Pet & Aquatic Warehouse — Local services in Lynchburg

We've been there once before just to look and waste time, nobody was around to welcome us, you'd walk by and they'd not greet you or anything, I found it rather unprofessional but not every business can have top notch customer service, this I understand. My main issue came from last night. My husband and I have decided on getting a puppy and this was the first place I thought of. Unfortunately once we got there I found two puppies I was interested in and went up to the desk to find two employees so busy talking they didn't realize me standing right there at the desk (catch my sarcasm, because I was less than two feet away). Once she decided it was time to stop talking to her coworker and actually do part of her job (help customers) she just looked at me, so I smiled (trying not to take this so seriously) and said "Is there any way we could see a puppy or two?" She told me that, and I quote, " It'll have to wait, the other person is on break and I'm the only one here to deal with the front", it's funny because she wasn't doing anything and had maybe two customers this whole time, and the other girl was "managing" the reptile room which was busy for about 1 min when my husband asked about a tarantula and she acted like he was asking her to recite the entire encyclopedia. So we walked around trying to waste time, they've got cool stuff in there, the aquatic center is wonderful, tons of fish, tons of accessories for all kinds of pets, adorable puppies, etc. I enjoyed it despite the unfriendliness of the previous employees. And then, we made our way up front, same two girls blabbing away and a male worker, so I waited and again, the girls were just too busy talking, the man asked if I needed help (nicely, professionally) and I said "Yes, I was wondering if We could take a look at a puppy now" and he turned to the "girl in charge" and said "Hey she's needing some help" and she extremely rudely said "Who!?" (Let me add that by 'extremely rudely' I mean it was a scowl, she barked that 'WHO' with an ugly face to go with how ugly she said it, and he pointed at me and she stood up (wow) and leaned over and snapped, "It's going to be a minute, like I said, it's going to be," at this point I started to walk away because nobody speaks to me in this manner. No body. But I stayed around to hear her finish, .."at least thirty minutes, and they're probably eating. So it's probably going to be longer than that (que her overly sassy sarcasm)." And trust me when I say, it was completely out of line. You do not treat people that way, especially when you're working and they're your customers. We were really looking forward to buying a puppy but we definitely will not be going back there because of how we were treated last night. I'm just disgusted. It's a shame that people can treat others they way she treated me. I was so upset I walked right out the door taking my family with. Thanks for the...

This "business" is by far the worst place to buy pets I have personally ever seen. I will tell you why, organized by pets, and what they are doing wrong. I honestly hope everyone will read this review, and take it to heart. As long as this business continues to act in this manner, I will not support their abusive behavior. I hope you feel the same. Keep in mind, I have pictures of all of these things, so if you would like me to send them to you, I will gladly do so. Birds- They had a cage with at least 50 birds in it, together. I am no expert on birds, however, I am positive this is no way to house birds! I have photos of different kinds of birds being housed together, however, they all are around the same size. Some of these crowded birds had feathers missing. Kittens- One of their kittens had awful diarrhea. It smelled so terrible, you could easily noticed the animal needed help by simply walking near the cage. While I was there, approximately 2 employees happened to walk by the cage. No one seemed to care about the well-being of this poor kitten. It was being kept in the cage with another kitten, I suppose a sibling, but the healthy kitten is in danger, being in such a close proximity to sick cat. Sugar Gliders- Their Sugar Glider is in a cage approximately 2 feet long, two feet wide, and 3-4 feet tall. It is a glass cage with holes in it. They had a comfort wheel in the cage, a very small one. They were feeding it a BML diet, along with pellets. The little suggie was in the cage alone (they are colony animals) with a cuddle sack that had holes in it, and it was also only single layered. They had a bird perch in the cage, the one that is used to sand down their beaks. This is no condition for a sugar glider to be held. Hedgehogs- As an avid hedgehog lover, owner, and breeder, I care for these animals more than I care for myself. They are wonderful animals! Approximately four months ago, I rescued a hedgehog from this facility. I say that I rescued her because she had an awful skin infection (from an allergic reaction to pine), mites, and many other health problems. She was housed in a cage with her brother. The day after I rescued Iffy, I took her to the vet. After two weeks, she was remarkably better, but still very grumpy. One morning I woke up to socialize her, as I always do, and I found 4 little hoglets. Before her, I had no idea how to deal with hedgehog babies. They had not informed me the hedgehog in the cage with her was a male, let alone HER BROTHER. They do not have pedigrees and are a result of very poor care. The babies are now approximately 10 weeks, and happy and healthy in their forever homes. Iffy was a wonderful mother, however, she was way too young. Hedgehogs should only be bred at 6 months, Iffy was four months old, and as mentioned, by her brother. I hope this review makes you as angry as it does...

•Ferret buyers beware•

My Girlfriend and I have purchased Two ferrets from this store. Our first one back in the end of September 19’, brought him home, was told to keep him on Marshall’s premium ferret diet, etc. A week or so went by and we noticed that the ferret became very inactive and just seemed depressed. Our initial thought was that he needed a companion to play with, so we returned to PAWS a few weeks later around the middle of October and Purchased another one. Few days go on and we realize the one we recently purchased has discharge from his eye and diarrhea. PAWS gave use a bottle of Marshall’s Branded medicine and we tried that for a few days only to see symptoms get worse. So we returned, and They allowed us to exchange for another. We picked him out, brought him home, and again active for a few days and then nothing. Both ferrets seem very depressed and uninterested in interacting. The one we exchanged for has also had severe shaking, similar to that of when a ferret wakes up but it’s constant and lately hasn’t been eating much or drinking. He’s now just staring off into space and doesn’t want to play. So mind you this is roughly $700 invested. That’s not really the issue. The issue I have is when we call and have a raised concern and drive to the store because the manager told us they will “look at him”. They take him behind a locked door, ten minutes pass by and they come out and say he seems perfectly fine, even though he has hardly any weight to him, they said he seemed dehydrated, they judged by the fact that he walked. And his constant “shivering” and shaking was because he was “nervous” All I wanted was a second ferret to companion the one that we bought originally and it seems the second and third time around we couldn’t get a healthy one from this store and there response is “it’s been too long, and he seemed fine when we sold him to you” is ridiculous. We didn’t invest the amount of money we did to have to turn around and have a possibility for numerous vet visits and bills. We expected to purchase healthy pets that would atleast make it 30 days before there being any possibility of a problem. Their so called “health guarantee” only grants you the possibility of a replacement in one year if the ferret dies given you keep them on a food that is deemed to be bad in health for them to begin with. Absolutely ridiculous, management at this store should be more helpful to customers especially when it comes down to the amount of money one pays for their pet. Even other people I work with who have had ferrets from them have had similar problems with them. I will not be returning to this store for anything from here on out and I advise anyone that is looking to purchase a ferret let alone any animal from here to beware...