to the original poster.... I have no idea why you would post something like this. Trolling?
Both of those chain stores have one goal and no soul. They make money off of live animals they have no vested interest in seeing thrive. If the animal dies on you, they figure you'll buy another.
Let me explain as a former veteran of the pet industry back in the 80's and 90's.
Our "mom and pop" stores not only prided ourselves on healthy animals, we depended on it. If animals did not do well, your customers didn't come back or refer their friends and family to you. We thrived on investing a little extra into all our animals and only selling them if they were healthy. So what killed stores like that if they sold solid healthy animals ? Cheap dry goods.
Keeping a $19 iguana healthy, with multiple feedings of fresh veggies, vitamins, lighting and heating, the cost of labor, de-worming them after being imported (just Panacur), having solid employees to teach a customer.... well for $19 it couldn't cover the cost of all that. We made our money on the dry goods. Along comes Petco and Petsmart who buy in bulk and undercut all the smaller stores. I can't tell you how many times a customer would come in, buy the animal, spend 30 mins or more with an employee on how to care for it, then go to petco. Eventually we came up with an odd idea. The idea was the animal was not for sale. We actually stopped selling Iguanas and ball pythons but we carried them.
Instead the animal was free with the purchase of the caging and equipment. You want our Iguana? You buy the stuff here. It worked for a awhile until the local petco, who actually sent in their manager to one of the stores I managed, came in and discovered what we were doing. Their reptile equipment sales had dropped for two months. Because of that, at least in my area, they started to sell iguanas which they didn't before.
So then when those customers came in with sick iguanas, we had a choice...either help them and try to turn them into a customer or turn them away. The statistics sadly indicated that those we helped tended to continue to buy from petco and only came to us for our employees information. Eventually we turned them away. Time is money and petco doesn't spend time training their employees.
The pet industry as a whole would be better off without Petsmart or Petco existing. ....(and Veiled Chameleons would smile for once)
As I'm usually the first to criticize the chain pet stores so here I go. First I do not hold the employees responsible it is a policy problem and a training problem.
90% of the young and ill chameleons I encounter on here are from chain pet stores. The brand new owners have been told the wrong care and sold things they don't need or shouldn't use. Sure they should have done more research but they were handed a care sheet and spoke to a "knowledgeable" employee why should they think they were misinformed. Half the time I, an anonymous stranger, spend on the forum is spent trying to correct the information a smiling person they met at the store told them.
I recently started researching the wholesalers that the chains use looking for an importer. Read some of the things on Fauna Classifieds board of inquiry (BOI) on these sleazy places. They make puppy mills look wholesome. I wish I could name names.
I was talking to the exotics vet I used to work for he sees the chams for the local chain store. No matter what he recommends they only ever euthanize. He says that they are usually so small and so far gone that that is probably for the best.
They make their money selling supplies not pets and that is what their bean counters care about.
This was also spot on fyi.
