Carson's Critters

Real Spirit Cookies

I had just gotten a MALE guinea pig from another pet store and my sister wanted one as well. My mother and sister went to Carson's Critters to buy a MALE guinea pig. They went to the store and went to the supposedly MALE section of the store for guinea pigs. The owner even reassured her that the guinea pig was in fact male. We introduced the guinea pigs and it was fine. However, 2 months later we noticed that the guinea pig from Carson's Critters was getting a little chubby. We figured it was because he was eating too much. Then next thing we know she gave birth and we ended up with four guinea pigs! Since we weren't experts on how to identify the genders of guinea pigs we didn't know she was a female. We were very wrong. I would not recommend buying pets from this store. The owner clearly doesn't know how to gender animals.

Kadee Cole

Tracy has ALWAYS taken such good care of her animals in the store. I have bought 2 babies from there with absolutely no problems at all. She’s always super helpful when I come in too. Thank you for everything you do!☺️

Nik S.

I went in here looking for a filter for my tadpole setup and as a former vet tech of 16 years: HOLY PERSONAL 7th LAYER OF 9-LAYERED HELL! When I first walked in, I noticed a bunch of toy/small breed puppies in what looked like a ferret-type display cage. Immediate thought: WOW, a pet store that still sells puppymill puppies (BECAUSE NO REPUTABLE BREEDER WILL EVER SELL PUPPIES TO A PET STORE! NATIONAL CLUBS, BREED CLUBS, PARENT CLUBS PROHIBIT MEMEMBERS FROM DOING SO). A desperate backyard breeder/greeder might unload some puppies to a pet store, but that's the best you're gonna get and even then... ugh. Then I noticed the smell... it wasn't the worst, but it was bad enough to take me back to my vet tech days... In a back corner I found the reptile/amphibian section and I was utterly appalled. The cages were abysmal. This is not what exotic animal husbandry looks like. At all. Parched substrate, no temp/humidity gauges. No gradient heating for reptiles. Overhead heating for amphibian... Yikes. Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, and a Pacman Frog... all very hardy species, but still. The most vulnerable--having worked for several exotics vets--was the Pacman frog. A tropical species requiring 75-85 degrees and 50-80% humidity, without proper gauges, impossible to maintain. No damp substrate for burrowing. While hardy and able to go into estivation for survival, young Pacman frogs aren't as likely to survive. And to make things even worse for the frog, it appeared (which you'll see in the photo) that what water was in the dish spilled, quickly being soaked up by the bone dry substrate, never allowing the frog a chance to soak. Pathetic. I debated buying the frog because I HATE supporting anyone who would treat an animal so poorly. In my book, this was abuse. Basic tenets: food, water, shelter were not being met. And anyone who thinks: but it's just a frog... well, lemme tell you buddy, if corners are cut here, I'm sure they're cut elsewhere. I seriously stood in the back of that store for several minutes debating about buying the frog, or leaving and making a break for it. I bought the frog. I couldn't leave it behind. I bought a few additional supplies, and as I walked up to the counter, I entered mental fog soup when I noticed all the other puppies there. Including my beloved Doberman breed. A Dobe, Boxer, Weimaraner, Huskies, maybe another hound like a GSP, more small breed puppies in a large pen. There were so. many. puppies... taking care of ONE puppy at this age is hard enough. Their mental, physical, emotional growth from 8-16 weeks (assuming none of them were younger than 8 weeks) is so integral to their overall development. Large breed, high energy puppies need so much! Even small breed puppies need tons of socialization and stimulation to various sights, sounds, smells (WAY beyond what a pet store can offer...) When I checked out, the lady behind the counter mentioned getting in Dumpy Treefrogs... another hardy species of frog but seriously... seriously... unless Carson's Critters is committed to improving husbandry standards by 150%-200%, please don't get any more exotics... I wish the selling of puppies would stop too, but I suspect that's a plea that will be entirely ignored. I think it would be phenomenal if Carson's Critters stopped selling puppies entirely (partner with South Coast and hold puppy/kitten adoption events instead!) And if committed to improving husbandry standards by at least 150% maybe turn into an actual exotics/pocket-pets pet store. We also need an aquarium store in town. Encourage proper husbandry, vivarium building, and aquascaping. *Edit to owner’s response: I have ZERO affiliation with the shelter. I absolutely DID NOT ask you to order me a frog. You also had a min pin, a few small spitz (Pom, Am. Esk.), frenchies or something small and brachycephalic. Didn’t look too hard ‘cause I didn’t want to see more. I made small talk to TRY to be polite, there was a lot to unpack. This is my real name.*

Christen C. Holly, MBA

My family and I were searching for a Lionhead bunny. I had a Chinchilla Rabbit for almost 10 years but he passed away due to old age. I know a lot about how to care for bunnies. We checked all of the animal shelters for bunnies, but couldn't find any bunnies in Southern Oregon that were available for adoption. We decided to try our luck at Carson's Critters. We read the good and bad reviews, but ultimately decided to go and see for ourselves (living in a small rural area, you come to understand that it is a breeding ground for rumors and false claims, so don't believe everything you hear!) Upon entering the shop, we saw clean, happy and healthy kittens and puppies. The store was clean and staff was playing with the pets. One staff member was even cuddling a tiny bunny when we walked in! We ended up purchasing the tiny Lionhead Bunny. Staff was informative and kind. They had puppies running around the store and playing freely in play pens. The reviews we read were completely false. I am a huge animal lover, so I have high expectations of the moral treatment of animals. We now have a new furry addition to our family! Our bunny is lively, happy, and healthy! Thank you, Carson's Critters for introducing us to our new baby!:)