Pets at home + PamPurred Pets?

[FlyLikeAValkyrie]

Okay, I just kinda curious as to other people's experiences when it comes to these large chain shops. My first beloved hamster called Valkyrie came from Pets At Home. She lived for only 6 months, where we then discovered she had developed wet tail and as her antibiotics didn't help the vet said it was down to genetics. I am a bit reluctant to shop at Pets At Home after having bought a hamster with a genetic illness from them. Is this just me?

And then Pampurred Pets. What are people's experiences here? My first impression when I went in there was that all their hamsters were quite a bit older. My one was just around 3 months when I bought him, possibly older and he is very hard to tame and not very friendly. Anyone else had this problem?

My next hamster, when I buy one, will most definitely be from a small pet shop in a little town as the owner doesn't stock lots in, looks after them properly and also knows the breeder, and so there is a MUCH smaller chance of them selling me a hamster with a genetic disease.

So I'm just wondering if anyoen else had any negative experiences with these shops, and also any other pet shops? And of course, any positive experiences!

[billybobbs]

It all depends where the breeder gets the hamsters from. Anyone can call themselves a breeder, most serious breeders do not breed to supply any sort of pet shop.
Whenever I buy a hamster from P@H I always do so with caution because we all know how bad the breeding is there.
I try not to go though cause I always end up at the adoption centre takin one home with me.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Ours at P@H have been ok so far. I've since learnt and now won't buy from pet stores unless in exceptional circumstances, but to be fair Scamp was and is amazing. Healthy so far (a year old last march) and has a brilliant temprament and everything
Our hybrids are also over 1 and all doing fine so far
Muffin is our last P@H ham and 1 in September, he's also fine.

Our biggest issue has been their inability to sex hamsters really lol

Our other three are equally healthy rescues

[cathface]

I don't think you'd be able to guarantee your hamster won't have a genetic illness unless you buy your ham from a reputable breeder who has everything about the lineage of the litter your ham is from (including diseases further back in the line). you definitely can't tell from pets from ANY pet shop, whether it is a large chain store or a small pet shop. most of these places get their hamsters from either rodent mills, where they are bred for quantity rather than quality, or perhaps backyard breeders trying to make a profit, who are breeding from poor stock they probably acquired from the store they're selling back to in the first place. as previously mentioned, serious breeders generally would not sell their hamsters to shops.

that said, my P@H ham is healthy as can be at the moment, and has been since he came to me. he is now about 5 months old, and he has been with me since 8 weeks. that's not to say he may not develop something later on (touch wood that he won't), but it's because he is from a large chain store that I worry about his longevity. I also have a breeder ham who I am much, much more confident about a long life and healthy growth. he is already nearly the size of my P@H ham, and he is a little over 2 months younger. of course there is still the possibility that he may have some hereditary illness that hasn't been accounted for or has skipped several generations, but I am definitely much more inclined to believe he will live longer with less problems than the other one.

I've not heard of Pampurred Pets though. is that new? I will say that each hamster has its own personality though, so your ham from Pampurred Pets may just be a little antisocial or dislike being held (he will still be tameable, but he may not be a cuddler). to refer to my two again, my P@H ham is most definitely the one who will let me do whatever to him, and he loves a snuggle, whereas my breeder ham is much more inquisitive and would rather explore than sit on your hand.

[Queen Of The High Teas]

I honestly have never had a single problem with pets@home. All my animals from them have been sound, healthy, live their expected life span, and friendly. My P@H rat is more docile than my three from a small store that breed their own pets, my gerbils from there are cuddly and handleable ( gerbil's aren't normally 'cuddly'), and all my hamsters have been great. My new Syrian is wonderfully tame and friendly as is my new dwarfie. I have never had a sick, missexed or pregnant animal from them and all the staff have always been polite, friendly and knowledgeable, asking questions on how well you know the anilmal before being allowed to take it. This is why I am so astounded to hear so many saying things like 'they got the sex wrong', ' they don't know what they're talking about' etc as I have simply never encountered anything like that in any of the ones I've visited. Put simply, I have always had good experiences in P@H, and unless that drastically changes ( I'd forgive them the odd 1 or 2 as law of averages says theres bound to be one) I have no intention of stopping going there nor see a reason to. Wherever they get their hamsters from, they're still hamsters in a glass tank that need and deserve a good home.

[Lynternette]

We have three hamsters from P@H. They range from 32 months to 4 months. We've not had a problem with any of them. Conan, the eldest is having problems now but its to be expected.

[Cookie Monster]

I've had 3 Hamsters, 2 from breeders (Rex and Stan) and 1 from p@h rescue (Becky).

Sadly, Rex died at about 5 months old because of tumors in his tummy but he was such a friendly little guy.

Stan came from the same breeder as Rex, and is doing well at 7 months old, but he's not touchy. He doesn't bite, but he certainly doesn't like being touched.

We're not sure how old Becky is, but maybe a little older than Stan. Her eyesight is REALLY bad (even for a hamster!) but he's such a friendly little girl. She loves just being with people.

I think my 3 illustrate quite well how you don't really know what's going to happen where ever they're from, sometimes Hamsters (like people) just get sick. They all develop their own little personalities anyway.

[Hotch]

PetSmart i won't buy from.. thankfully theres not one near me its quite a drive to get there. My first Ham from Petsmart arrived with wettail and didn't last long poor guy.

Pets At home i'm usually in quite a lot and have never had any problem. I've had 4 Ham's from there now over the years and 2 from smaller stores. There's been no noticeable differences in any of the little guys.
My local Pets at Home are quite strict as well, insisting on what type of cage to buy and taking your phone number to ring you after a week or so to check how things are going.

[libellule]

Only one experience of buying a hamster as an adult and he came from pets at home. Wouldn't call the staff member who dealt with us particularly knowledgeable but Herbie is two years old, never had any health problems (touch wood that will continue but I recognise that he is an older hamster now) and incredibly docile, cuddly and friendly. That said, he is incredibly well socialised so maybe if he had gone to a different home with indifferent owners he would not be so friendly.... I adopted a 2 year old gerbil from pets at home too and she lived 6 months with us. Found her dead in her wheel so think she may have had a heart attack whilst running. She was advertised as female but the person who dealt with us sexed her as male. Sexed her myself at home and although am no expert with gerbils, I think she was a she...


Never heard of pampurred pets but that's my experience with p@h.

[student1304]

I've had a syrian female from a small pet store and she died at around 18 months of pyometra - and I wouldn't blame the pet shop. I think it's just one of those things, and I've come to realise pyometra is quite a common health issue for female syrians.

I had a hybrid from P@H and unfortunately he only made it to 4 weeks. He either had diabetes or kidney problems from birth (the vet said kidney problems). But again I wouldn't blame p@h, sometimes these things happen. As others have said hammys get sick just like humans.

Currently I have a male syrian from p@h, he is now 5 months old (I think) and although he was difficult to tame to start with he had turned into one lovely little guy who demands to be out all the time!! I think he is quite small, but he is in good health so far (touch wood).

I also have a male chinese from the p@h adoption centre. At the very least he is 8 months old, possibly more. He is getting better, but doesn't really like to be handled and is a bit nippy. That said he is happy on his wheel and burrowing away. I sort of blame p@h for his lack of tameness - he was at their centre for 5 months with little or no handling in one of their small tanks. That said I think he has done incredibly well to say he wasn't handled for so long.
I think the age can make them harder to tame, but I have noticed a difference with my chinese since I got him - it's just a very small change haha.

I also don't think wet tail is genetic. Welcome to the British Hamster Association Web Site
it is generally due to stress. That said many vets will diagnose diarrhoea as wet tail - so in fact your hammy could have just had extreme diarrhoea.

Although bad breeding will aid health defects, I do think a lot of it is just the luck of the draw.