Pet Store Female Jacksons

[Daniel266jz]

Hello, my fiance and I have been eyeing a very nice female jacksons at a local pet store for sometime now, she is a lime green and shows beautiful reds also. It is not a Petsmart or Petco it is actually a family owned place and they get their chams from a breeder nearby which they wouldn't disclose with me. I would like honest opinions on this, would it be a risk buying her? Ive been on the forums for a while i read discussions everyday about anything so i can continue learning. From what i can see. She has been in the same medium reptibreeze cage for a long time. She has no laying bin which worries me. Not many plants and not even a mister. I know jacksons like lots of water and instead they have a waterfall which I've learned from the forums may bring many harmful bacteria to her and on top of that it was dirty. Actually yesterday we went to check up on her and she was crawling at the bottom of the cage and looked pretty big which i think it means she had to lay but had nowhere to do so. The men at the store did not know how old she is or when they got her in. They must be new workers. Anyways I know female care of any chameleon is much different from males and It'd also be helpful to have insight on that please. My fiance says shes willing to taker her to a vet after purchase but we have no reptile vets anywhere nearby(Fort Myers,Florida). Any input is appreciated. Thank you forum goers!

 

[JacksJill]

Don't worry about a laying bin Jackson's have live births. Worry about trying to raise a bunch of babies.
@jannb can you recommend a vet?
Here is a care sheet to consider. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[jannb]

Don't worry about a laying bin Jackson's have live births. Worry about trying to raise a bunch of babies.
@jannb can you recommend a vet?
Here is a care sheet to consider. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

You may have to drive to Orlando for a good chameleon vet. absolutbill is there a good one in Ft. Myers? I know you go to Marathon or Orlando?

 

[funnyCAT140]

Personally I don't like to get any reptiles from pet stores. If you can talk to the breeder it might be a different story, but from experience reptiles from pet stores are usually sick and have health issues from bad breeding.

 

[Nursemaia]

Any good breeder wouldn't allow a petstore to keep an animal that they bred in substandard conditions so I would question their claim that the cham came from a local breeder.

 

[JacksJill]

I think the key word is "GOOD" breeder. If she is actually pregnant/gravid then I would suspect a wild caught female. I doubt a breeder would sell a gravid female rather than keep her for the babies.

 

[Daniel266jz]

Don't worry about a laying bin Jackson's have live births. Worry about trying to raise a bunch of babies.
@jannb can you recommend a vet?
Here is a care sheet to consider. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

Wow I did not know that she might be pregnant. Now it makes me want to take responsibility to make sure they have a good home. Not just that but we called and theyre closing down theyre reptile section of their store so what will happen to her and he babies makes me think a lot!

 

[Daniel266jz]

You may have to drive to Orlando for a good chameleon vet. absolutbill is there a good one in Ft. Myers? I know you go to Marathon or Orlando?

That would be a pretty long drive

 

[Daniel266jz]

Any good breeder wouldn't allow a petstore to keep an animal that they bred in substandard conditions so I would question their claim that the cham came from a local breeder.

Yes maybe that explains why they wont tell me what breeder. But then wouldnt wild caught have parasites?!!!

 

[jannb]

That would be a pretty long drive

I use to drive over 4 hours one way to my vet until we moved closer last year. Now it's just an hour.
There's not many vets that know anything about chameleons.

 

[Daniel266jz]

I use to drive over 4 hours one way to my vet until we moved closer last year. Now it's just an hour.
There's not many vets that know anything about chameleons.

Yes they are hard to find. If we make up our mind i wouldnt mind the drive we just dont know yet.

 

[JacksJill]

Wow I did not know that she might be pregnant. Now it makes me want to take responsibility to make sure they have a good home. Not just that but we called and theyre closing down theyre reptile section of their store so what will happen to her and he babies makes me think a lot!

I'm only assuming that she is pregnant from your first post. Does she look like she has a big belly to you? If what they are telling you is true then maybe not.
After rereading your post it is just as likely she is just looking for a cooler spot in her cage. Jackson's tend to go low and get restless when they are too hot.

 

[Daniel266jz]

I'm only assuming that she is pregnant from your first post. Does she look like she has a big belly to you? If what they are telling you is true then maybe not.
After rereading your post it is just as likely she is just looking for a cooler spot in her cage. Jackson's tend to go low and get restless when they are too hot.

Ever since we first saw her she looked pretty darn big but im not in any way experienced in telling if shes pregnant she just looks quite big to me. Also did not know that fact thank you for the info.

 

[Nursemaia]

Yes maybe that explains why they wont tell me what breeder. But then wouldnt wild caught have parasites?!!!

Yes WC come in with parasites but lots of CB end up with parasites too from feeders. People freak out over parasites but they're not that big of a deal and are easily managed in a healthy animal.

 

[Daniel266jz]

Yes WC come in with parasites but lots of CB end up with parasites too from feeders. People freak out over parasites but they're not that big of a deal and are easily managed in a healthy animal.

Oh okay I see. So that's maybe a smaller problem. Thank you for your input. I appreciate it. We will be thinking upon whether or not to purchase her. Is supplementing and feeding that different for a female?

 

[Angelwolf]

Any good breeder wouldn't allow a petstore to keep an animal that they bred in substandard conditions so I would question their claim that the cham came from a local breeder.

I agree. They should at least take your information and get it to him so he can contact you. The chances of having a good "local" breeder near you are pretty slim. And if there is, you'd probably do far better by getting in contact with them and purchasing from them directly. The pet stores will lie and tell you whatever you want to hear, just to make their profit. A qualified breeder is in it for the breed/species, not the money.

 

[Daniel266jz]

I agree. They should at least take your information and get it to him so he can contact you. The chances of having a good "local" breeder near you are pretty slim. And if there is, you'd probably do far better by getting in contact with them and purchasing from them directly. The pet stores will lie and tell you whatever you want to hear, just to make their profit. A qualified breeder is in it for the breed/species, not the money.

Your right that why im suspicious of it. I was telling my fiance itd be better to buy one from on of the forums sponsor if she really wants a chameleon or if someone here was selling them.

 

[Angelwolf]

Wow I did not know that she might be pregnant. Now it makes me want to take responsibility to make sure they have a good home. Not just that but we called and theyre closing down theyre reptile section of their store so what will happen to her and he babies makes me think a lot!

Because it's not making them any money. Pet stores will purge their reptiles from time to time, just to get rid of them, so they can get some cute little babies in again because those are the ones that sell. And any health issues they have are harder to spot, so they sell quicker. But once they get stuck with a bunch of sub-adults, they start loosing money. They'll close it down for 6 months or so, until they sell whatever they are stuck with, and then "re-open" it with claims of working with "new breeders" and "local" breeders. It's usually all one big lie, just to recoup their losses and turn inventory.

 

[Angelwolf]

I personally have a petstore like this very close to my home. Some of their animals do come from local breeders, but that's the more common pets like guinea pigs, hamsters, birds, fish, etc. But they have this lovely list of over 100 reptiles they can "special order" from a reputable local breeder! This is a small town. Believe me, there is no local breeder. It's actually a group called "Reptile Addicts" from NY. They import and breed and end up supplying many places. They may be a "breeder" but they are more equivelant to a puppy mill. They are in it for the money. Not for the betterment of the species.

 

[Daniel266jz]

Because it's not making them any money. Pet stores will purge their reptiles from time to time, just to get rid of them, so they can get some cute little babies in again because those are the ones that sell. And any health issues they have are harder to spot, so they sell quicker. But once they get stuck with a bunch of sub-adults, they start loosing money. They'll close it down for 6 months or so, until they sell whatever they are stuck with, and then "re-open" it with claims of working with "new breeders" and "local" breeders. It's usually all one big lie, just to recoup their losses and turn inventory.

Wow i did not know it was that dark of an operation. Really crazy.