i think i found a good thing to do

if that is what you want to do, it may be best to visit often, get to know the owner and employees, and educate yourself. remember though that many times they are out to make a buck rather than acting in the best interests of the fish. and don't be a pest. if you realize that they don't want you there, then move on.

Like any job there will be positives and negatives. I would hope the good outweighs the bad for you, but there will be days you don't want to be there. It will get difficult seeing all the folks who just want to get a 10 gallon tank put water in it and throw 8 or 10 goldfish in there. You will probably get tired of telling them you can't do that, and if your really against it they will just go to another pet store to get the same stuff. I went to petsmart yesterday and the fish girl overheard me asking my mom "how many people can house this 40" knifefish?" The girl said "I can, but I have to deny that fish to a lot of folks who want it for thier 10 or 20 gallon tanks" I thought it was nice they had someone who knew thier stuff working there. Then she went on break, and her relief got a guy whith a 29 gal. This guy bought 3 plecos (2") a yellow lab 2 guaramies and a few bala sharks. This to add to 3 other unnammed fish in the tank already. You can see you will have a challenge ahead of you, but if you can face that task, go for it. We need more people like the first girl I mentioned to counteract the actions of the unknowing. GOOD LUCK!!

Troy, I worked at a small, privately owned pet shop from when I was 16-19 years old. It is still the best job I've ever had! It's a lot of work though... we had fish as well as reptiles, small furries and birds to take care of. No dogs or cats though, the owner always referred people to the humane society if they wanted a dog or a cat. The owner also never stocked Pacu, or Arrowana, or anything like that... He wasn't into saltwater either. When I think back on him, he was a really great petshop owner and I learned a lot from him. He was eventually put out of business by a Petco that moved in across the street.

It'll be a lot of work, but if you love animals, you'll have so much fun!!

Good luck!

new law ? no working until your 16

Just make sure you know your stuff really well. When someone asks for advice, use correct terminology and back up your advice with hard scientific logic. The mullet headed joe six packs that come down out of the hills every Sunday (at least that's what happens at my lfs) aren't going to want to hear what some 16yr old has to say. Neither are people who think they know enough, but don't even know enough to know that they don't know (do you follow that). Know your audience. The newbies that have never heard of the nitro cycle, and didn't realize that water changes need to be performed more than twice a year is where you can make the difference. Make yourself an educator first, and a salesman second. If you lose the store a couple bucks by telling a customer that they don't need this or that (insert favorite snake oil product here), then that's fine. Most people will appreciate that, and remember it the next time they are upgrading thier tank. Most importantly, NEVER pretend to know what your talking about if you really don't.

I worked in a chain store for a while, and all I can say is never again. I might work in a smaller non-chain store, but overall pet stores in general now annoy me quite a bit.

I couldn't stand, The other employees, managers, and regional managers who knew next to nothing about fish, reptiles, or birds. I can't stand animals dying every tiem they are ordered being defined as shrink. Yes, fine they need training. Too bad the training program taught WRONG information, and that it certainly didn't stick anyway. I ran fish and reptiles, and there were employees that were not allowed in the departments when I was there.

Upside, I knew what I was doing, and the managers knew that, so let me be. Downside, Sundays left me with one other person, maybe, running all the departments, with one cashier, and one manager, while the upper management is screaming they don't have enough hours. If Sundays hadn't been time and a half I wouldn't have worked them.

Reason I left, realistically I got a better paying job. Morally I left because the treatment of animals by maybe 50% of the customers drove me up the wall. We had more uninformed, unwilling to learn humans as customers then I have met anywhere else.

Anyway, if you have a nice local store I say go for it, if you have a well maintained chain, watch out. They like to move management around a lot, and it really affects the store's quality.

--Mia