one tank that was CLEARLY not large enough. As well as parrotlets overcrowded in cages that were too small for them. My Petsmart has two rats to a tank (unfortunate, but they do have ventilation systems that work well), no more than that. And I don't really know what Petco's vet policies are, but we take them to the vet for evvverything. I don't know if that's just because I have a good manager or if all Petsmarts work that way. There are certainly some things I don't like.. such as their policies about not socializing while the store is open (which I do anyway ;P), but I think Petsmart often gets a bad reputation. Whenever an animal is sick, we have to take them to the vet and fill out medical charts detailing what's wrong and what their progress has been. As far as animal-selling stores go, I think Petsmart is one of the best. Naturally I think that it would be better they didn't sell animals.. but I just don't see that happening anytime soon. :[ 

Most of the small, privately owned pet stores in my area are absolutely awful. Because they don't get dropped in on by someone making sure they do things right, so they keep the animals in bad conditions. I'd never shop at any of my local stores, except one, which doesn't sell animals. I've gone into my local store, called Art's Animals, and was totally heartbroken. There was a hamster clearly lodged behind his water bottle, kicking to get out, and when I told the clerk he just sort of stared at me with glazed-over eyes. I had to force him to help the poor thing. :/ 

Anyway.. I choose Petsmart. 
There's a blue ratty boy at my store that I'm sooo tempted to buy. <3 He had mites and was back in the sick room being treated, so I took him out a lot (the cages back there aren't as big as on the floor) and got really attached to him. He's all cleared up now, and I want him!! But I already have 5 boys. :x I have to resist....


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## Neuroticax (May 1, 2007)

PetCo is too expensive, imo but they seem to have a better (healthier) selection of animals than Petsmart. At least here in Milwaukee anyway. PetCo also was more informed about their animals (except bettas) than Petsmart seems to be.


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## Rodent (Aug 11, 2008)

Petsmart... but they are twice the price than petco.
But they aren't crowded and actually have toys and things.
But for me... to get males, I would have to go to petco. 
I don't have the space for cages of males and females...


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## Brizzle (Mar 26, 2008)

I work at Petco and I would never buy a rat from my store. They all have resp infections. I try to stay away from the rats for fear of bringing something home to my own.

I have seen nicer Petcos than mine. I've also seen bad Petsmarts. I guess it really depends on the store.


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## MadCatter (Aug 12, 2008)

I work at Petco... and dislike the other Petco in town, as well as the two petsmarts in town. It all boils down to knowledgeable and caring staff. This varies greatly from location to location, and no one 'chain' is necessarily better then the other. I think it's crucial that we don't generalize. 

Healthy animals are important, however with many small animals such as rats, they are bred on a large scale, regardless of whether they're sold as feeders or not. Even petsmart has 'fancy rats' that are bred irresponsibly to be distributed to the stores. Despite the fact that I work at Petco, I will never again buy rats from ANY pet store -- not because we/they have sickly rats with problems (my store is actually fairly lucky to have few problems), but because of the irresponsible way in which they are bred and distributed to stores.


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## mcr_lp_fanatic (Nov 3, 2008)

id say petsmart, at petco they are mostly bred for food and a lot are crammed into one cage


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## binkyhoo (Sep 28, 2008)

Our Petsmart here is better than some of the smaller locally owned stores I have been into. I know it can be different store to store but I have met a lot of nice young employees in there that are knowledgeable and are taking care of the animals. The fish are healthy looking and the cages are clean. I might just be lucky to live close to a good store..... My 2 cents, for what its worth.


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## tiffrobbins (Sep 5, 2008)

We've had good and bad experiences with both of them. I think it mostly depends on the people running the store. It depends on how knowledgeable they are and how much they actually care about the animals.
Sometimes, there can be employees that are downright experts and other times there are employees that are downright cruel.
I would check out the employees before I even look at the animals and the way they're kept. Go in and just talk to them when they aren't busy. Ask them about their job and what their duties are. Ask crazy health questions and see if they know what they're talking about. Also, keep in mind that pet stores don't pay their employees much and there is a lot of turnover. What was a good store a year ago when you bought your healthy, well-tempered favorite girl; may be a bad store at this point. So, you'll want to re-check the store each time you go in search for a new pet.


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## aripatsim (Jul 26, 2012)

If I had to choose I'd go with Petsmart. I actually got my rats from there and despite having a minor URI, they are in great condition. The vet said they were growing well and I caught the URI early enough to where it should clear up no problem.

I like my Petsmart because the store is clean and the people are friendly. Also, all the cages (for birds, reptiles, and rodents) are always very clean not overcrowded. I was so thrilled that the girl who got my rat for me did not pick it up by the tail. My rats were a bit fearful when I first got them, but never squeeled or bit me. They took to me very fast too.


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## Keelyrawr (Mar 7, 2012)

Petsmart doesn't sell their Rats as feeders. Mine tells the buyer they "Pump them full of antibiotics" before giving them to their new home, and the antibiotics will kill any snake.
They also only sell Males at my Petsmart, to prevent any kind of pregnancy.

Petco labels their rats as "Small, Medium, Large", they sell extra cheap, and they're willing to sell "In bulk" rats. Yes, I've witnessed it.

They both get their rats from awful places, but Petsmart treats theirs better.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

It varies from place to place. I've seen terrible petsmart and really good petsmart, i've seen terrible petcos and really good petcos. Here in Texas the petcos tend to sell feeders, but the petsmart tend to be ok. One of them even had about 6 rats in a Very large (50 gallon?) tank. Though in my area they can only sell males due to population control. one of the petsmart is Really nice and caring for their animals, the only one I go to for my rats. they have a really nice rat lady there who calls them Ratties, a true sign of a rat lover, And even played with them. When we got Storm she asked a worker how old he was and he said 4 months, she looked at us and said "There is no way he's 4 months, he's just a little baby". She even gave them treats. The Petco here though isn't all that great. they have a single male albino who is at lease 4, maybe even 6 months old who is still there, really sad cause he is the Only albino I've ever seen in real life. And the poor guy looks very healthy, though they are nice enough to feed him oranges, I know males aren't suppose to have oranges, but at lease they are trying.

Though up in Kansas City the petcos there are really nice, they even have rats and mice for adoption from time to time. They were in large tanks (the ones for sale not adoption). the petsmart there though tends to have too many in one tank at a time. So it does vary from store to store. it just depends on who's the manager.

both Tend to get their rats from Pet mills, Though a few are getting theirs now from small time breeders breeding only for pet stores or from people who breed rats on a small number for snake food, which is a Lot better.


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

I think petsmart is better, all them times i have got an animals there they are social or healthy. There are not to many petcos by me but one recently replaced an petsmart and when I went in there to get stuff for my new rats they had nothing. Thry mainly had just stuff for dogs, some cat stuff, but nothing but the neccisary stuff for small animals (food and bedding)


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

This thread is four years old, by the way.


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## aripatsim (Jul 26, 2012)

I know, my fault. I got bored and wanted to throw my 2 cents in lol


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## LadyVelvet (Jul 28, 2012)

I'd say neither are good for buying a pet rat. I've never had a good experience with getting a rat from a pet store. Only one made it to old age, and she had health issues. 

For buying rat toys/bedding/ext. Petco wins out between the two however, in my area they seem to know what they are talking about (Since they simply MUST tell me what my rats like at ANY pet store. >.>) I say make your own toys though. Joanns fabrics is always having a sell on fabric, and $15 there = 4-5 larger hammocks. Including 2 sets of 4 hooks.

And if you cant do it - there are people who sell hammocks for cheap. Try looking in your area, or, if its a distance out buy more then 3 at a time so you only have to pay for shipping one time, and you have extras for clean-up and chewed up hammocks.


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