UrbanChameleon
New Member
I took a trip to one of the local pet shops in my town. They specialize in fish and exotic lizards. They have a wide variety compared to the only other pet store in town.. Petland. So when I was looking around for a mister I checked this place out. They are extremely overpriced and family owned. I used to enjoy going in there over the years. They seemed really nice and knew more than most pet stores. Well I guess over the past year or so the man passed the shop down to his daughter. She knows quite a bit but I think she is more worried about selling than caring.
A few months ago she bought a healthy baby veiled at our local reptile show. Paid $30 for her and has been attempting to sell her for over $100. The girl knew I was interested in Chameleons and was basically begging me to take her for $80. I hadn't seen the cham in about three months so I went to check on her. She always had this beautiful turquoise color. I've been there a dozen times and have never seen her anything other than turquoise. When I walked up to the cage I was expecting a large, healthy, beautiful female chameleon.
First off.. I would like to say that I couldn't even tell she was a Veiled. Her casque was barely visible. She obviously has MBD. She was so lumpy and couldn't even stand on her legs. She basically seems like she is a zombie. Her setup is a small reptibreeze (which is saying a lot considering most pet stores have adults in an all glass terrarium the size of my head). They put a Fluker's Vine with silk leaves in there. And they have a Habba Mister on top of the cage. When the mister drips it doesn't even fall on the few leaves in there. It falls straight to the poop ridden floor. Granted, they do clean it every week but it's not that hard to spot clean. One of the new guys that works there let it slip to me that she couldn't hold herself up on her back legs a few weeks ago. He said that she is better now and I should buy her. But obviously the damage is done.
I think that the dehydration would explain her casque being non-visible. Not enough calcium most likely caused the MBD. And I'm positive she has many more problems. I've never seen the poor thing move and they don't even know she is a female! Actually all of the pet stores in my area claim to have males but they are all female. Which means they do not have a laying bin. This girl at Bert's Pet Shop is 6 months old and she doesn't look it. I really want to break into this place and steal her right from under them. They were telling me that $80 is a really good price for a Veiled. Maybe a healthy Veiled from a Pet Shop it is. It's rough to see a cham that is not cared for properly in Pet Stores, but this blew me away. They might as well let her loose and fend for herself, she would have a better chance!
I'm posting a link with a pic of her. I had to sneak the pics because I was tearing them a new a**hole about the poor girl. She actually looks 10 times better here than last month. But you don't wait until she is on deaths door to actually start caring for her. Her casque has gotten a little taller and she seems less lumpy. She can also "rest" her body on her vine now too. Its difficult to see a lot of the damage because she was right under her basking light.
It should seriously be illegal to not care for a cham. And I know for a fact that she is going to sell her to a poor kid with no information.
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/nataliejordan1990/Sick%20Veiled%20Chameleon%20at%20Pet%20Store/photo-85.jpg
A few months ago she bought a healthy baby veiled at our local reptile show. Paid $30 for her and has been attempting to sell her for over $100. The girl knew I was interested in Chameleons and was basically begging me to take her for $80. I hadn't seen the cham in about three months so I went to check on her. She always had this beautiful turquoise color. I've been there a dozen times and have never seen her anything other than turquoise. When I walked up to the cage I was expecting a large, healthy, beautiful female chameleon.
First off.. I would like to say that I couldn't even tell she was a Veiled. Her casque was barely visible. She obviously has MBD. She was so lumpy and couldn't even stand on her legs. She basically seems like she is a zombie. Her setup is a small reptibreeze (which is saying a lot considering most pet stores have adults in an all glass terrarium the size of my head). They put a Fluker's Vine with silk leaves in there. And they have a Habba Mister on top of the cage. When the mister drips it doesn't even fall on the few leaves in there. It falls straight to the poop ridden floor. Granted, they do clean it every week but it's not that hard to spot clean. One of the new guys that works there let it slip to me that she couldn't hold herself up on her back legs a few weeks ago. He said that she is better now and I should buy her. But obviously the damage is done.
I think that the dehydration would explain her casque being non-visible. Not enough calcium most likely caused the MBD. And I'm positive she has many more problems. I've never seen the poor thing move and they don't even know she is a female! Actually all of the pet stores in my area claim to have males but they are all female. Which means they do not have a laying bin. This girl at Bert's Pet Shop is 6 months old and she doesn't look it. I really want to break into this place and steal her right from under them. They were telling me that $80 is a really good price for a Veiled. Maybe a healthy Veiled from a Pet Shop it is. It's rough to see a cham that is not cared for properly in Pet Stores, but this blew me away. They might as well let her loose and fend for herself, she would have a better chance!
I'm posting a link with a pic of her. I had to sneak the pics because I was tearing them a new a**hole about the poor girl. She actually looks 10 times better here than last month. But you don't wait until she is on deaths door to actually start caring for her. Her casque has gotten a little taller and she seems less lumpy. She can also "rest" her body on her vine now too. Its difficult to see a lot of the damage because she was right under her basking light.
It should seriously be illegal to not care for a cham. And I know for a fact that she is going to sell her to a poor kid with no information.
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x457/nataliejordan1990/Sick%20Veiled%20Chameleon%20at%20Pet%20Store/photo-85.jpg
