Made me feel sick

[kiwi3333]

I've read some horror stories on here about pet stores not looking after their chameleons properly and giving bad information but today i witnessed the worst i ahve ever seen or heard of. I had to go to a different shop to buy my crickets because my usual store who do a very decent job of looking after their cams was closed. My experience made me want to cry. They had a large veiled cham sitting in a small glass exoterra terrarium with the ubv and heat lamps outside the glass,and a rainforest style floor with a 'pond' to drink. I asked to speak to the person in charge of this poor guy, i was then passed to their 'chameleon expert'. I explained that i have my 4 and a 1/2 month old in a cage at least twice the size and that's not even his big cage yet. I also raised my concerns about the fact that there was only one plant and no misting or dusting of the meal worms it had in its bowl. She said she has experience with cham's and suggested i change my enclosure to glass, she also said that they don't need that much room or supplements as it can be detrimental. I left the shop and all i could think about was this poor cham, i couldn't take it as i don't have the equipment to take on any more than Red right now. So i made a few phone calls and found a friend who was willing at a push to give it a good home. It felt so good that i was going to be able to go into the shop and take that poor thing out of there but she wouldn't sell me it because she didn't think i would care for it properly. I started to laugh at this and called my friend who has to go into the shop and lie about the way he keeps his cham's in order to get it poor little fella. Eventually we got him and although i haven't seen him since i here he was a little weak but i now doing great in his nice big repti breeze it makes me sad to know that so many shops don't care for these animals properly. Sorry for the long rant just thought it was worth sharing this horrible tale. Made me realise how spoiled Red really is lol but made me want to spoil him more so i just bough him some yummy treats, his first batch of dubia's and his larger cage for when he's ready to move into it. spoiled boy

 

[Decadancin]

The unfortunate cycle is that now that they have sold one, they will probably get another to sell. To the shop owner you have created demand for a product. There are quite a few shops around me that have chams, and none have them in proper enclosures. It is sad though.

 

[kiwi3333]

Yeah i know but the shops shutting own soon so hopefully they wont get another one. It just made me so sad

 

[Lathelia]

I would report them anywhere possible. Buying from them doesn't help chams at all, if they sell one they will get another, or two more. Personally, I think it's not a good decision to buy chams from shops like that.
That being said, at least poor little guy is in good hands now.

 

[Psychobunny]

I will never forget what a pet store manager told me when I complained to him about the appalling way they treat their chams (and others):

"It doesnt matter, someone will always buy it".

I think that pretty well sums up the general attitude

 

[ChameleonMom]

I need to quit wearing my heart on my sleeve because anytime I go into a pet shop and see the horrible conditions some of them are kept, I get SO mad! I haven't made alot of friends either and damn, I just can't save every darn mistreated chameleon I see! I'd be up to my eyeballs in chameleons and while I don't think thats necessarily a bad thing, my hubby does!!

I am not sure if Scotland has an equivalent to our SPCA, but is there perhaps an animal cruelty organization you can contact to at least make them aware of the mistreatment?

Glad you saved the little guy tho'!!

 

[kiwi3333]

Yeah complained to the store owner then i phoned SSPCA and all the details and said they would investigate it further. I hope they are able to stop them buying more before its too late and another cham is forced to suffer

 

[Randi]

I will never forget what a pet store manager told me when I complained to him about the appalling way they treat their chams (and others):

"It doesnt matter, someone will always buy it".

I think that pretty well sums up the general attitude

This is the truth. Until we stop supporting these pet stores, the cycle continues. Purchasing a pet from a pet store is never, ever a "rescue." It's a "purchase." There's a huge difference. Even when purchasing an animal from a poor environment, you're opening the door for one (or more) to take its place, therefore defeating the purpose of the so-called rescue and cancelling out any good that's been done.