Grrr Petco makes me mad! Tail loss question

[Kenidi]

So I went to Petco today to look for a new UVB light, which they didn't have, but I saw that they had veiled chameleons for sale as well. On their cage there was a sign that they were for adoption, but after asking associates and a manager about it, nobody had any idea on why the sign was posted. Well I kept checking them out, and all of a sudden another one come out from the back of the cage, and it missing at least 1/2 it's tail.There wasn't even enough to curl up at all. I immediately alerted the manager, who said, "weird that wasn't there earlier" and walked away. The tail was healed completely on the outside and it was obvious this wasn't a fresh wound. Well, I didn't know what to do other than tell the manager and basically get laughed at. I am going to call tomorrow morning to let another manager know, and see if that is possibly the one they are adopting out, but I am really worried about this little guy

My question is, if I were to adopt this guy, what are his chances with no usable tail? Is that something they can compensate for, or is it going to give him a very diminished state of life? He otherwise looked healthy, with full eyes, not skinny, very alert and active. The cage temps and humidity were fine, and he was a very pretty greenish teal color, and about 3.5 inches long. I know there could be a lot going on underneath (infection, parasites, etc.) but assuming his only issue is the tail, what are his chances?

Any info/advice would be MUCH appreciated

 

[ken2414]

well, there have been threads on here, with literally like 10 pages of all the stories people have of Petco and Petsmart babies. I, with my first chameleon bought one from petsmart. It later had MBD and died because they just feed them crickets undusted. Im sure the chameleon would live for a while with a broken tail, but you would probably have to worry about MBD in the long run. But that is just my opinion on the situation.

 

[Kenidi]

well, there have been threads on here, with literally like 10 pages of all the stories people have of Petco and Petsmart babies. I, with my first chameleon bought one from petsmart. It later had MBD and died because they just feed them crickets undusted. Im sure the chameleon would live for a while with a broken tail, but you would probably have to worry about MBD in the long run. But that is just my opinion on the situation.

Thanks for the info. I worked at petsmart for a long time, and fortunately it was a diamond in the rough compared to some of the others. These petco employees were just complete idiots, and I am the type rescue anything I know I can take care of.

 

[DirtMcGirt]

I don't believe a chameleon can regenerate it's tail
It's sad, and I wish I can adopt them all
Even outside of reptiles.. the amount of animal neglect that happens world wide makes me sick.
Some people just don't care

 

[Kenidi]

I wasn't thinking about regenerating the tail, more just compensating for the loss. Their tails seem to be like another limb for them, and I was just thinking if they can't compensate, he wold keep faling, causing more injuries, over and over

 

[Chameleon Punk]

this story makes me sick i hate these big pet stores that do this shit.

 

[Kenidi]

I know what you mean I was super upset with them. Especially since there was a sign posted regarding adopting them, and the employees just didn't want to do their job. I wasn't asking them do go above and beyond, I wasn't being rude or disrespectful, I was just trying to let them know that they had a severely injured cham that could benefit from a good home. Instead of actually caring about their animals, or their customers, they chose to roll their eyes and laugh at the silly concerned customer. I will definitely be stopping by in the morning to make sure the situation is addressed, or I may possibly be cham napping!

 

[Chameleon Punk]

the stores only care about money and most the pot smooking employees just are to damn high to give a hdhg about anyone or any other living thing than them selfs its wrong and its all around imorral let alone in humane

 

[Elizadolots]

I think he'll do well without his tail. It's not like they use them to swing across the cage or anything. I don't think it's uncommon for there to be tail injuries in batches of young chameleons.

It seems like they knew the animals were damaged and just wanted to find them homes (hence the "adoption" sign).

It might be aesthetically unpleasant, but from a functionality view, the tail is just another appendage. Would you assume he couldn't function without one of his feet?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I know you want to do something to help this guy, but in all honesty the absolute best thing you can do is not buy him. Purchasing this chameleon only tells petco that they made a profit on this animal and should therefore continue to stock them because they will sell. It's only numbers to them, and to improve the conditions they keep them in would involve spending money on husbandry and eat away at profits. And why even do that if people are buying them anyway? That's how they look at us trying to rescue animals from their crappy conditions. As much we want to help, supporting their shady business practices is not going to do your cause any justice because it will just make them get more animals to suffer in the same conditions.

The best option is to approach a manager politely and inform them of the problems and what needs to be fixed. Bring them a real care sheet (or make them look at one of the books they sell) and help them improve the way they keep the chams. If they won't do that and the conditions are really bad then go up the chain of command with complaints. Being curteous and correct is the best way to get people to listen.

 

[Elizadolots]

On their cage there was a sign that they were for adoption

Is there an objection to adopting a rescue cham with a minimal handicap?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I saw that they had veiled chameleons for sale as well. On their cage there was a sign that they were for adoption...

Adoption or for sale? If this Cham can actually be rescued/adopted for free then by all means bring that poor little guy home! But if he's for sale (which i find that petco thinks is the same thing) then I say walk away.

 

[Texas Ranger]

I know you want to do something to help this guy, but in all honesty the absolute best thing you can do is not buy him. Purchasing this chameleon only tells petco that they made a profit on this animal and should therefore continue to stock them because they will sell. It's only numbers to them, and to improve the conditions they keep them in would involve spending money on husbandry and eat away at profits. And why even do that if people are buying them anyway? That's how they look at us trying to rescue animals from their crappy conditions. As much we want to help, supporting their shady business practices is not going to do your cause any justice because it will just make them get more animals to suffer in the same conditions.

The best option is to approach a manager politely and inform them of the problems and what needs to be fixed. Bring them a real care sheet (or make them look at one of the books they sell) and help them improve the way they keep the chams. If they won't do that and the conditions are really bad then go up the chain of command with complaints. Being curteous and correct is the best way to get people to listen.

I totally agree with this. We may feel we are helping the situaltion. But really we are just helping the store to continue this crap. This is sickning.

 

[Stanly]

I know some have lost the ends of there tails (due to getting caught in lid/cage doors ect and they lived, if it's fully healed I wouldn't think it would hurt him health wise.

they do use there tail a lot as sort of a 5th hand but I think he adjust to it (sort of like a person losing a hand or foot)

I think the big danger if they take such poor care of thier animals would be the risk of othere things (like MBD, parasites, infection). if they really are willing to adopt him out and your willing to take on any vet bills I'd say go for it!

 

[Kenidi]

I know you want to do something to help this guy, but in all honesty the absolute best thing you can do is not buy him. Purchasing this chameleon only tells petco that they made a profit on this animal and should therefore continue to stock them because they will sell. It's only numbers to them, and to improve the conditions they keep them in would involve spending money on husbandry and eat away at profits. And why even do that if people are buying them anyway? That's how they look at us trying to rescue animals from their crappy conditions. As much we want to help, supporting their shady business practices is not going to do your cause any justice because it will just make them get more animals to suffer in the same conditions.

The best option is to approach a manager politely and inform them of the problems and what needs to be fixed. Bring them a real care sheet (or make them look at one of the books they sell) and help them improve the way they keep the chams. If they won't do that and the conditions are really bad then go up the chain of command with complaints. Being curteous and correct is the best way to get people to listen.

I definitely wouldn't buy him, but the sign posted stated he was for adoption with a donation to a local shelter, via petco. I donate to local pet shelters anyways, so I was thinking it would be nice to be able to donate, as well as help this little guy out. I definitely wouldn't purchase him though. That only fuels the problem

 

[Kenidi]

I think he'll do well without his tail. It's not like they use them to swing across the cage or anything. I don't think it's uncommon for there to be tail injuries in batches of young chameleons.

It seems like they knew the animals were damaged and just wanted to find them homes (hence the "adoption" sign).

It might be aesthetically unpleasant, but from a functionality view, the tail is just another appendage. Would you assume he couldn't function without one of his feet?

I has thinking/hoping they could adapt, but wasn't sure. I wouldn't want him to have a horrible quality of life obviously, so I was just checking to see if anyone had a cham who experienced a similar injury. He seems to be doing alright, but you can only tell so much through the glass I suppose

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I definitely wouldn't buy him, but the sign posted stated he was for adoption with a donation to a local shelter, via petco. I donate to local pet shelters anyways, so I was thinking it would be nice to be able to donate, as well as help this little guy out. I definitely wouldn't purchase him though. That only fuels the problem

That's an odd proposition for them to offer...I would fully investigate that. Ask them which shelter specifically, if it all goes to the shelter or just a portion, and if it were me I would even call the shelter and check with them if they have in fact received a donation from petco. If they won't tell you which shelter it goes to (like "it goes to a big fund for our shelter outreach program") then it just sounds like a good publicity scheme and you might as well continue to donate on your own so you know the money actually goes where it's supposed to.

As for the tail, he may have some balance issues but if a lot of the tail is there he can probably compensate well for the part missing. I certainly don't think he's suffering just for that.

 

[Kenidi]

I know some have lost the ends of there tails (due to getting caught in lid/cage doors ect and they lived, if it's fully healed I wouldn't think it would hurt him health wise.

they do use there tail a lot as sort of a 5th hand but I think he adjust to it (sort of like a person losing a hand or foot)

I think the big danger if they take such poor care of thier animals would be the risk of othere things (like MBD, parasites, infection). if they really are willing to adopt him out and your willing to take on any vet bills I'd say go for it!

I was planning on getting a panther in a few days, so I have the extra money saved up for vets and whatnot. I thought it would be nice to go for this guy instead, as he could really use a friend However when I asked what the adoption entailed, none of the workers even wanted to go to the reptile section to see what i was talking about, let alone give me any info on the adoption. I don't know if they didn't know or just didn't care, but they certainly didn't feel like doing their job either way.

 

[Kenidi]

That's an odd proposition for them to offer...I would fully investigate that. Ask them which shelter specifically, if it all goes to the shelter or just a portion, and if it were me I would even call the shelter and check with them if they have in fact received a donation from petco. If they won't tell you which shelter it goes to (like "it goes to a big fund for our shelter outreach program") then it just sounds like a good publicity scheme and you might as well continue to donate on your own so you know the money actually goes where it's supposed to.

As for the tail, he may have some balance issues but if a lot of the tail is there he can probably compensate well for the part missing. I certainly don't think he's suffering just for that.

I know the shelters in my area at least do get at least a portion of the money from petco, but I am not sure how much. I will have to check on that tomorrow or Monday. I have adopted guinea pigs from them before but that was a while ago, and I don't remember the cost, or what charity/shelter is went to. Hopefully tomorrow there will be more receptive employees there.

 

[Chameleon Punk]

i agree with the not buying from them i havent been for a long time now... idk why i even go in the stores in the first place but every time i do and see somthing similer to this story i allways try to consult the higher staff. its just sad i never actualy get a manager anymore. i think they know me. now