Ok so.. wow, what a day I had at work. Anyhow, Ive got a lot to say. Before I say ANYTHING, let me specify that Ive never done business with
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets. Ive not bought a glider, a wheel, a pouch.. nothing. Ive only, as of today, had a conversation at length with the manager, Matt.
I asked a lot of questions about the things that I dont like/agree with. One of the biggest things that got me was
vet Care, in the brochure. Its where they compare the 'Average Cost of Owning a Pet". There is a cat, dog and glider. The
vet care says no cost, or 0. I told him that is complete BS. Glider
vet bills are very expensive. He said what that means is the continual monthly/yearly cost of a glider at the
vet. They dont get any vaccinations or deworming and any of that so they say its no continual cost. Part of this.. I understand. Part of it, I think is misleading. I have never taken my gliders to the
vet at regular intervals. Mostly when something happened. In fact, its been a lot of years now since my gliders have been. I have only one glider left. He is 12 years old. Im obviously doing something right.
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets is actually sort of correct on this one. I still think its misleading to new owners because how will they know what the cost of a glider emergency can be? Those bills can be horrible. So that was one big issue I had with the brochure.
Another thing I dont like is how the brochure calls them low maintenance. I disagree. However, I guess if you simplify it down in a business operation, where you broker the gliders out.. feeding a pellet
diet and telling new owners they dont need regular ongoing
vet care, perhaps that sort of makes them low maintenance. It uncomplicates the
diet, which in itself can be very complicated. I still will always call a sugar glider a high maintenance pet.
diet.. Im not going to touch this one guys. I dont like pellet
diets, period. I did feed my gliders Briskys when that first came out in 1998 or 1999 but it didnt last and since then, I will have nothing to do with any other pellet
diet that followed Briskys. Not for a sugar glider. I believe
diet in captivity should mimic
diet in the wild as close as it can be. In nutrients and texture. Thats all Im going to say about that to prevent a war.
Heat rocks.. I dont have an opinion on this but I know a lot of people do. Ive never used one, never needed to, have no experience with them.
I dont like or agree with mixing gliders with cats and dogs. My cats, dogs, prairie dogs, and anything else never showed interest in my gliders but its common sense to not mix them. Accidents have happened before and they will happen again. Prevention is the key. In fact, just a couple weeks ago my mom was outside with our dog, a pug. Many times she had run on the outside of our neighbors fence and played with their dogs. The dogs have even come on our property and played with our dog. All it took was a few seconds for her to get out of my moms sight and dig under my neighbors fence(its not a buried fence, its just posted up wire) and the dogs grabbed her and killed her... it happened it seconds. Devastating disaster. Prevent these kinds of things with sugar gliders and dont mix them with cats and dogs.
I asked about why they call them "Sugar Bears". I dont like this name and I did tell Matt that I read that they change the name so people google that and only find their proprietary information. Nothing outside of that. He said no, in fact in China and Japan?? (I think) they call them Sugar Bears and it was mostly just a marketing tool.
One of the good things I observed was the
wheels they sell. Wodent
wheels. I dont know the general opinion on sugar glider
wheels anymore but this is a good wheel in my opinion. Ive been using them for 10 years now and never had a problem. My gliders have always been fine with them. Ive seen many worse
wheels they COULD be selling so theres at least one good thing Ive made a point to notice.
Matt told me that they DO in fact turn people away. I thought that maybe they just sold gliders to anyone to make the money. He said they will turn people away when they feel its not a good home/situation. As of when he told me that, he said they had only sold 1 glider so far. It was to someone that drove all the way from Nashville because they heard they were in town. Im glad to see people turned away when they personally feel its a bad situation.
I remember reading somewhere that someone said they asked for the USDA license number and whoever they asked from
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets, at least I THINK it was
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets, wouldnt give it to them and made it look like perhaps they werent licensed. It could have been another
breeder/broker/company tho. Just for the record I did ask Matt for the USDA license number and he showed me. He showed me much more in fact, from several states. I have to say, it was impressive.
I know many of you have had bad experiences with
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets. Maybe it wasnt the same
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets. Matt said there are a few companies with the same name popping up and also Steve Larkin, who are confusing people about which company is which. This
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets is owned by Virgil Klunder. Its NOT Steve Larkin. I personally did not see any of the joeys they sell. I do not know how young they are. If they ARE in fact underage, I think thats terrible. Matt had a joey with him in pocket and he said it was 8 weeks because thats what they are told when they broker. To me, that joey looked closer to 6 weeks. How could either of us know for sure?? We cant. Its sad and it sucks but thats the reality of it.
I dont like mill breeding. Of ANY species. I think its disgusting. I dont like selling animals at malls and pet stores and anywhere other than
breeders who breed for the best of the animal. I almost wish that instead of using S&S Exotics, they would use decent
breeders who breed for the betterment of the species. The problem seems almost paradoxial. Decent
breeders wont broker joeys to people who sell at malls, trade shows, flea markets and the like. It would seem better that companies that sell to these places shouldnt exit. However, they DO exist. So that isnt going to work. The only way to help this situation is to make it better for what it is. Educate the businesses and work WITH THEM, not AGAINST them. There is nothing anyone can do to stop a business from selling live animals in malls and trade shows, etc. As long as they do it within the law. As far as I can personally tell(again, I didnt do business with them, only took time out of my work day to have a conversation) there is nothing they are doing to break the laws.
Further more, as soon as I found out that Virgil is going to the SGGA to face people he knows would like to kill him in his sleep, I found that pretty darn commendable. More so if he changes some of the things he does. Education people, not anger and hate. I dont agree with it all either and the things I have heard did make me upset but I am not basing my opninions on anything other than what I personally saw, felt and was told in conversation. I cant use other peoples experiences when they are not my own. Matt did invite me to talk to him tomorrow after the mall closes but I am off tomorrow and I cant make it. He said I can always email him tho.
So that has been MY experience with
(PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets. Im sorry to disappoint for anyone who wanted to see me grill them. I couldnt find reason, just disagreement on some issues.