General Pet Stores: At A Bit Of A Loss.........

[Zuidy]

I love my Piggies to death, and I want the best for them.

They have a bunch of neat things in their cage. Most of it is not pet store bought. In fact, the only things that are are their Litter Boxes.

But, I find myself going back to the petstore for little things. Mainly, cleaning wipes, some grooming tools, and at least once a month for pellets.

I was wondering if other people do this? Keep in mind that I DO NOT support petstores, even if I purchase from them. Where else would I go/could I go/SHOULD I go?

Please help me out here. I feel bad every time I make a purchase at a petstore, but I don't really know where else to go? Where do you all go? Do YOU go to petstores?

 

[pocketmonster]

Hey Zuidy! Do you have a Tractor Supply Store in your area? I get my piggy stuff from there, except for pellets which I order offline and hay which is cut freshly in our horses's field. Tractor Supply has very good small animal supplies and do not sell pets. We also get all of our horse stuff from there, too. If you don't have a Tractor Supply in your area, perhaps you can go to another farm supply store?

 

[Zuidy]

Hey Zuidy! Do you have a Tractor Supply Store in your area? I get my piggy stuff from there, except for pellets which I order offline and hay which is cut freshly in our horses's field. Tractor Supply has very good small animal supplies and do not sell pets. We also get all of our horse stuff from there, too. If you don't have a Tractor Supply in your area, perhaps you can go to another farm supply store?

You know, I have heard of them so much. I figured, "Well, they are gonna be too far from me"

I looked it up, I went under the Michigan section, and found one in my city! ON MY ROAD!

Haha!

Now, I know where to get the Hay, but I am talking about products like:

Litter Boxes

Litter

Etc..

Do they have those?

 

[SkywardPhie]

I go to the pet store to get the odd bit's and bob's!
Everyone on here seem's to think pet stores are evil! All my animal's except my dog and three kitten's I got from the pet store! I got all my piggie's from there, And my two cat's!
Don't feel bad at all, Rescuing a piggie is all fair and well but there are piggie's in pet stores that need homes too! And going there for the odd bit's and bobs doesn't make you a bad person!

 

[pocketmonster]

You know, I have heard of them so much. I figured, "Well, they are gonna be too far from me"

I looked it up, I went under the Michigan section, and found one in my city! ON MY ROAD!

Haha!

Now, I know where to get the Hay, but I am talking about products like:

Litter Boxes

Litter

Etc..

Do they have those?

Yep, sure do! They even have Carefresh. They sell big bags of timothy and they have all sorts of cage accessories. Some stores may be better equipped with small animal supplies but I know all of them at least have litter, litter boxes and cage accessories.

 

[SeeSpotSit]

Sometimes they do! But I also get a lot of my supplies on line, Amazon is fairly competitive and I try to get the free shipping whenever I can.

Every once in awhile I need to get to a pet store...don't crucify yourself over it, your litter purchase isn't killing any puppies. Those stores aren't going anywhere, there are far more productive things you can do to try and help them not sell animals than refuse to buy a bag of litter now and then.

 

[Scintie]

I go to the pet store to get the odd bit's and bob's!
Everyone on here seem's to think pet stores are evil! All my animal's except my dog and three kitten's I got from the pet store! I got all my piggie's from there, And my two cat's!
Don't feel bad at all, Rescuing a piggie is all fair and well but there are piggie's in pet stores that need homes too! And going there for the odd bit's and bobs doesn't make you a bad person!

Yes there are piggies in pet stores that need homes but after giving them a home it opens up space for more piggies to be bred. Would you rather save one or save many?

As for the OP, I don't see anything wrong with buying supplies from a pet store. It isn't opening up space for more animals to be bred.

 

[Zuidy]

Yep, sure do! They even have Carefresh. They sell big bags of timothy and they have all sorts of cage accessories. Some stores may be better equipped with small animal supplies but I know all of them at least have litter, litter boxes and cage accessories.

I am assuming, then, that what they show online isn't all they have in stores?

Products in Small Animals, Pet Care on Tractor Supply Navigation__

[MENTION=20585]SkywardPhie[/MENTION]

I just don't feel the same way, and you are going to find that nobody else really wants to buy from a pet store on this website. But I like your thinking.

[MENTION=20244]SeeSpotSit[/MENTION]

Thanks! I just wasn't feeling the most confident. I don't know of any other Cavy lovers around me, not to mention I don't know anybody who thinks about NOT buying from a pet store around me. So it is good that their are people on the Net that I can relate to.

 

[pocketmonster]

I am assuming, then, that what they show online isn't all they have in stores?

Products in Small Animals, Pet Care on Tractor Supply Navigation__

Definitely not. I think they do not have a very competent person running their online presence because their online inventory and in store inventory never match up. It's worth checking out because who knows? Maybe your TSS will have a great small animal section like mine does. A lot of their stuff is for rabbits like sifter feeders and hutches, but most can preform dual-duty and work for piggies.
[MENTION=20244]SeeSpotSit[/MENTION] made a good point about Amazon. I've never been unsatisfied with an online piggy purchase

 

[Zuidy]

Definitely not. I think they do not have a very competent person running their online presence because their online inventory and in store inventory never match up. It's worth checking out because who knows? Maybe your TSS will have a great small animal section like mine does. A lot of their stuff is for rabbits like sifter feeders and hutches, but most can preform dual-duty and work for piggies.
@SeeSpotSit made a good point about Amazon. I've never been unsatisfied with an online piggy purchase

I am currently at my mother's house, but we have to go out that way today and she said we could check it out!

Do you know if they carry Kaytee: Clean'N'Cozy bedding? I use it for their litter boxes.

 

[pocketmonster]

I am currently at my mother's house, but we have to go out that way today and she said we could check it out!

Do you know if they carry Kaytee: Clean'N'Cozy bedding? I use it for their litter boxes.

I saw it in my store a few weeks ago, so it's worth checking out. They have Carefresh but I assume you like Clean'N'Cozy because it is cheaper than Carefresh. They sell giant bags of pine shavings for horse stalls for SO cheap and it makes me wish that pine were suitable (and comfortable!) for the piglets.
I still have a giant bag of Aspen to go through for their tiny 1x2 litter box but when it finally empties I may check into Clean'N'Cozy..

 

[Zuidy]

I saw it in my store a few weeks ago, so it's worth checking out. They have Carefresh but I assume you like Clean'N'Cozy because it is cheaper than Carefresh. They sell giant bags of pine shavings for horse stalls for SO cheap and it makes me wish that pine were suitable (and comfortable!) for the piglets.
I still have a giant bag of Aspen to go through for their tiny 1x2 litter box but when it finally empties I may check into Clean'N'Cozy..

I don't like Clean'N'Cozy because it is cheap. I actually never even noticed! I just like it because it seems to work the best.

 

[pocketmonster]

I don't like Clean'N'Cozy because it is cheap. I actually never even noticed! I just like it because it seems to work the best.

Hey now, I'm a bargain hunter so cheap doesn't mean bad quality.. Cheap means a good deal
Good luck with your adventure and I hope TSS works out for you, and if not I hope you can find a good online source! It's good to ignore pet stores all together. I recently went in there just to poke around and see their prices and I had to leave I was so upset. They had a little girl piggy all by herself and she looked so sad

 

[Nicolene]

Hi, I used to shop at Petsmart all the time, and checking out the piggies. Until one day, when I saw a piggy who OBVIOUSLY had an URI, I quickly grabbed an associate and explained that this pig looked very sick and they took her out and into the back room. It took EVERY OUNCE of self control I could muster not to take her home with me. At home I bawled my eyes out and my hubby wanted to go back and get her and have me meet him at the vet, but I couldn't. I don't want to support breeding.

Ever since I have not been able to bring myself to go to a pet store with animals. We had to go into Petsmart recently because a rescue group was there with an adorable bunny we wanted to see. I told my husband, we are walking to the cage, we'll get the info and walk out again. He of course went to look at the pigs and came running back with a "oooohhh, they have the cutest abby, can we have him, can weeeee?" He gets what I am about, he just gets excited. (BTW, we're looking to adopt both another bun and piggy for our current bun and pig.

Since I stopped shopping there I have started going to a feed store once a year for a 100 lb bale of hay ($16!), giant bags of yesterday's news, that I layer with carefresh that I also buy there. But be sure they don't sell animals. I walked into one once that had a cage FILLED with baby bunnies and a sign that proudly proclaimed "From our very own farm". I turned right around a left. During the rest of the year I get carefresh, toys and pellets (we only get about 5lbs a year, our pets don't really eat them) from either Pet Club or Pet Food Express (NorCal chain) that sell no pets. We recently bought our bun a big twig tunnel in a bunny rescue's store for cheaper than any internet source. Since then I have found many bunny rescues have stores, and they use the same things as guinea pigs, so that's worth looking into.

It certainly can be done, and I commend you for giving it a shot!

 

[Zuidy]

Thanks everyone!

I guess I will just go along like this:

Doing whatever makes my Pigs safe, happy, and healthy, while helping other Piggies as well!

__

TSS wasn't so good....... They didn't have any of the brands that I usually use. I don't really want to change, honestly. I might just buy my Pellets AND Hay from KMS now. That wouldn't be a bad idea. They didn't even have Timothy Hay in bales! It was mixed with Alfalfa. They had it in bags, but, eh....

They did have some Piggy products that I could use-- Litter boxes, water bottles, etc..

We went to another tractor store nearby, and they had a bin of bunnies..... Unghh....... And, NO PIGGY PRODUCTS! Oh well. I picked up everything I need to start a Garden indoors and then transplant them to outdoors. Yay! Homegrown Cilantro!

Also, is Cilantro the same thing as Coriander?

 

[littledinobug]

For bedding: We use fleece on top of an absorbant layer. Better for the environment, and pocket book: Fabric store purchase.

For food: Hay you can get from a local horse person if you're chummy. Ask a farmer for good quality horse hay, that'll get you away from the pet store too.

Pellets: Order online

Veggies: Grocery store!

 

[Zuidy]

For bedding: We use fleece on top of an absorbant layer. Better for the environment, and pocket book: Fabric store purchase.

For food: Hay you can get from a local horse person if you're chummy. Ask a farmer for good quality horse hay, that'll get you away from the pet store too.

Pellets: Order online

Veggies: Grocery store!

I use Fleece for bedding, too. I use the Clean'N'Cozy for their litter in their litter boxes.

I don't consider anybody who buys from a horse caretaker "chummy" In fact, that is the cheapest, best place to go if they sell good quality hay. I think people may be insulted by being called chummy.

You can get pellets online, I know.

I get my veggies at a grocery store.

 

[littledinobug]

umm Chummy as in friendly If you're friendly with one you might even be able to score some free hay.

 

[Zuidy]

umm Chummy as in friendly If you're friendly with one you might even be able to score some free hay.

Ah. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Thanks all for your tips and advice!

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I buy litter and such from PetSmart for my pigs and gerbils. The gerbil food comes from the store; I order the pigs' food from KMs Hayloft online. Sometimes I get a small bag of Oxbow treats or bird toys for my girls, but that's it.