Petsmart

[Phoenixguy77]

So I walk into petsmart and they have a beautiful female vield in a horrid enclosure. shes about 8-10 inches long in their smallest reptile cage. It is now my goal to get her out of there. But wont have the funds till the 1st. with me luck.

 

[Syn]

You are only persuading them to get more chameleon in because they see this as a "pity buy".

Don't spend that kind of money on a chameleon you could get from a reputable breeder for half as much.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors

Even then, the Tuscon show is this weekend! I can guarantee you will find a healthy, cheaper chameleon there. Tiki Tiki (a sponsor) will be there.

 

[Phoenixguy77]

You are only persuading them to get more chameleon in because they see this as a "pity buy".

Don't spend that kind of money on a chameleon you could get from a reputable breeder for half as much.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors

Even then, the Tuscon show is this weekend! I can guarantee you will find a healthy, cheaper chameleon there. Tiki Tiki (a sponsor) will be there.

well after expressing my disgust in more than one colorful expletive the Department manager has agreed to lower the price by 50% and I would LOVE to to go to the Tucson show but I dont have the time this weekend im waiting for the show in mesa in November. do you know if Tiki Tiki will be at that one?

 

[chameleon884]

is it Pet's Mart
or Pet Smart?!!??!

 

[VeiledOwner87]

i say go for it kid, if your heart is in it to give her a good home than good for you. if she or any other cham was in bad shape than i wouldnt, and i would deffinately hit the roof with the pet store. but in this situation, i say get her before she does get bad or worst.

good luck!

wish me luck! ive applied and am waiting for an interview with petsmart. the locations in my city arent selling herps though, as it is city by law that selling of reptiles is illegal, but we have exotic shops with 10 minutes of the city. so i have no problem working at the petsmart here.

 

[Syn]

well after expressing my disgust in more than one colorful expletive the Department manager has agreed to lower the price by 50% and I would LOVE to to go to the Tucson show but I dont have the time this weekend im waiting for the show in mesa in November. do you know if Tiki Tiki will be at that one?

Yes, they will be. Plus, it will give you extra time to prepare for a chameleon. If you aren't too far into Phoenix, perhaps I could pick one up for you if you have things set up already.

Even at 50% off, I doubt it is comparative to the cost -- especially not the quality of the chameleons you can get here.

i say get her before she does get bad or worst.

Unfortunately I doubt the store will stop at just one chameleon. If you had a similar situation, would you keep buying the chameleons?

 

[Texas Ranger]

From my experiance. I ve gone into a lot of petsmarts around my area. They all keep their chameleons in a tiny glass box. Can you save them all? Its just what they do. I would go with a good breeder for you cham, so you know his back groung and you know he is healthy.

I wish we could save them all. Its like puppy mills. They will never stop doing the wrong things.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

Yes, they will be. Plus, it will give you extra time to prepare for a chameleon. If you aren't too far into Phoenix, perhaps I could pick one up for you if you have things set up already.

Even at 50% off, I doubt it is comparative to the cost -- especially not the quality of the chameleons you can get here.


Unfortunately I doubt the store will stop at just one chameleon. If you had a similar situation, would you keep buying the chameleons?

the whole trade will never stop at just one chameleon, franchise stores and little mom and pop shops that dont know squat will always be selling chameleons. i wouldnt keep buying from them, if they had something uncommon that i couldnt get from a breeder in the area, then i would consider the condition and go from there. but no, the store will never stop at one, but if you can give it a good heart and sincerely want to, and can afford what it takes to shelter it back to good or better health, than the decision is up to the individual. jmo

 

[Texas Ranger]

the whole trade will never stop at just one chameleon, franchise stores and little mom and pop shops that dont know squat will always be selling chameleons. i wouldnt keep buying from them, if they had something uncommon that i couldnt get from a breeder in the area, then i would consider the condition and go from there. but no, the store will never stop at one, but if you can give it a good heart and sincerely want to, and can afford what it takes to shelter it back to good or better health, than the decision is up to the individual. jmo

Yep, I agree.

 

[pssh]

Dont do it, its not worth it. Buying (which is not the same as saving, and yes you are buying her) a sick animal that has been housed improperly for the majority of its life is probably going to cost you a butt-load of money at the vets. If you can't even afford to buy her right now, how will you pay for a possible $300+ vet bill?

 

[Syn]

the whole trade will never stop at just one chameleon, franchise stores and little mom and pop shops that dont know squat will always be selling chameleons. i wouldnt keep buying from them, if they had something uncommon that i couldnt get from a breeder in the area, then i would consider the condition and go from there. but no, the store will never stop at one, but if you can give it a good heart and sincerely want to, and can afford what it takes to shelter it back to good or better health, than the decision is up to the individual. jmo

So in other words you are advocating buying from pet stores because you think it is the lesser of two evils?

I think the possible cost of vet bills is not worth it. Sorry if it sounds cruel.

 

[pssh]

Not purchasing an animal from a pet store does indeed discourage them from getting more. The longer they have the animal, the more expensive the animal becomes to them. I do not agree with purchasing animals from pet stores at all! Adopting or buying from breeders is the way to go.

There is only one pet store I would ever purchase an animal from, and they breed all their own reptiles so they know what they are doing. (except chameleons, but they still take good care of them.)

 

[Carlton]

is it Pet's Mart
or Pet Smart?!!??!

Actually, IMHO it is PetStupid.

 

[Carlton]

well after expressing my disgust in more than one colorful expletive the Department manager has agreed to lower the price by 50% and I would LOVE to to go to the Tucson show but I dont have the time this weekend im waiting for the show in mesa in November. do you know if Tiki Tiki will be at that one?

The manager probably knows that this poor little cham cost them next to nothing...and that reducing the price (not below their cost I'm almost certain) will make the sale. The lesson he "learns" is that pity sells animals and makes even a modest profit for the store. If a poorly housed chameleon produces a sale, he'll do it again. Whether she turns out to be healthy or not, the end result is the same. The big box chain store will buy cheaply produced veiled chameleons, spend the least amount of care or proper education of their staff they can get away with, and soft hearted folks like you will take them home. Maybe you'll spend nothing at the vet and maybe you'll spend a lot. The store won't care either way and I can bet they have no such thing as a health guarrantee.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely HATE leaving any cham in a bad situation, but it really is the most humane decision in the long term.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

of course everybody has their own opinions, but to syn and the rest, i suggest you read my post again. im for it in a way, but im more against it. i am actually not impressed with the trade at all, and i dont like the idea of wild caught. but then again, you gotta do what you gotta do for different species.

i love chameleons to death, but i sure wouldnt give a rat's ass if the trade of import export closed down. i hate the thought of w.c, but then again, i have two wild caught species. i dont want to contradict or be a hypocrite, but there are pros and cons to this.

 

[Syn]

Chameleons in stores aren't always WC. If you would like to explain what you are trying to say in a different manner, perhaps you could so we can understand.

It's hard to understand things over the internet..

 

[VeiledOwner87]

i will be back in 15 min and then i will, sorry lol i have to drop my girl off somewhere

 

[Panther Chameleon]

It Really Sucks to see a Chameleon in a Pet Store.
Unless It's very well cared for [ Witch it Often Isn't ] It's Very Sad.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

ok im back, sorry about that. alright,
first off, i would like to sincerely appologize for the essay of a post, but its just gonna come out .

i agree, not all chameleons in petstores are WC, from what i've seen, your pet store CB species are usually veileds, panthers and sometimes jacksons ( and in most cases, CB jacksons are a rare thing). now in pet shops, when they have an amount of various species of the more rarer kinds, they are pretty well always WC, the closest thing to CB would of course be CH, and in that case, the pet stores supplier would be the one hatching them, but that is something you can never guarantee.

what my post is about, is yes, i am against pet shop chameleons. stores rarely ever take care of their chameleons. it leaves us to find disgusting situations like this. i hate pet shop chameleons, and i honestly hate the import/export trade. it sickens me. but on the flip side, we all, as we get more experienced, and further into chamdictions (chameleon addictions) we like to obtain more rarer species to add to our collection.

i base my post on my own experience and situations seeing on where i live. my situation is that there arent many reputible breeders here in ontario canada. we have chroma who only does panthers, and cham nation, which does panthers veileds and montanes. im sure they are great breeders, but at the moment, i wouldnt deal with either of them, because my enjoyment and interest go into montane species, and almost always, cham nation doesnt have any available montane species for sale. i also do not have the means to have import from the USA because of border policies.

i'm sure there are more people in my situation who dont have a reputable breeder in their area, who do not have the means of ordering CB CH species online, or who are unable to have chameleons shipped to them.
this leaves the keepers to buy only from the pet shops.

i hate the trade, and do not like chameleons being sold in pet shops (as stated earlier), half of me as a human hates it and is against it. have a love for chameleons though, leaves the other half of me to still keep an eye out for things. if i come across a rarer species that is im fairly good condition, i will consider it, and if it feels right to me, i will buy it. i will observe it at the shop for about a week before i buy it. i also let the store know that i am interested, and that i will buy it if it looks better than it does now a week from now. this forces the shop to do everything to meet my needs, and at the same time, that chameleon is getting attention and better care than it was before. now if it were a CB species, and in my situation, they are only veileds and panthers, than i realy dont care, i know i can get better else where.

back to the origional post, every one of you has their own opinions. almost everybody on this thread is advising to stay away, avoid vet bills and what not. with a vulnerable animal to almost everything, vet bills is something that cant be avoided with WC or CB, accidents will happen, and parasites is something that can easily be picked up from anywhere. if the individual has it in their heart to rescue the chameleon no matter what species it is from the pet shop, if the individual has the money for potential vet bills, and if the individual has it in their heart to do all it can for it, than i say go for it. it is up to the person, and i say good for them for getting the animal out of the hell hole its been.

wow this is long. syn, dont ever ask me to be specific ever again or this is what you're gonna get lol

 

[Syn]

I didn't say specific, I had asked for another explanation in different words. I got it, I suppose.

But what you are saying now is conflicting with your past posts. :\ Ah well.