I hate pet shops!!

[heather]

Yeah, i have seen fighters in with the axies at my local pet store...
it wasnt pretty
i was already upset that day and i went off on the fish department staff
now they all hide when i walk in.

I also have concidered getting a job there so i can take good care of the caudates they order in

i swear, if they want to order animals they should read up on them before they order... so stupid!!

there was this one time they got some fire bellies in, and within a few days they all had sores on them from the over crowding, and a week later, all the sores were infected... they hadnt been treating them at all....

then they ordered mudskippers and put them in with the firbellies- mudskippers are brackish to salt water... fire bellies are not

next time i went into that store,I ask what happened all of the fire bellies and muskippers. They told me that they all had died.

i was in shock and couldnt even say a word, i scowled at the manager and stormed out...

 

[hailz]

I was so surprised yesterday!, i went to an aquarium shop with dad looking for some tropical fish and believe it or not, they had the axies in individual containers(with plenty of room to move) and nothing on the bottem! no rocks! they were the most healthy looking axies i've ever seen in a pet shop! sorry its a bit of track, just thought i'd let you guys know that there may be hope yet

 

[apryl]

Yay for the ontoit petshop!!!

 

[sharn]

you should go and tell them what a good job theyre doing! i bet a bit of praise will encourage them to continue

 

[rob]

hmmm i went into the shop where i got my axies today
they are usually in a good condition but one of them today had full on fungus all over its mouth and eyes it was like it couldnt even open its mouth !!! and the other 5 axies in the same tank had varying degres of fungus on them too.
i told the shop assistant and all she said was i didnt notice that, and didnt seem to bother !

 

[dee]

It's frustrating to read these posts, because I own a pet shop and I am trying my best to do the right thing. The only reason I started selling Axies in store was because I had so many customers come to me for info and I couldn't help them. I then spent ages on the forum reading hundreds of posts and getting as much info as possible. Then when I gave customers the correct info they would say "but the other Pet shop said something differant" (like if your axie is sick put in a heater). So I do understand everyone's feeling towards SOME shops. That's when I decided to set up a tank in store. When somebody is interested in buying, I chat at length with them, then give them a fact sheet (using info from John Clare's site, with his permission) then tell them to go and have a look at the site and the forum. I am not able to offer first hand info on sick axies though because since August when we set the tank up we have had no death's, sickness or injury on any of our axies.
If anyone is after advice I will only tell them what I know, then suggest the forum or offer to look up info if they don't have internet access. I have told my staff not to give out info if they don't know what they are talking about. I have spent hours upon hours on the internet researching all animals in my store. I even researched mystery(apple) snails. We even take peoples sick fish and put in our sick tank, with great success, free of charge. So while I know I am not an expert I am trying my best.

 

[diego]

I agree,I get pretty annoyed with people saying stuff like "Pet stores Suck!" or "All petstores are bad!"I mean true many may not tret the animals right but there is also a lot that DO! Like my petstore everything is clean,Okay variaty and knowlegable OWNER. So before you post a topic like that try not to use general words like Petstores(in general) or All Petstores...I'm not usually in a bad mood but just wanted to say this...and now for the happy faces!

Oh and one more thing...high light this one(it looks like an old lady eating something sour!)

 

[suzanne]

It's so great to hear that at least some pet shops / owners are trying to do the right thing and actually research the stock they have and how to take care of them.

I am upset to say that I have not been into one pet shop where i live that is actually aware of how to take care of axolotls properly.
In one instance, I was in a shop just on Sunday and I came home so mad...The shop had around 16 axolotls all lumped in together in one tank that is really only the size to house two..not to mention the fact they had normal aquarium gravel in the tanks..

In another tank they had one very tiny axolotl in with what looked to be around 30 guppies and a filtration system that was so powerful the poor guy couldn't stay still if he wanted.

I vowed that I will never go back to that store again...It wasn't just the bad treatment of the axolotls either....

So it is really refreshing to hear Dee...Congratulations on being such a thoughtful pet shop owner!!!

 

[rob]

i agree totally not all pet/aquarium shops are bad, and with some of the bigger shops it must be a lot of work to keep every thing at the right temps and have the knowledge on every animal thats kept in the store. but on the other hand maybe they shouldnt take on such a large and varied amount of animals/aquatica if they havnt properly researched what they do have...
i have been to so many aquarium/pet shops and mostly have been given wrong information about my axies ! water temp being the main one they get wrong. i also mentioned in my previous post that the axies in that shop are usually in a good condition, so i'll check again in a couple of days to see if they have fixed the problem.
because i do intend of buying a cpl more axies off that shop so i hope so

 

[edward]

Some of the complaints about pet stores are partially due to the differences in housing animals at home when compared to a commercial or even institutional setting. While not necessarily optimal for long term care, short term crowding (between a couple of weeks to a month) in a commercial operation is not always a problem. Depending on the setup in the petstore, the aquaria are often hooked up to a larger sump as well as large efficient water filtration systems, these systems can handle the water quality issues. In the better stores, there are often daily water changes on the system to reduce the nitrates.

Sticking to the petstore example, most pet stores plan on thier stock turning over (by being sold) in a relatively short period which reduces and stress or impact from the crowding. Having your stock die off on you or frequenlty die after the customer gets it home is a good way to lose your money before you close down the shop.

When I was younger I spent a lot of time working in pet stores so I have seen the good and the bad and before I ever buy fish from one, I tend to evaluate thier filtration and care systems.
Ed

 

[cake]

I love pet shops when they're handled humanely...animanely?

 

[charles]

Dee - We need more stores like yours!. I've found 3 round central/eastern sydney that are helpful, and while not perfect, they do listen, are interested in the animals welfare and how to improve it.
I've pointed a couple of them here and hopefully them and their customers can be better informed in future