I saw this thread yesterday (though I didn't watch the video) and, on the spur of the moment today, I went in to the Leicester branch of Pets At Home, just for nose around.
It was pretty empty, just a couple of other customers and me, so I lurked in the aisles watching and listening to the staff (I must have looked highly suspicious if they've got cameras but I don't think the staff noticed anything untoward!). The lady feeding the small animals seemed very knowledgeable - I listened as she talked to a man who was asking about hamsters - he said one of his children's hamsters had died and they were thinking about replacing it. He was pointing at the Syrian hamsters but talking about introducing a new one to a cage with several in together
. The assisstant told him that Syrians can't be kept together and showed him the dwarf hammies (Campbells I think, though I'm no expert)...he recognised them (sigh of relief) but then said he thought the one that had died was being bullied - the assisstant said she certainly wouldn't recommend introducing a new one to an established colony anyway and certainly not if one of the originals had possibly been killed in there. The man then left.
I then asked her about the Syrian hamsters in the two tanks as my friend's son (mad on our hammies) has been told he's allowed to get one by his mum at the end of this week (though we are going to
my lovely family owned pet shop to get him). They were awake (just been fed I think) and they all seemed very interested in me and not at all timid - the lady said they'd only come into the shop yesterday after being kept in quarantine for a month and that they seemed quite tame and very well handled compared to some of the hamsters they get - she said this not me. I watchd her (from a distance)handling the mice while she cleaned their tank and she seemed very competent and kind - she was talking soothingly to them.
I also asked about cages and the male assisstant said that lots of the cages they sell are only really suitable for dwarf hamsters - he pointed out the Ferplast Duna Fun (I think that was the name) to me as being a good size for a Syrian.
So, in conclusion, I had a fairly positive experience there - I felt that what I was being told matched what I know about hamsters and everything seemed clean and well run though the tanks were very small. Obviously I didn't see the back room and I only spoke to a couple of the staff who seemed knowledgeable enough - I can't comment on other P@H branches.
Oh and I fell in love with a beautiful and inquisitive little Golden Banded hammy
...had to tell myself firmly that we aren't having any more (yet!) and that we are going to a breeder next time - but it was very hard to walk away
