Chins at Petco

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tinkerbell2002

Oda for peek ahp!
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
70
Location
Fullerton
Why is it that every time i go into a Petco All their chins are all very sad looking? they always have the sad eyes. And i don't know if it's just me but Petco always has the dark ebony/standard gray. So heart breaking to see them because not only are they in a small area they look sad and worn out. Or maybe it could just be because their nocturnal but then again wouldn't a lot of the petstores buy these chins i know they may not know why the breeders are selling the chins for cheap but it's because the breeder knows that the chins has a genetic problem and knows that it wouldn't live long so they sell the chins to the stores for cheaper. it's really sad but i've heard a lot of stories that some people buy the chins from pet stores and they end up with teeth problems or die because of some genetically passed on problems.Not all but some are. Do you guys think that the breeders would do that? :cry4:
 
Not all petstore chins are bad chins. This is a myth that continues to go round and round. Not all petstore chins have health problems. Is it better for you to buy a chin from a breeder--yes. Do breeders sell their chins to pet stores--yes. Why do pet stores chins look sad--they are in a small cage with no wheel for excercise, no wooden ledges to jump and hop on. They also probably look sad to you because a lot of people feel pet store animals need to be saved.
 
A lot of the small animals come from a wholesaler. Sun Pet Ltd. is one of them. I refuse to ever support live animal sales in any pet store after researching this. PETA did an investigation, which I know a lot of people believe everything they do to be exagerated garbage, but there are pictures and videos showing what happens at the wholesaler.

The chinchillas at Petco and Petsmart are not known to be kept in the best conditions and that is probably why they look sad. In my area the stores keep them in a 2x2 acryllic display (little air flow) with no ledges and maybe a plastic hidey house.

With that said, they can still make great pets just as any other chinchilla does. I bought my first 2 chinchillas from a petstore who says they get their small animals from a local breeder. One is underweight and the other has a behavior problem but I love them the same as my other chins.

I believe that petstore chinchillas are more likely to have poblems due to the fact that the wholesalers don't know or care about the poor genetics in their animals.
 
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When I go to the pet store, the chins are always sleeping in their dust bath house. Usually they do have a wheel, but no ledges. One time I saw like 5 chinchillas sleeping in one dust bath! It was crazy!

I've also seen all different breeds -- standard grey, black velvet, and pink white! Usually they have females.
 
I recently went to petsmart and saw a chin that was in an aquarium, it was super warm (he had a frozen water bottle but I doubt that did much), and was pawing at his mouth non-stop. They weren't too keen on the idea of having him check out :(

But yeah not all are bad, there was another petsmart I was in that had two chins (both male), the cage seemed well ventilated and when I mentioned there were no chew sticks they were given some asap and seemed honestly surprised that there weren't any.

I try to stay away from pet stores, there's a place I get hay and pellets that refuses to sell animals, they have adoptions from ARF and ASPCA frequently instead.
 
i think alot of it is that petstores are not educated on the animals they sell. But when I used to work at petsmart as a teenager my manager took really good care of the animals in our store. The chinchillas had ledges and a wooden ladder he built. Looks like a human can use it but it was only 3 steps high. They were happy and alert during the day. He did everything for the happiness of the animals. even if it came out of his pay.
But i doubt there are many petstore that go beyond most have bare minimal
 
I know that not ALL pet stores have chins that have defects. But there is always one or two in the group that has some kind of issue. Because some times the breeder sells them in bunches of 5 and the stores thing their getting a better deal for the 5 is because there is always one or two that has a tooth problem or some sort of genetic problem. Most of you are right not a lot of pet stores are educated in that way about chins i just think they should stop selling it if they don't really know what they are selling or how to care for them. And it's true most petco's only has those plastic balls that they sleep in but nothing else but pellets and a water bottle. there was nothing for them to chew on or ledges. But in some stores like one of you said would go to great length to take care of these animals.

I just think that Petco should stop selling them either that or give them a better habitat. I went to Petsmart they at least had a hammock and some hay LOL but other than that it was just another plastic hide away thing with a water bottle but nothing for the chin to chew on.
 
I was at Petco today and they had one chin and it was all by itself with no toys or wheel, I felt so bad
 
Large chains buy from wholesalers who either breed large amounts or buy collectively from smaller breeders. Many of these are people who show and raise quality animals, but not every animal gets held back. For all anyone knows you can pick up a rare mute carrier or offspring of a show champion that got tossed in the batch on accident or for lack of need of it. Not all chins that are in chain stores some from backyard breeders, in fact few if any of them do because the stores require a contract for a certain amount each time. Most people who breed for wholesale also either show or pelt, both of which require high standards of quality animals. The thing with petstore chins is that you don't know anything about this history, that doesn't mean they are walking genetic disasters purposely bred to sell to the pet stores. Wholesale prices are pretty much set, they don't get "quantity deals" because usually they have year long contracts with the same brokers.

I'm sorry but these sorts of things that are never corrected is where people continue to pass on bad information.

I'm not saying these chain stores know anything about chin care, etc. but that doesn't mean the chins are all coming out of crappy backyard breeder places that are the equivalent of puppy mills with chins standing in their own feces.
 
I believe any time you see something and you have the power to change it--you should. Therefore if seeing a chin with nothing to chew makes you feel sad why not provide something for it to chew? Give the pet store some apple sticks for the chins, give them a fleece tube or hammock to use--provide them with some wooden ledges or buy the chins a wooden house. I doubt a petstore would turn away anything given to it to enrich the lives of the pets they have for sale there.
 
I believe any time you see something and you have the power to change it--you should. Therefore if seeing a chin with nothing to chew makes you feel sad why not provide something for it to chew? Give the pet store some apple sticks for the chins, give them a fleece tube or hammock to use--provide them with some wooden ledges or buy the chins a wooden house. I doubt a petstore would turn away anything given to it to enrich the lives of the pets they have for sale there.

Totally agree, and I never would have thought of such a, really simple thing if it wasn't for reading about people here doing that so thank you everyone who has posted about not just ignoring something amiss! I was very happy that just letting someone know the chin didn't have chews resulted in change at the one store. Even if you can't bring something in for the chins in stores, at least telling people about things like no chews/houses etc is better than doing nothing.
 
I didn't have anything with me, I had to get dust there because petsmart didn't have any. I told the grl that was in that area that asked if I needed help and all she said was oh o_O
she sounded like she was just there for the $
 
People do just work for the money... that's why they have jobs. And even if they do love animals they are not educated in all of them.

I would not be buying dust at the petstore anyway, it's usually quite lower quality. I'd order it online, in the end it's cheaper and it ships right to your house.
 
When Rocco was at the Petco for 8 months I would but a toy from Petco once a week and ask the small animal specialist to give it to him. John could not stand the thought of him there that long and bought him for me.
 
Good news!

Good news from a Petco. I went in there and saw a bowl full of pellets without lots of junk in them, and hay. However, I got mad at them because they wouldn't let me hold this super cute beige fatty : (
 
2 of my 4 chins came from Petco. The other 2 came from a friend who got him from a breeder, and the other came from Susan (AZChins) as a rescue, but he also came from a breeder. I honestly cannot tell a difference between my pet store chins and my breeder chins, other than my pet store chins are both chewers. They are all just as healthy and happy as the next chin.

The Petco near me I have lost all respect for. My most recent pet store chin was highly neglected, emaciated and chewed horribly. After I rescued him (with only a 60 dollar discount be cause he was "inventory") he quickly grew all of his hair back, and put on a ton of weight. After that they have forever lost my business.

There was also a mom and pop type pet store out a ways from my house in the busy part of the city. Some others from AZ might know the place, it was called Pratt's Pets and Feed. I thought they were great and bought hay from there a lot, until I actually went in one day and saw baby chicks being squeezed to death by kids, and chins flopped over on their sides panting because it was so hot in the building. The back was disgusting and the birds were treated horribly. I will never go back there again.

I make my own toys now, even for my dogs, and I buy my dog food from the vet. I also stick with a mom and pop feed store up in a small town north of me. They are great and always sift through the hay in the back for me and find the perfect hay I describe to them (My boys only like the green blades. SO PICKY!) But they take the time and look for me. So awesome!
 
2 of my 4 chins came from Petco. The other 2 came from a friend who got him from a breeder, and the other came from Susan (AZChins) as a rescue, but he also came from a breeder. I honestly cannot tell a difference between my pet store chins and my breeder chins, other than my pet store chins are both chewers. They are all just as healthy and happy as the next chin.

The Petco near me I have lost all respect for. My most recent pet store chin was highly neglected, emaciated and chewed horribly. After I rescued him (with only a 60 dollar discount be cause he was "inventory") he quickly grew all of his hair back, and put on a ton of weight. After that they have forever lost my business.

There was also a mom and pop type pet store out a ways from my house in the busy part of the city. Some others from AZ might know the place, it was called Pratt's Pets and Feed. I thought they were great and bought hay from there a lot, until I actually went in one day and saw baby chicks being squeezed to death by kids, and chins flopped over on their sides panting because it was so hot in the building. The back was disgusting and the birds were treated horribly. I will never go back there again.

I make my own toys now, even for my dogs, and I buy my dog food from the vet. I also stick with a mom and pop feed store up in a small town north of me. They are great and always sift through the hay in the back for me and find the perfect hay I describe to them (My boys only like the green blades. SO PICKY!) But they take the time and look for me. So awesome!

Haha yeah, lucky for them, the Petco near me doesn't even carry chinchillas anymore! They treated them horribly. But i was pleased to see this one well.... being... better?
 
I honestly think Petco is better than Petsmart. After seeing the Petsmart Cruelty video it really shook me up, like a have a huge heart for animals.

I was at petsmart that I haven't been to before and do you know the huge glass bird cage in the front of the aisles, they had the guinea pigs in there and a chinchilla in a smaller cage.
 
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