Petco

[Glen the Jackson's]

So the other day I walked into a petco and immediately I see the manager carrying around a panther like it was a stuffed animal as he was talking to groups of customers. I walked up to him and said "you shouldn't be doing this you are stressing her out" and he replied with "I know what I'm doing, I'm the manager". I told him I disagreed, and that the cham looked very stressed and that he should put her back in the enclosure. He followed with "I know they don't like to be handled, I only take her out about 4 times a day to acclimate her". This literally made me so mad and tried to calmly explain to him that this cham will never get "acclimated" to people and that chameleons are different than dogs. lol its crazy how little they train the petco people about chameleons.

 

[mandaxx3x]

So the other day I walked into a petco and immediately I see the manager carrying around a panther like it was a stuffed animal as he was talking to groups of customers. I walked up to him and said "you shouldn't be doing this you are stressing her out" and he replied with "I know what I'm doing, I'm the manager". I told him I disagreed, and that the cham looked very stressed and that he should put her back in the enclosure. He followed with "I know they don't like to be handled, I only take her out about 4 times a day to acclimate her". This literally made me so mad and tried to calmly explain to him that this cham will never get "acclimated" to people and that chameleons are different than dogs. lol its crazy how little they train the petco people about chameleons.

Poor baby! I only take Calvin out (or try) once a day. If she turns the other way and hisses, I stop trying. When she's out she's in a plant. But I'd never just carry her around like a stuffed animal.

 

[Shawnschamelion]

To be honest I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I bought my Jackson.. he made it seem as if I was buying a little furry friend.. and boy o boy was he far from the truth

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Poor thing... he is trying to desensitize her so that when a potential customer wants to hold/buy her, she won't act defensive and ruin a sale. He definitely "knows what he's doing", but it's not for her benefit... it's for his stores benefit

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

Poor thing... he is trying to desensitize her so that when a potential customer wants to hold/buy her, she won't act defensive and ruin a sale. He definitely "knows what he's doing", but it's not for her benefit... it's for his stores benefit

I COMPLETELY agree. These chams might develop issues because of an "easier sale". Its just plain wrong

 

[poison]

Didn't know petco carried panthers.

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

Didn't know petco carried panthers.

yup, they do. and probably shouldn't

 

[poison]

Also did he take the chameleon out to show the customers? If so I completely understand why he had it out. If I was interested in purchasing an animal I'd definitely like to look st it up close. Or was he just carrying it around the store?

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

Also did he take the chameleon out to show the customers? If so I completely understand why he had it out. If I was interested in purchasing an animal I'd definitely like to look st it up close. Or was he just carrying it around the store?

No he was carrying it around the store, for a while actually. and I'm not trying to sound like some activist nazi lol. I really just felt bad for the animal, he looked very stressed and was all puffed up.

 

[poison]

Hi, if that is the case then I completely agree with you. He was just causing unnecessary stress. Honestly trying to lecture most pet store owners (Manager in this case) seems like a waste of time. Most I've dealt with online and in person think they know it all and don't believe the general public has anything to teach them. Not speaking for all.

 

[jamest0o0]

Don't think i could have stayed calm if he spoke to me like that. Good job lol. Honestly can't stand petco, hustling living things with no regard to their well being.

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

Don't think i could have stayed calm if he spoke to me like that. Good job lol. Honestly can't stand petco, hustling living things with no regard to their well being.

ya, and what sucks is after we were done talking he kept walking around with it as customers "ood and awwed" it and were trying to pet it.

 

[jamest0o0]

Ugh i can imagine...

 

[bobbydigital]

My girlfriend is a manager at Petco and even says that people shouldn't buy their chameleons from there. With that being said I bought my first chameleon (female panther) from there. She got stuck in a piece of decor in her cage and they had to push her really hard to get her out, which resulted in a couple broken ribs and her being put in the back room. She was so beautiful I couldn't stand to see her there and I brought her home.

Apparently she had a respiratory infection and about a month later developed this crazy issue with her tongue. She would spew it out and not be able to retract it properly and would shake her head violently. She would also bite down on it and I would have to pry her mouth open with a credit card and push it back in. She stopped using her tongue about a week before and I noticed a thick white spiral from the hyoid bone all the way to the end of the tongue. I took her to a vet who had no idea what she was doing. Then took her to another vet who couldn't really give me a solid answer as to what was going on. The vet was against tongue amputation which I was going for and said they don't do that and suggested euthanasia and I had agreed to it, but my girlfriend wanted to see if she would eat because she still seemed to have so much life to her. We fed her a wax worm and she chewed it and ate it up so we took her back home. I had read of a few people who had chams that ate like lizards so I figured that's what would need to happen. I was given metronidazole and meloxicam along with omnivore care. I had to mush up crickets and wax worms to feed her with a syringe.

About three days later I noticed her tongue all dried up and crusty on a leaf in her enclosure, she bit it off. For about two more weeks I fed her through a syringe, which she would sometimes throw up the food. Just when she seemed to be doing better, her eyes became sunken in and two days later i was remodeling her cage and noticed she became very weak. I noticed her fall, but i just so happened to catch her and i knew she was on her way out. I held her in my hands and ushered her into death. She was the sweetest cham and it broke my heart. Rest in peace my little Vera. I only found one story of something remotely similar to the illness she had and it was on muchadoaboutchameleons and olimpia said it was a extremely rare case that like one in every thousands of chameleons develops. It's on her blog under ' The strange case of Charlotte's tongue". Except my case seemed more severe.

Now my current veiled (which I rescued again from petco) has gout, has had worms and when I bought him had a respiratory infection. My gf had to force feed him as a baby and told me he wouldn't live very long because he looked bad. I figured I'd give him the best life I could until his time comes or he seems to be suffering too much. Sorry for the long post I just get sad thinking about my panther and what I could have done different and if that would have changed anything etc. All my other animals are rescues and special needs as well.

Point is, don't buy from Petco they obviously don't know what they're doing. They keep all their chams in glass enclosures and I feel they're doomed from the start. Poor things.

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

My girlfriend is a manager at Petco and even says that people shouldn't buy their chameleons from there. With that being said I bought my first chameleon (female panther) from there. She got stuck in a piece of decor in her cage and they had to push her really hard to get her out, which resulted in a couple broken ribs and her being put in the back room. She was so beautiful I couldn't stand to see her there and I brought her home.

Apparently she had a respiratory infection and about a month later developed this crazy issue with her tongue. She would spew it out and not be able to retract it properly and would shake her head violently. She would also bite down on it and I would have to pry her mouth open with a credit card and push it back in. She stopped using her tongue about a week before and I noticed a thick white spiral from the hyoid bone all the way to the end of the tongue. I took her to a vet who had no idea what she was doing. Then took her to another vet who couldn't really give me a solid answer as to what was going on. The vet was against tongue amputation which I was going for and said they don't do that and suggested euthanasia and I had agreed to it, but my girlfriend wanted to see if she would eat because she still seemed to have so much life to her. We fed her a wax worm and she chewed it and ate it up so we took her back home. I had read of a few people who had chams that ate like lizards so I figured that's what would need to happen. I was given metronidazole and meloxicam along with omnivore care. I had to mush up crickets and wax worms to feed her with a syringe.

About three days later I noticed her tongue all dried up and crusty on a leaf in her enclosure, she bit it off. For about two more weeks I fed her through a syringe, which she would sometimes throw up the food. Just when she seemed to be doing better, her eyes became sunken in and two days later i was remodeling her cage and noticed she became very weak. I noticed her fall, but i just so happened to catch her and i knew she was on her way out. I held her in my hands and ushered her into death. She was the sweetest cham and it broke my heart. Rest in peace my little Vera. I only found one story of something remotely similar to the illness she had and it was on muchadoaboutchameleons and olimpia said it was a extremely rare case that like one in every thousands of chameleons develops. It's on her blog under ' The strange case of Charlotte's tongue". Except my case seemed more severe.

Now my current veiled (which I rescued again from petco) has gout, has had worms and when I bought him had a respiratory infection. My gf had to force feed him as a baby and told me he wouldn't live very long because he looked bad. I figured I'd give him the best life I could until his time comes or he seems to be suffering too much. Sorry for the long post I just get sad thinking about my panther and what I could have done different and if that would have changed anything etc. All my other animals are rescues and special needs as well.

Point is, don't buy from Petco they obviously don't know what they're doing. They keep all their chams in glass enclosures and I feel they're doomed from the start. Poor things.

Im so sorry that happened to your panther, it seems as though you did everything you have possibly could of done for her though (above and beyond what most would have done). I really hope your current veiled does ok and commend you on helping all of these chams.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

My girlfriend is a manager at Petco and even says that people shouldn't buy their chameleons from there. With that being said I bought my first chameleon (female panther) from there. She got stuck in a piece of decor in her cage and they had to push her really hard to get her out, which resulted in a couple broken ribs and her being put in the back room. She was so beautiful I couldn't stand to see her there and I brought her home.

Apparently she had a respiratory infection and about a month later developed this crazy issue with her tongue. She would spew it out and not be able to retract it properly and would shake her head violently. She would also bite down on it and I would have to pry her mouth open with a credit card and push it back in. She stopped using her tongue about a week before and I noticed a thick white spiral from the hyoid bone all the way to the end of the tongue. I took her to a vet who had no idea what she was doing. Then took her to another vet who couldn't really give me a solid answer as to what was going on. The vet was against tongue amputation which I was going for and said they don't do that and suggested euthanasia and I had agreed to it, but my girlfriend wanted to see if she would eat because she still seemed to have so much life to her. We fed her a wax worm and she chewed it and ate it up so we took her back home. I had read of a few people who had chams that ate like lizards so I figured that's what would need to happen. I was given metronidazole and meloxicam along with omnivore care. I had to mush up crickets and wax worms to feed her with a syringe.

About three days later I noticed her tongue all dried up and crusty on a leaf in her enclosure, she bit it off. For about two more weeks I fed her through a syringe, which she would sometimes throw up the food. Just when she seemed to be doing better, her eyes became sunken in and two days later i was remodeling her cage and noticed she became very weak. I noticed her fall, but i just so happened to catch her and i knew she was on her way out. I held her in my hands and ushered her into death. She was the sweetest cham and it broke my heart. Rest in peace my little Vera. I only found one story of something remotely similar to the illness she had and it was on muchadoaboutchameleons and olimpia said it was a extremely rare case that like one in every thousands of chameleons develops. It's on her blog under ' The strange case of Charlotte's tongue". Except my case seemed more severe.

Now my current veiled (which I rescued again from petco) has gout, has had worms and when I bought him had a respiratory infection. My gf had to force feed him as a baby and told me he wouldn't live very long because he looked bad. I figured I'd give him the best life I could until his time comes or he seems to be suffering too much. Sorry for the long post I just get sad thinking about my panther and what I could have done different and if that would have changed anything etc. All my other animals are rescues and special needs as well.

Point is, don't buy from Petco they obviously don't know what they're doing. They keep all their chams in glass enclosures and I feel they're doomed from the start. Poor things.

That is the saddest story I have ever heard. What a horrible experience for you both