* Should I Get A Job At My Local Petland Discounts? *

[rmune0750]

so my summer job is about to end after this week so I need another job and I kno that the local Petland Discounts has been hiring for a while so I was wondering what you guys think about me getting a job there...I really don't want to just being cleaning up crap from animals all day....does anyone work at a pet store?? whats it like?? any comments from anyone would be appreciated....

[elevatethis]

I really don't want to just being cleaning up crap from animals all day

Haha, if thats the case, you DEFINITELY shouldn't work at a pet store! I know first hand!

[recycling goddess]

i did... and yup... you are cleaning cages a LOT... how do you think they get clean? hahahahahaha

sorry i'm not laughing at you... just at the image of a snake with a little duster *giggling*

[Nate]

get a job there and then work your way up to cleaning out the bp cages and reptile cages....do an extraordinary job over there and make your boss say "wow you did a great job....i'll let you clean those from now on" and BOOM...you're the new reptile guy. while you're cleaning, you'll get the opportunity to talk to little kids and make them wanna buy a snake or something.

One more thing, take a look around these boards and you'll see a lot of pet store horror stories. Since you're on these boards, you have probably gained a lot of knowledge...take that knowledge to the pet store and then hopefully one day someone come on here and say "i found the cleanest reptile pet store EVER!!"....ya hear that? ching ching $$

[jknudson]

I've now worked at two "pet stores", well the current is just aquatics but that's besides the point. When you work at a pet store you can expect to be busy cleaning a lot! Make sure you like all kinds of animals....I know for sure I've had enough of hamsters biting me... If someone were to ask me about a good small mammal as a pet as of now I'd have to say a rat, the answer used to be hamsters, but I"ve had to deal with too many nasty hamsters.


Anyways, good luck with your decision.

[Rapture]

I have worked at pet stores for about 4 years, and yes you will be cleaning a lot of animal messes. You will most likely be doing this and only this when you are first hired, especially if you don't have any previous sales experience. There are basically 4 roles when you work at a pet store; animal maintenance, customer service, inventory, and product maintenance, as in dry goods and shelved items.

Both of the pet stores I worked at were independently owned and had incredible amounts of animals there, so there was a TON of stuff to do when it came to the animal maintenance role. I personally didn't mind this (at times, anyway), because if there was ever a time (and there certainly were a few) that I did not want to talk to another ignorant person for a while, I could be surrounded by animals and dirty cages instead of people.

My advice would be to go in the store and look around at all the animals they have to take care of every day, take a wild guess of what all you think you would have to do to take care of them, multiply that by some large number, and decide if you would enjoy doing that for most likely a very low hourly rate.

[elevatethis]

I worked at a pet reptile/exotics store, and left a few months ago. During my time at the pet store, I acquired most of the animals I have now. Since I've left and work a daily office job, I appreciate my own animals much much more. They've become more like "play" and not just work at home.

Either way, working at a pet store, be prepared to deal with a lot crap...both from animals and from customers. Many people walk in the door with an attitude brought from the stigma most "bad" pet stores have created for all the rest, even the good ones. Realize that no matter what you say, some people are going to believe what they want to believe and not listen to a word you say.

My time there was a good way to pass the last few semesters of school and make some pocket money, but I'll admit, I got burnt out by it towards the end.

[JLC]

My advice would be to take a good, hard look at your own temperment. Will you be able to deal with pig-headed customers who insist on buying that cute baby burm for their 12 year old? Or who insist on owning the ball python and the cheap, screened-in critter-cage to keep it in?


And will you be able to deal with a boss who may not agree with your ideas on how the animals should be kept? If the cages are already set up with multiple animals per tank and no hides...it's very likely that the boss would be unwilling to change such practices. I mean...ya never know, you might be able to sway him/her. But such a change would only come about with a very patient, mature, diplomatic approach.

[Grim91Z]

I applied at a local pet shop. After this thread I'm almost glad I didn't hear back.

[jknudson]

I worked at a pet reptile/exotics store, and left a few months ago. During my time at the pet store, I acquired most of the animals I have now. Since I've left and work a daily office job, I appreciate my own animals much much more. They've become more like "play" and not just work at home.

Either way, working at a pet store, be prepared to deal with a lot crap...both from animals and from customers. Many people walk in the door with an attitude brought from the stigma most "bad" pet stores have created for all the rest, even the good ones. Realize that no matter what you say, some people are going to believe what they want to believe and not listen to a word you say.

My time there was a good way to pass the last few semesters of school and make some pocket money, but I'll admit, I got burnt out by it towards the end.

Couldn't have said that better...I was pretty burnt out on reptiles and saltwater when I finally left the petstore I was at...too many frustrations and coming home to more cleaning.

I now work at an aquatics store with saltwater, but it's not nearly as bad...I have a system I helped to design, and a great boss, also because I have a good rep as "the saltwater guy" in town. Because of my reputation I rarely get the arrogant/pigheaded customers which is nice. But when I was new I got all sorts of evil customers who thought I was just some cheap help and didn't want to accept my solid advice.