would this be ok for a syrian?

[internet_nobody]

I'm from Stockport too :P Well, Mellor...which is just outside Marple...

Back when I was at home it was a PetSmart and it was horrible, we'd always see dead animals when we went. Nice to hear they've improved the place so much!

[TheArctopus]

Originally Posted by zara825

I'm from Stockport too
There is a fair Stockport collective on this forum!
It has just been done up as a flagship store-only re opened a fortnight ago-did you see the shark tank and the turtles?
Its soooooo good!

i just looked at the chinchilla's, rats, guinea pigs and hamsters really. Then bought my long haired hammy and a new cage for goose. Didnt look at the aquarium section. But i may be heading over there tomorrow or the weekend so ill make sure to check it out.

Im at uni in manchester, live just behind the curry mile so i have to either get a bus all the way to stockport or get a train and walk from train station, both methods take like an hour or so to get there. Will be bussing it this time though as i may have to carry a Savic Hamster Heaven cage and im not carrying that to the train station, ill die trying that. On friday i carried a savic cambridge cage filled with accessories and extra's plus wood shavings and a hamster in a mammal box(hence i had to walk slowly and very carefully so as to not scare him) the 25 minute walk from pets at home to stockport train station, by time i got back into manchester my arms were killing me so i got a taxi home couldnt face taking it all on the bus.

[zara825]

I never see long haired hammys in there! Ohhhhhh!

The one in Ashton U Lyne may be quicker for you to get to you know, and they have the hamster heaven there too. Im going myself on Sunday as i need to detour to Ikea. I got my hammy, Cow, from there too Not sure of the buses that go there from town, but i'm sure there must be some.

Cant believe you walked all the way back to the station with all that stuff! There is a short cut if you get a bus from opposite P@H Stockport, which goes to Stockport bus station (there are a couple I think 42A, 23 etc), if you get there, there are some steps that go up to the train station approach from the back of the bus station (viaduct side), a 5 min walk.
Otherwise I'd hang on and get a bus all the way back. The 42A goes from Stockport all the way through Fallowfield and Rusholme etc.

Its such a pain in the bum if you dont drive.

You got a name for your hairy hammy yet??

[zara825]

Originally Posted by internet_nobody

I'm from Stockport too :P Well, Mellor...which is just outside Marple...

Back when I was at home it was a PetSmart and it was horrible, we'd always see dead animals when we went. Nice to hear they've improved the place so much!

PetSmart was awful. I got my first pet, a gerbil, from there when I was 13, but after I think it shut down for a while amidst accustations of nasty euthanising of unsold stock involving bags of hammys and cricket bats and brick walls.....
Completely rebranded now though, and it does seem like they look after their animals, although I have heard stories of poor unscrupulous breeding.

By the looks of it, Stockport <3's hamsters! No wonder P@H chose the Stockport store as a flagship!

[keepingmesane]

eeek! including the cage i have spent £100 on stuff for this hammy and i havent even got him yet
the pets at home shop looks lovely now, but my bugbear with it is that they have the chinchillas under a bright light and not much place to get away from it, actually its the same with the hammies, poor things were hanging out the little houses trying to sleep as there wasnt enough space for all odf them. the fish area is fab though!

[zara825]

Originally Posted by keepingmesane

eeek! including the cage i have spent £100 on stuff for this hammy and i havent even got him yet
the pets at home shop looks lovely now, but my bugbear with it is that they have the chinchillas under a bright light and not much place to get away from it, actually its the same with the hammies, poor things were hanging out the little houses trying to sleep as there wasnt enough space for all odf them. the fish area is fab though!

Completely agree-they have piles of hamsters, but i do think it may have something to do with expecting an xmas rush. I heard at least 2 people when i was in there enquiring about reserving hammys for xmas eve pick up.
No excuse though. 3 of my hammys are P@H hammys (my robos were a gift, and cow was bought on a whim as i fell in love with him when i saw him) although I dont think i will buy a P@H hamster in the future, it just doesnt seem right.

Out of interest, what breeder is in the Stockport area? Just its my little sisters bday in feb and i'm thinking of getting her one as a gift, as she is really interested in my 4.

Yeah £100 sounds about right-funny how they market hammys as being an inexpensive pet, but in reality, if you look after them properly, it can be quite a dear do.

My robos, including initial purchase, having to separate all 3 into individual homes after fighting, a bin cage disaster, (one chewed his way out) all the toys and vet bills (including surgery on one), I estimate they have cost me in excess of £300. But they dont tell you this at the pet shop do they!

They are worth every penny though

[TheArctopus]

Originally Posted by zara825

Completely agree-they have piles of hamsters, but i do think it may have something to do with expecting an xmas rush. I heard at least 2 people when i was in there enquiring about reserving hammys for xmas eve pick up.
No excuse though. 3 of my hammys are P@H hammys (my robos were a gift, and cow was bought on a whim as i fell in love with him when i saw him) although I dont think i will buy a P@H hamster in the future, it just doesnt seem right.

Out of interest, what breeder is in the Stockport area? Just its my little sisters bday in feb and i'm thinking of getting her one as a gift, as she is really interested in my 4.

Yeah £100 sounds about right-funny how they market hammys as being an inexpensive pet, but in reality, if you look after them properly, it can be quite a dear do.

My robos, including initial purchase, having to separate all 3 into individual homes after fighting, a bin cage disaster, (one chewed his way out) all the toys and vet bills (including surgery on one), I estimate they have cost me in excess of £300. But they dont tell you this at the pet shop do they!

They are worth every penny though

i hope they said no to them people because they refused to allow me to put a deposit on my long haired guy so i could return for him the following day when not having to carry the cages etc. They said they dont have liscence to look after your animal hence once its been pre-ordered by deposit to you, its yours and they are looking after it for you and they arent allowed to do that.

I agree on the costs, but tbh i think a lot of the time they could be cheaper its just us owners always thinking that the stuff we've given to them is not enough/inadequite and wanting to get more or bigger things for them. After the setup costs and excluding vet bills(because thats not really something you will have to pay its just unlucky if you do) they are relativelly cheap pets to keep. To buy a big cambridge cage, a iglo house, a savic sputnik hammock, 18cm rolly wheel, hamster ball, long haired syrian hamster and wood shavings was like £59, so factor in a months supply of food and you may hit £65-70. After that you only need to buy food, treats and bedding which costs what £10-15 a month? I can do it for 2 on my student loan quite easily If i get vet bills there goes my overdraft though, lol

I think that pets at home is really nice, the majority of staff seem to be good and approachable and know a bit more about the animals compared to others p@h's ive been in. They did seem to have lots of hammys in(4 per tank approx) but they take delivery of livestock on friday so if you go on a friday or early saturday then they would have loads, like 2 days later i bet they will have had reasonable amounts per tank. My long haired guy is really skittish and wont allow him to be handled yet but having looked him over while having him in a ball so i could see right around him, he looked to be of good health, one bit of wood shaving stuck to his fur on his side which ill remove when he is tame enough (that can happen anytime to a long haired hammy). This isnt bad for a p@h, i had a rabbit from one of their other stores (only got him cause he was super cute, i got all my others from a specialist breeder in the north east) and he was quite dirty underneath and felt underfed, soon sorted him though.

[edit] im leaning towards calling the long haired guy Terrence for whoever asked earlier, hehe - forgot to answer that several replies ago

[zara825]

Hahaha very true. Cow doesnt need a Hamster Heaven. I just want him to have one! But that is something that will have to wait!

They said no to reserving the hamsters at P@H. Didnt ear-wig long enough to hear a reason why though

Yeah in all fairness, my syrians haven't cost me that much money at all.
I think the problems arise when you get squabbling dwarves like I did

I had a hammy named Maizie when I was at uni and managed to keep her well on a very stretched student loan and luckily I had no problems with her whatsoever.

[internet_nobody]

Originally Posted by zara825

Out of interest, what breeder is in the Stockport area? Just its my little sisters bday in feb and i'm thinking of getting her one as a gift, as she is really interested in my 4.

There's Nooboo Hamstery in Central Manchester, who hasn't got a litter currently but will have in the new year (don't think there'll be babies ready by Feb though). There's also Scorpio Syrians who is somewhere in West Manchester.