petco makes me sick

amanda509

New Member
yea, i know, theres already like 500 threads about how horrible chain stores treat their chams, but whats one more? i know my local petco doesnt take care of their chams well, lucky for example, but this is absurd. theres a female jackson clearly sleeping in daylight, she's dark and doesnt look well, and in the other tank theres two veileds, one clearly much older than the other, the younger one clinging for dear life on the edge of the water bowl with both eyes shut, skin and bones. might have been dead..i would have said something, but they would have just brushed me off like last time..
 

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I wrote up here some suggestion on how I would deal with that.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/worst-pet-store-experience-ever-83746/

Corporations are simultaneously easier and harder in that you can climb the corporate chain- threatening to call manager after manager until you get some action, but they have increible buying power and can be hard to sway. They probably pay next to nothing for their chams yet they charge like $90 for a veiled. Unfortunately, fools like me are willing to buy them and support their business model (I still love my cham though... and in their defense he did look healthy when I got him. In hindsight though his setup was pretty bad- I doubt he would have lasted long without me saving him.)
 
just cruelty ,stupidity ,not informed - damn i hate when this happens cant write more im exausted from the pet shop threads before , just makes me sick
 
Well...

I bought my veileds from PETCO'
The service rep was really helpful and knew about chameleons.
On the flip side though he told me that glass aquariums were ok, so I bought the basic setup, then hit the forums and found out that they hate them.
Also bought a fogger, to find out that veiled chams really dont like alot of standing humidity lol,
Long story short, the local pet stores around where I live treat exotic reptiles and chameleons with respect. But after reading some recent posts a couple morons should be held accountable for thier actions.

PETCO doesnt exaclty sell bad chameleons, mine were and still are in perfect health, but again, depends on which one you go to. (BUT STILL WAY OVERPRICED)
 
I honestly believe this happens from ignorance and laziness. The problem being that they are too lazy to cure the ignorance portion of their problem.

This is the third evil pet store I've seen today! It must be national hate evil pet store day.

We need to keep in mind that not all pet stores are bad, and no matter what a chameleon is not going to get the same level of care at a store as it will get with an experienced keeper. I am a big fan of the pet industry. I believe it adds to people's understanding and appreciation of nature.

With that said as people who love and appreciate animals it is VITAL that we support those stores who do the best job at caring for and representing our wishes for animal care. I mean that we drive 20 minutes out of our way to buy 15 crickets. Harass and bug family and friends who shop at stores you don't like and explain why. Get them to go to the stores that are doing a good job.

No good stores in your area? Order online from reputable stores that have good reviews from experienced keepers.

Vote with your wallet and encourage others to do the same. This is the only way anything will change (short of prohibitive laws and regulations that would likely ruin the hobby, we don't want that).
 
I bought my veiled chameleon from Petland and they didn't gutload the crickets, dust them, or have a UVB light on them. He died from metabolic bone disease, which he got because they didn't take care of them and I'm new to chameleon care, so I thought they were doing it right.

Pet stores really need to start taking better care of their animals. I've seen shelters with their worst pets in better shape then at some pet stores.
 
Technically they would say its a temporary home so they dont feel the need to meet all the requirements, or so iv heard.
Its true the husbandry is just .. wrong, its still way better than iv seen at PetsMart, petco by where i live.
But the real issue is people who buy them assume they are doing it right, and just copy them, or are misinformed but the part time idiots who often work at these places.
 
You guys think that water bowl's bad? Well let me blow your mind real quick. At my local Petland they have ONE mister (Monosson) hooked up to every reptile cage. Some of them are the Exo Terra Nano's and some of them are bigger than 18x18x24. They keep the big coco husk substrate at the bottom. Every single time I go in the store, almost all of the cages are completely flooded. The Chameleon cages, the water dragons, the frogs, day geckos, etc. Have at least 2 inches of soupy substrate at the bottom of their cages. One day while I was there, the manager scooped up FOUR gallons of water out of the Chameleon cage. And all of the Chameleons are only a month old in the Veiled cage. It's horrifying. It's like an ocean below them compared to their size. I'm going to try and get a picture as an example. All of the workers complain and clean it up every week, but none of them have removed the Monsoon or stopped it in any way. If the mister is faulty, take it out. If a member of the staff is setting it too high, tear them a new one. It's really bad.

I don't like to come on here and complain about the store, because it just makes everyone sad. I've said all I can say to this place, but nobody listens. Luckily.. there haven't been any fatalities as far as I know. But it's unacceptable in every form of the word.
 
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