Pet Shop/Breeder, Which to choose?

[The Mommy]

I am new to Hamster keeping. I have purchased the cage, bedding, toys, bed box, wheel, etc. for a dwarf hamster.

All I need is the hamster and it's food.

Some sites recommend breeders. I have not been able to locate any within San Diego. I tried the yellow pages and the internet. What other sources would you use to find local breeders?

Are pet stores okay? How about Petco? Is that a good source? All of their hamsters are behind glass, I cannot touch, or smell them. There are other smaller pet stores in the area. Their hamsters have been chewed (by the other hamsters) or smell bad. I understand I should avoid those hamsters.

I have had a bad experience with Petsmart and would choose to avoid that store.

Any guidance would be great!

[LilSnooPydOG]

When getting any pet your best option is a reputable breeder. However, I've never heard of any hamster breeders, and I'm wondering if they are rare.

I've had three hamsters and they were all pet store hammies. But like you, I don't get them from Petsmart. My second hamster (Stormy) was only with me for a few months. The others were from Petco, and they were (and are) very healthy. That being said, it may be different in your area. I've heard terrible stories about PetCo, yet I can't find any of it true when I go in one. A lot of people would show you this (http://www.petcocruelty.com/index.asp) site to change your mind about PetCo. I almost thought PetCo was terrible when I read that, but now I think differently because I've seen none of that.

No matter where you get one, they will be wonderful. When they come from pet stores they may have more health problems, and be more skittish, but those are the ones I find that you truly love. :)

[The Mommy]

Thanks for getting back to me, Lilsnoopydog.

I have heard alot about Petco, especially since they are headquartered here in San Diego. My years of experience with them has not shown these claims to be true with all of the stores but at isolated locations. I feel that over zealous ($$), undertrained management usually brings these negative situations and conditions. It is unfortunate that the animals suffer because of this. But how many times have we all entered a pet store to find an injured animal or dying fish? Even the best, top rated stores experience loss. I also have many problems with PETA and their unethical treatment of humans. One kind of abuse does not negate the other. I only hope that I have not opened a can of worms with that statement.

I appreciate your input as to obtaining hammies. I found a few breeders on the internet and through CHA. But none are in San Diego and I have no interest or desire to drive to Los Angeles.

I am looking forward to the new addition to our family. Thanks for sharing!

[hotham]

hey, i am a breeder in san diego....i dont think you should get pets from petco, petco is filled with good supplies but bad animals, if you are planning to get one from petco, make sure thet their animals just came....i am about to give my cousin a hamster when they are old enough, my hamster just had a new litter and the baBYS are only 5 days old.....yeah, my hamsters have been doing good...but people at petco dont actually spend time with their animals...the pet store i have went to actually plays with their hamsters....all of my friend who get hamsters from petco, the hamsters always have problems a few days later....yeah...

[Halogengirlie]

I got my hammy at PEtco... I've had her about three weeks and she's been great.. still taming her, but she's not nippy or mean. She seems very healthy and incredibly vibrant!

I went to a number of stores before picking her out though.. I looked for stores that didn't have any older hamsters hanging about, and that had clean cages.

Beyond that, I'm sure its luck. She was a bit sneezy the first two days I had her.. but I think it was stress and fear. She stopped on the second day.. but I also gave her some banana too *shrug*.

Either way So far I've had a good experience, and she seems like she has acclimated very very well.. She comes out of her cage on her own, LOVES running in the ball, drinks, eats and poops normally.

I bought her at a Petco in Orange County, CA.

Good Luck~!

[brandi12]

The oldest hamster I had growing up and still to this day was from a pet store. This is what you should do if you want to buy from a petstore such as Petco. Ask one of the people at the store when there shipments come in it should be some time that week. Then go there the day before the new shipment and look at the hamsters they have, remember what they look like. Then go back the day of the shipment and get one that wasn't there the day before. Also I would get a male I think they are less moody and they can't get pregnant.

[The Mommy]

Thank you all for this great advice. I plan on getting the hammie in mid May. I have been watching the local Petco for their shipments (on Mondays) and by the weekend all dwarf hammies are gone.

They claim at my Petco, and I'm not saying that they are lying, that the hammies are about two months old. But the salesgirl said that you really can't tell either way, they have to trust their supplier too.

To Hotham: How do I find breeders such as yourself here in San Diego? Do you have shows? Meetings? I am interested in finding out more about hammies in general but not to necessarily breed my own. Been there with dogs and cats, way too much trauma when things go wrong.

[ssmissy]

I would choose a breeder but when I got my new bunny I got it from a pet store that got them from a local breeder. I would also say most of the time breeders take care of their hammys better and if you want a girl they probally have a less cance of bein pregnant.


:angel6:

[hotham]

you can go to petco park[the new baseball field where the padres play], on sunday[im not sure if its every sunday] and they sometimes have pet adoptions somewhere there

[The Mommy]

Actually at Petco on Sundays, they have local shelters come in for adoption services. I spoke with them today, no hammies.

Where did all of you get your first or last hammies?

[hotham]

i got my hamster just about three weeks ago....but if u live near or in national city then theres an albertsons somewhere and theres a pet store called aquarium and pets close to it...thats where i got my hammies, they are doing real good, i have a good cage and everything, i'll post up pictures as soon as i can, anywayz....if u live by mira mesa, theres a petco there where they always have hamsters....

[sadiedog]

I would say breeder.. I got my hamster from petco and didnt know she was pregnant... I now have 6 babies i need to find good homes for

[mckenzie84]

I am a breeder of hamsters and I prefer to go through another breeder even if it means that I have to drive a bit. I do agree that there is less chance of a female being pregnant and that males are less mooddy, in some apsects. But some females are also less moody then some males. I currently have a wide variety of colors that are either available right now or will be available this month. Not all my hamsters get along with eachother but all are complete sweethearts! I currently have about 31 hamsters plus several litters and I also have a cat who is terrified of them. I give every single one of them attention including the litters once they are old enough and so they are always ready for attention and love crawling up to me to come out to play. When buying froma petstore you do risk getting a female who is pregnant, but with breeders that generally doesnt happen. so in my opinion a breeder is a lot better.

[ssmissy]

breeder I would say.

[chinny2]

breeders know the history better

[mckenzie84]

oh, and as a matter of fact. I got a female from Petsmart just a couple days ago who is pregnant right now! And she came to me prego. I didnt realize it until after I got her home.

[aquarius0015]

At the Petsmart in my hometown, they sell only one sex of a given species. That way (supposedly) it is impossible to buy a pregnant animal... or so they tell me...

[mckenzie84]

at the petsmarts here, they also sell only same sexed animals, but Ivory is about 3 months old and definetly prego. I am expecting she will have her litter soon since i can feel babies already. :-(

[ssmissy]

I don't want a pregno ham so I have al ways bought boys.

[prawnie]

some petshops are good though, i work in a pet shop that gets the hamsters from a breeder, and they are well cared for when we get them in, all our animals are cleaned and checked everyday

we get them in at 6 weeks old, and the minute the arrive they are split up into separate sexes

[Halogengirlie]

I'm getting any future critters from a Breeder. The mice that I got from Petco were sold to me a girls, however, one week later their testicals dropped.

I called Petco about it, and they stated that their staff wasn't equipped to determine mouse gender.

It is my personal opinion that if the store can not tell male from female then they shouldn't be selling both!

I went to 7 Petco's this weekend in the Southern California area, and each and every one had a FULLY DEVELOPED male in the female tank. One Petco that I went to said that they ran out of space so they just dumped the males and females in together.

Also when I pointed out to staff that they had males in the female tank, only one of the seven Petcos made any attempt to correct the situation.

I went to Petsmart, since they only sell one gender. However in almost every store I called, they only sold Male mice. The few that did sell girls had very little stock, or the mice were too old.

I was very put off.

So now I have two mice that I thought were girls, who are boys... I'm very attached to them, however, they are stinky! I don't know that I will be able to keep them in my one bedrom apartment.

This whole experience has put me off petstore mice.
I think that I will probably have to return my latest two mice, since the odor is crazy. If that is the case, I will purchase my "replacement" mice from a breeder.

This entire rant is about mice, however I can't imagine that they treat their hamsters any better... grrr..

Petco has really frustrated me. :mad:

[prawnie]

i can understand where u are coming from on this, i do find a lot of places like this, for example pets at home they are the same, but they do give all pet shops a bad name :splat:

[ssmissy]

The only petstorea I have a problem with is Petsupermarket and Petco.

In petsupermarket they had one big tank with all different gernders and kinds of syrain hamsteres. When I got my hamster from there his eyes wouldn't open and he had bite marks all over the place. He is fine now. My hamster was also sold too youg. He was also one of the only males or not pregnent femals that were there.

In Petco I was looking for a hamster. The only had two hamsters and they were feirce and were in a bad type of bedding. I moved on and later got my next hamster from petsmart. He well cared for besides him living with another hamster.

I haven't heard of any breeders near me so I got my bunny from a petsore that got animals from breeders.

I hate Petco and Petsupermarket
:sick: :kaioken: :kaioken: :kaioken: :sick: