# Breeding for my pet shop



## GarethMills (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi all, hope you are all well, 

I have a small pet shop, and last May we began selling animals, i breed the rabbits & guinea pigs, as well as the birds. However we have had to buy hamster and gerbils in from a commercial breeder, which for me is far from ideal. Usually you find hobby breeders locally that want to move on any surplus babies, but here i have yet to be offered a single one! So i feel that i may have to begin breeding to supply myself, so i am going to need some excellent stock to do that. Do any of you guys know what colours are most popular these days? When i used to sell a lot of hamsters 10 or 12 years ago we used to sell all of the grey phase very well and the lilac, dove and cream, though most of these colours are weak stock to breed with. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

G


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## Argent (Oct 18, 2009)

I am afraid you won't find any help here. No self respecting breeder would give their animals to be used as breeding machines for the pet trade. 

As a pet shop, why not do something many of us have always wanted to do, advocate rescues and ethical breeders?


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2012)

not many breeders would be willing to give up their own surplus stock to supply a pet trade , sorry.
no advice i`m afraid , just thought i`d comment on that aspect of things.


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

I can see how you think you're doing the world a favour because you'll know where your rats came from and they'll be healthier and tamer than 'regular' pet shop rats. But how can you know what sort of home they're going into? Plus to have a constant supply of stock you'll have multiple litters from multiple animals on the go which you can't possibly devote enough time and attention to.

The fact you're asking about popular colours is sort of a red flag really- proper breeders breed for temperament and think about colour later. 

As has been said, noone here is going to help you find any animals to breed from since there's a billion in shelters and rescues from these sort of situations.


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## spoiled_rat (Mar 24, 2008)

Maltey said:


> The fact you're asking about popular colours is sort of a red flag really- proper breeders breed for temperament and think about colour later.


There quite a few breeders around who prioritise variety/type/showability above health and temperament sadly.

I would never consider supplying a petshop for all the reasons already mentioned.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Hi Gareth, Sorry to add to the already negative comments. You would never find me or anyone who had done enough research on a small pets buying one from a pet shop. 

There are far to many small pets already in rescue centers, young, old, mad and lovely. 

Do you not have a local pet charity that you could support instead? you could work closely with them and advertise the animals they have and offer advice to potential owners 

You must know there is no money to be made by selling rabbits in particular what with the twice yearly vaccinations and worming.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2012)

I'm not gonna be much help as I don't agree with petshops selling animals full stop.
No responsible breeder will supply you with animals knowing they are going to be petshop baby makers :nonod:


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

sorry but no self respecting breeder will sell to a pet store, i also doubt the animals you breed are being bred ethically im afraid, if you breed correctly, there is NO money AT ALL to be made in selling animals, it is a hobby only and actually involves great loss to be done correctly

We run a pet store ourselves and would NEVER dream of selling any live animal, there are thousands upon thousands of small animals in rescue, many of these are killed daily in shelters to make space for the next pet store cast offs

pet shops NEED to stop selling animals, it is the only way to minimise the amount of animals in rescue, if some one wants a pet they should have to go to an approved breeder or rescue.
store selling animals only spur impulse buys


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## Acid (Aug 8, 2011)

i highly hope mills is just your last name...


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## GarethMills (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi guys, 

Thank you all for your points of view on that. We offer the service as we know that otherwise people are straight to national chains that always pedal sub standard poor quality stock. 

Again thank you all


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2012)

GarethMills said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Thank you all for your points of view on that. We offer the service as we know that otherwise people are straight to national chains that always pedal sub standard poor quality stock.
> 
> Again thank you all


Or they could go to responsible breeders or rescues


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## GarethMills (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi all, 

I must say i hadn't realised how disliked the pet trade is! 

We are very careful here not to over breed anything, for example our Lop rabbits, we have 2 does, and they will each have a litter (yes one litter each) this year, and these babies will be to people on our waiting list that didn't get one last year, or those that go on the list between now and April, when the first litter will be ready. The second doe will have her litter to be ready june / july, and they will go to people who missed the first litter.

All of our animals leave here only when we are satisfied the new owners fully understand what the animals requirements are and are equipped to meet them, they are also subject to a signed agreement that should anything go wrong i.e family break up, up keep becomes to expensive etc they can come back to us and will return to our home until such time as a suitable home can be found.

Yes pet shops need to make money, but make no mistake, we would never ever sacrifice our livestock for the sake of profit.

I hope that you all will understand that not all pet shops can be tarred with the same brush.

G


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2012)

Do you home check?


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

are all your rabbits vaccinated? do you know their FULL genetic history going back atleast 4 generations? what breed are they? just "lop eared" is not a breed, what are the goals behind each breeding (ie to better the breed) and how do you aim to achive these?


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## GarethMills (Feb 23, 2010)

Lil Miss said:


> are all your rabbits vaccinated? do you know their FULL genetic history going back atleast 4 generations? what breed are they? just "lop eared" is not a breed, what are the goals behind each breeding (ie to better the breed) and how do you aim to achive these?


My rabbits are all vaccinated against mixi, and all have had preventative treatement agianst E.cuniculi. They are Dwarf Lop, one doe is a harlequin, and a little big at just over 2.4kg, and the other is broken butterfly colour at 2.2kg, i must admit that i only know their breeding in so much as their parents. They are not BRC rung / registered, but i believe them to be typey, and last years young all got to just over 2kg ( I kept one back to be able to vouch for their type, and to allow those people on the waiting list the oppertunity to see roughly what to expect). As for bettering the line i have a very handsome light harlequin buck, which weighs 2.2kg and is very typey, my thinking when i used him last year was that i could perhaps breed the big doe down a little, to keep the babies a more acceptable size.

As for the previous post regarding home checks, i have done these for people who are inexperienced as i think they gain confidence from this, and other than that i tend to suggest that i deliver the babies, then i can have a look as well as getting the babies there early in the day so they have plenty of daylight hours to explore their new home.

I know that this seems to be a bone of contention, and i am sorry to stir a hornets nest. When we first took over the shop we were inundated with requests for pets, and we took the decision to take them on, but keep prices high and never allow people to buy on a whim. Nothing ever goes out on a customers first visit - we always suggest that they come again to see the animal a second time before deciding. I agree that reputable breeders is always the best way, but lacking those we do the best we can.

G


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

I wonder if you could sort something out with a rescue whereby you could foster the animals - they live in your shop, you'd look after them and people could see them and handle them, but they would have to pass a home check with the rescue and make their donation with them before taking them home?
An alternative might be to take on animals from free ads? 

I know you wouldn't make any money but you can still sell the accessories for the animals - cages, food, bedding, etc. 

You'd need to be very careful how you explained it to a rescue though and it would only work if you were really doing it for the good of the animals, rather than to make money.

You could try fostering dogs and taking them to work with you too. I'm sure regular customers would love meeting the dogs, and it might improve the dogs chances of finding a home. I know the rescue I foster for love people who take the fosters to work because it really gets the word out about them.


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

GarethMills said:


> As for bettering the line i have a very handsome light harlequin buck, which weighs 2.2kg and is very typey, my thinking when i used him last year was that i could perhaps breed the big doe down a little, to keep the babies a more acceptable size.


I think what was probably meant is bettering the line in a health respect rather than just getting then to look like the right "type".


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi Gareth,

To be fair you do sound like you're thinking about the welfare of the animal more than profit unlike many other pet shops so in that respect it's a shame that you've been 'jumped on' for breeding for shop stock. And yes, breeding and pet shops does seem to hit a nerve quite a lot down here in the small animal forum.

Personally I'm pro rescue so wouldn't consider buying pets from a pet shop but that's just my opinion and I try not to judge others on their decisions whether it be breeding/pet shops/fostering/etc. Have you considered space requirements/quarantine periods/dietary choices/care for the animals when the shop is closed/etc. I won't ask about home checks and veterinary treatments as others have already done that. There are a lot of pros and cons to starting anything live animal related and not everybody is going to agree.

Have you considered forming a partnership with a local rescue, so you put posters up of their animals, they direct adopters to you for stock type thing. Would you consider going along the 'adoption centre' route rather than breeding.

In my humble opinion staying as a supplies store, and forming a rescue link would be the way to go. That way you could hold rescue fundraisers in your store so that way you've got people coming into see the local rescue animals and 'conviently' having a nose around at boosting your sales. Just a suggestion.


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## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

I do agree with most of the points made, but yes you do sound better than most pet shops at least. You say you can only get Hamsters and Gerbils from commercial breeders - why just not sell them then? I run a Gerbil rescue and see the result first hand from poorly bred petshop gerbils. As long as people keep buying from commercial breeders they are going to keep breeding and breeding. Often it's for "pretty colours" rather than health or temperament. The Gerbil gene pool has practically been destroyed due to this sort of thing.

I know you probably take very good care of the Rabbits you have also but when there are thousands of rabbits in rescues looking for homes - how can they compete with the cute fluffy little babies? (who will end up no doubt as a statistic in a rescue when they too are all grown up) I'm not trying to have a go I'm just saying as much as you may care for your Rabbits etc you have to look at the bigger picture and think of all the ones struggling for homes.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

In all honesty I think the way these animals will be sold is probably pretty great compared to your regular pet store. After all, if you can remember the faces of the people who buy animals, you can ask for updates whenever they want to buy food/toys/etc.

The concern for me is that while the way they're being adopted out sounds fine, the fact that the lineage isn't well known isn't that great. Colour and looks appear to be a priority over long term health and temprement. (short term seems different, but vaccines aren't as good as making sure the rabbit has a healthy family. There aren't vaccines against arthritis, cancer, etc... if you can keep genetically healthy animals which get vaccinated, I think it's ideal)


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