I hope it makes a difference, here is what I wrote them:
To whome it may concern,
This is not a hate mail or rant, I was hoping that this email might find its way into the upper food chain of petsmart. I know you have a business guideline and I'm sure petsmart is doing well enough with sales that making any changes are viewed somewhat as unnecessary, but I would like to point out some things about chameleon care and hope that you find it in your hearts to take this email seriously. I recently purchased a veiled chameleon from one of your stores in Atlanta. It is doing well. However I noticed the way the chameleon was being cared for and it was pretty inadequate. It was in a small glass terrarium with standing water beside adjacent to some other reptiles. Some things to know about Chameleons:
1. they do not drink from standing water
2. they are stressed very easily and this results in premature death
3. they are arboreal
4. they require high calcium diet and uvb lighting
Most young chameleons won't even drink water and will hydrate off of their food and the humidity level. Standing water will just create bacteria and along with being immunocompromised due to stress they will be subject to illness. In order to hydrate a chameleon properly they will need a misting or drip system. Most people use the drip system by simply poking a small hole in a plastic cup and placing above their cage in order for it to drip on leaves. Chameleons are stimulated to drink by the movement of droplets of water on the leaves. Most owners will also mist their chameleon pets about 3 times a day for 3-5 minute sessions to increase humidity, and some chameleons learn to drink while being misted, but do not spray the chameleon directly unless it is accustomed to it.
Chameleons are very solitary creatures and when placed in a glass terrarium the site of their reflection is enough to create high levels of stress. Also being placed near other reptiles will have the same effect. You have in your store the reptibreeze cage enclosure that is suitable for chameleons, I myself purchased one. If a chameleon is highly stressed it will become immunocompromised and will most often not eat or drink, and of course being more susceptable to illness which is one of the leading causes of death to a chameleon for inexperienced owners.
Being arboreal creatures their enclosure requires more height then width or depth in order for them to feel safe and not become stressed.
The most horrible and most common chameleon deaths are attributed to Metabollic Bone Disease. Most chameleon owners will dust their feeder foods (most often crickets) with a calcium powder that also contained vitamin D3. They also require UVB lighting in order to metabolize the calcium properly. Your store carries the reptisun 5.0 uvb flourescent which is used by many chameleon owners. However they will still need a basking lamp. Also, chameleons do not sleep well at night and can become immunocompromised due to lack of sleep if a night light is used, so most chameleon owners do not use a night lamp.
My setup is a reptibreeze cage (18 wide x 18 deep x 20 tall) with some vines and leaves to climb. I also have the reptisun 5.0 uvb lamp and a zoo med 75w basking lamp, with infrared night lamp attachement which I only turn on durring the day if the tempature is too low (75-85 farenheit day, 65-75 night). I powder crickets as a feeder, as well as gutload my crickets with a high calcium diet. I use the "Big Dripper" system and placed a SHALLOW bowl to catch the dripping water and empty often. Most people also do not use a substrate as chameleons will rarely venture to ground and if it accidentally catches some substrate with its food it can cause stoppage. I mist 3-5 times a die depending on humidity, which I strive to keep above 60%, close to 80% being nominal. I also keep handling to a minimum as this causes chameleons alot of stress.
Perhaps it is possible for you to make some changes to help increase the health of your current chameleons in store by heading to my please. At the very least some small changes could be:
1. Remove from glass enclosure and from the vicinity of other animals
2. Remove water bowl and apply a drip system (this is incredibly inexpensive)
3. Provide UVB lighting and make it store policy to dust feeder insects (if not store policy alread)
4. Keep handling to a minimum
5. Ensure new chameleon owners of the high maintenance a chameleon requires (this could help improve sales by encouraging costumers to purchase all the required equipment for proper care)
I'm sure with at least these 5 changes your chameleons will be alot better off and will gain a much better reputation with the chameleon owner community. It is too often seen by experienced chameleon owners the poor treatment of instore chameleons and because of that, often choose to purchase their chameleons online as mail order, which is not an easy ordeal for chameleons. If you could make these changes, Petsmart could become the best place for chameleon purchases in the future. One last thing is it is best to purchase chameleons from captive breeders, as wild caught chameleons tend to have higher stress levels. I do not know how you get your chameleons now and if it is wild caught at the moment I understand this would be a difficult change but perhaps something to look into for the future.
Here are some links for additional info:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/iguanas/veiledchameleon.html
http://flchams.com/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/
Thank you in advance for reading my lengthy email.
Concerned chameleon owner,
-Gabriel
I didnt proofread it as I was in a rush, but hopefully they take me seriously regardless of grammatical/spelling errors.
To whome it may concern,
This is not a hate mail or rant, I was hoping that this email might find its way into the upper food chain of petsmart. I know you have a business guideline and I'm sure petsmart is doing well enough with sales that making any changes are viewed somewhat as unnecessary, but I would like to point out some things about chameleon care and hope that you find it in your hearts to take this email seriously. I recently purchased a veiled chameleon from one of your stores in Atlanta. It is doing well. However I noticed the way the chameleon was being cared for and it was pretty inadequate. It was in a small glass terrarium with standing water beside adjacent to some other reptiles. Some things to know about Chameleons:
1. they do not drink from standing water
2. they are stressed very easily and this results in premature death
3. they are arboreal
4. they require high calcium diet and uvb lighting
Most young chameleons won't even drink water and will hydrate off of their food and the humidity level. Standing water will just create bacteria and along with being immunocompromised due to stress they will be subject to illness. In order to hydrate a chameleon properly they will need a misting or drip system. Most people use the drip system by simply poking a small hole in a plastic cup and placing above their cage in order for it to drip on leaves. Chameleons are stimulated to drink by the movement of droplets of water on the leaves. Most owners will also mist their chameleon pets about 3 times a day for 3-5 minute sessions to increase humidity, and some chameleons learn to drink while being misted, but do not spray the chameleon directly unless it is accustomed to it.
Chameleons are very solitary creatures and when placed in a glass terrarium the site of their reflection is enough to create high levels of stress. Also being placed near other reptiles will have the same effect. You have in your store the reptibreeze cage enclosure that is suitable for chameleons, I myself purchased one. If a chameleon is highly stressed it will become immunocompromised and will most often not eat or drink, and of course being more susceptable to illness which is one of the leading causes of death to a chameleon for inexperienced owners.
Being arboreal creatures their enclosure requires more height then width or depth in order for them to feel safe and not become stressed.
The most horrible and most common chameleon deaths are attributed to Metabollic Bone Disease. Most chameleon owners will dust their feeder foods (most often crickets) with a calcium powder that also contained vitamin D3. They also require UVB lighting in order to metabolize the calcium properly. Your store carries the reptisun 5.0 uvb flourescent which is used by many chameleon owners. However they will still need a basking lamp. Also, chameleons do not sleep well at night and can become immunocompromised due to lack of sleep if a night light is used, so most chameleon owners do not use a night lamp.
My setup is a reptibreeze cage (18 wide x 18 deep x 20 tall) with some vines and leaves to climb. I also have the reptisun 5.0 uvb lamp and a zoo med 75w basking lamp, with infrared night lamp attachement which I only turn on durring the day if the tempature is too low (75-85 farenheit day, 65-75 night). I powder crickets as a feeder, as well as gutload my crickets with a high calcium diet. I use the "Big Dripper" system and placed a SHALLOW bowl to catch the dripping water and empty often. Most people also do not use a substrate as chameleons will rarely venture to ground and if it accidentally catches some substrate with its food it can cause stoppage. I mist 3-5 times a die depending on humidity, which I strive to keep above 60%, close to 80% being nominal. I also keep handling to a minimum as this causes chameleons alot of stress.
Perhaps it is possible for you to make some changes to help increase the health of your current chameleons in store by heading to my please. At the very least some small changes could be:
1. Remove from glass enclosure and from the vicinity of other animals
2. Remove water bowl and apply a drip system (this is incredibly inexpensive)
3. Provide UVB lighting and make it store policy to dust feeder insects (if not store policy alread)
4. Keep handling to a minimum
5. Ensure new chameleon owners of the high maintenance a chameleon requires (this could help improve sales by encouraging costumers to purchase all the required equipment for proper care)
I'm sure with at least these 5 changes your chameleons will be alot better off and will gain a much better reputation with the chameleon owner community. It is too often seen by experienced chameleon owners the poor treatment of instore chameleons and because of that, often choose to purchase their chameleons online as mail order, which is not an easy ordeal for chameleons. If you could make these changes, Petsmart could become the best place for chameleon purchases in the future. One last thing is it is best to purchase chameleons from captive breeders, as wild caught chameleons tend to have higher stress levels. I do not know how you get your chameleons now and if it is wild caught at the moment I understand this would be a difficult change but perhaps something to look into for the future.
Here are some links for additional info:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/iguanas/veiledchameleon.html
http://flchams.com/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/
Thank you in advance for reading my lengthy email.
Concerned chameleon owner,
-Gabriel
I didnt proofread it as I was in a rush, but hopefully they take me seriously regardless of grammatical/spelling errors.
