Pet Shops....

[frichieb]

Hi all, I was in our local pet shop the other day and I learned something that I feel is disturbing.
I got onto the subject of sugar gliders with the pet shop owner and he said that as soon as the price of sugar gliders come down he will start selling them. Bearing in mind that this petshop owner basicly knew nothing about our little fur balls we had a bit of discussion on the pro's and cons of selling gliders to the 'general public'. I don't know if there are any regulations concerning the selling of sugar gliders in the UK, but I think that we can no longer import them from other countries (please correct me if i'm wrong.) So there for our little Gliders' gene pool will be even further diluted       . Also what the point of selling something that the customers dont get to see because Gliders come out at night and yet the petshop is shut at night. Therefore the poor gliders will have no adult company while they are stuck in a shop. It is my worry that as Gliders become more popular then their price will drasticly drop so then people will buy them just as normal pets. I bought my Gliders for a lot of money and the only reason he was selling them was because he had to go to South Africa. And to me the high cost of a Gliders prooves that the buyer knows that owning a glider is a very long term commitment. I love my Gliders to bits and one thing I don't want to see in the future is some kind of Glider santuary where new owners of Gliders suddenly realise that they dont want or care for their pets any more. I must note that this pet shop I was in wasn't well looked after (I even bought a budgie from him because it looked unkept and sad....) Any way Ive had my little rant and I'm sorry if this post is a bit long.

Take care,
from Richard.

[Cerian]

This is exactly why we're in the process of setting up the BSGO (British Sugar Glider Organisation). As sugar gliders become more and more common, it's probable that the standards of ownership will deteriorate too. It's very obvious in the US, where people are impulse-buying gliders from shops without doing any research, and then they end up neglected and unwanted.

It's also an issue with the shops - on another glider forum I read about a petshop in the US that was selling gliders, and had them on display in a hamster cage, with hamster food, and with no pouch or anywhere to hide from the bright lights of the shop. Can you imagine how petrified that poor little thing must have been?! 

The aim of the BSGO is to target the shops BEFORE they buy into the glider craze - let them know just what kind of care these new pets will need whilst in the shop, AND when their new owners take them home. Perhaps we'll organise a thorough care leaflet (about diet, housing, companionship etc) that can be distributed with the gliders as well, or when people are at the shop and interested in buying them and so can browse through the leaflet and see just how much care these animals need.

I think this will help the shop owners realise that they're not just taking on an animal that is simple to care for, but one that is actually an exotic anmal, and has all the complications and expense you'd expect from any other exotic pet. 

[tillie]

Sadly this happens all too often with pet shops, not all of them but a lot of them only look at the money making factor and not the husbandry needs of the animals that they sell.  In the borough I live in a new exotic pet shop opened and my collegue asked me to go with her to do the licence. When I went with my collegue to the shop they had 2 gliders in a large cage so that was good but all they had was an open ended cardboard box to sleep in, no pouches or proper nest box.  The cage also was backing onto 2 Macaws in their cage with only mesh inbetween.  It was also infront of the door which was often kept open. I acted nieve and asked what their needs were and was told tinned fruit in syrup and as they are nocturnal they couldnt produce their own vit c so needed a reptile lamp. He said that was all they needed. I argued this but he was adament that he had been breeding them for years and knew best. I said you dont give gliders tinned fruit and explained what diet they needed, he just laughed and said why do you think they are called sugar gliders, they like sweet things and the syrup has sugar in!!!To any new customers they sounded a very easy animal to look after. It was so frustrating, I said to my collegue that I wasn't happy for him to keep gliders as he had no knowledge and would be passing on incorrect knowledge to any new owners but an exotic vet was called who then visited the shop and said he was happy so the licence was granted.  He was selling them for £500.  Sadly as long as people buy from these people they will continue to sell. 
I have come across a lady who did buy 2 girls from him for £800 and luckily they are sweet natured but the care info she was given was bad.  What worries me also is the fact that when the gliders wake the shop is closed and they have no human interaction.  I really felt like taking these gliders on myself but that would have only justified him selling them and he would have replaced them with more.  Unless petshops have knowledge on the animals they sell they shouldn't sell them.

[Angi]

sounds like an excellent idea Cerian

[Marie]

I had an issue with a certain 'company' that sell predominantly rodents to pet shops also selling suggies, in fact I provided them with a very basic care guide which I asked them to give out when they sell them, *sigh* but whether they are doing or not is a different matter.

I've heard all sorts of stories of suggies in shops, in fact there was a shop in Wales that had 2 bald suggies, the shop has since been taken over and god knows where the poor animals are now!!  I had a shop email me just the other week asking if I'd sell my suggies to them - I told them politely no of course and my reasons why not.

I think Rich, maybe you should print off some of the articles on here about care and take them to the pet shop owner, possibly go through them with him/her so that you know they have at least been skimmed through.

[jungleflockmom]

I commend all of you for taking this on. After seeing the debacle that exists in the US w/parrots and sugs sold from pet shops, it is wonderful that your proactive stance and work will keep this from happening in the UK. Of course some shops are wonderful community resources that educate buyers and are always there to help the owners after the animals or birds go home. But most aren't.

Sometimes I wonder if we are all so used to making the adjustments necessary to keep sugar gliders that we don't realize just how specialized their care is and how most pet shop customers think they are going to be like hamsters or other small rodents and therefore are very unprepared to keep these long-lived little nocturnal monsters who might be very sweet to us but also may eat the family budgie alive if they get the chance.

When I worked in animal welfare I was frequently reminded that those of us who frequent the boards and are always learning about and modifying for our animals are not typical pet owners.

Might it be possible to educate the pet shop owners about the specific needs of these animals before they begin to have them in the shops? If they knew how much trouble they are to care for properly, they might decide to avoid selling these animals. We talk so much about how much fun they are but a little fear biter would likely go right back to the shop. . . . . Is it possible to put the shops off gliders before they even begin to sell them?

[frichieb]

Wow... thanks all for adding to this post and it has made me more determined to try and put this pet shop owner off from selling Suggies, although in the long run I think it will be in vain. Thanks Marie, for suggesting that I print some articles off from this forum and if its Ok i'll provide him a link to this forum.

Once again thanks all.

from Rich.

[Marie]

Well sparked by this thread there's a thread in the mod section about plans to tackle shops, I don't know if many of you know that we're trying to put together the BSGO (British Sugar Glider Organisation) and we have plans to approach shops, so hold fire Rich, we need to get organised, and we want you lot to get involved too.  So watch this space ... 

[frichieb]

Okie Dokie Marie.   

[frichieb]

Ive found a pet shop/garden centre selling a pair of sugargliders for £300.00 on the web. Theyv'e had these little furballs for a month now but can't seem to sell them. To me a month seems a hell of a long time in a Suggies life to be stuck in a retail outlet without any human company. Such a shame.

Any way the site is www.greenways-pembrey.co.uk.

Take care from Richard.

[Greenways-Pembrey]

Dear Richard and all, The said Sugar Gliders got returned to the breeder within a month of purchasing them. We did not sell them. They are not animals to be taken on lightly we realise that now. I live above our shop (which is where they lived, with me from day one, not on display) and I fed them live insects which was amazing to watch them hunt, and a variety of their favourite fruits and seeds. They had a pouch and they loved their wheel. This was a one off purchase and I wont be buying or selling specialist exotic animals again. Animals like this are not right for pet shops. It  was a hard lesson to learn and I can appreciate your concern. Animal welfare is of the utmost importance to our store. We only buy from registered breeders, are a registered premises ourselves and we are a member of the Pet Care Trust. One of our staff is an ex-veterinary nurse. All our animals are well cared for. We knew when the SG's arrived they needed to be looked after by me personally thats whey they were never on display.

[Marie]

Hiya, welcome to SL, thank you for explaining that, you sound very responsible.  Suggies are not suited to pet shops and they do take alot of looking after, unfortunately it's the awful pet shop owners that do not care properly for their animals and do not care where they go that give us all a bad name. 

[jungleflockmom]

Welcome to Sugar Lumps! It's wonderful to see another shop that does truly care about the animals! Thank you.

[Greenways-Pembrey]

Hi Marie & JungleFlockMom 

Thank-you both for the welcome. I really do love animals. I have lots of pets and lots of space to keep them all. Then theres our shop downstairs. We have only just started selling pets this year from our store. We pride ourselves on the care we can dedicate to them and of course I live here as well so they have lots of people running around after them. Although having the Sugies with us wasnt a negative experience, like you say they do need a lot of attention (when they wake up ) Lots of specialist foods and help to adjust to a new environment. I wouldnt of felt right selling them to someone I was unsure of their capability of looking after them so they went back to the breeder. I also didnt like leaving them in the shop so thats why they lived with me. I cant understand people who sell animals with problems and malnutrition, its bad for businesses reputations and of course with the new Animal Welfare Laws businesses could now face tougher prosecutions. I hope so. It makes me angry that businesses dont research how to care for animals before they take them on. Luckily I learned a tough lesson early on. Just beacuse animals are on a suppliers list doesnt mean they are correct pets to sell. I realise that now.  They were amazing creatures though

Hiya, welcome to SL, thank you for explaining that, you sound very responsible.  Suggies are not suited to pet shops and they do take alot of looking after, unfortunately it's the awful pet shop owners that do not care properly for their animals and do not care where they go that give us all a bad name. 

[loulou]

Welcome to SL its nice ot get feedback from the shops in question and its even better to see when a shop puts the animals before all else, i take my hat of to you and we hope to see you about the boards more often