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Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

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Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby miajag » Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:53 pm

Why do people seem to hate the "big box" pet stores like Petsmart and Petco so much? In my experience, when it comes to birds, they seem to do a much better job than most small independent pet stores. Granted, I know every store is different and there are ones out there like the one Michael has posted videos from that are great. But honestly, in every small pet store I've ever been in, the birds were kept in mediocre to downright bad conditions. Small, dirty cages, food dishes full of sunflower seeds, etc. Meanwhile at the Petsmart near me the two sun conures they have are kept in a huge, clean aviary with plenty of toys, climbing gyms and food. The budgies and other birds have good accomodations as well. Similarly, at the last Petco I was in, the birds (conures, cockatiels and budgies) were in large, clean enclosures with plenty of food, water and toys.

So why do they get such a bad rap from a lot of bird people? Do I just happen to have a really good Petsmart near me? Or unusually bad independent pet stores? It's fashionable to hate on big corporations, and while they certainly have their faults the big-box stores seem to do a decent job with birds. The downside is that they are a bit more expensive, but the difference isn't drastic compared to smaller stores. What are other peoples' experiences with them? Ever get a bird from Petco or Petsmart? If and when I get another parrot it will almost certainly be from a breeder, but I'd feel much better buying one at Petsmart than any of the smaller pet stores near me.
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby Michael » Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:11 pm

It must be just you. I've often been disappointed with the "quality" of the parrots I see at the chain stores. Now when you are talking about small stores, I'm not sure if you are talking about specialized bird only stores or small general pet stores. However, the problem I see is with all not "parrots only" stores is that they have too small a turn around of parrots. Any given baby could easily spend 2 years+ at a store like that till getting sold. The parrot only stores have a wider selection of species and I higher turn around on baby parrots. The general stores have little dogs and little rabbits competing with the parrots, etc. Furthermore it seems that employees at the general parrot stores are not skilled specifically in birds so they just treat everything like a little furry animal.

I wouldn't say that the conditions at petco/smarts are abysmal per say. It's more so the lack of education and high turn over of employees as well as the low turn over of parrots that makes them so lacking. I don't know what it is but often the parrots I see at a large chain store just don't look as good a shape or upkeep as a parrots only store. However, I have not noticed a substantial difference between large stores and small stores that specialize in a variety of pets.
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby miajag » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:06 am

I've actually never been to a bird-only store (I don't know of one in my area) but I'm sure they're better in general. I'm not saying Petco/Petsmart does an ideal job with birds; as you said, employee ignorance, slow turnover and lack of adequate socialization are certainly issues. These issues exist in the small non-specialized pet stores too, though.
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby Michael » Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:14 am

I guess the disparity is more so between specialized vs general stores than small vs large. The petco stores are just larger and better lit than small pet stores which can easily great an illusion of cleanliness and make it more impressive. I really have a hard time saying that petco or small general pet stores are better than the other. So if you ever heard me comparing anything to petco, I probably meant a specialized parrots only store rather than a small general pet one.

Watching an employee use a net on a stick to "fish out" a budgie at a petco is enough to make you loose all fate in that store...
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby pchela » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:23 pm

Most people are opposed to the big pet stores because they are thought to use bird mills which is unforgivable. I think they've proven that Petland uses them. PetSmart was not allowed to sell large birds (bigger than finches) a few years back because of an outbreak of a virus spread by their birds that actually killed an employee. This to me suggests that they are in fact coming from one place (bird mill) and being sent out to different stores from there. Aside from that, they employees are not trained specifically for avian behavior and nutrition. The birds are not properly socialized and are not fed properly in most cases. Perhaps a lucky Petsmart here and there happens to have a parrot savvy employee who knows what they are doing. I have seen many independent stores that also take terrible care of their birds. In my opinion, people should just find reputable breeders. There are lots of them and they are considerably cheaper than pet stores. You also know the birds exact history if you buy from a breeder.

These video explains why people don't and should not buy animals at large chain stores. I will warn you that these videos are highly disturbing. I've seen them once and I can not watch them again.

http://www.petsmartcruelty.com/angels_s ... ekly_enews

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?c ... on&id=1133
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby Michael » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:34 pm

On the flips side, without pet stores (not necessarily justifying large ones), people may not even realize that parrots exist as pets or are desirable. A good benefit to bird stores is that it allows a buyer to really come in contact with many different species and make a choice. For a first time buyer books, internet, and other people just may not be an option. Certainly for someone who is into birds it is easy to say that a breeder is better. However, with someone with very limited experience/knowledge of parrots a large pet store may be the only exposure to parrots they might find.
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby pchela » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:34 pm

I'm actually okay with that because the more I learn about parrots, the more I think that they probably shouldn't really be pets in the first place. From what I see, most people don't really take proper care of their parrots. Not out of malice but just out of a lack of education about them. I'm afraid that those of us on this forum who actively seek out knowledge so that we can provide our birds with the best possible care are in the minority. I can't find any reason to justify bird mills. If the big chains bought from local breeders, that would be a different story. I just personally think that if you want to have a certain kind of animal then you should put in the effort to research them first, before you buy one. If you research properly, you should have enough knowledge to be able to find a breeder or at least a reputable pet store. Of course, I have a unique perception having worked in an independently owned pet store. Sadly, the majority of people who wanted birds were people who shouldn't have them.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby Michael » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:51 pm

If it weren't for "pet stores" I wouldn't even know about birds as a pet option and I'm sure a lot of other people wouldn't either. How can we blame the stores or the availability of the birds when it is the uneducated owners faults and not the birds?
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby pchela » Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:29 pm

We can blame the stores for unethically buying parrots from bird mills. As long as there is a market for them, this practice will continue. They can also be blamed for carrying a "product" that they do not know enough about to be able to educate the customer. At Petsmart you can just walk in and buy a bird. They don't care if you get an appropriate cage, food or anything. At the pet store I worked at, we made sure that people knew what they were getting into and educated them on what their particular bird needed as far as nutrition, cage size and socialization. If somebody wasn't prepared we would dissuade them from buying and refused a few people. We hand raised those babies and grew attached and we cared about where they ended up. You won't find that in the chain stores. (btw- there are plenty of independent stores that are terrible as well) I just think that if you are going to sell something, especially a living creature, you have a responsibility to make sure you can educate your potential customers. Nobody was blaming the birds...
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
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Re: Big chain pet stores vs. small ones

Postby Suzzique » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:55 am

I guess I'm one of the lucky people that has a great Petco near buy. They only sell keets, tiels and gcc. The inclosers are large and kept very clean they have a good seed mix for the keets and tiels and pellets for the gccs. They only use local breeders and most of the employees have been there for years and at least one is very familer with birds. She even takes the gcc's out to interact with them and even allows them to ride around on her for short periods. I'm in there at least once a month (depending on the time of year) and the tiels and keets seem to have a pretty good sell rate. They don't normally have more than 2 gcc's at a time. The gcc encloseure has been empty for the last few months while they wait for more from the breeder. They don't sell cats and dogs at all. The spca comes out on the weekends for adoption fairs.
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