I might be another protester.

[Cainschams]

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.

 

[FooL111394]

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

 

[Dave Legacy]

BUT PLEASE DONT BUY HIM. This will only credit the store with a sale.

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.

 

[Cainschams]

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?

 

[Nicodemayo]

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.

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.

 

[viaje]

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.

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.

 

[Sang]

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"

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

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...

 

[tryme]

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.

 

[ciafardo 4]

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

 

[Sang]

in my experience, a loud commotionful scene gets results especially infront of other customers, it tells the other customers that hey petco doesn't know what they are doin. they have unhealthy animals.

petco will go to any length to quiet a disguntled customer especially when he is making a scene about how they are caring for an animal. they wouldn't want customers to that dont know much to know that petco doesn't know much.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

he informed me that he couldnt sell him to me because his manager said i need a 55 gal aqarium

And this is a pet store... LOL

 

[summoner12]

Its against Petco policy to give away animals let alone sick ones.

This is not true.

 

[karebear41486]

I work at a PetSmart in Wisconsin, and we too get a lot of our reptiles, mainly beardies, from Sandfire. We also get chameleons in quite a bit...we had a panther once that we ended up adopting out because his health was fading--go figure. We have had quite a few baby veileds that have all died except the one that I "adopted." We mainly get in Jackson's species, which thankfully sell very quickly, but I have also seen my share of Jackson's die in the store as well. One time we got in this HUGE, fat, lumpy female that probably had a slew of issues...but someone bought her pretty quick...It just really irritates me because no matter how much i tell the people i work with, no matter how many times i tell them to not order chameleons anymore, NOTHING gets done. I do everything i can for the chameleons that do end up in the store--mainly I have demanded that they are kept in our quiet animal room in bigger cages with a drip cup...because otherwise they would be thrown out on the floor in our TERRIBLY small, unventilated cages that are completely worthless...

Basically, PetSmart sucks...big time...and sorry for my rambling...

 

[karebear41486]

OH...but I also wanted to share that at PetSmart, we adopt out animals with problems all the time. For example, if we were to get in a baby beardie that was missing toes or had a nipped tail, we are unable to sell them because they are "not perfect and not to PetSmart standards" so we adopt them out to people who are interested. I actually do my best to make sure any animal that might even have a SLIGHT defect...and sometimes i just make up defect a so that I can GIVE this animal a good home. Petco should be the same way...you can't sell an animal if it isn't healthy. And if the store is too uneducated and under-funded to fix the problem then they better be ready to hear from people about it...thats against the law.

 

[joefarah]

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"

LOL!!! That literally made me laugh out loud

 

[summoner12]

I work at a PetSmart in Wisconsin, and we too get a lot of our reptiles, mainly beardies, from Sandfire. We also get chameleons in quite a bit...we had a panther once that we ended up adopting out because his health was fading--go figure. We have had quite a few baby veileds that have all died except the one that I "adopted." We mainly get in Jackson's species, which thankfully sell very quickly, but I have also seen my share of Jackson's die in the store as well. One time we got in this HUGE, fat, lumpy female that probably had a slew of issues...but someone bought her pretty quick...It just really irritates me because no matter how much i tell the people i work with, no matter how many times i tell them to not order chameleons anymore, NOTHING gets done. I do everything i can for the chameleons that do end up in the store--mainly I have demanded that they are kept in our quiet animal room in bigger cages with a drip cup...because otherwise they would be thrown out on the floor in our TERRIBLY small, unventilated cages that are completely worthless...

Basically, PetSmart sucks...big time...and sorry for my rambling...

I really do not understand why Petsmart.... wait. is the word smart in the name of the store? sorry let me start over... I really do not understand why Petstupid keeps animals in those small A$$ cages. My boy Fred came from petstupid.... I nearly kicked the clerk in the head while he tried to 'fetch' Fred out of the cage. Fred was FREAKING out running and running and running to get away from the guy. I stopped the guy and said "i think I can handle this better....." and reached in and fred just came out. Maybe im a crazy person, and I don't mind being called this. But I think Fred is so calm and friendly with me because I saved him. The people at the store said he was very mean and would bite. He has only tried to bite me... I should say it was a warning lunge at my hand early in the morning and I had moved too fast to pick him up. He likes to walk out onto me rather than be picked up. He is so chill its not even funny.

sorry for my rant I do not like the big chain stores.... even places like LLL r Reptile Depot. Good places to buy cheap supplies... Not a good place to buy animals IMHO.

 

[summoner12]

I actually do my best to make sure any animal that might even have a SLIGHT defect...and sometimes i just make up defect a so that I can GIVE this animal a good home. Petco should be the same way...you can't sell an animal if it isn't healthy. And if the store is too uneducated and under-funded to fix the problem then they better be ready to hear from people about it...thats against the law.

I love that first bit! haha.

You are also right about the selling with defects. Sorry to rip on ya Nico! But Petco can not sell an animal that has issues. To the OP of this thread, if the cham looks ill you can take action against the store. Tell them you will contact authorities about the health of the animal if they do not get the animal medical attention.

My first cham was a female veiled from a petco my GF worked at. She had MBD and had to go to the vet. They adopted her out...

 

[mom2lilnick]

My husband runs a petsmart and seriously a lot of what everyone complains about is to make the customer happy.. of course there is a dish of water sitting in there because if there wasn't, there would be 100 people a day (not to mention PETA) banging on the door wanting to know why that animal didn't have water available to them.. regardless if the animal is going to drink it that way or not. I assure you that even if some of the employees aren't herp saavy there is at least someone there looking out for them. At least at our stores.