Pets At Home Opening

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StannyUK

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Pets at home have just opened in my home town. I went to the opening purely cos I needed some antiseptic for my baby piggies ear (been biten by another).

I dont like the way they keep their piggies, its at kiddie height and they are in glass containers. They are big enough but I can imagine some ASBO reprobrate whacking the glass and scaring the hell out of them >:(

There also isnt a top to it and I'm pretty sure piggies like lowish ceilings as its instinct to hide from flying predators.....

I wont be shopping there as I want to support my local pet store who has people working in it who are genuine animal lovers/experts, not just some teens working a saturday job.....

The hay and sawdust in there was also of a porr standard, so short, my piggies like the long stuff! ^-^
 
Why don't you make a comment to them?
Good on you tho, don't blame you for being upset :'(
LOL it's nice being able to spoilt your own piggies isn't it :smitten:
 
wanted to add, apologies to anyone who might frequent here who works for them. I'm just kinda against chains moving into towns and putting small local shops out of business..

I think if I approached them about it i would get a glassy eyed stare back....plus I'm not sure if I'm 100% correct about piggies liking low ceilings....
 
Hey it's ok, everyone should be able to have an opinion O0
You're right tho, our piggies would freak if they didn't have cover at all ::) Duke loves the security of his cardboard house :) which btw if it's not at the right height he lets me know in no uncertain terms ::) :D :D :D
 
we just had a pets at home open on the isle of wight ,and i brought two male guinea pigs there ,i think they look after there animals pretty well compare to some other pets shops,
 
I agree that you should support your local pet store. Also I find Pets At Home pretty expensive.
 
I think it largely depends on where you go what u find there
 
Me and my partner went to pets at home yesterday as we're looking into getting a pair of guinea pigs. I must say i wasnt pleased with how they were kept.. they had no food in their bowl from 11am to 3pm (we went in about 4 times as we were shopping around for best prices for food bowls etc).

Also we asked the staff how often they were handled and she pretty much said they arent. She said that they usually come in friendly, but that its a busy environment instore etc.

So we have decided to go to a guinea pig rescue this afternoon and have a talk with them about getting a pair of guineas.
 
the store i went to on the island ,all the food bowls were full up the only down side was that they didn`t have any hay in there run
 
So we have decided to go to a guinea pig rescue this afternoon and have a talk with them about getting a pair of guineas.
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Thats a fantastic choice! We stop buying, they stop selling! O0 O0 O0

And I KNOW all mine leave well handled as ive always got a few piggies on my lap or attached to me ;D ;D ;D ;D
 
they also try and guilt you a bit....

They have little facts POSTERS around where the guinea pigs are and say things like "we are social animals that like company" quickly followed by "Buy 2 for only £35! (one is £19)"

Not a nice sales tactic....

We have thought about adding one more piggy to our tribe and wondered about a rescue piggy, all I worry about is

a) the rescue piggy being older and already set in their ways

b) the piggy upsetting the hierarchy in place and knocking the leader of her throne :-\

Any one had experience with this?
 
Sorry if this goes off topic a bit, i just wanted to follow up on my earlier post.

We went to the rescue today, and left with a pair of lovely ladies (Olga and Yeta). We got loads of advice on how to care for them as we've never had guinea pigs before, and we were also told that we can contact the lady on the phone anytime for advice or to let her know how theyre doing in general.

I was very impressed, and we feel the lady picked the right two guinea pigs for our circumstances.
 
i used to think that P@H was ok too, but after a recent discussion on here, and some thought, i can see that it could be better. however, it's not the worst pet shop i've ever seen. i also don't like the way piggies are kept in almost sort of fish tank things, it's not right! :'(
 
totally agree, gonna get some little kid who thinks its ok to bash the glass to make the piggy move....

same sort of people who try and shout at tigers in the zoo cause they want them to do soemthing.... morons
 
StannyUK said:
There also isnt a top to it and I'm pretty sure piggies like lowish ceilings as its instinct to hide from flying predators.....
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If it's the setup I think it is, doesn't it have a closed off space that they can go hide in? Plus some guinea pig igloo houses? If not, then do make a comment to them, but these setups are all supposed to have hideaways.


StannyUK said:
they also try and guilt you a bit....

They have little facts POSTERS around where the guinea pigs are and say things like "we are social animals that like company" quickly followed by "Buy 2 for only £35! (one is £19)"

Not a nice sales tactic....
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I wouldn't call it a 'sales tactic' - surely it's best that they are encouraging people to buy guinea pigs in pairs? I'm sure there would be more uproar if they didn't bother at all.
 
i agree with neep_neep,i think it is good that they are telling people to get them in pairs :)the pets at home on the isle of wight as igloo houses inthere guinea pigs runs
 
I do see your point but it just feels a little cheap. Christ, my missus is still distraught about when she got our first two, she left one behind...

There was one female all byself in the store but I was told that they had more coming in.

One thing I will say in PAH defense, they have an adoption area which I will keep my eye on if any piggies appear....
 
Is this adoption thing new? Because i noticed that this area has come into our pets at home, but they dont have any animals in there yet.
 
as ive never entered a p@h before I cant comment but they had some ratties in there.

Lots of "glass cages" set aside for bunnies and guinea pig
 
Xanadu86 said:
Is this adoption thing new? Because i noticed that this area has come into our pets at home, but they dont have any animals in there yet.
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yeah, it's new :) Not in my area either
 
Xanadu86 said:
If they do it right then i think its a fab idea..

But i guess we'll see
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Read my post here about my experience of it... http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=7443.msg141922#msg141922

The pens that the adoption rabbits were kept in initially said "I'm here because I'm to old to be sold in the Bunny Village". The exact same animals now have a sign on that say "I'm here because my owner couldn't look after me any more." It's absolutely disgraceful and there is NO screening process so anybody can now get a piggy for a fiver to feed their snakes or birds of prey with.
 
StannyUK said:
that just sent a shiver down my spine....
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What is also funny is that when I spoke to the manager about the "adoption process" she said they "use the same rigorous procedure they do for the sales stock". This rigorous procedure involves paying your donation (which can be ANY amount of money) and filling in a form with your address on it. No questions asked.
 
daftscotslass said:
StannyUK said:
that just sent a shiver down my spine....
Click to expand...

What is also funny is that when I spoke to the manager about the "adoption process" she said they "use the same rigorous procedure they do for the sales stock". This rigorous procedure involves paying your donation (which can be ANY amount of money) and filling in a form with your address on it. No questions asked.
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I had no idea it was a donation thing...so i could go down there and offer them 1 pound for a guinea pig?
 
Guinea-Tia-Flossie said:
daftscotslass said:
StannyUK said:
that just sent a shiver down my spine....
Click to expand...

What is also funny is that when I spoke to the manager about the "adoption process" she said they "use the same rigorous procedure they do for the sales stock". This rigorous procedure involves paying your donation (which can be ANY amount of money) and filling in a form with your address on it. No questions asked.
Click to expand...

I had no idea it was a donation thing...so i could go down there and offer them 1 pound for a guinea pig?
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I was told there was no official minimum but that they recommend £5. Not even rescues I know would give up a pig for a fiver.
 
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