Makes me Sad :(

[Dave Bull]

Too many peeps, from what i read here go out on a Saturday afternoon Buy a terrarium, accesories etc and the creature all at same time !!
No research into the creature they have purchased
I am so concerned that the vendors just let them do it !!
Guess its $$ in the bank.
What is so sad to me is peeps come here and ask what is wrong with my fella ? a week later,this is normally too late !!
Such a shame cos i hate to hear of these wonderfull creatures suffering.

A Real chameleon lover

 

[Darc]

Too many peeps, from what i read here go out on a Saturday afternoon Buy a terrarium, accesories etc and the creature all at same time !!
No research into the creature they have purchased
I am so concerned that the vendors just let them do it !!
Guess its $$ in the bank.
What is so sad to me is peeps come here and ask what is wrong with my fella ? a week later,this is normally too late !!
Such a shame cos i hate to hear of these wonderfull creatures suffering.

A Real chameleon lover

I completely agree with you. I work at Petsmart, and the amount of people that come in and know nothing about the animals they want to buy is frustrating. Thankfully, I've been educating the girls who sell the critters and making sure they educate the future parents of these critters...plus people I think who won't do well with the animal I always suggest the most expensive necessities and they're like, "maybe we should think about this". ;D

Yes, I discourage people from buying animals, but it's better for the critter. I was rather upset that I wasn't around when our last chameleon was sold, and was even more upset when I met the girls who bought it a couple days later. I tried to educate them, but they weren't interested. D= I hope the little thing is doing well.

Anyways...I very much agree. Corporate pet stores are a bad idea. We need to be able to screen the people interested in our animals.

 

[Psychodrake]

The pet store owner I purchased my cham from (They get them in from a local breeder, a good breeder at that) pretty much told me chameleons are in huge demand at the moment because of their vivid colorations and general unique appearance. He has a 6 year old ambilobe Panther which he keeps at the shop which seems really healthy (And huge) so I guess that sells them quite well. But yeah, he dislikes that people don't do research and generally just walk in with kids and decide to buy chameleons - Much rather they'd buy Beardies or even hamsters I'm sure.

Reptiles are becoming a big money maker at the end of the day. They're great to show off to your mates and I think people see them as low maintenance. It's sad because chameleons really suffer.

EDIT: It isn't really much different from people buying puppies from puppy mills. Read about the animal you're getting, get the pedigree, raise them properly. Although with reptiles there are so many illnesses that simply are difficult to find and control, you can't put all the blame on the keepers unless its genuine miscare.

 

[Dave Bull]

[QUOTE

Reptiles are becoming a big money maker at the end of the day. They're great to show off to your mates and I think people see them as low maintenance. It's sad because chameleons really suffer.[/QUOTE

Big money maker yes but no thought for the actuall creature, lets sell as many as we can !! No questoins to customer do you know how to look after one of these creatures! They take it home think it eats cornflakes three days later they are here on cham forum i have a sick cham

 

[Psychodrake]

Reptiles are becoming a big money maker at the end of the day. They're great to show off to your mates and I think people see them as low maintenance. It's sad because chameleons really suffer.

Big money maker yes but no thought for the actuall creature, lets sell as many as we can !! No questoins to customer do you know how to look after one of these creatures! They take it home think it eats cornflakes three days later they are here on cham forum i have a sick cham

Delicious cricket cornflakes.

Yeah, but what you'll find is that a lot of the store owners of reptile specific stores actually do care for the animals. It's the mass pet stores that do everything that couldn't give an arse usually. The reptile section of my local Pets at Home has at least 5 boxes of dead locusts last I checked. I hope they weren't planning on selling those. Also, the bearded dragon had a bowl of calcium powder and its basking spot was littered with poop. That isn't how it works guys.

That place is a kid magnet though. They'll see all of it as a sign of a low maintenance animal that needs very little care to thrive.

 

[Ekproject]

It is horrible. But i dont think anything we do will change it. Im not trying to be negative just realistic. Every week there is a different post about big pet stores and how they suck with reptiles and so on and so forth.

 

[Dave Bull]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/need-help-so-bad-61370/

I rest my case

 

[Trundy]

I completely agree with you. I work at Petsmart, and the amount of people that come in and know nothing about the animals they want to buy is frustrating. Thankfully, I've been educating the girls who sell the critters and making sure they educate the future parents of these critters...plus people I think who won't do well with the animal I always suggest the most expensive necessities and they're like, "maybe we should think about this". ;D

Yes, I discourage people from buying animals, but it's better for the critter. I was rather upset that I wasn't around when our last chameleon was sold, and was even more upset when I met the girls who bought it a couple days later. I tried to educate them, but they weren't interested. D= I hope the little thing is doing well.

Anyways...I very much agree. Corporate pet stores are a bad idea. We need to be able to screen the people interested in our animals.

It's funny... I travel a good bit for work.... and one of the things I do is pop in to any local pet stores I find.(yes i'm a nerd.. I also stop by Magic shops as well ).. and Seeing as i've kept just about every animal they sell .. I like to ask questions I know the answers to just to see if I get b.s.'d ... More often than not I do... but on occasion I find someone who actually knows what they're talking about.. and it's refreshing....

A few weeks ago... I was selling some Dart Frogs... I posted them on a forum.. and on C'list... I got a ton of responses on C'list.. and I intentionally didnt give a price until after I talked to them... I didnt want someone taking them who wouldnt care correctly for them... I finally found a nice couple who had never kept them , but had done research.. They got a GREAT deal on em....

When I find the stores that know what they're doing or just the employees that do, I make it a point to contact the manager and let them know that I appreciate that employees knowlege and effort....

 

[Trundy]

It is horrible. But i dont think anything we do will change it. Im not trying to be negative just realistic. Every week there is a different post about big pet stores and how they suck with reptiles and so on and so forth.

It's funny that you say that.. because for the most part I agree... but I was about to create a post about a local Petco that had exceptional care for all of their animals and reptiles in particular... everything was being explicitly and individually cared for and had individual needs met.. I was impressed... now I understand that , that is the exception and not the rule... but what we can do is let the good stores that do it correctly know that we appreciate them and also get in touch w managers to let them know certain employees know their Sh#* ... I worked in a pet store for a while .. when I got there the Saltwater and reptile departments wer horrible... and after enough customers made coments and sent the owner emails about me he gave me more leadway in taking care of the departments and things changed while I was there... The only thing we can do is Vote w our wallets... if you see a shi@%y store leave.. if you see a good one .. use them...

 

[Darc]

It's funny... I travel a good bit for work.... and one of the things I do is pop in to any local pet stores I find.(yes i'm a nerd.. I also stop by Magic shops as well ).. and Seeing as i've kept just about every animal they sell .. I like to ask questions I know the answers to just to see if I get b.s.'d ... More often than not I do... but on occasion I find someone who actually knows what they're talking about.. and it's refreshing....

A few weeks ago... I was selling some Dart Frogs... I posted them on a forum.. and on C'list... I got a ton of responses on C'list.. and I intentionally didnt give a price until after I talked to them... I didnt want someone taking them who wouldnt care correctly for them... I finally found a nice couple who had never kept them , but had done research.. They got a GREAT deal on em....

When I find the stores that know what they're doing or just the employees that do, I make it a point to contact the manager and let them know that I appreciate that employees knowlege and effort....

Haha, I do the same. I like to go around the local petstores here to see what they actually know, and yes, most often it's not much of anything. I certainly don't know everything about the animals I sell, but I've researched enough to be able to tell people how to take care of them, and I try to encourage them to get online to places like this to do some research of their own.

It was very refreshing a few weeks ago when I was talking to a gentleman who was interested in buying a chameleon. He kept praying mantis and was interested in the chameleon for his photography, and just because he thought they were really neat. I spent probably a good 30-45 minutes letting him know about them and what was required for their care, and it was so nice to hear that he was interested but really wanted to research them before going ahead and getting one. It's so nice when people do their research before getting a pet! It's nice to know that these critters I get so close to actually go to a good home.

And unfortunately I will be leaving my job at Petsmart for the Navy soon so I'm a bit frightened how things will go after I'm gone, because out of anyone in the store I probably know more about the critters we sell than anyone else. Hopefully I've trained the girls well enough that they will pass on their knowledge though. ^_^

 

[Chamifornia]

Well it does suck atleast we have this site and it usually pops up when you google chameleons. Every pet store should give this website to buyers lol because most at petshops actually know nothing about chameleons.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

I was in a local pet store where they sell chameleons and this one guy was just walking in, though it looked cool, and decided to buy it, he was discussing that he could keep it in a small glass fish tank. I marched up to them and firstly told them what complete IDIOTS and irrisponsible people they are, then spent another half hour explaining every detail of chameleons. They looked ticked but I couldn't care less about their opinion.