Well, again you guys will hear this story. I went to PETCO today because my one friend said they had a veiled in there. By what he was saying to me it was the same one they had for a while. He said it was getting worse. Either that one died or someone bought it. I had seen the one and he did look pretty bad. I went in today to see exactly how bad he was doing. I didnt see him but I saw a little boy. He is sooo cute. Judging by my panthers growth he is probably around 3-5 months old. The first thing I noticed when I walked up was he was walking really shakey and his legs are starting to bend. I saw that his dripper was ran straight into a bowl of water. Not dripping on any leaves just tube in bowl. WHY EVEN F_ING TRY!!!!! Just fill the damn bowl up you idiots. Upon tooling around to see what kind of lights they had for him I saw his basking light which looked like a black light but it was a normal house looking bulb thing. His tube light was a full spectrum light for fish tanks. Well, I wonder why his legs are starting to bow. Im sure he isnt getting his supplements too. I really wanted to say something but I was in there with my Ex girlfriend who I am trying to get back with (different story) and she really didnt want me to make a scene with her there. I am thinking about protesting in front of the store this weekend to see if I cant get him for free. I know this way or just not buying him is the only respectable thing to do. I just dont know because I have lots of babies hatching and not much room for another cham This is really upsetting me and I thought I would share my feelings and vent about it. I know all of you will say protest but I really havent decided yet because of the reasons I mentioned. If anyone in the Hagerstown MD area does have the space and finances to get this guy I will help them protest. BUT PLEASE DONT BUY HIM. This will only credit the store with a sale.

I'll try not to buy himXd But that kind of s**t really makes me mad. They need to take care of their animals better. If I could I would be out their protesting as well

It's not easy to just walk away, but it's necessary. Most petco stores don't keep chameleons, and you might be surprised to hear that they may not have actually order it for their stock. My brother-in-law manages a Petco store and people dump their unwanted pets on them all the time. This could very well be a cham that someone no longer wanted and abandoned at the store, or maybe they ordered it, but either way they don't know how to care for it.

It really just depends on the management staff. My brother-in-law wont order and chameleons for their stock, because of their care requirements. So who here knows that Sandfire Ranch supplies a good amount of herps to Petco Stores in Southern California? Bet you didn't see that one coming.

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2.4.0 Furcifer pardalis (Sambava)

Dave, I havent checked out Sandfire or thought about it may be someones unwanted pet. This guy is pretty small and he definatly looks like he can be helped. I think the first step I am going to take is trying to convince them to at least correct the bulbs, dripper, and start supplementing him. I know I cant take him in and like I said I wouldnt buy him anyway but it sucks seeing such a young guy about to endure something he shouldnt. Of course if they do and he is sold then here possibly comes another into the store. Hmmm?

I am a manger at store 1747 in Marietta Georgia and we receive all our beardies from sandfire dragon ranch as well. I will no longer allow chameleons to be ordered in my store as well even despite my knowledge, im not there 7 days a week to give it proper care even though i have educated the staff at my location of their requirements. Bottom line is chameleons are to much work for a retail store like Petco. Petco in general has downsized our reptile selection to more hardy species and we are focusing on keeping only animals that sell in less than 3 weeks. Veileds at $90 a piece no one wants which is why they end up in the store so long and slowly decline.

Cain, I think you would be wasting your time trying to get the cham for free. Its against Petco policy to give away animals let alone sick ones. If someone from corporate found out, the manager responsible could be instantly terminated. Its not worth risking their job. Petco will open its eyes soon enough. Most locations realize this and chams are becomes less common in Petco stores.

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Are you kidding? I work at a Petsmart (yeah, go ahead and Boo, at least someones taking care of them) and as far as I know, sandfire supplies ALL PetSmarts with their herps, I know our little store in MN gets their reptiles from there.

id just put a sign on the cage with tons of tape and stuff to seal it on the glass.


pages that say "they're slowly killing me"

That is terrible... I'd speak to the manager of the store and get him to change the bulb to a 5.0 uvb instead of causing a huge scene. They probably have no clue that it needs it. It's unfortunate, but we'll never see the end of this kind of thing at pet stores...

It's terrible what some animals go through. I would end up buying him to save the hassle etc and just to make sure he gets a good home but I know it would be better to protest.

i saw a panther in a petco for 230 and he looked healthy he had just arived i wanted to buy him sales guy asked what kind of cage i had i told he a 24x48 screen cage like all of us use he said let me go get a box when he came back he informed me that he couldnt sell him to me because his manager said i need a 55 gal aqarium so i freaked on both of them i wish all of us on this forum would tell everyone we no to boycott petco its just a big corp that doesnt care about anything but a profit