Just mailed an angry response to a site...

[Mark_C]

Hi.

I just read your article on chameleon cages, this one...
https://petkeen.com/best-chameleon-cage/
It's recent, and that surprises me.

Oliver wrote this article. He claims to be a zoologist. With the advice he has given his qualification is questionable. Do you actually vet your authors?
If he is a zoologist you should regulate his writings to things he has experience with, one of which is apparently not chameleons.
As an experienced chameleon keeper I can guarantee that any chameleon kept in most of these advised cages will be ill within weeks, if not dead.

I understand you make money from linked purchases. But you're giving incorrect advice, and in the reptile hobby this is fatal.

If you truly care about animals, kill this article and find someone who knows what they're talking about to write a proper guide.
The advice you're giving is why so many chameleons die within weeks of being brought home.

But, if you're in it for the money and don't give a (edited) about the animals, you need change nothing.

M.

P.S. If Oliver is pompous enough to insist he is in the right when he is evidently wrong, please feel free to send him a copy of this letter, along with my email. I'd be happy to enter debate (not on chameleon cages, as he's ill informed), but on why, as an animal specialist, he's chosen to write garbage to make money while ignoring animal well-being.

 

[Ambilobe123]

Funny how they linked gingero’s video. Hope anyone who sees the list takes a look at the video as well.

 

[jannb]

He left out one of best enclosures of all time.
https://tamura-designs.com/

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”I understand you make money from linked purchases. But you're giving incorrect advice, and in the reptile hobby this is fatal”….who’s the “you” you’re referring to?

 

[MissSkittles]

Oh man! Here I am keeping my girls in 2x2x4’ enclosures and my boys in double wides. Duh! All that space I’ve given them when all they need is the 10x10x12” ZooMed ReptiNano.

 

[kinyonga]

@Mark_C …maybe you should sent some responses to the site in this thread too…
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/what-do-youthink.189157/#post-1754913

 

[Mark_C]

You said…”I understand you make money from linked purchases. But you're giving incorrect advice, and in the reptile hobby this is fatal”….who’s the “you” you’re referring to?

Captain of the ship takes responsibility. Petkeen compensates someone to write the article. The article has links. Petkeen prints the article. Petkeen makes commission off each link that a purchase is made from (stated on site). 'You' referred to Petkeen, so I addressed them in first person.

@Mark_C …maybe you should sent some responses to the site in this thread too…
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/what-do-youthink.189157/#post-1754913

Didn't see that. Will respond to that after I read and digest, hopefully you did as well. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[elizaann2]

Funny how they linked gingero’s video. Hope anyone who sees the list takes a look at the video as well.

I’m assuming he didn’t watch the video before he linked it.

 

[scags]

I didn’t read the article nor watch gingeros video- all I can say is that it’s extremely difficult to give care guidelines when there are so many variables at play. Basking temps vary depending on species, as well as your areas climate. Cage size and type is also highly dependent upon what species you have, what your climate is like, and what your goals are.

So I hate generalized care sheets and videos proclaiming to give out advice. It’s just clickbait and generally for people who don’t want to do alot of research.

 

[Mark_C]

I’m assuming he didn’t watch the video before he linked it.

Guessing you're talking about the author and not me

Looks like he just cruised sites for random enclosures, pulled some blurbs from the product sites, upped them to seem they're good for chams, then linked a random vid he pulled up that contradicted what he had submitted.

 

[elizaann2]

Guessing you're talking about the author and not me

Looks like he just cruised sites for random enclosures, pulled some blurbs from the product sites, upped them to seem they're good for chams, then linked a random vid he pulled up that contradicted what he had submitted.

Yes I meant the author. Agreed that sounds exactly like what he did.

 

[DeremensisBlue]

Guessing you're talking about the author and not me

Looks like he just cruised sites for random enclosures, pulled some blurbs from the product sites, upped them to seem they're good for chams, then linked a random vid he pulled up that contradicted what he had submitted.

This is a webpage designed only for Google Adsense income and affiliate income from Amazon and Chewy. Therefore the author will select only products that these two retailers offer and will write something that sounds intelligent about the product, but is complete nonsense. They are relying on the marketing power of petkeen.com in the Google search to bring unsophisticated people by their page with the hopes of confusing them into purchasing any of the products or clicking on one of the many ads along the margins. So, no, this "Oliver Jones" has no idea what he is talking about and doesn't care. He hasn't used any of these products and never intends to. And it would be wonderful if he could be brought face to face with the chameleons that die because of his lack of experience and lack of morals.

Since it is not illegal to do what they are doing and they have no moral care about the damage they are doing, there isn't much that can be done. Their business model revolves around this. Their victims are caught before they come to the chameleon community and learn enough to recognize the deception. And, really, why should they believe you? They have a complete veterinary review board making sure that only the finest information gets through! (such as the Reptibreeze nano at 10"x10"x12" is the best overall chameleon cage)

But one thing that is immediately useful for us here on the Chameleon Forums is to realize that this is what comes up when people interested in chameleons "do research". They type search terms into Google and then this garbage comes up. It looks very official and reliable (it is by a zoologist, of course! and vet reviewed!) This is how people can be totally messed up on their chameleon set-up even after doing a good deal of research. So, on our side, let's be kind to people who come here proudly showing off the most atrociously bad set-ups and let's never use the words "do your research". They may feel very confident because they did do their research. And it may be a shock to have to come down from that confident high and realize how misled they were. This often manifests itself as resistance and push back because now they have to figure out who of all these digital voices is right. And acknowledging that the people on the Chameleon Forums may be better informed than some random zoologist can be a hard, and expensive, pill to swallow. So, the takeaway is, let's be kind and understanding with newcomers as much as we can.

(And, yes, I have to remind myself of this often.)

 

[elizaann2]

This is a webpage designed only for Google Adsense income and affiliate income from Amazon and Chewy. Therefore the author will select only products that these two retailers offer and will write something that sounds intelligent about the product, but is complete nonsense. They are relying on the marketing power of petkeen.com in the Google search to bring unsophisticated people by their page with the hopes of confusing them into purchasing any of the products or clicking on one of the many ads along the margins. So, no, this "Oliver Jones" has no idea what he is talking about and doesn't care. He hasn't used any of these products and never intends to. And it would be wonderful if he could be brought face to face with the chameleons that die because of his lack of experience and lack of morals.

Since it is not illegal to do what they are doing and they have no moral care about the damage they are doing, there isn't much that can be done. Their business model revolves around this. Their victims are caught before they come to the chameleon community and learn enough to recognize the deception. And, really, why should they believe you? They have a complete veterinary review board making sure that only the finest information gets through! (such as the Reptibreeze nano at 10"x10"x12" is the best overall chameleon cage)

But one thing that is immediately useful for us here on the Chameleon Forums is to realize that this is what comes up when people interested in chameleons "do research". They type search terms into Google and then this garbage comes up. It looks very official and reliable (it is by a zoologist, of course! and vet reviewed!) This is how people can be totally messed up on their chameleon set-up even after doing a good deal of research. So, on our side, let's be kind to people who come here proudly showing off the most atrociously bad set-ups and let's never use the words "do your research". They may feel very confident because they did do their research. And it may be a shock to have to come down from that confident high and realize how misled they were. This often manifests itself as resistance and push back because now they have to figure out who of all these digital voices is right. And acknowledging that the people on the Chameleon Forums may be better informed than some random zoologist can be a hard, and expensive, pill to swallow. So, the takeaway is, let's be kind and understanding with newcomers as much as we can.

(And, yes, I have to remind myself of this often.)

Well said! I can say I’ve had a similar experience with the wrong set up for my veiled chameleon and needed some adjustments with my husbandry. The people that helped me with that gave feedback in a kind way and it helped me feel welcome here.

 

[elizaann2]

Well said! I can say I’ve had a similar experience with the wrong set up for my veiled chameleon and needed some adjustments with my husbandry. The people that helped me with that gave feedback in a kind way and it helped me feel welcome here.

Lol, I just re-read what I wrote last night. You can tell I was talking to my kiddo and typing at the same time.