I know you've probably heard this many times before, but now you can hear it from me.

Don't buy animals from PetCo!

When I was there one day and saw they had black rats (my most favorite color of rat) and an agouti one...the first time they were selling a color besides albino...I gave in. They were just too cute and looked healthy, all scurrying about and wrestling eachother. So I picked out two little boys.

Rats tend to sneeze a lot when they're getting adjusted to a new home, but a week later these guys were still sneezing, and the black one's sneezes sounded very bad. I knew they were sick, and after some research I figured out they had myco - a respiratory infection that can be fatal if it isn't treated. The agouti rat seemed to have difficulty using his hind legs as well. He could walk fine, but he ate lying on his belly and only stood on his hind legs by holding himself up on the cage bars.
So I had to take them back to PetCo which is half an hour away I explained that the rats were sick and how they stated in the "adoption" paper that they would provide vet treatment for any animal within 15 days of purchase. The manager agreed to take them to the local vet, which would be open... a week from that day. So I had to leave them there, alone in a seperate room in the store, for an entire week. When I asked an employee if I could visit them for a moment (to ensure they were being properly cared for) she replied that they usually don't allow customers in "that room"...
With what I saw there, I could understand why. There were numerous cages of sick pets, mice losing fur that walked with tilted heads, and a leopard gecko with no heat lamp that didn't appear to be breathing. On the floor were my rats, in a little glass tank with a few paper towels from the restroom as bedding.

I worried about them all week. The PetCo lady was taking them to the vet on Tuesday, so I eagerly called that morning and asked when they thought I could take them home again. Her answer was "I dunno, it depends whether the vet says you can take them home".
...So yeah, that didn't help my confidence any. But then I got a call in the evening that my rats were back from the vet and ready to be picked up. YES! But my dad wouldn't take me until this morning. I FINALLY got them back along with their medicine, which is a pain in the tail to give them. They squirm like crazy and it's very thick sticky stuff. Most of it ends up all over them. They're going to hate me for awhile, but I'm glad they'll be okay.

In general I'm glad PetCo was responsible in getting my rats what they needed. However, the manager told me that their rats are usually sick when they arrive. If they had warned me about that beforehand, I wouldn't have gotten rats there. Even though it's good to know I saved them from dying of myco or becoming snake food, in the long run I just supported the nasty rat farm they came from by purchasing their "product". That's all rats are viewed as in such places. And get this - the employee who took them out of the cage for me never even gave me a care sheet or asked if I knew anything about rats. Of course I already have one and had done lots of research about them, but they didn't know that. They were willing to sell live animals to someone who might not have known how to care for them at all. They just didn't give a fuck. It's truly sickening. I'm sure if I hadn't made it obvious that I cared about my rats and fully expected their treatment, they would've been left to die in that room. Speaking of which, those mice were still there after I picked up my rats, and were looking even sicker.

Never again PetCo. Never again.

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