Pet stores here in North America can be good but also can have lots of bad thing that sometimes people tend to disregard. I'm here to list the pros and cons (regarding hamster products) that come to the top of my head. I'm going to try to be un-biased but you can definitely tell that I am against North American pet stores. 
Pros
Convenience
Pet stores are everywhere here in North America. Most households contain animals and rely on pet stores for food, toys and other necessities.
Accessibility
Let's just say, if one store doesn't have it in stock, drive to the next one down the street, or the exact same store, 2 blocks over. In my city, there are at least 5 Petsmart's and 12 PetValu's.
Care Guides
If you are looking to get a new pet, places such as Petsmart have care guides that will teach you basic knowledge on that pet.
(Definitely do more research beyond those care guides, but they still do exist!!)
Animals and Attractions
Of course.. The animals and attractions. Petstores carry TONS of pets. Petsmart carries fish, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, skinny pigs, mice, rats, cats and others, depending on your location. (Some carry snakes!) One that I love in my city is a relatively small one. It's been around for decades but they have the cutest things. Snakes, tarantulas, mice, rats, guinea pigs, all different reptiles, (they have tortoises and chameleons!!), hamsters, fish, shrimp, sea urchins, you name it! All besides cats and dogs. At some pet stores, they have an animal at the front door that they name. It will be a different animal than what they sell there. It will be something unique! At some pet stores in my area, one had a parrot that would swear and another had a monkey. Although horrible care for there attraction animals, they bring in customers.
Employees
Employees are the people who are helping us. They are all so nice and know everything! Although it may seem like they know everything, but in reality, they're there to sell, sell, sell. That's how they get paid after all. Sure some employees have done research on the animals that they sell there, but for the most part, they say what they think. (Barred cages for hamsters for example.)
Cons
Care
Start off strong with their animal neglect. 2 guinea pigs have the same cage size as 17 hamsters? 17 hamsters have the same cage size as 300 fish? 300 fish stored in a 12x12" tank? It doesn't add up. Their male beta fish are in tiny plastic takeout containers. I get that they can't store them together but can we at least stop selling them if we can't properly care for them?
Knowledge
Honestly, pet store employees know practically nothing about the animals sold there. Maybe they know a bit about cats and dogs but if you ask about hamsters, it's all incorrect information. They are part of the cause for bad hamster care.
Products Sold
Product sold at pet stores can be toxic to animals. Here are SOME of the things that are bad for hamsters sold at Petsmart from almost every category,
(click the numbers!)
FOOD: 1 - first ingredient, timothy hay.
TREATS: 2 - first ingredient, sugar.
CAGES: 3 - way under the minimum.
WHEELS: 4 - would only work for the tiniest of tiniest hamsters
DUST BATH: 5 - "made with loves for hamsters" mhmm, so these small kids come back buying more hamsters once this kills them.
BEDDING: 6 - i know you have heard rumors about this stuff.
TOYS 7 - don't bother
(all things listed above were all advertised for hamsters)
Accessibility
Accessibility is a pro and a con. It sucks that hamsters are so accessible to little kids. This is advertising bad hamster care in itself. "mommy! i want a hamster for my birthday" "why" "they're cheap and cute" "okay, whatever."
Although prices for hamsters have gone up, so has everything else. It's simply called inflation.
Care Guides
Once again, a pro and a con. Care guides can have good information but also basic and misleading information. "Get deep bedding." What kind of bedding? How deep? "Clean the cage when dirty" How often? How do I tell when time comes to clean it? I know that in the Petsmart care guide, it mentions that most of their diet is pelleted food. Already wrong and we are on the first page. Come on Petsmart.
Animals and Attractions
Last one... These animals as I mentioned before, the parrot and monkey, were both housed in these small cages that people could easily stick their fingers in. These cages would allow them to only move the tiniest bit. Of course the store owners didn't care because it brought in customers. People would buy treats for these animals or they would come in to see the animals, spot something they would like, and buy it. It always works in the store's favor.
That's really all I can think of. If there's any other pros and cons, leave them in the replies for others to read!
Hope this helps! 
Edited by Finn ♥, 05 June 2022 - 02:57 AM.
