Sad... Petsmart

[MsCham]

I know there are a bunch of things against petsmart and stuff on here, but let me just add another... The petsmart in my city has only ever carried veileds. And not to say anything against veileds - but its just a little bit better than carrying other species due to the fact that they are of the more hardier variety of chameleons. This is not to say that they take good care of them - they are in glass enclosures, are fed mealworms, and have a bowl of water... But its a situation that if someone takes them home they have at least a 50% chance of learning better after bringing them home and it not being a death sentence to the animal.

Today I went in to get some crickets (the only thing I buy there). Its time to refresh the breeding group! And I look absently into the viv and notice that they arent veileds... then read the sign. Panthers. They are now selling panthers.

Petsmart doesnt sell mesh cages. Okay, correction: they sell ONE that is some natural geographic version that is big enough only for babies - and yet the picture on it has an adult panther in it (even though its 1/3 of the size of the cage) so some idiots going to think that that cage is okay for an adult cham... and its just... sad.

I was watching one out of the two (because yes, they have two in one 7x7 glass cage), because I was surprised by how colorful they already were - and I saw him try to lick a dry branch. Then hold his mouth open. Then walk a few steps. Then try to lick a branch. I was almost crying. I told the one employee there about how they don't respond to stagnant water (a bowl) and how he should be misting the branches like right there and then (I offered to do it if he didn't have time) and ugh. It was just a very upsetting experience. And I feel so bad for those poor creatures, and yet I know if I go in there in two days, they'll be gone - yet that means that petsmart will get more... and two more babies will be put under the same treatment.

Just had to rant somewhere after that... Sorry.

 

[DragoLikesReptiles]

Petsmart is a s**tty company for getting lizards, because of how they treat them, Their company policies for taking care of these animals must've been made the 90's because of how little information they know about these reptiles. They should just not own reptiles, birds, or fish and just sell dog and cat food like the commercials say they all are. The one at mine was in a 12x12 Exo Terra, but actually one Petsmart the only one I've ever seen do this, kept their 5 month old Veiled in a Reptibreeze in the back.

 

[Gumball Machine]

I've only gone to petco as I've never liked petsmart. I can't contribute on how different they are but I actually got my chameleon from the petco in SoCal and the two individuals working in the reptile/amphibian department were, to my surprise, very knowledgable and talked with me for about an hour about chameleons. I honestly think it depends on the location and very highly upon who they hire. It's really unfortunate that some places are so awful. Again, the petco that is closest to me doesn't have this same situation. I saw baby veiled chameleons with a horribly disgusting water dripper and it looked like they just put as many crickets and mealworms in the cage as to be "happy" incase they forgot to feed them or something. It was a completely different experience. It's sad that it seems so apparently difficult to find proper caretakers for most animals in a pet store, not just for chameleons.

 

[Blink]

I know exactly how terrible Petsmart/Petco's chameleon conditions are. I've been struggling with my local Petco for months, begging them to take better care of the baby chameleons. . Despite what they want you to believe, they care nothing for the animals and will only follow their "policy" care instructions. Glass tank, crickets larger than their heads, food dish nowhere near any branch of any kind and barely accessible, water bowl, substrate. The humidity is always under 30%. Poop and dead cricket scattered all over the tank. There was even clumps of mold growing in the corner!

Today, I had to "inform" a Petco employ that one of the chameleons was on the brink of death. He was tiny (recently Petco has been carrying chameleons not even 2 inches and one older than a month or two) barely holding on to the fake plant provided for them instead of any branches, with is eyes closed. I told them to take him to a vet immediately! He was taken into "the back" of the store. I can only imagine what has become of him, as I highly doubt he ever got to see a vet.

Oh, man.... Now I'm ranting...

By the way... Veiled are just as fragile when kept it bed conditions.

 

[scs]

I did a ton of research before buying my first chameleon. I knew all about the proper husbandry but where I went wrong was buying a chameleon from a pet store. We went to a few different pet stores to look at chameleons, and they were all dehydrated, dark, and cramped. I have to say, Petsmart had the best set up out of all the other stores, but it was still awful.

I still don't know what caused my chameleon's heartbreaking passing. Whether it was the parasites that she took home with her from that store, stress from taking the medicine to treat the parasites, or if it was laying so many eggs.

Pet stores just aren't the right place to buy such delicate creatures. Or any place that keeps chameleonS in tiny glass boxes.

 

[fluxlizard]

While I agree with your opinion on Petsmart's reptile department, I think you are misinterpreting the behaviour you witnessed from the chameleon.

Chameleons, like most lizards, occasionally tongue flick and touch things in their environment with the tongue to obtain information about the world around them. If you have ever watched an iguana lick, then take a few steps, then lick, it is the same thing, only the behavior is more developed and occurs much more often in iguanas. Chameleons do this also, though not as often, or as stereotypically. An occasional tongue flick or two is nothing to worry about- the lizard is just getting input for understanding the environment it is in.

I don't think the little chameleon was trying to drink from a dry branch.

The open mouth could have been an environment that was too warm, a respiratory infection, aggression towards the cage mate (juveniles will often "yawn" and wriggle the back in aggression, when they are a little older they may simply gape under certain situations), could be a fear response in reaction to you watching it closely, or simply a lizard choosing to be warm in an environment that allows it to choose what it wants, and panting while warming (happens from time to time). In petsmart, I really doubt it is this last thing or the first thing because usually petsmart reptile departments are so badly designed that providing enough heat for the animals to properly thermoregulate in such tiny enclosures is nearly impossible! So, likely it is one of the other options.

 

[CrazyPetLady]

I know there are a bunch of things against petsmart and stuff on here, but let me just add another... The petsmart in my city has only ever carried veileds. And not to say anything against veileds - but its just a little bit better than carrying other species due to the fact that they are of the more hardier variety of chameleons. This is not to say that they take good care of them - they are in glass enclosures, are fed mealworms, and have a bowl of water... But its a situation that if someone takes them home they have at least a 50% chance of learning better after bringing them home and it not being a death sentence to the animal.

Today I went in to get some crickets (the only thing I buy there). Its time to refresh the breeding group! And I look absently into the viv and notice that they arent veileds... then read the sign. Panthers. They are now selling panthers.

Petsmart doesnt sell mesh cages. Okay, correction: they sell ONE that is some natural geographic version that is big enough only for babies - and yet the picture on it has an adult panther in it (even though its 1/3 of the size of the cage) so some idiots going to think that that cage is okay for an adult cham... and its just... sad.

I was watching one out of the two (because yes, they have two in one 7x7 glass cage), because I was surprised by how colorful they already were - and I saw him try to lick a dry branch. Then hold his mouth open. Then walk a few steps. Then try to lick a branch. I was almost crying. I told the one employee there about how they don't respond to stagnant water (a bowl) and how he should be misting the branches like right there and then (I offered to do it if he didn't have time) and ugh. It was just a very upsetting experience. And I feel so bad for those poor creatures, and yet I know if I go in there in two days, they'll be gone - yet that means that petsmart will get more... and two more babies will be put under the same treatment.

Just had to rant somewhere after that... Sorry.

I worked at Petsmart awhile back. It's hard to love animals and be studying into Veterinary care and see the sad care animals receive. All the animals were in very very very small enclosures ( Worked in the smallest Petsmart in Durham Region) Our Pet Care manager was useless. She only taught one guy how to feed the reptiles so they only got fed 3 times a week at most when he was working as she refused to show the rest of us and I NEVER had time to socialize the animals. Every time I tried someone showed up in the back and I had to run back out front. If anything, fish received the most care. We had to be "stealthy" about throwing out feeder fish when they were dead.

 

[CrazyPetLady]

I did a ton of research before buying my first chameleon. I knew all about the proper husbandry but where I went wrong was buying a chameleon from a pet store. We went to a few different pet stores to look at chameleons, and they were all dehydrated, dark, and cramped. I have to say, Petsmart had the best set up out of all the other stores, but it was still awful.

I still don't know what caused my chameleon's heartbreaking passing. Whether it was the parasites that she took home with her from that store, stress from taking the medicine to treat the parasites, or if it was laying so many eggs.

Pet stores just aren't the right place to buy such delicate creatures. Or any place that keeps chameleonS in tiny glass boxes.

When it came to Petsmart and them "going to the back" They didn't see a vet. They literally go back there and just sit back there and we were just to write reports on their health daily. We had a bearded dragon that had a problem with it's eye and it never got better. I wish more places would stop selling animals they are not able to take care of. I have a reptile focused store nearby that takes great care of theirs. They have a giant mesh enclosure for what I think is a female Jackson and I swear it looks like she's smiling when I go in

***Meant to quote Blink xD***

 

[Gavinsons]

I stopped by petsmart today because we had some time to kill before my sons doctor appoimtment and witnessed the same thimg. They only had 1 veiled. Theyhad a temp gauge and humidity gauge at the bottom. The temp read 90 and humidity was barley 50. Also had mealworms in a bowl and water in a dish. One employee asked if I needed help and I said no but your chameleon does. At that point he started licking the dry branch. Also noticed they did not have a uvb light and asked about it. He said it was a dual heat and uvb. I said ********, even if it was the uvb wont penetrate that glazed plastic sheet. He walked away and never said a word. I got my wife and 2 kids and left. Will never go back in there again. So this is not only just your store but all of them.

 

[Bush baby]

Social media is a powerful tool that the layman can weild at fight against big corporations. We all should know this by now…

I guarantee if someone started a facebook page, or twitter feed dedicated to the bad conditions these animals are kept in, with people around the country taking cell pics and posting them, Petsmart/Petco would have no choice but to take notice, and make the necessary changes in order to keep their image/business…

 

[CrazyPetLady]

The worst was In my city (Oshawa) we had this one called Mauchs that sold everything. My parents years ago got out first cham from there (their sketchy ways didnt come to light till more recently) they lied about it being a male, we found that out when she had eggs and she had some rare fatal 100% death rate in chams. My parents kept taking her to the vet and do everything they could but she was just to ill. Not just reptiles but all pets were kept in the worst possible condition at this place. Thank god it was closed recently though!

 

[Blink]

Social media is a powerful tool that the layman can weild at fight against big corporations. We all should know this by now…

I guarantee if someone started a facebook page, or twitter feed dedicated to the bad conditions these animals are kept in, with people around the country taking cell pics and posting them, Petsmart/Petco would have no choice but to take notice, and make the necessary changes in order to keep their image/business…

That is a brilliant idea! I'm not a Facebook person, but if that's what it takes, I might become one.

 

[TAW229]

I, also, got two veiled chameleons at Petsmart. First one died about 5 months after I got her. I was told she was 2 months old and a male. Being new to owning a veiled I had no idea about the age and sex. I read a ton as soon as I got her and realized she was a female not male. Pretty obvious and the employees should know how to tell considering I read it in about 10 minutes of searching the internet for information. Needless to say, she became egg bound and had to be put down. I had no idea she was old enough for this because of how old they said she was. My second one I got recently. Yeah I know, I should of known better! I told the employees how to sex a veiled chameleon so now they at least know this! My second one, George, is 2 months old as they told me. Who knows he could of been two weeks when I got him! He got very sick after a week and had nasty parasites and a lung infection. After about $200 in vet bills, he's doing fine now. This week, my plan is to write the manager of the local Petsmart store and if I can find out I am writing to the head quarters or main office of Petsmart. It may not change anything but I am going to give them a peice of my mind. It will make me feel better anyway! Good thought on the facebook page too. Wish I knew how! Someone start it and I'll like it and support it.

 

[ulamachula]

I live in Central Europe and it's the same here...the company is not called Petco or Petsmart, but they're still horrible at treating the animals. They sell veileds and recently had two panthers - an adult/sub-adult male and a tiny female housed together in a glass cage...I told them it's wrong and they responded that they've already sold them and the animals are just waiting to be picked up. I just hope the owners will not be *******es and will study up and treat them right.
The other day when we went in to buy locusts, we saw a tiny veiled cham dead in the corner of the glass enclosure, it must have been there for a couple of days as it appeared to be partially dried up. We went up to the shop assistant and told him what's going on and he didn't even blink. ...I mean, this just makes you speachless...and even if you tell them, they just don't care
One of the assistants once told me that the chams don't sell well, but they get new ones anyway because it's store policy not to keep the cages empty....
I hate to go there, but it's the only place they sell locusts and other feeders.
So, same s***t, different continent.

 

[reptileguy112]

Petsmart should be a supply company, its not fit for live animals other than feeders. My petsmart has multiple adult conures on a parakeet cage, a veiled in a 7x7 glass aquarium, and a jackson in a glass aquarium. Dont even get me started on how they care for their poor water dragons.

 

[Adman]

Here in France we have an equivilant to Petsmart called Amiland, it's where I get my crickets and bulbs. I did get my male veiled from there but I was fortunate to buy him within only a few days of him arriving there, for which I am thankful because seeing the conditions in which they keep their chameleons breaks my heart. A few months ago they had a rather large glass enclosure, it was of a decent size, but within they were housing 2 sub-adult males and 4 or more sub-adult females, and sadly many didn't look to be in the best condition, females and males were sniping at each other, etc. I told one of the employees but they seemed very disinterested. At another branch they have a young green iguana that's maybe hitting 2 feet in total length, and he's in a 1 foot high and deep-2feet long glass viv and it's horrible to see, because I know that it's unlikely anyone will buy him, and the shop won't provide him with nearly sufficient space to live in, as green iguanas need very large enclosure. Or someone will buy him but they'll be provided inaccurate info by the shop, so he probably won't receive the correct care and the owners will be shocked by the size at which he'll grow and how much space he'll ultimately need.