Petco and chams

[TheAmazingGerby]

Okay, so I know that this is rather frowned upon by everyone on this forum, but I'm buying my first cham from Petco. I visit there regularly to buy crickets for my tree frog, so I check up on the chams. Never once did they seem unhealthy to me. They were always moving around, not closing their eyes, they were eating. I'm not saying that they had a proper set up or anything, but at my local Petco all the chams they have had seemed to be rather healthy.

The one thing that made me mad about the chams was that I had my phone out and one of the employees assumed that I was taking a picture, so she told me that they don't allow pictures. I get a flash of the camera is bad for any animal really, but she said no pictures at all. Is that because they don't want people to see the horrible cage set ups and such and don't want PETA coming after them, or what? I'm genuinely curious.

Wish me luck. Lol

I just have a really intense love for chameleons and want to love them all and give them all a chance at a good life.

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

DO NOT BUY FROM PETCO! They only sell babies which are super hard to care for in the first months. They also give them poor heating and humidity in their glass not screen cage.
save yourself the hassle and order from FLchams.

 

[Theveiled]

DO NOT BUY FROM PETCO! They only sell babies which are super hard to care for in the first months. They also give them poor heating and humidity in their glass not screen cage.
save yourself the hassle and order from FLchams.

This is true but also false. Although petco is not the BEST place to get from, they sell them at all different ages depending on how long they have been there. I got my veiled from petco and I estimated he was around 5 months old. He did have a very large vet bill though. After not eating I got a fecal done for him and he had coccidia and a large amount of pin worms. 150ish dollars later he is healthy. He is pretty nice after a long time of trying to calm his temper down.

 

[CharlieCharmingo]

I'm not saying this will happen to you, but I've heard stories of chameleons appearing to be healthy, but the minute they got relaxed and comfortable (being purchased and put in a proper cage) they would show signs of being extremely ill and believe you me a vet bill for reptiles is not a cheap one and the sicker they are the higher the bill. The petco by my house used to keep chameleons and some would look healthy and some would look so sick it broke my heart. But I guess they got tired of overhearing how terrible their living conditions was by people (me) and now they don't sell them anymore.

 

[Theveiled]

I'm not saying this will happen to you, but I've heard stories of chameleons appearing to be healthy, but the minute they got relaxed and comfortable (being purchased and put in a proper cage) they would show signs of being extremely ill and believe you me a vet bill for reptiles is not a cheap one and the sicker they are the higher the bill. The petco by my house used to keep chameleons and some would look healthy and some would look so sick it broke my heart. But I guess they got tired of overhearing how terrible their living conditions was by people (me) and now they don't sell them anymore.

Very true! Chams are great at hiding illness, sometimes so good when you notice its too late. Stark looked perfectly fine at the store, he was active and bright. But, you REALLY cant know if the cham is healthy or not until you take him/her to the vet for a checkup and fecal.

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

I'm very aware of the risks that come with buying from Petco. I'm willing to put up with the medical issues and such. If the Petco cham doesn't go well, I'm going to order one from one of this sites sponsors.

 

[NHenn]

I agree, please consider getting your chameleon from a breeder. Supporting Petco isn't helping any of the breeders who are really working hard to offer these captive born animals and you are going to get an unhealthy chameleon 9 out of 10 times when going to a large pet store like that. I don't even like having my chameleons at a reptile show because of the stress for one day, I couldn't imagine how horrible the chameleons must feel being in those setups in front of 1,000s of people every day without any place to hide. It should be illegal for Petco to keep their chameleons how they do and allow customers to buy stressed and unhealthy chameleons.

 

[Graves923]

Avoid Petco like the plague when it comes to buying reptiles.... Especially chameleons. Hang around these forums for a few weeks and you will lose count of how many new keepers have issues with petco chams. I highly recommend FLChams or any other site sponsor. It'll save you time and money.

 

[JacksJill]

It's up to you it's your money and your grief. If I was getting a new chameleon I'd do my best to get a healthy one that I could have with me for many years. You might get lucky but the odds are not in your favor nor do you do future chameleons any favors that will replace the one you buy. Best of luck.

 

[Craigz90]

Don't buy from petco. The local Petco here hand 3 panthers and a Jackson in a full glass cage with dirt on the bottom. 2 of the Panthers were up top with closed eyes and opening their mouth with mucus everywhere blowing mucus bubbles out their nostrils. They had serious respiratory infection. One female was on the bottom trying to lay her clutch.. the Jackson was constantly opening his mouth with lots of mucus inside. It was awful and I told them, now they are all out the cage I'm guessing at a vet.

Moral of it is, If you buy from petco you support them and they will keep having to stock and sell more.

Buy online for a healthy Cham that supports breeders that care about chameleons, they get overnight shipped so it's not a long wait. FLchams is good for buying online

 

[Remkon]

I'm very aware of the risks that come with buying from Petco. I'm willing to put up with the medical issues and such. If the Petco cham doesn't go well, I'm going to order one from one of this sites sponsors.

I don't really care how much money you have to spend on your possibly ill chameleon, especially not when you knowingly purchase a chameleon with an unknown history from a store that doesn't know how to take care of these animals.
The main reason why you should not buy reptiles from pet stores simply is simply 'supply and demand'...
If there is no demand they will not stock up on reptiles and less animals will suffer in the future.

But anyways we can't stop you so meeeh...

 

[Goose502]

If you want the impulse buy experience, I recommend first, putting a proper enclosure together . Enjoy the failures and rewards of trying to maintain the plants. Give it a few months, let the enclosure mature and grow out. This time needs to include regular misting and cleaning, just as though there is an inhabitant living there. You will learn a ton about chameleons just from keeping the enclosure. Now, for the impulse part...Go to a reptile show. There will be loads of chameleons, different types and at much better prices. Best of all, usually, the breeder is the one making the sale. They have a ton of information and advice for you. It sounds boring and slow, but you will be much more successful, and still get the "see it, buy it" experience. Look, the big box pet stores suck. The only thing they're good for is food for your pets (and only emergency food for reptiles). They sale sub-par animals, and mostly sub-par equipment for them. The less animals we purchase from these places, the less animals will suffer.

 

[Theveiled]

If you want the impulse buy experience, I recommend first, putting a proper enclosure together . Enjoy the failures and rewards of trying to maintain the plants. Give it a few months, let the enclosure mature and grow out. This time needs to include regular misting and cleaning, just as though there is an inhabitant living there. You will learn a ton about chameleons just from keeping the enclosure. Now, for the impulse part...Go to a reptile show. There will be loads of chameleons, different types and at much better prices. Best of all, usually, the breeder is the one making the sale. They have a ton of information and advice for you. It sounds boring and slow, but you will be much more successful, and still get the "see it, buy it" experience. Look, the big box pet stores suck. The only thing they're good for is food for your pets (and only emergency food for reptiles). They sale sub-par animals, and mostly sub-par equipment for them. The less animals we purchase from these places, the less animals will suffer.

I would actually highly not recommend getting from a reptile expo. Many of the animals there are also very stressed and possibly sick. My reptile expo sucks. I also lost my first cham after 12 days and I got him from an expo. I had the setup perfect but the problem was the animal. He was unhealthy but from the outside you couldn't tell. I would HIGHLY suggest not buying impulsively at an expo. I have found you need to be extremely picky with the breeder and animal you choose.

 

[Tattersb]

So you asked about the picture policy, not whether or not to buy. Here's my two cents. I would be extremely suspicious of that kind of policy and what it may indicate about the quality of care. There are six different pet stores near me, all of which are very transparent in their care of their animals. I asked three of them why they don't stock chams. All of them gave the same reply: we don't know how to care for them. The fact that Petco won't let you take pictures seems to say they know they aren't caring for them properly. Since that is likely the case, they aren't going to be able to support you with correct husbandry advice after your purchase. Before you purchase, you may want to at least check their health guarantee. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck!

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

If you want the impulse buy experience, I recommend first, putting a proper enclosure together . Enjoy the failures and rewards of trying to maintain the plants. Give it a few months, let the enclosure mature and grow out. This time needs to include regular misting and cleaning, just as though there is an inhabitant living there. You will learn a ton about chameleons just from keeping the enclosure. Now, for the impulse part...Go to a reptile show. There will be loads of chameleons, different types and at much better prices. Best of all, usually, the breeder is the one making the sale. They have a ton of information and advice for you. It sounds boring and slow, but you will be much more successful, and still get the "see it, buy it" experience. Look, the big box pet stores suck. The only thing they're good for is food for your pets (and only emergency food for reptiles). They sale sub-par animals, and mostly sub-par equipment for them. The less animals we purchase from these places, the less animals will suffer.

I was actually planning on doing that with it's enclosure. I'm going to be getting it this weekend. Sadly it's had to buy live plants at this time of the season for me because I live in a stupid cold state that never has decent weather. Aka Wisconsin. Lol. But I was still going to go through a regular routine with the enclosure. I wanted to get a feel for the care since I know the the temps and humidity that I'd need to keep the cage at. That way, if I can't keep up with the care, then I have an extra cage that could be used for my frog.

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

So you asked about the picture policy, not whether or not to buy. Here's my two cents. I would be extremely suspicious of that kind of policy and what it may indicate about the quality of care. There are six different pet stores near me, all of which are very transparent in their care of their animals. I asked three of them why they don't stock chams. All of them gave the same reply: we don't know how to care for them. The fact that Petco won't let you take pictures seems to say they know they aren't caring for them properly. Since that is likely the case, they aren't going to be able to support you with correct husbandry advice after your purchase. Before you purchase, you may want to at least check their health guarantee. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck!

I am very suspicious about the "No picture" thing, but the employee who told me that is not the nicest person. Plus other employees and seen me actually taking pictuers of the animals there and never really cared. But who knows.

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

I am very suspicious about the "No picture" thing, but the employee who told me that is not the nicest person. Plus other employees and seen me actually taking pictures of the animals there and never really cared. But who knows.

*pictures

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

I would actually highly not recommend getting from a reptile expo. Many of the animals there are also very stressed and possibly sick. My reptile expo sucks. I also lost my first cham after 12 days and I got him from an expo. I had the setup perfect but the problem was the animal. He was unhealthy but from the outside you couldn't tell. I would HIGHLY suggest not buying impulsively at an expo. I have found you need to be extremely picky with the breeder and animal you choose.

I've been to reptile expos along with other expos, and to me, a lot of the animals there seem really stressed by all of the commotion that's going on. Even a single day of being really stressed out can do a lot of harm to any animal, so that's why I'm kind of scared to go and buy something from an expo.

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

I don't really care how much money you have to spend on your possibly ill chameleon, especially not when you knowingly purchase a chameleon with an unknown history from a store that doesn't know how to take care of these animals.
The main reason why you should not buy reptiles from pet stores simply is simply 'supply and demand'...
If there is no demand they will not stock up on reptiles and less animals will suffer in the future.

But anyways we can't stop you so meeeh...

I plan on drilling them with questions, and if they don't meet my requirements, I'm for sure not going to buy one from them. I have a family friend who breeds chams, so I'll go to him. So Petco will get the third degree from me. I know enough of basic husbandry to call them out on their BS so-called "proper" husbandry.

 

[Dragon1516]

To properly set up a chameleon cage for even veiled chameleon will cost you around $500 minimum with the proper misting, lights, cage, decor, and supplements. Petco is horrible and buying from them just allows them to keep doing what they are doing. Please consider getting one from someone on here.