Another Petco Cham

[Kaylaaabrown]

I struggle seeing the conditions these Chams in. Fortunately our local Petco hadn't been able to receive any new reptiles for quite some time due to poor weather. I went in today to pick up some last minute crickets and found this little guy. My heart sunk and my first thought of course is "I have to do something." Now I've read a lot on this forum and know it is encouraged to NOT rescue poorly treated chams because it will only one room for them to order another. It just infuriates me this happens all too often. This guy had to have endured some damage before arriving at Petco. Just curious if any of you know why his head looks like that?

Does it even help to report it or call the manager and complain? I have the mindset of "save all the animals" so at times it's best if I just stay away from the pet stores all together.

 

[carol5208]

I am not seeing what you are talking about with his head. Other than looking skinny, he does not look all that horrible. Alteast his limbs are not all curvy with MBD like some of them. I am all for "rescuing" by the way. Why not give him a good home if you choose to.

 

[ChameLIonLover]

It wouldn't hurt to try and educate the petco people, but it seems others' attempts to do so have been futile.

If you don't agree with Petco's practices, then I would not support them by buying their chameleons or anything for that matter...

One way of making change is through your actions and your wallet. If petco continues to make more money off of people like us, then what's stopping them from continuing their foul practices? Don't support places, in any aspect of shopping, if you don't agree with their policies. Still, if it is something you want to change, it never hurts to try and speak with the managers or at least shed some light on the matter.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

I am not seeing what you are talking about with his head. Other than looking skinny, he does not look all that horrible. Alteast his limbs are not all curvy with MBD like some of them. I am all for "rescuing" by the way. Why not give him a good home if you choose to.

I was referring to the tip of his helmet. It looked like it had been grinded down. I didn't know if that was due to something happening or if it was normal. He had a giant bowl of mealworms in his cage but was not interested. It was an awful lot of mealworms too which can't be good for the poor guy.

I'd take them all home if I had the proper housing for them!

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

It wouldn't hurt to try and educate the petco people, but it seems others' attempts to do so have been futile.

If you don't agree with Petco's practices, then I would not support them by buying their chameleons or anything for that matter...

One way of making change is through your actions and your wallet. If petco continues to make more money off of people like us, then what's stopping them from continuing their foul practices? Don't support places, in any aspect of shopping, if you don't agree with their policies. Still, if it is something you want to change, it never hurts to try and speak with the managers or at least shed some light on the matter.

Yes, you are absolutely right. It never hurts. I've been hearing so many horror stories about big chain pet stores and it breaks my heart.

 

[carol5208]

oh, I cannot really tell from the pic, but he might have rubbed it down or it could even be burned.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

oh, I cannot really tell from the pic, but he might have rubbed it down or it could even be burned.

Yea it's not super noticeable in this photo but it looked nearly half the size of my females so I was concerned and not sure what could have cause it.

 

[Carlton]

I struggle seeing the conditions these Chams in. Fortunately our local Petco hadn't been able to receive any new reptiles for quite some time due to poor weather. I went in today to pick up some last minute crickets and found this little guy. My heart sunk and my first thought of course is "I have to do something." Now I've read a lot on this forum and know it is encouraged to NOT rescue poorly treated chams because it will only one room for them to order another. It just infuriates me this happens all too often. This guy had to have endured some damage before arriving at Petco. Just curious if any of you know why his head looks like that?

Does it even help to report it or call the manager and complain? I have the mindset of "save all the animals" so at times it's best if I just stay away from the pet stores all together.

Isn't there another pet shop you could get your supplies from? If we are going to make any kind of a dent with the big box pet stores we have to stop buying ANYTHING they carry! No dropping in for feeders, nothing. These stores stay alive by placing themselves in more convenient for impulse shoppers (in shopping centers with rents too high for independent shops), by undercutting the prices of independent shops, by cornering the pet supply markets, and by employing people at wages small shops can't pay. No cham is going to starve because you had to take a bit more time to find food. And, when you do boycott them, tell them why in no uncertain terms. I don't recall the statistics right now, but a disgusting majority of pet shop animal sales are due to customer pity at the bad conditions the store displays them in. Don't fall for it; its their strategy.

 

[ChameLIonLover]

I agree with Carlton. I met with a guy off of craigslist to give him some excess silkworms and roaches I had. Sounds sketch right? Well as a result, I also asked him if he would ever be interested in going halvesies on shipping for bugs off of a reputable bug seller online, and he went for it.

Everything is panning out so far, and it will end up costing less for bugs that are probably much better taken care of. I don't personally trust people anymore at big chains to clean their hands in between handling other animals and then scooping crickets out every time a customer wants to make purchase. My guy got parasites... I'm not sure where, so i try to be careful where I can if possible.

 

[martinlemus]

not all petco's are bad , because I got my Cham at one and they gave me all sort of advice , they seems like they knew what they were talking about , the only bad thing is the way they house them , because it's a small cage

 

[Damicofam6]

i told a worker at petco that their chameleons humidity was way too low and the guy told me "oh yeah the gauge is broken we tried to order more but those broke too, hes fine" ... there was no wet leaves or branches it looked like it hadn't been misted for a while

 

[brownie64]

not all petco's are bad , because I got my Cham at one and they gave me all sort of advice , they seems like they knew what they were talking about , the only bad thing is the way they house them , because it's a small cage

You are going to have a hard time of convincing anyone who has been on here for any length of time of that. You stick around long enough and you will see what I'm talking about. I can't tell you how many horror stories I have herd on here about what an employee told someone how to care for their chameleon. Or how many got a sick cham and didn't know it. Sorry if this came off a little rude, but I have zero patience with the incompetence of big pet store chains.

 

[martinlemus]

I guess I just got lucky to interact with people that knew what they were doing , because they were telling me how they have chams of their own at home and what not

 

[brownie64]

I'm glad things worked out for you. And yes you did get very lucky.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

I've heard so many horror stories! When I went to purchase my first Cham the employee asked me "do you know how to take care of one of these?!" Which offended my husband but I was grateful he actually had the courage to ask before moving forward with the sale. Before ever purchasing my girl I was entertaining the idea of a chameleon while looking around at Petco. The employees were very nice, but I found out later that they were extremely undereducated. Just about everything they told me was incorrect and had I not done further research, I would have likely killed my chameleon. A lady at Petsmart even pursuaded my husband to buy an expensive waterfall for her stating "it would be the best way to give her water and keep the humidity up." Needless to say it only sat in her cage for one day before we learned this was incorrect.

It saddens me how uneducated pet store chains are and it doesn't bother them in the slightest.

 

[martinlemus]

I do notice how there humitidy level is always extremely low . today I went to a petco that had 0% humidity level ! I really hope it was just the measurement instrument that didn't because if not , he is in serious danger

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

I do notice how there humitidy level is always extremely low . today I went to a petco that had 0% humidity level ! I really hope it was just the measurement instrument that didn't because if not , he is in serious danger

I noticed it was pretty low as well. Poor guy didn't look too hydrated. Wow! 0%?! That's awful. I also hope it was an instrument malfunction. I think I'm going to make it a personal goal to at least educate the employees and hope for the best for them.

 

[JGuinan007]

Petco is where I got my Cham on a wim.When they had a sale I got a baby veiled for $30 and they sold me all the wrong cage stuff. Here is a Pic on her first dayView attachment 150179 .

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

View attachment 150190 View attachment 150191 View attachment 150192 View attachment 150188 View attachment 150189 Petco is where I got my Cham on a wim.When they had a sale I got a baby veiled for $30 and they sold me all the wrong cage stuff. Here is a Pic on her first dayView attachment 150179 .

I bought all my supplies at Petco and the Cham at Petsmart. They told me I was getting a 6 month old male when I really had a 3/4 month female. Then insisted a waterfall was the best water resource. Luckily I know better than to believe everything the pet store tells you.

 

[JGuinan007]

I bought all my supplies at Petco and the Cham at Petsmart. They told me I was getting a 6 month old male when I really had a 3/4 month female. Then insisted a waterfall was the best water resource. Luckily I know better than to believe everything the pet store tells you.

Yeah after finding this site I just laugh at all the stupid things the pet store people say to try to sell me stuff that I really do not need or could actually hurt my pet