New pet super store in Athlone

Demonique

Alright, I've just been in here for the first time today, it could have been the grand opening, I think.

They hadn't finished setting up the reptile section when I went in first. I said that chameleons need vines to climb. They said they were just setting up and would get around to it.

I went in later to buy some dog treats and was disgusted to see what they considered 'getting around to it'. ONE yes ONE exo-terra jungle vine. Chameleons need a lot more cover than that, one poor little guy was black with stress with sunken eyes which is not a good look for chameleons! I heard one employee telling a customer that chameleons are easy to keep, eh no. If they were easy to keep they would be classed as beginner lizards which they are not.

This link shows pictures of a decent chameleon habitat. The fake plants go all the way to the top (plenty of hiding places!), in Pet World the vines didn't even go 1/4 of the way up:

http://www.geocities.com/chameleoncr.../pictures.html



Asian water dragons, on gravel with a water bowl sunken into the gravel. They need things to climb as well, in Reptile Haven in Dublin the young water dragons habitat resembles a misty rainforest, you may not spot the water dragons unless they are moving.
In Pet World they are completely in the open, one was at the back of the cage, black with stress and kids were banging on the glass.

Here's pics of a decent water dragon habitat:

http://z4.invisionfree.com/Exotic_En...?showtopic=165



The bearded dragons were on sand, swallowing sand can cause impaction which can lead to death. This was caused by impaction and lack of UV light:

http://z4.invisionfree.com/Exotic_En...showtopic=1498


Corn snakes were feeding which is a good sign.


The birds seemed over-crowded.

Furry animals seemed in good nick.

Fantastic range of equipment, but I wouldn't buy any animals from the reptile section. My advice: stick to Paws Pet Centre, at least they seem to know what they're doing

Devils Demon

Nice to know it's finally open. I live in Willow Park just up the road. I'm not a big animal lover but I intend to bring my 7 month old daughter in for a browse during the week.

BoB_BoT

bad form if they're not looking after the animals correctly. Makes you wonder if the staff have any training in pet care or in this case reptiles. It'd hardly be mistreating animals? Sure make a complaint to management. Just hint that you'll be back in again to "buy dog food" or whatever.

Don't necessarly go up in arms about it, just inform them that it's not the correct way to keep them and that they may even die if kept like that... When they think they're gonna lose expensive stock they may do something about it.

If still unhappy go above them, write a letter to the main company etc... you get the idea. And failing that, report them to some sort of animals rights group, they'll take over after that perhaps :P

fluffytulip

was in there at the weekend. I wanted to get a few cheap goldfish for a bowl i got as a present. They had f*** all to choose from and anything that they did have was really really expensive so I went to paws and got 2 goldfish for €6. I also seen a a few fish that looked as if they were on the way out flopping around in the tanks.

Place was full of kids especially near the rabbits cudnt even walk by it was that busy. and the people that work there havent a clue.

Just my opionion

porno

clearly the first poster has some affiliation with paws pet centre
as for the last most likely
anything said is a load of bull****
the place is fine, staff are friendly and knoweledgable enough
lets face it, if you're buying a pet you should know a lot about it too

lightening

porno wrote: »

clearly the first poster has some affiliation with paws pet centre

I doubt it, I would just imagine they like to support local business.

porno wrote: »

as for the last most likely
anything said is a load of bull****

Really? Strong accusation, back it up.

porno wrote: »

if you're buying a pet you should know a lot about it too

In fairness, the posters look like they really know what they are talking about. I myself have used paws for bits and pieces for my dogs and you can get great advice from the localy owned pet shop. The pet superstores are UK owned and hire poeple that don't know about what they are selling.

Occidental

porno,

I was in there on Saturday.

I saw some dead and dying fish and lots of empty fish tanks. Talked to one of the staff who said that everything was a bit crazy so far and that they were only really opening that day.

General impression was that the opening was rushed and they could have done with another few weeks to get everything right and the fish settled in their tanks. Reptiles I don't know about, so I won't make any comments.

porno

reptiles looked fine, 2 at max to a decent sized tank

lightening

porno wrote: »

reptiles looked fine

And you are accusing others of being full of bull****?

Occidental

porno,

I haven't seen you argue one point made by either Demonique or fluffytulip. Instead you insinuate that they work for Paws and therefore are full of it.

I was there on Saturday. I saw the empty fishtanks, the poor quality of the stock, the general chaos of the place and at least two staff who were struggling to answer questions.

Demonique gave a detailed account of what he/she liked and disliked about Pet World. Maybe you'd like to tell us what was factually incorrect about the post. An apology also mightn't go amiss.

porno

Occidental wrote: »

porno,



I was there on Saturday. I saw the empty fishtanks, the poor quality of the stock, the general chaos of the place and at least two staff who were struggling to answer questions.
.

well when i was there it was a different story, the new pet shop is a good thing for the town, more choice cant be bad

Occidental

porno wrote: »

well when i was there it was a different story, the new pet shop is a good thing for the town, more choice cant be bad

Now, if you'd care to address the rest of my post.

porno

i wont be apologising, that is all

Occidental

I'd have settled for a coherent argument.

Demonique

There was a lethargic looking baby bearded dragon on its own in a tank last week. I asked to hold it and it was really listless. It looked dehydrated and I told them so, the guy replied that there was water in the tank and the beardie could have a drink if it wanted to

I contacted the local SPCA inspector and lodged a complaint about the beardie

tubos

As someone who has worked in a similar pet store, staff at these type of shops are not hired based on what they know about pets and pet care! Most of their learning is through experience of working in the shop and most likely will not receive any training. The management of these types of stores usually don't give a fiddlers about their staff. So it's not their fault if animals are not being kept correctly the more knowledgeable of you should definitely say it to the the staff if pets are not being kept correctly. The staff will more than likely be happy for the help, I think!!