petco is horrible!

[MrColors]

A man came in today to get crickets for a baby Jackson's he had bought from a friend. He told me it was no more than an inch and a half long with its tail. He was keeping it in a tupperware. No UVB, no heat, no room. A tupperware, some sticks, and a hand-mister. I almost fainted. I told him everything I could in a short time and implored him to do research (including this website!). He said the guy he got in from only fed them crickets, so I'm hoping he doesn't just take his friend's advice on things. Ahh I am soooo frustrated@

 

[szpond]

I work at a pet store. I bought my male Jackson's at this same store as well. I have visited other stores to see that their chameleons are in horrible condition. To be honest with you guys, the care on the chameleons is not something that is commonly known to every associate at my store (not PetCo but another large company). I make sure that ours are in wonderful health (even though their enclosures are small) and leave notes for other employees to take specific care so they don't forget to.

I feel your pain. There was a similar female Jackson's laying in her water dish at a store I visited yesterday (same company only different location from where I work). I had a talk with the associate working in the reptile department.

 

[ChamomilleCame]

I work at a pet store. I bought my male Jackson's at this same store as well. I have visited other stores to see that their chameleons are in horrible condition. To be honest with you guys, the care on the chameleons is not something that is commonly known to every associate at my store (not PetCo but another large company). I make sure that ours are in wonderful health (even though their enclosures are small) and leave notes for other employees to take specific care so they don't forget to.

I feel your pain. There was a similar female Jackson's laying in her water dish at a store I visited yesterday (same company only different location from where I work). I had a talk with the associate working in the reptile department.

It's a good thing there are still good employees out there. Bad and ignorant employees make me upset, like some of the workers in my nearby chain pet store.
I hate seeing chameleons like this The girl looks terrible and about to die. I once saw one like that, but not as bad. I haven't bought at any chain pet company ever since. I can't handle it.

 

[DanSB]

These Chain stores are very clear in their mission statements that animals should be treated well and cared for properly. The people that work there are not there because like to mistreat animals they are there because they like animals. You could make more money flipping burgers but they work there because they like animals.

They are doing what corporate mandates and depending on the chain have only limited ability to change the set ups. This is important because you really don't want some minimum wage kid changing everything. What needs to happen is we need to get a hold of the people in corporate who determine animal set ups and work on a cost effective but healthy Chameleon set up that can be mandated to all the locations. It must be standard and easily distributed.

This will give healthier specimens and improve sales. Plus selling all the correct equipment is also a way to improve overall sales. If done correctly it is a win win. We just need to findout who is the right ear to talk into as it will be deaf in the wrong ears. My bet is the store managers don't even know who determines the set ups.

Until this happens I think buying ANYTHING from them is wrong and you are contributing to the problem.