MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
It’s been an emotionally rough week. Helped stepdaughter with an emergency turtle set up for 3 turtles she rescued from a bad living situation. Needing supplies stat we had no other option than Petco. Looked at the chams - spoke to the manager about the wrong things I noticed and was told, “we have to follow corporate policies” and assured my concerns weren’t valid. Manager lied too. We hung out and shopped in the immediate cham area for a good 20 mins and no one came near. Mgr said the one was on the cage floor because they had just handled her and put her back in. Also said they had a buyer for her.Was skeptical but no time to argue.
Back to the turtles. Quickly discovered that one of the turtles wasn’t a turtle, but is a gopher tortoise. Poor thing has been sitting in a tiny bowl of dirty water for a few months and looked to be on the brink of death. Dried it out and warmed it up and in the morning took it to local wildlife hospital/rehab. Most likely it’s too late to save her.
Stupid effing people who basically killed a beautiful creature!
On the way home from wildlife rehab, stopped back at Petco as we bought the wrong sized filter. Checked the chams and nothing had changed...same empty water dripper, same full bowl of water with same dirt in it, same 2 adult girls in same enclosure and one still digging in the wet dirt floor. As politely as I could I again spoke with someone about the conditions and again given the same lines but this time told they thought the little digger was gravid. Not in the mood to argue and the clerk (who was nice and sympathetic) has to recite the corporate crap. Digger cham was pale, same as Miss Grumpy got the day she started her laying. I asked them to give her to me...they couldn’t do that but would give her to me at half price. Good enough! Thankfully I have Miss Grumpy’s old enclosure all cleaned and sanitized already and had just bought some new stuff to add to her enclosure, including new sand for a fresh lay bin. Only thing I need is another UVB...gave the one for small cage to be used with the turtles. Has already been ordered.
So meet Stella. Yes, I fully understand the whole problem with buying from Petco and am in total agreement with it. However, after the little tortoises very poor prognosis I couldn’t let another animal suffer, especially when I had the opportunity to change it’s fate. When it comes to animals, I’m way way too soft. I have no regrets. Not sure if she’s gravid or not...she is pretty round. Will give her a little time to adjust and see how she does before a wellness vet visit. Hopefully won’t need an emergency vet visit.
Back to the turtles. Quickly discovered that one of the turtles wasn’t a turtle, but is a gopher tortoise. Poor thing has been sitting in a tiny bowl of dirty water for a few months and looked to be on the brink of death. Dried it out and warmed it up and in the morning took it to local wildlife hospital/rehab. Most likely it’s too late to save her.
Stupid effing people who basically killed a beautiful creature! On the way home from wildlife rehab, stopped back at Petco as we bought the wrong sized filter. Checked the chams and nothing had changed...same empty water dripper, same full bowl of water with same dirt in it, same 2 adult girls in same enclosure and one still digging in the wet dirt floor. As politely as I could I again spoke with someone about the conditions and again given the same lines but this time told they thought the little digger was gravid. Not in the mood to argue and the clerk (who was nice and sympathetic) has to recite the corporate crap. Digger cham was pale, same as Miss Grumpy got the day she started her laying. I asked them to give her to me...they couldn’t do that but would give her to me at half price. Good enough! Thankfully I have Miss Grumpy’s old enclosure all cleaned and sanitized already and had just bought some new stuff to add to her enclosure, including new sand for a fresh lay bin. Only thing I need is another UVB...gave the one for small cage to be used with the turtles. Has already been ordered.
So meet Stella. Yes, I fully understand the whole problem with buying from Petco and am in total agreement with it. However, after the little tortoises very poor prognosis I couldn’t let another animal suffer, especially when I had the opportunity to change it’s fate. When it comes to animals, I’m way way too soft. I have no regrets. Not sure if she’s gravid or not...she is pretty round. Will give her a little time to adjust and see how she does before a wellness vet visit. Hopefully won’t need an emergency vet visit.
