Pampered Pets is a small pet retail store in the Pyramid Mall (the new Shoppes at Ithaca Mall). You'll remember Pampered Pets because of the resident Blue and Gold macaw that lives in the store. I don't agree with keeping him in the store (he does get to come out of his cage for a spell when the store closes) but Gene, the owner, believes that the bird, who he rescued 17 years ago, is happier there. Overall the store has a sizable collection of retail items and sells fish, small birds, rodents, and reptiles. They also feature adoptable kittens from SPCA, who are always surrounded by boys and girls and woman, cooing over the cute babies. If I still lived in Ithaca, Pampered Pets wouldn't be my first choice for supplies, but I wouldn't avoid it altogether, either. read more

The help was terrible! The women and owner were extremely rude, and not caring. We returned a sick animal that they sold us, and they attempted to blame us on its illness. They were very ill mannered and unprofessional. While they have a great selection, there staff is terrible. Go some place else. read more

I bought many fish here before. The fish were okay and did seem to live for a long time. I do like that they have more unique and exotic animals to choose from most of the time. However I was just in the store recently and discovered a couple of disturbing things. They have an axolotl there. I love axolotls! They are an underwater salamander with gills on the outside that fan out, they are well known in science classrooms for their most notable quality, regeneration. They can regenerate limbs which make for fascinating test subjects. Surprisingly they are plentiful in captivity but are severely endangered in the wild, go figure. Anyway just some back story. I like that they have an axolotl however, it is kept in a 10 gallon tank which is unsuitable for an axolotl as they grow up to 6 inches long..the one they have in there is currently 4 1/2- 5 inches I'd say. That's problem number one. Problem number two is axolotls need water temperatures under 68 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water temperature rises above that they are prone to fungus and could die. Problem number three is that it is housed with other animals. They currently have fire bellied newts in with the axolotl who is about 10 times their size. The newts may not be of harm to the axolotl but the axolotl could easily cause harm to a newt. Axolotls do better with other axolotls (1 or 2) if they have adequate space. However with any other animal you run the risk of the other animal hurting the axolotl by biting off or damaging their gills, resulting in the inability to breathe. And/or the axolotl hurting the other animal, as they are indeed carnivores. So that is one issue I have. The other issue I had was they had hedgehogs in the back. I'm not sure if they were male or female but they were housed in a regular cage with pine shavings. Shavings are not good for hedgies, especially males who are prone to getting them stuck in between their penile sheath (ouch!) which obviously causes discomfort and can cause infection. A wire cage is not suitable either as they do like to try to climb and if they get their foot stuck in between the wires they could end up with a broken leg. It was quite warm in the back but hedgies need to have warm, almost hot, constant temperatures and have at least 14 hours of "daylight" or light a day. They also did not have a wheel for them to exercise on. Hedgies are known to eat alot, without restraint, so they must have some form of exercise to keep from getting obese. Let alone how boring is it without something. Also, not sure what they were feeding them but hedgies need to have a mixed diet of cat food...yes cat food..and other staples such as meal worms, fruit, and some veggies. As sad as it is the food they sell specifically for hedgehogs most of it contains nuts/seeds and raisins which are actually toxic to them. It saddens me to see two of my favorite pets kept in incorrect conditions. If you are going to get an animal and are planning on selling it. Please make sure that you are providing at least, the bare minimum this animal requires. So that you can pass it on to future pet parents. You don't want to sell someone an animal just for them to die due to your ignorance. read more

Decent supply of pet food and supplies. I am giving them one star because of the health of the animals. A year ago, I bought two sweet baby girl rats. I had done research on rats before but I was very new to rat ownership. They seemed happy and healthy at the store. When I brought them home, though, it was clear something was wrong. They were sneezing and snuffling a bunch, and after some internet research I discovered they probably had upper respiratory infections. The owner agreed to take them back and treat them, and then we could have them back. I had no reason not to trust him. When I got the rats back a few days later, and they seemed fine. He gave us some medicine to put in their water (mistake #1). The medicine he gave us was not used to treat mycoplasmosis (which is what our rats, and many rats, had). It really seemed like the guy didn't care. We took them to the vet multiple times over the next few months and nothing we tried had worked. River passed away in November, and Rose died this morning. Rats are very sweet, smart, and loving creatures, so this was a really heartbreaking experience. The other rats I have observed in store have displayed similar symptoms, and I have heard other horror stories involving animals. I do not intend on buying anything from this store ever again. read more

I am NOT happy with this store! I bought a hedgehog over the weekend. Before purchasing the hedgehog we specifically asked the owner if there was any health risk having the hedgehog around my children....I was told NO, however after we brought the hedghog home a large news broadcast ran an informative on exotic pets, specifiyng hedgehogs, saying how very dangerous they are and should not be around children! When we called to rememdy the situation the clerk was RUDE and condescending treating us as tho we should have had that kind of foresight. I will never purchase an animal there again. read more

This place is terrible. Their lack of knowledge about hedgehogs astonished me considering they are a pet store that sells hedgehogs. First of all, they sold us a sick hedgehog. We brought her back a few days later, and they said they would nurse her back to health but when they told us she was healthy, it was very obvious that she wasn't. We didn't want to pay for vet visits and treatments the first week we got a hedgehog so we got out money back and decided to use the credit to buy the materials and food and just get a hedgehog from a breeder. Well, it turns out that they do not know anything about hedgehogs! I stupidly bought all the stuff and then later after reading hedgehog forums (I recommend hedgehogworld.com for information) I found out a lot of the stuff they said could actually harm the hedgehog. First off, they are going to try to convince you to buy the hedgehog breed food. This is a big no no. It turns out it's really not that healthy for them and they actually need certain high quality cat food, which they don't really sell. Second, hedgehog cages need to have a constant temperature between 75 and 79 degrees or else they could go into hibernation and die. Did they tell us this? No. And then when we went back to get a heated lamp, they tried to sell us the wrong type of bulb. They need a ceramic bulb (I forgot the watts right now, but you can find it online) and the owner was confused when we told them we need the ceramic one, but it's definitely the right type. So that also could have killed our hedgehog if I hadn't looked it up. The wheel selection is also terrible. Hedgehogs need large wheels that aren't wire because their feet can get caught. I recommend the Carolina storm bucket wheel, you can get it online. Lastly, they also try to sell you the rocky sandy litter for hedgehog's litter boxes. This is okay for a girl hedgehog, but the pellets can get stuck to male's private parts which is bad. I recommend just using paper towels and cleaning them out everyday for both genders. Just get it wet so it can stick to your litter box. Carolina bucket wheels come with a good size square litter box. I also recommend using fleece liners for the cages because the litter and wood shavings they try to sell you can get dirty easy, spread bacteria, and it's very common for your hedgie to get mites from it. The people in the pet store were very misinformed and not knowledgable about hedgehogs and what they need to survive. One of the cashiers (the older one with kids, not the younger one) was very rude when we came back with the sick hedgehog and lectured us. It's not my fault you sold us a sick hedgehog. All the store wants is money and will they will try to get you to buy unnecessary things. If you want your hedgehog to survive, do not come here! My advice is to research and look up what you need on hedgehog forums and go to different places for the supplies. I get my food for him at agway. I use a mix of high quality cat food. I get my fleece to line his cage from joanns and then cut it myself to fit his cage. I got the cage itself and the food bowl from pampered pets because they can't screw up on a cage and I got the light bulb and the platform that the light bulb screws into on Amazon (it's the one for reptile cages, but needs to be ceramic). I definitely do not recommend this store for any first time hedgehog buyers. read more

Worst care of tarantulas I have ever seen and apathetic staff. Heat lamps that are inappropriate for spiders, wrong substrate in cages, sponges in water dishes that breed disease, lack of hides and an arboreal species put in a short cage with nothing to climb on. Staff was totally uninterested when I pointed these flaws out. New spider owners will get total wrong information on spider care as well. Pitiful treatment of tender animals. I will never shop there again and will be sure to tell other pet owners to avoid this store. Just shameful. Even Petsmart does a better job! read more

Do NOT visit or patronize this pet shop. They sell injured and sick rabbits. They tried to sell me a rabbit with a broken foot one time. They didn't bother to disclose it, I had to figure it out by watching the rabbit hop around on the floor, struggling to get around with a malformed foot. I've also seen rabbits in here with ear and eye problems that were going apparently untreated and undisclosed. Today I went into the shop and saw multiple lacerations on a young rabbit's leg that the employee said was the result of the rabbit moving when she was trying to clip out matted fur with scissors! I'm appalled at the continued blatant lack of care for animal welfare. I urge every person to boycott this shop, their neglected animals, and overpriced products!!!!!! read more

Animals are sick every single time. We've purchased 4 fish and an anole, and only one of these (a fish) lived longer than a month. We went there several times, thinking it was us, not them, but we read the literature and cared diligently for all these animals. Too much trust on our part. read more

I choose to go here over any other store in Ithaca. I bought a ten gallon tank from PetSmart and was having a horrible algae problem. I went back and forth to PetSmart a million times asking for advice. Finally, I went into Pampered Pets and asked the store owner about it. He gave me a little bottle of solution for four dollars and I used it once. My problem has been resolved for months now. I also go to him for my guinea pig supplies. I like that it is a small family owned business and that the owner is always very helpful. I think the animals are treated great and their environments are always clean. I'm a loyal customer. read more