10 replies to this topic

[BobaTad~HH]

In here i would like to inform you about where Pet smart and co hamsters and other pets come from:

 

Pet Mills.

 

Pet Mills are nasty places with hundreds of hamsters breading in a small cage, with food and water ONLY. Very small amounts of space are used for this over flow. Many many hamster deaths and birth defects are caused in here. Since, as most of you know, Syrians are solitary animals for most of their life. (When brothers and sisters are at "baby" Stage, that's when its okay. NOT okay when they become older.) They stuff a bunch a living creatures in a bin that's waaay too small, breed them with a solitary species, and give them pellets and water. When you are buying a hamster at pet co and smart, you are doing a few things: Rescuing that particular hamster from pet smart, giving money to them, and making them bread another one in the mills. But, if you have been buying from pet smart, its okay! You probely didn't know at this point. Anyhow, hamsters at pet smart may have some birth defects. They don't pay attention to that in Mills. Your hamster may have a weird tooth, or a defunctioning leg. 

Pet mills have been happening for a while. Oh, and rodent mills aren't just the only type of Mills: Parrots, Dogs,Cats,Reptiles, and many more.

Its definitly ok to buy safe hamster gagdets from pet smart. Just, pick the right ones.

 

Examples: 

Bad things: Critter trail, tiny tales, habitrail, and any other bad cages.

Salt licks

Sand powder

Small size hideouts

plastic/clear hideouts

the "Ask to hold me" Sticker on pet smart hamsters

edible hideouts (Has a lot of honey)

Pine or ceder bedding

Bamboo/cotton nesting

Sent bedding (Lavender, lemon, ect)

Mostly sugar treats

And more

(NOTE: most of my research was on Syrians, so small hideouts or anything else may be different.)

Good things:

Kaytee clean and cozy bedding

Chews

Big wooden hideouts

Sometimes large tanks

Bendy bridges

Cork

Aspen bedding

Reptiesand

Much more

 

You get the idea.

 

Hamsters deserve much more.

 

Need another place to buy some hamsters? Well, i've got some ideas.

 

HubbuHubbuHamstery

Kajiji

Craigslist

(Always go with someone if you buy from kajiji or Craigslist. You never know.)

Pet shelters

 

And any hamstery too.

 

I hoped this informed you a little bit about this pet store trade.

 

Have a good weekend!    

Edited by BobaTad~, 16 August 2021 - 06:30 AM.

[sheepyunicorn]

Thanks for making this topic, I think it’s really important to remember this. I also appreciate how you didn’t shame people who got hamsters from the store because they didn’t know! I think this is a lot of good information in one post

[~Boba the Hammy~]

In here i would like to inform you about where Pet smart and co hamsters and other pets come from:
 
Pet Mills.
 
Pet Mills are nasty places with hundreds of hamsters breading in a small cage, with food and water ONLY. Very small amounts of space are used for this over flow. Many many hamster deaths and birth defects are caused in here. Since, as most of you know, Syrians are solitary animals for most of their life. (When brothers and sisters are at "baby" Stage, that's when its okay. NOT okay when they become older.) They stuff a bunch a living creatures in a bin that's waaay too small, breed them with a solitary species, and give them pellets and water. When you are buying a hamster at pet co and smart, you are doing a few things: Rescuing that particular hamster from pet smart, giving money to them, and making them bread another one in the mills. But, if you have been buying from pet smart, its okay! You probely didn't know at this point. Anyhow, hamsters at pet smart may have some birth defects. They don't pay attention to that in Mills. Your hamster may have a weird tooth, or a defunctioning leg. 
Pet mills have been happening for a while. Oh, and rodent mills aren't just the only type of Mills: Parrots, Dogs,Cats,Reptiles, and many more.
Its definitly ok to buy safe hamster gagdets from pet smart. Just, pick the right ones.
 
Examples: 
Bad things: Critter trail, tiny tales, habitrail, and any other bad cages.
Salt licks
Sand powder
Small size hideouts
plastic/clear hideouts
the "Ask to hold me" Sticker on pet smart hamsters
edible hideouts (Has a lot of honey)
Pine or ceder bedding
Bamboo/cotton nesting
Sent bedding (Lavender, lemon, ect)
Mostly sugar treats
And more
(NOTE: most of my research was on Syrians, so small hideouts or anything else may be different.)
Good things:
Kaytee clean and cozy bedding
Chews
Big wooden hideouts
Sometimes large tanks
Bendy bridges
Cork
Aspen bedding
Reptiesand
Much more
 
You get the idea.
 
Hamsters deserve much more.
 
Need another place to buy some hamsters? Well, i've got some ideas.
 
HubbuHubbuHamstery
Kajiji
Craigslist
(Always go with someone if you buy from kajiji or Craigslist. You never know.)
Pet shelters
Ethical breeders store. (I have one. You don't have to wait for HubbuHubbuHamstery to send you one by 4 -6 months here! lol)
 
And any hamstery too.
 
I hoped this informed you a little bit about this pet store trade.
 
Have a good weekend!    

Ethical breeder store!!!! Can I have the link? I never knew of such thing!

[lil BIG dwarf]

Ethical breeder store!!!! Can I have the link? I never knew of such thing!

To my knowledge, no ethical breeders give stock to stores. Many are backyard breeders, so while some are alright many seem good but can be horrible.

[BobaTad~HH]

Ethical breeder store!!!! Can I have the link? I never knew of such thing!

Well, i don't know if its World Wide, but, mine is called " Pets on brodway." Its a ethical breeder! I got Tad there.

 

They also sell millet sprays in bulk too!

Edited by BobaTad~, 15 August 2021 - 11:31 AM.

[~Boba the Hammy~]

Well, i don't know if its World Wide, but, mine is called " Pets on brodway." Its a ethical breeder! I got Tad there.
 
They also sell millet sprays in bulk too!

They do have large enclosures and decent care , but I’m not sure their hamsters come from good breeders. Especially since they have a page where Syrian hamsters are labeled as teddy bear and panda bear. Idk if a good breeder would let their animals be sold as a teddy hamster. And my petsmart has millet in bulk too, not really a factor in whether it’s reputable. More likely a mom and pop pet store, meaning hamsters either are bred in store or just come from mills like any petsmart hamster

[BobaTad~HH]

They do have large enclosures and decent care , but I’m not sure their hamsters come from good breeders. Especially since they have a page where Syrian hamsters are labeled as teddy bear and panda bear. Idk if a good breeder would let their animals be sold as a teddy hamster. And my petsmart has millet in bulk too, not really a factor in whether it’s reputable. More likely a mom and pop pet store, meaning hamsters either are bred in store or just come from mills like any petsmart hamster

Oh, thank you for letting me know. I will look into it.

[MerryBB]

Ethical breeders of hamsters don't sell their pups via third-party stores. If you put a lot of money, time, and care into producing healthy and well adjusted animals, you would want to speak to your adopters about their history with the species and their standards of pet care, and you would not be producing enough litters to stock a pet store with 4-6+ week old pups frequently enough to meet the demand pet stores get for small animals. In order to meet that demand, corners have to be cut.

 

This is why ethical breeders use waitlists to track interest in upcoming litters & vet potential homes before the pups even leave the breeder's home. There's just no real profit in both doing right by the hamsters and selling them out of a storefront, just like you're not going to find a pet store selling healthy well-bred puppies when those puppies are also shipped in from out of state by vaguely described kennels with no contact info or options to visit their actual location(s).

Edited by MerryBB, 16 August 2021 - 03:04 AM.

[BobaTad~HH]

Ethical breeders of hamsters don't sell their pups via third-party stores. If you put a lot of money, time, and care into producing healthy and well adjusted animals, you would want to speak to your adopters about their history with the species and their standards of pet care, and you would not be producing enough litters to stock a pet store with 4-6+ week old pups frequently enough to meet the demand pet stores get for small animals. In order to meet that demand, corners have to be cut.

 

This is why ethical breeders use waitlists to track interest in upcoming litters & vet potential homes before the pups even leave the breeder's home. There's just no real profit in both doing right by the hamsters and selling them out of a storefront, just like you're not going to find a pet store selling healthy well-bred puppies when those puppies are also shipped in from out of state by vaguely described kennels with no contact info or options to visit their actual location(s).

Yeah, i just realized that my "Ethical" Breeder store  probely wasn't so ethical. (Not completly sure. wait, are you talking about the comment conversation or the post? ) but, yeah. that makes sense.

[MerryBB]

Yeah, i just realized that my "Ethical" Breeder store  probely wasn't so ethical. (Not completly sure. wait, are you talking about the comment conversation or the post? ) but, yeah. that makes sense.

 

I really just posted to dump a bunch of info on how pet stores are incompatible with responsible breeding, I wasn't really paying a ton of attention to who posted what in this thread: just adding relevant points that I wasn't seeing already here.

 

Of course it's important to remember that poor care and breeding standards, as well as pet overpopulation, is just an unfortunate side effect of the ultimate goal of making a profit selling live animals and supplies. The owners of mom & pop stores who sell hamsters and other small exotics probably have very good intentions and their impact on animals' welfare in other areas is probably very good. (For instance, many host cats and dogs from local shelters so that said shelters have more room and said cats/dogs have better odds of adoption.) It's just that if they want to sell small exotics like hamsters, their suppliers are necessarily going to be cutting some corners in order for both businesses to actually make a profit.

[BobaTad~HH]

I really just posted to dump a bunch of info on how pet stores are incompatible with responsible breeding, I wasn't really paying a ton of attention to who posted what in this thread: just adding relevant points that I wasn't seeing already here.

 

Of course it's important to remember that poor care and breeding standards, as well as pet overpopulation, is just an unfortunate side effect of the ultimate goal of making a profit selling live animals and supplies. The owners of mom & pop stores who sell hamsters and other small exotics probably have very good intentions and their impact on animals' welfare in other areas is probably very good. (For instance, many host cats and dogs from local shelters so that said shelters have more room and said cats/dogs have better odds of adoption.) It's just that if they want to sell small exotics like hamsters, their suppliers are necessarily going to be cutting some corners in order for both businesses to actually make a profit.

Yeah, i do agree. thank you for comenting!