Clarke221
New Member
I live in the Austin, TX area, not too much to choose from here when it comes to pet stores anyway. There were two in Austin, one closed, and the more reputable one was left. More reputable until now...
I decided to go visit them since I had nothing to do today. Last time I was in, they had a small panther, probably about 2.5 months old, in good health from the looks of him. They had him listed as unknown locale, he was in a fairly small cage, but temp and humidity, as well as lighting were good. Today when I went in, I was so disgusted. They had 5 veileds in one cage together, it was about 12x24x30. One male was obviously in horrible health, his mouth looked like he was having some serious issues, maybe from calcium deprivation? A couple others had bad scars, from fights I suppose. Two other veilds in another cage, 12x24x12, were severely dehydrated, eyes sunken way in, and skinny. They had a giant 3 horned cham in the best setup, but his horns were bent and deformed, he looked ill and unhappy. Then, what really upset me, a panther, looked to be female from what I could tell, was no more than three inches in total length. I haven't bred them yet, so I can't be exact, but my guess would be a month old? The lady there couldn't even tell me how old she was, and again, unknown locale. Just a small UVB light, no basking spot, a couple branches and fake plant leaves, that was it. Cage was ok I suppose for that size, 6x12x12. It took everything I had to leave her there. The only reason I did is that my husband has told me to start gathering everything I need for my second chameleon, and he's hinting at getting me another cham for our anniversary. But...just thought I would add to the latest rants about pet stores. I'll never be setting foot in that place again. If I do, I'll be coming home with a sick cham and nursing it back to health
and then I'll have some 'splainin to do to my hubby.
I decided to go visit them since I had nothing to do today. Last time I was in, they had a small panther, probably about 2.5 months old, in good health from the looks of him. They had him listed as unknown locale, he was in a fairly small cage, but temp and humidity, as well as lighting were good. Today when I went in, I was so disgusted. They had 5 veileds in one cage together, it was about 12x24x30. One male was obviously in horrible health, his mouth looked like he was having some serious issues, maybe from calcium deprivation? A couple others had bad scars, from fights I suppose. Two other veilds in another cage, 12x24x12, were severely dehydrated, eyes sunken way in, and skinny. They had a giant 3 horned cham in the best setup, but his horns were bent and deformed, he looked ill and unhappy. Then, what really upset me, a panther, looked to be female from what I could tell, was no more than three inches in total length. I haven't bred them yet, so I can't be exact, but my guess would be a month old? The lady there couldn't even tell me how old she was, and again, unknown locale. Just a small UVB light, no basking spot, a couple branches and fake plant leaves, that was it. Cage was ok I suppose for that size, 6x12x12. It took everything I had to leave her there. The only reason I did is that my husband has told me to start gathering everything I need for my second chameleon, and he's hinting at getting me another cham for our anniversary. But...just thought I would add to the latest rants about pet stores. I'll never be setting foot in that place again. If I do, I'll be coming home with a sick cham and nursing it back to health
and then I'll have some 'splainin to do to my hubby.
