another bash towards petco

[John33871]

well i went to petco today with my girlfriend to get some bird seeds for her bird. i go look at the reptiles and i see a sign for baby veileds. i looked in the cage and couldnt find them. anyways i look closer and i find 2, and these could not be bigger than an inch and a half long. i was shocked when i saw them, and one looked almost dead. there was another one that looked ok. the set up was all wrong, temperatures were ok for their size, and had a water bowl. they were only $58, and would have gotten the healthy one, but my grandma cant stand the one i have now. i felt so bad for those little guys, the one that was sick, was clearly not healthy. it was just sleeping very dark colors and no movement. i really wish i could have gotten one of them to put them in a good home

 

[dodolah]

sighhh...
what we gonna do to that store..
It really is too common.

Actually, I bought my first chameleon from Petco.
And learned that everything that they told me to do was wrong.

I quickly noticed that they sold me a sick chameleon and returned the chameleon to them. I was shocked to see that all the baby veiled chameleons are in the same condition.

So, I told them about it and they should take all of them to a vet.
It seemed they did (as the three chams disappeared).
And the next month, they put all three again in the same enclosure.

sighhh... they just don't care.
I wonder of there is something can be done.

 

[BigTex]

i work at petco and at our store we have 4 baby veiled chams housed together, with a water bowl, in a glass enclosure thats maybe 5 gallons. i talked to the manager about these conditions and they tell me that its store policy and that they will get in trouble if the husbandry changes.

 

[TRI0N]

I've seen this and its pathetic. I was looking for a ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0 and this guy walks by and goes you should get the 10.0 one their compact and better. I was like no actually you should pull that crap off the shelfs and send it back there has been large amounts of research on 10.0 and found to cause pretty serious harm to many types of reptiles. He looked like he was in total loss. Anyways I proceded to by their display for Veiled Chams and OMG.. 2 of them in a tiny 12" x 12" x 12" display with bark in the bottom with and dish implanted. They had like 3 meal worms in it. 2 of which were dark brown and dead no doubt and one of them chams was really skinny. They had like a 5" high fake branch and leafs furniture peice in there and that was it. Didn't even look like they had a UVB source. Anyways I felt bad for them.

 

[AdamJB]

I know how it is guys.... I work at petsmart and constantly I see sick animals come in and die. We had a two chams for a while one died within a week of being there the other one lasted quite awhile until some how its eye got hurt. It eventually died in the sick animal room in the back

I feel for the animals that come in there and constantly am correcting how they take care of the herps. But as BigTex said managers say its the store policy that should be followed....

One plus at working at PetSmart is that it allows me to secretly promote the local reptile store lol

 

[dodolah]

I know how it is guys.... I work at petsmart and constantly I see sick animals come in and die. We had a two chams for a while one died within a week of being there the other one lasted quite awhile until some how its eye got hurt. It eventually died in the sick animal room in the back

I feel for the animals that come in there and constantly am correcting how they take care of the herps. But as BigTex said managers say its the store policy that should be followed....

One plus at working at PetSmart is that it allows me to secretly promote the local reptile store lol

such a sad thing...
I wonder has someone ever report a Petco store to an animal Police (lol sorry i forgot the correct name for them) for animal abuse?
Or does reptile does not constitute pet?

It's funny that one time, a petco manager told me that the store never sell chameleon anymore because everytime they have one, it always dies a week or two weeks later.
(duh!)

 

[pedro92]

I was mad about what the chameleons are in i did buy my first chameleon zilla there she is about 4 mos old havent had any problems yet i hope not to. ill post pics soon but anyways mine is doing fine from petco i just think there husbrandy is s**t

 

[Kent67]

Check out this thread, in particular the post by Scooter:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/any-way-report-petco-5395/

 

[John33871]

wow, thats a shame bigtex. you think they could just get a small 22 gallon mesh cage and just set it up it the back or something and give them proper lighting, watering, and dusting of the insects. well at least you tried to do something bigtex about the problem.

 

[mightyzug]

i love how we have all this outrage surrounding one particular pet store, when basicaly ALL pet stores do this exact same thing. not just with chams but with most the animals in general.

even my local ***HERP SPECIFIC*** pet shops (both here and back on the east coast) do not know shit about shit when it comes to husbandry. the cham enclosures there were every bit as bad as the conditions in the major pet stores, thier iguanas no different either. if i knew anything at all about beardies, snakes, or turtles i have no doubts that i would have found some other faults with thier whole setup there as well.

all i am sayin is that this is not a problem with PetCo so much as it is a problem with the entire pet trade. you shouldn't single out petco for something that EVERY pet store that i have ever seen in my entire life - even the HERP stores - are ALL clearly guilty of. convincing people to get thier pets from private breeders instead is really the best option but good luck with that.

 

[TylerStewart]

One of the problems is that in some states, animal control requires a water bowl in a cage. Even at reptile shows, I've had promoters give me a heads up that if Fish and Wildlife shows up, I'll need water bowls in the screen cages, it's just policy. They're not going to make an exception in the rulebook for a single type of reptile that doesn't drink from or need a water bowl (chameleons), so they just make it apply to all species. It can be considered cruel (by them) not to have one, as if you're not treating the animal right. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't be misted and dripped on also, but by law, they're probably required to have water bowls in the cages.

Even if the authorities were called on them, they're probably housing them similar to what the "official reptile keeping guidelines" require (by law). You could point out that they're not being kept correctly (and you're right), but when they break out the book, nothing will likely change...

 

[mightyzug]

One of the problems is that in some states, animal control requires a water bowl in a cage.

that's pretty messed up. do you know if it can be something like the bubblestump or does it absolutely have to be a standing water dish?

 

[BigTex]

i asked around and the district manager rarely comes through the store i work at so i took the water bowl out anyway and added a drip system. thats all i can do for now

 

[dodolah]

man.. this is so depressing..

It's almost like that case in China where they kept bears in a very tiny cage (so tiny that the bear cannot even move in the cage) and use some machinery to suck some liquid from their organ (i'm not sure which.. but i am guessing it's the bile. Because many believe that it has medicinal property).
They kept them in an absolutely hideous and disgusting room.

Off course Petco doesn't suck any liquid from a chameleon..
But, the principal is the same... for profit.
and even when you try to help, there is nothing you can do.

Last week i saw a veiled cham for sale in a tropical fish petstore.
Here is the cage situation:
1. No dripper system.
2. There is substrate inside.
3. No UVB light. Just basking lamp.
4. Fake plants
5. and they put the cage right in the middle of the front hallway

the cham is not even moving.
he just basically stay in the same spot and sleep.

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Let's all apply for Petco Reptile Manager Jobs

 

[bg77]

I too have seen the Petco problem. Our local Petco takes there animals from time to time to my wifes work(they get a discount) for Vet checks. A few months back they brought in 2 Veileds. 1 was in decent shape the other was on deaths door. My wife had them sign the bad one over to us. But, we could not save her. I still go in there on a regular basis and see the same damm thing the rest of the country sees with the husbandry. I go into our Petsmart and they are not much better, they usually do not have to chams. I do also go to another local ma and pa store, which has many chams in it. They do have drippers, UVB bulbs, and screened cages. But I dont think they ever do a thorough cleaning of the cages. And they have too many crickets in there. But almost all of the chams seem to be doing well. It is just a shame to see pet stores do the exact opposite of what they should be doing. You would think that if Petco spent a little money to do things right they would save money in the long run with less deaths of chams, and happier people that might do more business with them. I refuse to do business with them or Petsmart unless it is absolutely necessary.

 

[rmhuey]

I agree that many pet stores have issues with providing proper care for the animals. I have helped the employee in charge of the reptiles at the local PetSmart learn how to take care of the cham babies that one of the chams had. But they won't change how they take care of the adults. Three jackson chams (all about 6-10 mos old) in a 12x12x12 glass cage with a water bowl and it was dirty and all the chams were so dark. No UVB. It is sad. I cannot look in any of the cages anymore. I wanted to buy them and take care of them, but they would only buy more and not care for them too. That is why I think this forum is so important. People have somewhere to come and ask questions.

 

[dj special k]

my two cents... petco price: $49.99

Well, I've seen this before at Petsmart. I wanted to buy the jackson they had there but it was just so unhealthy that I didn't want it dying on me. Like people have replied before me, that not just Petco and Petsmart do this, but all petstores and even herp stores; but at least herpstores and smaller pet stores have the extra care and do take extra effort into caring for Cchameleons when they sell them. The problem with those big chain pet stores that sell everything from mice to dogs is that they try and reach out to every type of clientelle that's interested in having a pet. That's why when you go to those big chain stores and you try and buy, say dog food and you don't know which one is good, the cashier who might have experience and care for dogs will tell you if your choice of dog food is good, healthy, or bad for your dog. Ask people higher up in the company, and they might (not saying they will or will not) tell you that every one of them is just as good as the next and that it's a matter of preference.
It's like a buffet, not all the food in the restaurant is good and delicious... but they cater to a wide variety of tastes at a decent or standard quality of food. It sucks that they sell animals this way, and to them, it's not cruel because they provided the animal with the minimal but standard care... food, water, lighting. When i go into those stores, you can even see lizards living underneath the shelving and between the cracks of the lizard "jail cells." I don't think any of the employees know they're missing one... and if they did, it doesn't seem to matter to them because i'd see it again the next week i come in.
Someone here said that the best way to create change is not to attack these companies but spread the word in buying from breeders. I believe that's the best thing to do, but it's a long term goal which will work eventually. But how would one find a way to have big chain pet stores stop ordering shipments of chameleons and selling them with minimal care for the purpose of profit? I don't think there would be a possibility that someone in their corporate office will one day say, "you know what, these people are right, i'll have all "x" amount of stores start putting cages, mist for 5 minutes or more every 2 or 3 times a day, make sure the crickets we feed them are dusted, have sufficient and proper lighting, and hey... i'll pay extra money for all of our employees to be trained on checking for dehydration in our chameleons." That to them would be extra expenditures. Why would they do that if they can provide minimal but store standardized care and have someone buy it for a good profit? To buisnesses that big, it's all about "let's spend the least amount in selling it, and get the most amount we can." They know that a big majority of the people coming into their stores are people that don't know that buying from a breeder (dogs, reptiles, etc.) is the best thing you can do for your hobby, enjoyment, money, etc... Spread the knowledge and educate... peace.

 

[koabich]

Petco is not the only store that has poor policies. All the stores I have even been in, that had chams for sale have all been guilty. Even the reptile only stores.

The only way to stop the practice of pet stores not properly caring for their stock is simple...STOP BUYING THE ANIMALS. If no one buys them, they would stop selling them. People buy these animals thinking they are saving them but this behavior only inforces the stores decision to sell them and in the long run more animals will die. This may seem harsh, but it's 100% true.

By the way, Petco is not exactly the place where one should go to ask advice. Granted you would think you could or should be able to get accurate advice from a store selling a product but simple logic dictates that is not the case. You go to Petco to buy stuff, not ask questions.

 

[bucky]

Heres what i think...they should leave the chams to responsible breeders. They prob dont even know what type of cham they get,they are not educated in the husbandry of chams. I was just at my local pet store,and they had chams in there,but no lighting! And there was a guy there that called himself a cham expert...he suggested i give my cham turtle eye drops for his eye problem...