# Pets at Home



## Titch1980 (Mar 6, 2006)

were apparently getting one in brid soon, so what are they like? any good?
never been to one, but i know its quite a big name


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## annarism (Aug 9, 2007)

fairly good they sell fish and rodentsa rabbits etc the one near me has just started to stock vivs and hermet crabs etc and do a little bit of substrate but i think is aimed mainly at cats dogs fish and rabbits etc


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## damo (Jan 4, 2007)

yea do they even stock reps??some of them did years ago,but aint seen any since with reps.....


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## Rainwater (Apr 18, 2007)

hmm ive been to a few dotted around manchester and london and they seem to be more focused on fish, guinea pigs and rabbits.


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## Moshpitviper (Oct 21, 2005)

P.A.H is handy for me as they actually sell squirrel food. nobody else seems too. and my lil squirrel loves it. other than that its good for getting cheap feeder fish for certain difficult reps.


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## punky_jen (Feb 22, 2007)

my local pets at home is massive and in a retail park, but has nothing in there, not even frozen mice.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

One of the massive ones in Cardiff is now stocking some of the exo terra range of reptile products including the tanks, but they are more expensive than most reptile shops I know.. and they don't stock actual reptiles, just a very limited selection of rodents, and a large fish section. They don't even sell birds anymore.


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## FreddiesMum (Jan 10, 2007)

There is one in Falkirk it sells rodents,fish,birds but nothing for reptiles.


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## argentine_boa (Feb 10, 2007)

The ones near us only do rabbits, rodents and fish. They are getting some hermit crabs soon. They do have stick insects though.


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## garysumpter (Apr 18, 2005)

The ones in Kent have started doing exo terra setups and VERY basic reptile equipment.

Gary


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## Moshpitviper (Oct 21, 2005)

yeah i saw they were selling phasmids at a fiver a pop. thats a lot of money for glider food.


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## baby_glass (Jul 3, 2007)

When they used to be called PetSmart they did sell reptiles,this was about 7 years ago or so,they couldn't care for them very well and it was decided that they wouldn't sell them anymore (i had heard that one shop left the heating on overnight,everything overheated and died,true?? i dunno) but they stopped selling them,sold off all their reptile stock,changed the shop name to Pets at Home and stuck to small domestic animals.I can't see them getting into reptiles again,they can't even sex their rats,let alone take care of snakes and lizards,lol.


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

Pets at Home, formerly Petsmart were secretly filmed by Watchdog, with poor results, especially on the Rep side. Shortly afterwards they lost their licence to sell reptiles, and changed their name to Pets At Home.

They do however at the moment seem to be investing alot of money into revamping stores and are looking to recruit alot of more 'knowledgable' staff.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

The one near us seems a bit overpriced.
We go in now and again but only buy there if we can't get what we want anywhere else. Usually if we need something on a Sunday when everywhere else is shut.


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## monitorfan666 (Feb 15, 2007)

the one near us sells hermit crabs, sticks, nice rep equipment
its pretty much a dogowners dream lol
so my mum and nan go there to get the dog food alott
:grin1:


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## hermanlover (Jul 8, 2007)

last time i went they had:
rabbits
guinie pigs
every type of bloody hamster ever invented
stick insect
millions of fish
chinchillas
chip monks

and that was it really

not very exciting


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

my one has not long got rid of all the pets...the dish weren't the best quality, most the equipment was over priced, staff weren't knowledgable, the only good thing was relativley cheap tanks


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

Snakes r grreat said:


> Pets at Home, formerly Petsmart were secretly filmed by Watchdog, with poor results, especially on the Rep side. Shortly afterwards they lost their licence to sell reptiles, and changed their name to Pets At Home.
> 
> They do however at the moment seem to be investing alot of money into revamping stores and are looking to recruit alot of more 'knowledgable' staff.


Pets at Home and Petsmart are different companies and were actually competitors in the market not the same. PaH just bought them out, hence some stores changed name. They changed the name because of a takeover, not because Petsmart changed names.


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## linklee (Aug 18, 2007)

i used to work at the pets at home in halifax!!...good for fish and stuff and now they do some rep tanks and some basic stuff,nothing fancy...

more into there hampsters,rabbits,fish cats and dogs really.


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## matty (Feb 17, 2007)

the one near me used to be REALLY good for reps..sold everything..but it stopped about 4 yrs ago..


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

the one near me sells millions of fish,bunnys,guinie pigs,jerds!,gerbils,hamsters,rats,rescue rodents,sticks and hermit crabs.


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## Kev132 (Aug 13, 2006)

as silvershark said, pets at home and petsmart are not, never were and never have been the same company, pets at home bought out petsmart to take them out of the uk market, so no need to tar them with the same brush as petsmart had.

what they do they are usually quite good at (cats dogs, fish, few rodents etc)

the reason they dont stock all the reptile things is that the reptile stuff they do have isnt for reptiles, some of them have just started stocking stick insects and hermit crabs, the equippment is based on setting up for those


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

Ok, next i will get told that watchdog never investigated them.


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

Snakes r grreat said:


> Ok, next i will get told that watchdog never investigated them.


Watchdog investigated petsmart.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

That's what I thought.
Pets at Home bought out Petsmart after all the sh*te about smacking Hamsters off walls to kill them etc!!!!!!!!!!
I, honestly, can't fault our Pets at Home other than the lack of knowledge and the prices. Clean cages and well watered and fed. In fact my Granddauighter got a hamster from them last week. Overpriced at £6.50 but a lovely little friendly baby hamster. Perfect for my granddaughter. Could have paid less elsewhere and got a tiger.
The Chins were around £60 for a normal. You can get them for £15 from a breeder.
They still house rabbits with guinea pigs, in large enclosures, I don't agree with this.
Again it's down to silly prices.
Lionhead rabbits £45. £10 from a breeder.


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

> *Watchdog investigation*
> 
> Pets at Home, was the subject of a recent investigation by the BBC1 television programme, Watchdog. Two Pets at Home customers, who bought fish, found that staff were not on hand to provide advice. The fish died quickly, despite them having treated the water for disease. Watchdog visited Pets at Home branches with an ornamental fish expert, Peter Bradley, and found dead and deseased fish in eight out of nine branches, they found that fish had been left in the tank for so long they had started to decay and were being eaten by others. In one store, they discovered four dead goldfish in one tank. After purchases, the documentary team found that fish were spun round in their bags by staff - something which causes stress and can be fatal.


Many people over the years have complained about Pets at Home, its pretty hard to defend a bad corner.


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## PendleHog (Dec 21, 2005)

saxon said:


> They still house rabbits with guinea pigs, in large enclosures, I don't agree with this.


My local [email protected] have now seperated all their guineas and rabbits, hopefully others will follow suit.

The fish have always been notoriously sh*t in [email protected], but then their supplier is awful its not all the staff/stores fault.
The small furries are generally of a decent quality and well housed however.


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

Snakes r grreat said:


> Many people over the years have complained about Pets at Home, its pretty hard to defend a bad corner.


 
I don't believe I said whether I liked or disliked their store nor did I defend them, I thought the watchdog investigation was refering to the petsmart one. Someone stated that Pets at Home and Petsmart were the same company, which they are not. 

Yeah, many people have complained but many people have also had good expriences with them. I don't think there is any company with a customer satisfaction of 100% because someone will always find a fault. Perhaps after the WD investigation they made attempts to rectify the mistakes - afterall that is part of what WD is about getting the companies to change their ways.

Personally I like their range of dog food, treats and toys but I don't buy anything else from there.


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## jamie_coxon (Jul 18, 2007)

the one in hull started stocking rep equipment bout 3month ago but real expensive they had the smal 30x30x30cm exo terra going for £50. apart from that they were light bulbs and substrates. everything else was crabs, fish cats and dogs


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## Mr.Bob (Aug 4, 2006)

the one near me only sells the furries really...but has just got in some hermit crabs and stick insects of some sort...
i did ask if they were getting any other reptile stuff in and they said they were going to see how it went with what they had in...lol
not sure if they would be any good as they sell very poorly rats...lol
and they are also going to be more interested in having more of thier stock thats on the 'adopt a pet' scheme so the manager said to me last time i was in there. which i think at the monet is quite a good thing they are doing if ur looking for furries but dont want to pay their somewhat silly prices.....lol
small essay......lol


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## Tomcat (Jul 29, 2007)

I have had good, and bad expiriences with them. 

I really dont want them to get reptiles thoguh, as i dont think they will provide good advise to people who but them. Whenever i buy an animal from them, they tick on the reciept 'over 16' 'Animal health check' CAre sheet' and i never have a care sheet and never get a health check for them. They cant give good advise about anything. Generally they sell healthy animals.

The adoption bit is aload of rubbish. Its not animals taken in by the public. Its animals that they cant sell and have had in for a long time. I was told that by my friend who works there.


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## Catherine896 (Jul 27, 2007)

Ive bought loads of fish from PAH, 4 survived. Out of about 10 neons, 3 lived and 1 guppy lived. I expect all in all atleast 10 fish from there died. Every time I go there there are dead fish being eaten or sucked into the filters. Fish that cant be kept together are housed in the same tank etc. Fish wise, they are terrible. Small furries are good but the rabbits and guinea pigs are still housed together at my local ones.
I dont buy fish from there anymore, dont really go there atall to be honest.


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## wozza_t (Jan 4, 2007)

they are not the best pet shop around, they dont even sell mice anymore, i was told it was because they were being brought as live snake food.
As for the fish, they are not the best, everysingle one i have had from them died within a week. but you cannot expect someone to be stood guard over the fish all day long scooping out the fish that die, but they should do hourly checks or something


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## kolo (Aug 20, 2007)

I sometimes go to the one in Doncaster, they didn't have any reptiles though and hardly any reptile equipment except your basic stuff like hides and thermometers


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## klair328 (Nov 15, 2006)

up here they get called pet cemetry...everything u get dies


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## kerrypudge (Mar 17, 2006)

At one point when they were getting rid of the birds they were considering stocking tortoises but after quite a lot of protests they decided against it-thank god!


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## Pincers n Paws (Aug 22, 2007)

Pets at home did sell reptiles once upon a time. Im sure you can guess the reason they stopped. Only good thing was they had a big 75% off sale about 5 years ago on all reptile equipment. I was like a kid in a sweety shop :smile:


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## linklee (Aug 18, 2007)

yeah,pets at home bought out petsmart cos apartently they used to kill there sick rabbits and livestock in freezer and were going to get shut down becuase of the watchdog program....i remeber one day going into pets at home on a day i was working,going into the quarentine bit,seeing a sick rabbit and got told by the manager to put it in the freezer..not much has changed since the petsmart days..

the one thing i can say tho is that i was incharge if the fish section and the halifax store had bloody good fish!
took great pride in them!


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## Tomcat (Jul 29, 2007)

Pincers n Paws said:


> Pets at home did sell reptiles once upon a time. Im sure you can guess the reason they stopped. Only good thing was they had a big 75% off sale about 5 years ago on all reptile equipment. I was like a kid in a sweety shop :smile:


It wasnt [email protected] then though mate, it was pet smart i think, im pretty sure.


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## Pincers n Paws (Aug 22, 2007)

Tomcat said:


> It wasnt [email protected] then though mate, it was pet smart i think, im pretty sure.


Sorry i was meaning specifically equipment with regards to a 75% sale. Pets at home were just probably selling off excess stock from P&h.


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## Pro Mantis (Apr 7, 2007)

mine uswed to sell small lizards and tarantulas in things like grape palattes on a revolving display. That was years ago.....


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## mgs1982uk (Jun 17, 2006)

i remember going in pets at home for a live mouse a couple of years ago for a tough feeding royal. when i asked do you sell mice the girl replied "no, because some poeple feed them to snakes" :lol2::lol2:


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## Martin B (Oct 11, 2007)

[email protected] is starting to bring a more reptile range. They seem to be getting more of the interesting and strange pets in now, compared to just rabbits, rats and hamster (lol) a year or so ago. My local pets at home now stocks hermit crabs, stick insects, lobsters, snails, tropical and marine fish.
They sell the exo-terra vivariums and crabworx stuff aswell!


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## Morelia Matt (Dec 6, 2006)

Nothing at all for reptiles in ours..


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## Fangio (Jun 2, 2007)

linklee said:


> yeah,pets at home bought out petsmart cos apartently they used to kill there sick rabbits and livestock in freezer and were going to get shut down becuase of the watchdog program....i remeber one day going into pets at home on a day i was working,going into the quarentine bit,seeing a sick rabbit and got told by the manager to put it in the freezer..not much has changed since the petsmart days..
> 
> the one thing i can say tho is that i was incharge if the fish section and the halifax store had bloody good fish!
> took great pride in them!


I worked at the Chelmsford Petsmart and we didn't do anything like that there. 99% of the reps were WC, had to be really to supply such a large chain. Thankfully they had to stop selling reps.

Pets at home is a seperate company and I hope they don't start stocking reps, their livestock this way seems well cared for though.


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## PendleHog (Dec 21, 2005)

Martin B said:


> [email protected] is starting to bring a more reptile range. They seem to be getting more of the interesting and strange pets in now, compared to just rabbits, rats and hamster (lol) a year or so ago. My local pets at home now stocks hermit crabs, stick insects, lobsters, snails, tropical and marine fish.
> They sell the exo-terra vivariums and crabworx stuff aswell!


The one near me asked if they could use my skunk as a mascot :lol2: Ummmm.... NO


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## Jinx (May 31, 2005)

PendleHog said:


> The one near me asked if they could use my skunk as a mascot :lol2: Ummmm.... NO


 
Did they offer money...?....you should have asked for money for it. lmao


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## NicolaMe (Nov 2, 2006)

Pets at home near me got a little display of "exotic pets" stuff, pretty crap for such a huge store but its a start i suppose


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## the-tick (Nov 27, 2006)

When I got fluffy I was looking for local places for kit and after many emails back and forth to [email protected] I was told they will be trailing rep kit in some stores, so I duly rang Croydon to find out the nearest [email protected] was with rep kit was the other side of london and then they only had hides.

I should see if Croydon has some stuff now. But generally I ofund their cat stuff overpriced and most of the staff were planks


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## the-tick (Nov 27, 2006)

found this on their site .....

Petsathome.com
^EWAT

Petsathome.com
^proteus


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