Chameleon at Petsmart in Bad Shape - Advice?

[AZJ0SH]

I was at Petsmart here in Phoenix on 7th Ave and Bell.

Today I saw they had ~2-month old veiled chameleon in one of the really small glass enslorues in the front by the birds, the ones they normally keep frogs and lizards in. The enclosure is maybe 12x12x12 tops.

Anyways, the humidity was down to 10%, there was no signs of misting (bone-dry) and there was a small dish of water.

I let one of the employees know, and they just kinda stared at me like I was offending them by mentioning the chameleon setup was wrong. I walked over to the managers office and let a manager know and he barely acknowledged the complaint.

The chameleon looked healthy for the most part, but I can't imagine he would be healthy for long in that environment.

Have you guys ever experienced this before? And what have you been able to do to help solve the issue? I would buy him if I could, but I don't have room in my apartment for another enclosure.

 

[davthevieled]

Dav, my cham, is actually from a Pet Co over in Cicero, NY.

When I got him home, he wasn't going number two and his stomache looked a little swollen. After reading on the site I did some warm sprays and his poo had bits of the substrate in that Pet Co humbly supplied within his stomache.
When I got there this last Weds, I walked in because I was planning on purchasing some more supplies for Dav's new terrarium. I left after noticing their chameleons, which where quite young, in a terrarium where there was no humidity to account for and a temp over 100 degrees. I refuse to go into that store from this point on.

 

[AZJ0SH]

Dav, my cham, is actually from a Pet Co over in Cicero, NY.

When I got him home, he wasn't going number two and his stomache looked a little swollen. After reading on the site I did some warm sprays and his poo had bits of the substrate in that Pet Co humbly supplied within his stomache.
When I got there this last Weds, I walked in because I was planning on purchasing some more supplies for Dav's new terrarium. I left after noticing their chameleons, which where quite young, in a terrarium where there was no humidity to account for and a temp over 100 degrees. I refuse to go into that store from this point on.

Personally, I don't think big chain pet stores should even bother carrying chameleons, unless they have the right setup and experienced employees who can give the right advice on how to care for a chameleon, and not worry about selling expensive useless waterfalls and substrate.

 

[davthevieled]

Agreed, in all honesty you would think if a customer mentions to you... "Hey, these guys will die if you don't take care of them" would kinda raise a flag of... maybe we should do something?

 

[Bernie]

This is very sad to hear. Unfortunately those little fellas don't know how badly they are being cared for - it's not fair.

When inexperienced customers come in to buy a Cham they must get fed utter garbage on how to keep Cham's. How can they give advice when they know nothing theirselves?!

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago where I discovered a small tank with about 10 Yemen Chameleons inside. They were about 5 months old. The enclosure was filthy. All walking rounding each others mess. Honest it was really dirty, I bet when opener it smelt foul!

It looked really dry and just had a bowl of veg on the bottom. I am hoping they do feed them live insects too.

A couple of them were thinner and smaller and looked really run down. I believe they were far too old o be kept together in such small conditions.

I am not sure who I need to report it to here in the UK though.

 

[OrangeCrush]

It's just wrong!!! I hate seeing chamois in pet stores it just soooo upsetting to see how horrible people can be to make a dollar. Chamois are very interesting and fragile creatures. Pet store should not be able to sell them. They just take too much care and pet store just can't provide the proper needs for them. It almost make u want to buy them just to save them and get them away from such a horrible place. And most likely the person who buys the Cham wil not know anything about them what so ever. People cruise the pet store and some kid will tell his dad that's the pet he wants and away the Cham goes off with someone not knowing the intense care they need. It's such a shame to hear things like that. That's why I also suggest to people to not be afraid to order a Cham online from a reputable breeder.

 

[KatCham]

This is very sad to hear. Unfortunately those little fellas don't know how badly they are being cared for - it's not fair.

When inexperienced customers come in to buy a Cham they must get fed utter garbage on how to keep Cham's. How can they give advice when they know nothing theirselves?!

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago where I discovered a small tank with about 10 Yemen Chameleons inside. They were about 5 months old. The enclosure was filthy. All walking rounding each others mess. Honest it was really dirty, I bet when opener it smelt foul!

It looked really dry and just had a bowl of veg on the bottom. I am hoping they do feed them live insects too.

A couple of them were thinner and smaller and looked really run down. I believe they were far too old o be kept together in such small conditions.

I am not sure who I need to report it to here in the UK though.

The RSPCA!!! Due to the recent animal welfare act being introduced, they can act BEFORE an animal gets in really bad way. They may not confiscate the chams but they will educate the store on how to house them and care for them correctly.

IMO its just another way for the big pet shop chains to make money!!!
P******s me off!!!! They know jack s**t about how to care for them, then they pass what little rubbish they do know onto unsuspecting owners...then the owners have to deal with sick/dead chams...through no fault of their own.

They've only recently started housing reptiles so may be they'll have half a clue in 5 years time!!!! Much to the devastation of many chams and other reptiles they don't have a clue about!!!

Rant over!

 

[seanUTD]

The best thing you can do for these poor animals is to protest it and make as much noise as you can. If they don't sell them, they will not replace them. I am lucky to have a few people in my local Petsmart that are well -smart and they tell the mangers NOT to order them and therefore they don't have them

 

[burnedrose]

I rescued K2 from a Petsmart. She was in the same conditions. I got her home, put her cage up and everything and she went from being pitch black to bright vibrant green within minutes. When I took her to the vet the next day, the vet said she has MBD - mainly because they didn't care for her - AT ALL - when they had her in the store. According to the store employee she had been there for a week. I am surprised she was still alive - can you imagine a week in no humidity, hot temps, eating crickets - and the substrate - and not having a misting system? Not to mention her body had little sores from crickets crawling all over her and probably biting her.

I made a big huff about it in the local paper and on craigslist and stuff and wrote into their corporate offices. They are still carrying chameleons, but, luckily, they are in slightly better conditions. They are still keeping them in a glass enclosure, which pisses me off to no end, but last I checked, they were doing pretty well, at least by looking at them. Just keep pestering people and yelling at them. Also, if you give a call to corporate and start using big words, they will not only scold the store - but I got free stuff (probably a bribe to keep me quiet, but it didn't work so well. Still went to the local paper).

 

[jdog1027]

I know it's a valiant effort on everyone's part to try and help these Petcos and Petsmarts, but you would have had a better chance of talking Saddam Hussein into telling you where he had hidden all of his chemical weapons than you will trying to talk some sense into these corporate chain stores. I honestly think that if they are making money they don't care on the quality of care their reptiles recieve. On the other hand, the other animals in the store here where I am located are all pampered. Reptiles just seem to be expendable to them and I don't see it changing.

 

[PascalsMama]

I got my Pascali from a pet store and I got horrible advice, and then yesterday I went to see if they got anymore in out of curiosity, and the woman told me females get bigger than males....

 

[AESara]

I don't like the size of the reptile cages we're given either, but I can assure you that I am generally called to give chameleon-related advice unless I'm not available. If there's something I don't know about any animal, I either find a way to look it up or suggest good ways for the customer to find information themselves and educate themselves before deciding to purchase an animal.

There are a couple issues I see here. You seem to be unsure if they are misting or not. Misting is required at least twice a day. Also, managers are expected to have an open-door policy and should give more stock to your opinions. I'm not going to say that you'll see instant change because I am not an expert on that, but you should really contact corporate about the lack of misting and about the manager apparently not caring about your advice at that store location.

 

[lisa h]

I saw this same situation at the "new" Petsmart in our city. Everyone was so excited to get a Petsmart here. I saw a wee Veiled cooking in it's tank. Gaping and looking horrible. Several people I know talked to management and staff about proper husbandry, but it never changed. The little guy died, and they got another. And they will get another and another and another, as Veileds are something they sell -- you know, like Goldfish. So, if you buy the sick one, they will get another.

I have not set foot in that store again. They couldn't have a bargain or anything interesting to get me into that store. Will that make a difference? No, they don't care, although they are losing the big bucks I spend at other stores, it's a drop in the ocean to what they make. At least I don't have to look at the ongoing suffering. JMO.

BTW, I did buy a sick cham from Petland, but only because I wanted to try and help, and I knew it would die there. ALSO, because they had a 30 day money back guarantee. I figured if we could make it past 30 days, he'd be ok. If not, I'd get my money back, and he'd have some good last days. He lived 28 days

Buying from a petstore IS NOT RESCUING!!! You are not rescuing dog beds or cat food when you shop there, and you are not rescuing their sick animals! You are taking a problem off their hands, and adding to their big fat wallets. Bottom line.

 

[okiroo]

i bought from petsmart *didnt know it was a bad thing* clair put her little hand on the glass and starred at me. when i walked away she left back and i came up and she did it again. i bought her on the spot with everything she told me i needed )had to re buy almost everything) she told me oh yeah they sell well! collage kids like them cuz their cool and easy to care for. you can keep them in this little cage. idiots. i feel bad and i dont argue with them though. theres no use. i saw to anoles fighting and told her and the woman said "oh...im not shure theres anything i can do about that" i almost feel bad for the people who work their . i want to go back and buy the anoles.

 

[AESara]

Yes, it is very wrong for them to claim all that. It is frustrating to me when I give the customer advice based on what I've learned here and they won't listen to me or someone else claims I'm wrong. I suppose there's not much else I can do though, besides try. As far as my store, the managers have been very good about sending animals to the vet when I or a customer notice issues and about separating animals that aren't getting along. Unfortunately, we don't have much power over the type of enclosures we're given, which is why I like to suggest reporting those types of issues to corporate. They're the only ones who can change that... Trust me, I've even offered my extra screen cage to display the chameleon.

 

[clarkrw3]

The problem is the more you buy the more they will get in. The petco and petsmart by me stopped having reptiles because no one bought them. Wish this was the case everywhere.
This doesn't just happen at Petsmart (they are the worst) when I was over in cali over the forth I went to LLL which is really well known and they had male and female adult panthers in a 12x12x24 cage together and were selling them as pair

 

[okiroo]

i dont regret getting clair though. i cuddnt take another cham anywhere else becuz i love her. i do feel bad for adding to the problem. i buy my crikets their aswell becuz i dont really want to buy them online. :/

 

[okiroo]

XD. yeah atm they have a really little baby girl and a bigger boy. i feel bad for them. my boyfriend is even worse than me. he get all sad becuz he names them and when we go in he has to visit them/ the bearded dragons LOVE him. they all run to the fnt when they c him but he says nope i like the chams more. MEAN! lol.

 

[chamguy]

I suggest going in there with like 10+ people who share the same feelings as we do and have everyone complain about everything that is wrong I'm the store. Maybe it will get to them or atleast warn other customers.

The only thing I really buy at petco or petsmart is fish, pumps, and vitamines. If I'm lucky I can buy pure calcium at pharmacys.

 

[okiroo]

yes. they ALWAYS come to c him. they love him i guess. they even put their little hands on the glass. its very cute. i offred to buy him one but he likes the chams i wish he's get one. i feel bad for it. other people (such as me) walk up and they dont move. when he comes up their flying all over the place.