another bash towards petco

[chrisandpugs]

Part of problem lies with the breeder, too!

Hi everybody,
Hey, What type of person(backyard reptile breeder types??) sells his baby Chameleons to these retail pet shops like Petco in the first place!!
I can almost bet that these so-call breeders make almost zero profit from selling them to stores like Petco!!
Again, same as those other pet stores that also sell puppies....You got your puppymill /backyard breeders and the impulsive, clueless buyer and Petco (or any other pet retail store) loves it because they make such a profit out of it be it warm blooded or cold blooded animals. At least I'm glad that to know that Petco and Petsmart are commited to not selling puppies and kittens!! However, I also crinch when I see such a young baby Chameleon in their reptile section in an improper glass cage set up that will soon make them sick and doomed to die in it!

Just my two cent!
Christine

 

[davemailcall]

You know, I'm really surprised about the responses to Petco. I refuse to shop at Petsmart since they are FARRRRR worse than anything I've seen at Petco.

I must be lucky, but the people that work at mine are very knowledgeable and are very caring about the animals they have there. Most of the people I've dealt with raise reptiles.

They don't usually have chams, but once I went in and one of the girls showed me 4 babies that had just arrived. They were in a tank that was probably 20 gallons. Lots of coverage, a drip line, right temp and humidity. She showed me that one of them was not doing well and she was watching it all day. In fact she said she wasn't going to sell it until they were sure they it was going to make it. She also said that their supplier wasn't always reliable.

Petsmart on the other hand...had a cham that was at least 6months old in a 5 gallon tank with a stick and a little pond. Yeah, I don't shop there.

As with any retailer, you will find people who care, and others who just don't give a crap.

 

[lele]

Hi everybody,
Hey, What type of person(backyard reptile breeder types??) sells his baby Chameleons to these retail pet shops like Petco in the first place!!

At the risk of being banned here as I was on "it shall remain nameless forum" for posting this breeder's info (hey Brad, do me a favor, I'd rather have my post pulled instead of being banned, ok?) you can see one who lives in PA and goes to all the East Coast shows to sell her ONE and TWO week old veiled chams! I can be SURE she sells any "leftovers" to retail stores. There were several members at the other forum who bought from her and their poor little chams chams were dead in no time. I do think one survived for a while. Funny (not ha-ha funny) note is that she told her new cham owners at the shows that all her babies drink from a water bowl(!)

Anyway, you can see her name and some pics I got of her tanks with the Post-it notes here: baby chams at NH show. I still have a copy of the care sheet she gives out that I got from one of the "new moms" b/c I could not believe the info she was giving. Disgusting. Any East Coasters should see if she is a vendor at your local shows and make her life hell. I try to! lol! OK, I got off the pet store thing a bit, but she always has about 60 of these poor little things to sell and I can just imagine what her girls are cranking out back at the baby factory Sorry, always gets me ranting

 

[snow]

I work at petco also,but my friend is the gm and Im the reptile guy.When I started working there everything was messed up , but I switched it up and made it what it should be,every1 has proper lighting and accessories.Then I got in 2 veiled chams and fell in love,I researched them not knowing anything and did what I could to learn. I created there habitat with stuff right off the shelf I went all out on my reptarium and spared no expense,then I
bought my cham.after I joined this forum I was freaked out a lil by what every1 had to say about buying from petco but my dino is fine and you can see his latest pic in this months photo contest thanx
p.s. I get to do what I want because my friend is the gm but I'm sorry for all the other rep people who have to conform to store policy
remember petco where the animals come first lol!

 

[Chameleons By Design]

Yikes

I work at petco also,but my friend is the gm and Im the reptile guy.When I started working there everything was fucked up , but I switched it up and made it what it should be,every1 has proper lighting and accessories.Then I got in 2 veiled chams and fell in love,I researched them not knowing anything and did what I could to learn. I created there habitat with stuff right off the shelf I went all out on my reptarium and spared no expense,then I
bought my cham.after I joined this forum I was freaked out a lil by what every1 had to say about buying from petco but my dino is fine and you can see his latest pic in this months photo contest thanx
p.s. I get to do what I want because my friend is the gm but I'm sorry for all the other rep people who have to conform to store policy
remember petco where the animals come first lol!

Yikes Easy on the F Bombs. There's little kids around.

 

[AdamJB]

I guess it really depends on the store and the employees.... My local petco sucks with keeping cages clean and keeping animals healthy. Here at my petsmart, things were kinda messed up but slowly and surely Im gettin things to change

But the reptile store.... Is awesome! Great guy to work with, and wont sell anything that has eating or health issues. He really cares for his animals...

 

[Chameleonaire117]

a little late in on the post but. im a pet specialist at a large chain of pet stores whos name im not aloud to mention and it suck the conditions we keep or animals in are piss poor but like what i saw in an earlier post is that were not aloud to change the habitates. its dumb because corporate doesnt know there head from the ass about taking care of the pets in the store. so we dont even order hard to keep pets for that reason witch sucks. we can order veilds but we dont because they will die.

 

[christyo2o2]

While I am home from work I need a 2nd part time job. I was thinking about going to petsmart and applying. I think It may do some good. I am very good with herps of all sorts so the little bit of change i could (hopefully) do may help out our petsmart if I get the job.

I am seriously concidering calling PETA though on these chain stores. I cant stand the organization because they r extremists but they woudl prolly be the only ones who will get them to either quit selling chams and other herps or get them to change their care ways.


-Justin

 

[LaserGecko]

Someone on craigslist was selling a terrarium setup for a chameleon. It looks like one of the ExoTerra or ZooMed units. I sent the owner an email asking her to please not sell it to anyone for use with a cham. Here was her response:

I purchased the tank at Pet Smart in Boca Park and the
funny thing is I bought it with a chameleon. You would think they would know
what they are selling to customers and if it would be bad for a chameleon.

In Las Vegas...a veiled chameleon in a small glass tank. niiiiice.

At least the poster was very understanding about it.

 

[dodolah]

I ask 1 person who worked in PETA.
he/she says PETA often cites many reptile store for not taking care of their lizard well. Moreover, PETA knows about how Petco and Petsmart treat their chameleon, but they are powerless against such huge chain store.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

The best thing is to spread the info via word of mouth
just discourage your friends and family from spending any money there.

Also don't forget to stop by and check on the animals they do have
if you see something... Call the local animal welfare agency on them.

 

[SierraNevada]

I had an experience last Sept at our local store with a clerk who came to "help us" when we were looking at snakes for my son's birthday.

Long story...short the clerk was a moron and after I told her I've been live feeding for 30 years (snakes)...and never had a problem...I was "very lucky....extremely lucky...very very lucky...I never had a dead snake"...blah blah blah...and we got to hear about hear about her boyfriend's dead ball python...etc etc. She was like 16 or something...

Yea...millions of years of evolution is suddenly wrong...all those billions of snakes out there should all be dead.

It's all kinda out of context here...but if you guys were there...you'd understand.

 

[LaserGecko]

I've often thought of starting a website to allow users to submit photos and descriptions of bad pet store care and advice. The hosting service I use has some community oriented software that will install automatically, so it's getting more and more tempting to just do it.

Of course, the stores would have a chance to respond, too.

Since web portals can't be held responsible for user submitted content, I might go through with it someday.

 

[SierraNevada]

I've often thought of starting a website to allow users to submit photos and descriptions of bad pet store care and advice. The hosting service I use has some community oriented software that will install automatically, so it's getting more and more tempting to just do it.

Of course, the stores would have a chance to respond, too.

Since web portals can't be held responsible for user submitted content, I might go through with it someday.

Maybe a good idea. These stores need some kind of overview checks and balances in the interest of education from real experts, honesty and animal health. We are in the dark ages of big box store ignoramous-ville.

 

[Dylan Dutz]

Actually I think Petsmart is worse than Petco! Everytime I go to Petsmart about 1/2 of their reptiles are sick. They have like 10 green anoles in a 5 gallon cage! Once they had an adult veiled and had it in like a 15 gallon cage. He like was just closing his eyes and he was almost black. Poor chameleon.

 

[VampyreMeLz]

Heylo!

I work at Pet land Discounts and when the animal(s) are sick we take them home (if they just need drops or kept track of when eating, need vitamins/hydro life,etc.}..{ex.Dritail,dehydration} or to a vet to re cooperate them. I recently acquired my little baby veiled chameleon from my job, She just had her first shed! For a little bit I thought she was not drinking any water...but I caught her dis morning and I recorded it! (yay, cell phones!) ...as for the other stores...I can't say that I've been to petco...Only been to pet smart once to get a litter box. I am supposed to be going today to get some calcium sand.

I have a random question: My female is I think getting close to sexual maturity...How do I introduce her to a male...or get her spayed..I'm having a problem finding a reptile vet over here in Northern NJ.

 

[LaserGecko]

I am supposed to be going today to get some calcium sand.

Why on earth are you buying calcium sand? If your herp eats enough of it, it will neutralize the acid in its stomach and the food will rot instead of digest.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

offtopic noob

VampyreMeLz
your question is off topic
Please start a new thread next time regarding your new veiled.

Please read up on their care and perform a forum search first.
Veiled females will reach sexual maturity usually within the their first year
if they're exposed to a courting male. When she is gravid, there's going to be a bit of swelling, slight color and pattern change and mellowing of her personality.
I don't think that you can get her plumbing removed, just learn how to deal with it and let her pass the eggs when the cycle is complete.
Lastly, Please house her in a proper environment.

 

[mrcackums]

I've often thought of starting a website to allow users to submit photos and descriptions of bad pet store care and advice. The hosting service I use has some community oriented software that will install automatically, so it's getting more and more tempting to just do it.

Of course, the stores would have a chance to respond, too.

Since web portals can't be held responsible for user submitted content, I might go through with it someday.

THANK YOU! I hate it when me and my buddy go to buy a rat for his 5 foot python and they say you know frozen rats are better for him. I always ask how, and they can never get a better answer than "well less disease, less chance of rat sickness." I always say well stop carrying sick and diseased rats.

I dont think there is anything wrong with live feeding. It is all part of the food chain.

Now for petco, I do shop there, and petsmart. But only because it is my only option.

there is a private petstore a couple more streets down, but their reptile area is deplorable. they have a 4 foot red tailed boa in a 2 foot cage. Their bearded dragons have the worst looking skin and texture I have ever seen.

Basically, there will probably never be that many stores that can adhere to the specific needs of every pet they have.

There is a store in mesa arizona, near where i live called arizona reptile center. They however, have amazed me everytime. All the animals are healthy, perfectly housed, everything. I would say only that way because all of their applicants are hired based on reptile knowledge.

 

[Brad]

I've often thought of starting a website to allow users to submit photos and descriptions of bad pet store care and advice. The hosting service I use has some community oriented software that will install automatically, so it's getting more and more tempting to just do it.

Of course, the stores would have a chance to respond, too.

Considering you are a business owner in the industry, would you not be creating a conflict of interest? Also, how would this be an improvement over the BOI at faunaclassifieds? How will you prevent fraud? Finding the time and help needed to do this right would not be easy.

Since web portals can't be held responsible for user submitted content, I might go through with it someday.

It is true that portal owners have some legal protections against what users post. However, if the owner of the portal knows about illegal content or activity and does nothing about it, he/she is not always legally safe.