Just have to rant!

[littlevillage]

I haven't been on in a while, but if anyone remembers I work for a pet store (not a chain store) & I adopted one of their chams that had severe mbd, Rocky. Well, I'm happy to report that Rocky is doing great. He's come a long way.
When I was in the process of deciding whether or not to adopt Rocky some of you said not to because the store wouldn't learn there lesson & only get more chams in. Well, they did. They have been half way decent with them until recently. Last week, on my day off, they had 2 baby veileds come in. They put them in with the sub adult. I'm sure you can all guess what happened next! The bigger female instantly attacked one of the babies. They took that baby out & it loooks like it's going to be fine, but they left the other one in there! DUH!!! It took a few days but then she tried to eat the other baby. It was saved by someone who had to pull it out of her mouth. I'm not so sure that the outcome for this one is going to be as good as the first. I think it has some major damage to it's back legs. It has gotten some mobility back, but I don't think it will recover all the way. Poor thing.
It's not only chams that they are making huge mistakes with, it's all the reptiles. I put my two cents in but they don't listen to me. It truly makes me sick that I work for this place. I believe that I'll be looking for a new job because of this. I wish I could make a difference at this place but it's hard when you care about the animals & they care about the all mighty dollar. I love working with the animals & the pet store atmosphere, but I have a feeling that most of them are like this behind the scenes. My heart can't take seeing the mistreatment that these heartless people dish out to these poor animals.

 

[Rocky]

ugh...i hate people that dont listen and are idiots. I would of quietly said "good job" or "that was a GREAT idea"

 

[Dave]

It's pet dealers like that that really casts a shadow on this hobby. People all in for the money with the ignorance enough to not care about what happens to their animals. Sad story really..they should be reported.

-Dave

 

[spearsre]

Common sense

Unfortunately and fortunately business are in business to make money...so the ALL POWERFUL DOLLAR will rule the roost in any business. Basics of Capitalism.

As far as the dispicable conditions placed on the animals for sale...well, that is where the consumer comes in...if enough complaints come in or if people stop buying these "pets" then the pet shop cannot keep getting these animals in since it costs to keep them. If the owners are not interested in why these animals are dying or not selling maybe you could suggest that they quit offering these animals for sale. Just some thoughts to expand this discussion. Remember when you go to quit your job...others will take your job that do not care. Maybe you are in the place for the moment to train the owners or management even if it takes a little while to do it. Maybe you could offer to specifically care for the chameleons. So maybe there is a more important reason for you being there than you see at the moment. Just some thoughts.

 

[littlevillage]

I understand what you're saying about the customers complaining, but that doesn't happen. They are very good about hiding things. All of this goes on in the back. The store is very clean & upscale. The cages of all the animals are cleaned everyday. You're not going to walk in this store & find a dead animal in a cage like I've heard about other stores. But, little do people know that in the last couple of months I can name at least 8-10 reptiles that have died because of careless mistakes in their care. There is no educating these people. The managers & the owner are set in their ways & think they know it all. We are talking about an owner ( who supposedly used to breed chams ) that tried to tell me that Rocky could completely recover from mbd. That all of his deformities could go back to normal. Like that's going to happen!
Don't get me wrong, for the most part, I like my job. I like the fact that I can educate the customers on their new additions to their families, from the fuzzy little hamsters to the chameleons. But, I can't keep standing by & watching all these poor animals die & I can't keep adopting all the ones I feel sorry for.....I'm out of room! 22 animals is enough & 7 of them I took in out of pity. I'm such a sucker!
Back to the educating part. I would like to add that I'm in the process of making plans to take a few of my animals to my sons 5th grade class for education purposes. I'm thinking of taking one of my chams, a leopard gecko, a guinea pig, a bird, the chinchilla, a box turtle and possibly a frog or two.