New Reptile store....horrible and sad

[pigglett79]

Well, we finally got a new reptile store and I was really excited because it is right down the street from our house. We stopped by today to check it out and were disappointed. There was one medium glass enclosure with 15 jackson's all crammed in together. Males and females all appear to be a couple to a few months old. There was another glass tank with a bunch of sailfins (Trioceros cristatus) and one of them was dead or dying on the floor.

There were two melleri in a 3ft tall screen cage that was sitting on the floor. There was a couple branches inside and that is it. They did have a bunch of other reptiles, frogs snakes etc. but I really only paid attention to the chameleons. Most were in small glass tanks with lots of substrate on the bottoms. I was very disappointed. I am planning to email them care sheets for each chameleon I saw. I hope that they take the advice and correct their set ups. I am mostly hoping they provide the links to their customers so that they can ensure proper care of the chameleons they sell.

 

[maxttu]

Whoa!! Where is this?? How old (big) would you say the melleri are??

Sucks to hear about the conditions. Maybe I can go in behind you and reiterate the same things...

 

[pigglett79]

I will text it to you because I don't want to blast them in hopes that they use the forum for support.

 

[pigglett79]

They actually have a pretty good variety of chams. They had baby panthers and veiled as well.

 

[redline]

I feel the pain... Did take a trip to this business with a lot of years under their belt to have the same disappointment .. I manage to save rather than buy my Sailfin.. The young guy grab all of then from a bucket with water... Did not know they swin... That was their shower and threw then to a small cage. He did not know what they were, and basicly did not seem to cared. I was very disappointed in they training the employees have or show towards the animal... They need more than a care sheet. Good luck

 

[cbassabin]

I was in a reptile store where they had a fullgrown male veiled in a foot tall three feet long glass cage and a waterfall system that i saw it drinking out of that had feces all over. some younger kid was working and I made him take the waterfall out since it was a recycling the water and made him promise to tell his boss to get a different cage for him. lol

 

[MollyT]

I was going to do the same thing you are and send our local petstore a care sheet on how to take care of different chameleons. Everything they do there is wrong. Then one day, we went to get some crickets, and right next to the chameleon enclosures we saw a big binder. Zack looked in it and it was full of caresheets for all of the different chameleons. The crazy thing is that it was all correct information!! Practically everything those papers said, they were doing the opposite.

Good luck with everything! I hope you can help make it livable for those poor little chams!!

 

[Carlton]

They actually have a pretty good variety of chams. They had baby panthers and veiled as well.

So, sounds like they went to some sort of wholesaler or show to get a big impressive assortment of animals to attract new business but couldn't care less about how the animals are treated. Disgusting. Even if they say that they were caught off guard by all their livestock arriving at once, that is no excuse for such ignorance. I'd call in a complaint to the local agency that inspects and permits pet shops right away. Nail them right off the bat and let them know they just lost some of those new potential customers.

 

[Carlton]

I was going to do the same thing you are and send our local petstore a care sheet on how to take care of different chameleons. Everything they do there is wrong. Then one day, we went to get some crickets, and right next to the chameleon enclosures we saw a big binder. Zack looked in it and it was full of caresheets for all of the different chameleons. The crazy thing is that it was all correct information!! Practically everything those papers said, they were doing the opposite.

Good luck with everything! I hope you can help make it livable for those poor little chams!!

I think I'd say to the manager or dept. head that you have some care questions, take out the binder and start asking why it says one thing and their setup shows another. Do it very publicly (but seriously and calmly as if you are a total newbie and really confused), make them squirm a bit!

 

[maxttu]

Now that I know about this store and of the location, I'll go check it out this week and give y'all my .02. I'm excited to hear of a local store with a big selection of chams, but I'm pretty bummed to hear of the lack of proper care that's being reported. We'll see what's up...

 

[chameleoman]

Is it me or have you guys seen more and more people getting sailfin chams? Sold at local pet stores?

 

[qdude46]

ive seen a petco with baby veiled in a tiny tank, stressed out whites tree frogs and water dragon with hurt noses, it just horrible

 

[nightanole]

I had a pet shop where every animal was setup the same. Every speices got a 2ft/2ft/18" glass home with pine shavings and a water bottle. Like bearded dragons, kitties, puppies, chameleons, hamsters. The odd part was there was never a sick animal there. Yes the cham looked confused, but they never has bone problems or sunken eyes.

 

[maxttu]

Is it me or have you guys seen more and more people getting sailfin chams? Sold at local pet stores?

I've seen at least 3 threads in the past 48hrs! Weird! Must have been a helluva shipment come in recently...

 

[Khutchens]

I've seen at least 3 threads in the past 48hrs! Weird! Must have been a helluva shipment come in recently...

I've noticed that, too! Hmmm.

 

[redline]

I've seen at least 3 threads in the past 48hrs! Weird! Must have been a helluva shipment come in recently...

Second that... I just got one!!! Haha

 

[maxttu]

I went and checked out the store today. My report isn't bad, nor is it great.

I met both owners. One cat was really young and the other was probably just shy of 30yrs old. Chatted with both for a minute and they seemed to know the basics and seem business savvy.

The Cham selection was pretty good. Definitely the best in town. Melleri, veileds, Jackson's, sailfin and pygs. While I was there he had at least two calls for panthers and stated that he'd have some in 10 days.

The mellers was is bad condition. His horn was jacked and most of his toe nails were gone. His grip was really weak and as big as he was he felt lighter than my Fenix.

He said that he had another 25 melleri in his warehouse and was keeping this lone Cham at the shop to give him more space and care.

There were about 10 or so Jackson's In one enclosure. I noticed at least one with his eyes closed.

There were a handful of sailfins in one enclosure that had a mister providing lots of humidity. Again, at least one with his eyes closed. There was a two horned Cham in there with them. I forget the name?

Another enclosure had 6-8 veileds in it. All pretty young. Once again, another Cham or two with closed eyes.

The pygs were in a little critter keeper on a shelf about 3ft off the ground. There were at least 5 that I could see and two didn't look so hot.

Apparently they are operating a supply source business. From what I gather, they try to supply other stores and customers from their website.

Their products/supplies were fairly priced. I did pick up a bottle of Multi vits and a bottle of Repashy Superload.

They've been open for approx 4wks and I'm wiling to give them an opportunity to earn my future business.

I know this was a long report and I apologize, but I'm happy to see another place of business here locally that has items I need.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[Carlton]

If they supposedly "know the basics" then they should not be housing their chams in groups. All those animals are busy spreading their parasites, transfering any infectious bacteria through fecal matter (especially if the chams are spending time on the ground trying to get away from each other),are stressing each other through competition for space, dominance or injuring themselves by actual fighting, just when they should be building them up for another move. I would think that if they hope to serve as a supplier for others they should be even more concerned that their stock gets the most individualistic conservative care before being shipped somewhere else. I'll bet they don't have an idea just how long they can expect to keep any of them (a few days versus a month or more). I would much rather see them set up their livestock behind the store front in simple (big bank of glass or part screen enclosures with a live bush as habitat), slightly undersized caging than crammed together on display. I would think they might want to showcase correct husbandry in those displays too.

Does "business savvy" mean they have calculated their livestock turnover and found some acceptable level of loss? Their losses could be much lower if they house them correctly and deal with the very obvious health problems you noticed right off the bat. The selection of species means nothing if they don't care for any of them well. Their available supplies means nothing if they are killing animals while they are in their hands or shortly after they get sold. I don't care what someone says the industry standards for chams are or are not. Unless they have major plans to change their setup situation (don't tell me its a work in progress...should have done this before opening anyway) I would not be supporting them myself. Sorry, this approach to selling live animals just perpetuates the typically poor attitudes we all rant about and we should NOT be tolerant of it when the solutions are so clear.

 

[maxttu]

If they supposedly "know the basics" then they should not be housing their chams in groups. All those animals are busy spreading their parasites, transfering any infectious bacteria through fecal matter (especially if the chams are spending time on the ground trying to get away from each other),are stressing each other through competition for space, dominance or injuring themselves by actual fighting, just when they should be building them up for another move. I would think that if they hope to serve as a supplier for others they should be even more concerned that their stock gets the most individualistic conservative care before being shipped somewhere else. I'll bet they don't have an idea just how long they can expect to keep any of them (a few days versus a month or more). I would much rather see them set up their livestock behind the store front in simple (big bank of glass or part screen enclosures with a live bush as habitat), slightly undersized caging than crammed together on display. I would think they might want to showcase correct husbandry in those displays too.

Does "business savvy" mean they have calculated their livestock turnover and found some acceptable level of loss? Their losses could be much lower if they house them correctly and deal with the very obvious health problems you noticed right off the bat. The selection of species means nothing if they don't care for any of them well. Their available supplies means nothing if they are killing animals while they are in their hands or shortly after they get sold. I don't care what someone says the industry standards for chams are or are not. Unless they have major plans to change their setup situation (don't tell me its a work in progress...should have done this before opening anyway) I would not be supporting them myself. Sorry, this approach to selling live animals just perpetuates the typically poor attitudes we all rant about and we should NOT be tolerant of it when the solutions are so clear.

Allison, you are 100% correct with all that you have stated. I should have been more clear with my post.

By "business savvy", I meant that their operation, store front, vision and willingness to listen to what I, the customer, had to say.

I voiced my concerns about the Cham housing and if they make considerable changes, then that's when they'll earn my future business.

I'm not in the supply or wholesale business, so I don't know what it takes to accommodate so many chams. I know that I would like to see them individually caged or like you suggested, have the setup behind the scenes with proper husbandry practices.

I don't know what their intentions are moving forward, but Rachelle has given them her concerns and now I have also done so. If they make the necessary changes then great, but my concern is that they'll be banking on website orders and these unsuspecting customers will have no clue as to what they'll be getting.

Only time will tell and I'll be checking back with them in the near future.

 

[chameleoman]

I went and checked out the store today. My report isn't bad, nor is it great.

I met both owners. One cat was really young and the other was probably just shy of 30yrs old. Chatted with both for a minute and they seemed to know the basics and seem business savvy.

The Cham selection was pretty good. Definitely the best in town. Melleri, veileds, Jackson's, sailfin and pygs. While I was there he had at least two calls for panthers and stated that he'd have some in 10 days.

The mellers was is bad condition. His horn was jacked and most of his toe nails were gone. His grip was really weak and as big as he was he felt lighter than my Fenix.

He said that he had another 25 melleri in his warehouse and was keeping this lone Cham at the shop to give him more space and care.

There were about 10 or so Jackson's In one enclosure. I noticed at least one with his eyes closed.

There were a handful of sailfins in one enclosure that had a mister providing lots of humidity. Again, at least one with his eyes closed. There was a two horned Cham in there with them. I forget the name?

Another enclosure had 6-8 veileds in it. All pretty young. Once again, another Cham or two with closed eyes.

The pygs were in a little critter keeper on a shelf about 3ft off the ground. There were at least 5 that I could see and two didn't look so hot.

Apparently they are operating a supply source business. From what I gather, they try to supply other stores and customers from their website.

Their products/supplies were fairly priced. I did pick up a bottle of Multi vits and a bottle of Repashy Superload.

They've been open for approx 4wks and I'm wiling to give them an opportunity to earn my future business.

I know this was a long report and I apologize, but I'm happy to see another place of business here locally that has items I need.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Pick me up a sailfin next time you go!