Many people go to the pet store when looking for an animal, there you can find animals such as hamsters, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits that they sell there. You often think that you get good information when you buy an animal there, but in fact this is not the case.
Many people go to the pet store when looking for an animal, there you can find animals such as hamsters, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits that they sell there. You often think that you get good information when you buy an animal there, but in fact this is not the case.
Wrong advice
Often the sellers in a pet store are not well trained and know little about the animals they sell. For example, they often do not know what sex an animal has, then you think to purchase a male, it turns out to be a female. But that’s not all, as pet stores are commercial, they often try to sell as much stuff as possible, even if it’s not good for the animals.
Hazardous products
Gnawing stones and licks
For example, you have the gnawing stones and licks. Often when you buy a rabbit, guinea pig or hamster you will be told that it is so good for the teeth. In fact, this is not the case. The teeth of a rodent wear out because there are special pencil teeth behind the upper teeth, so that the teeth wear out when the animal eats something. What you can buy so that the teeth do wear out is, for example, a gnaw stick, with seeds, nuts and other tasty things on it. Please note that you should not give it too often because it contains a lot of sugar.
Gnawing stones and licks are dangerous for the health of rodents, unfortunately most people do not know this. Rodents get bladder stones and kidney stones, which causes a lot of pain and you have to go to the vet, which in turn costs a lot of money.
Hamster wool / hamster wadding
When you purchase a hamster you often hear that hamster wool, or hamster wadding, is so nice and warm and soft for your hamster. This is true, it is warm and soft but it is also dangerous. Many hamsters have died because they hanged themselves, they settle in the wool and cannot get out. Or they eat it, but it cannot be digested in the intestines, causing the animal to die.
Sawdust
Almost all pet stores also sell sawdust. Sawdust is poisonous because it is made from pine trees, when the sawdust gets wet, toxic substances are released. This allows many animals to get cancer (faster) and for most animals it is also very dusty. For example, you should never put rats and mice on sawdust because rats and mice have very sensitive lungs and therefore they can have a lot of trouble breathing and even die from it. Ground covers such as wood chips, cotton comfort or corbo are excellent ground coverings for these pets. Please note that Corbo can quickly start to mold when it is damp.
Course the solution
Unfortunately many sellers who work in pet stores don’t know this, it would be so much better if they did. After all, it is an animal and you want the best for that. It would be better for the animals if the salespeople were given some sort of training to understand the animals they are selling, so there would be less misunderstanding and the customer gets the right information.