Very shy and stressed

[Lennoncham]

So ever since I got Lennon (my male Ambilobe blue bar x ambanja panther chameleon) in feburary I would find myself at petsmart getting random little things for him. Every time I would go there I would see this poor little female veiled chameleon. It is no secret that most people on this forum do not support petsmart / petco selling chams Including myself. But I found myself thinking about that poor girl being so stressed from so many people walking by and staring at her all day. Not to mention the poor conditions she was being kept in. Yesterday I went to petsmart to get a fish tank because I am gunna get a few African dwarf frogs. So I went to see the chameleon and she has hardly grown in the month or so I have seen her there. She went and hid as soon as she seen me. So I bought my fish tank and supplies and left. While I was setting up my tank I couldn't stop thinking about her so when I was done I went back to ask some questions about her. There was about 15 - 20 people standing in that little area looking at the hamsters and lizards when I got there. So the chameleon was hiding from everyone. The store employee I talked to was holding a snake when I got there. I asked about the chameleon and she didn't even want to touch it but she is the only one in the store that will touch it. As I said she was holding a big snake and didn't wanna touch a tiny chameleon! I asked how old she is and they said a couple months. Probably closer to 4 or 5 months. I asked a few more questions and decided I couldn't leave her there to die from stress and improper feeding/ supplements. That is the only reason I bought her. The store employee even told me she doesn't think they should be selling certain animals because "petsmart" doesn't know how to take care of them. So I brought her home and put her in my spare cage. I have all 4 sides of this cage covered with black garbage bags while she settles in because I have her in a area I walk through quite often. I have been monitoring the temps and humidity closely to make she it doesn't get to high. She is scared of people that when ever I go look at her she goes and hides in her plant. She still has shed skin stuck to her from her last shed (probably because her himididty was only 40%) but thankfully none around her eyes, feet or tail just small pieces on her sides. So over the next few weeks I will leave her be and only disturb her for misting and to put food in the cage. She only weighs 16.6 grams. It will be a long road to get her to trust me if she ever does. Anyways. Sorry for the book. I just want to introduce everyone to Melon.

Had to get that pic quick before she went and hid again.

 

[Aivanac]

I'm glad she is in good hands, hopefully she will trust you over time. I saw a veiled I believe a few weeks ago that looking like she needed to lay eggs but there was nothing. Made me sad.

 

[Lennoncham]

I'm glad she is in good hands, hopefully she will trust you over time. I saw a veiled I believe a few weeks ago that looking like she needed to lay eggs but there was nothing. Made me sad.

Ya so sad. Something needs to be done about these stores selling animals they don't know about or care enough to care for properly. I was planning on getting a female panther in a month or so but I guess I will be waiting a while now since I got melon. I gotta do some research into veileds females specifically since most of my research so far was for panther chameleons.

 

[jajeanpierre]

@Lennoncham Lucky Melon.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I'm not allowed to go to Petsmart for this very reason. She's lucky you have a big heart

 

[Nursemaia]

She looks so thin. Poor girl makes me sad. Congratulations on your new addition

 

[Lennoncham]

I'm not allowed to go to Petsmart for this very reason. She's lucky you have a big heart

lol I believe I have seen your other posts about petsmart.

She looks so thin. Poor girl makes me sad. Congratulations on your new addition

I know! Poor thing. Every time I seen her I never seen any food or moisture in her enclosure. Although I did see some poop in her cage and it looked somewhat healthy the urates were even white somehow with the very little if any misting she was getting. I put 13 crickets in her cage this morning and she ate them all right away. Must have been starving. I hope she does ok and I can get her nice and healthy.

 

[Nursemaia]

I have a petsmart veiled too, I understand why you did it. Mine isn't shy anymore, just full of hate and judgement.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Ophelia is, obviously, a veiled from Petsmart. She is tolerant and patient and willing to be "tamed". I guess you never know what their personalities will be.

Mine isn't shy anymore, just full of hate and judgement.

Think of how much trust she has for you so she can "be herself"

 

[mandaxx3x]

Poor baby I'm very glad Calvin wasn't at petsmart for long before we got her. She's not shy anymore but she loves her new enclosure we built so much that she hisses if we try to take her out. I hope she adjusts well to you and that you can get her healthy. We've been handling Calvin since we brought her home, but in a situation like yours I would give her some time.

 

[Lennoncham]

Poor baby I'm very glad Calvin wasn't at petsmart for long before we got her. She's not shy anymore but she loves her new enclosure we built so much that she hisses if we try to take her out. I hope she adjusts well to you and that you can get her healthy. We've been handling Calvin since we brought her home, but in a situation like yours I would give her some time.

Ya I have a hard time getting Lennon out of his cage because I have to many sticks and vines for him to grab onto and restrict my arms from getting in there. I won't even be attempting to get melon out for at least a couple weeks until she gets more used to me. I will start by trying to hand feed her so she gets used to my hand and associates it with food and work from there. Even just going to check on her if she sees me she turns all dark and goes and hides in her pothos plant. But when she is calm and relaxed she is a nice bright green like a honey dew melon. Hence the name melon.

 

[Rapunzel's Pascal]

Thanks of taking Melon in. I am sure she appreciates all the love she will be getting from you.

 

[Lennoncham]

Oh and they had a red night light in her enclosure which I'm sure added to her stress if it does effect them. I have seen a lot of mixed answeres on this tho. About how it may effect there third eye and such.

 

[mandaxx3x]

I have a petsmart veiled too, I understand why you did it. Mine isn't shy anymore, just full of hate and judgement.

Amazing how much hate and judgment is held in such tiny, amazing beings. Its insane. Like "hi, I'm super spoiled and have an awesome home but I hate you. I hate when you look at me, I hate when you talk to me. I just hate everything about the world"

 

[TheAmazingGerby]

Just last week when I was at Petco, there was this baby cham, maybe only a few weeks old. I was so tempted to rescue it, nut now this week it and other chams were gone because they were all 50% off

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

I work for a dog food company and visit many different petsmart's and petco's in the north east. Every time i visit a store I go and check out the reptile section, especially to look at the chameleon section...usually this is a bad choice as it almost 100% of the time makes me want to rescue them (this is how i ended up getting glen). I especially want to buy this female jackson's from one of the stores who has been in this SMALL enclosure since last summer. I can not stand to see her in this little prison anymore, as this is one of the stores i frequently visit. I am 100% positive that she has some sort of fungal infection above her back leg on her body and have even pointed this out to an employee that it should merit a vet visit. All he did was shrug it off and say "ya that doesn't look like shed but nothing we can do about it". made me so upset and I want to buy her so badly but I do not have any supplies for her (enclosure and so on). I am so glad to see you saved Melon and am glad she is in good hands.

 

[Lennoncham]

Just last week when I was at Petco, there was this baby cham, maybe only a few weeks old. I was so tempted to rescue it, nut now this week it and other chams were gone because they were all 50% off

50% off? Aren't veiled chams like $50 in the states? Lol. The average around here is $100. We'll hopefully those chams went to people who are going to take the time to research how to take care of them and find this site.

 

[broderp]

That poor cham looks starved.

The real sad part is that no matter how many times people try and do the right thing by "rescuing" an animal, it does absolutely nothing to stop the real issue. Petsmart gets these animals for cheap ($8 or so) and sells them for $50-80. By buying, you just made them a profit many times more than they paid for it. So what happens? They replace it with another animal for the next person to rescue.

The best thing to do is not support this and just not buy these animals. It's very sad, but the only way to stop this is to make it non-profitable for the big box stores.

I have been on both sides. My first two chams came from a big box store, because my wife bought them. I would not have. My new cham, I purchased from a reputable breeder. I also very politely but sternly told my wife no more big box store pets of any kind.

It's also not just the ones at the store. For every one you actually see there are probably dozens more that are abused and killed.

Warning, this video is disturbing.

 

[Lennoncham]

I work for a dog food company and visit many different petsmart's and petco's in the north east. Every time i visit a store I go and check out the reptile section, especially to look at the chameleon section...usually this is a bad choice as it almost 100% of the time makes me want to rescue them (this is how i ended up getting glen). I especially want to buy this female jackson's from one of the stores who has been in this SMALL enclosure since last summer. I can not stand to see her in this little prison anymore, as this is one of the stores i frequently visit. I am 100% positive that she has some sort of fungal infection above her back leg on her body and have even pointed this out to an employee that it should merit a vet visit. All he did was shrug it off and say "ya that doesn't look like shed but nothing we can do about it". made me so upset and I want to buy her so badly but I do not have any supplies for her (enclosure and so on). I am so glad to see you saved Melon and am glad she is in good hands.

Nothing they can do about it yet when you buy a pet from them they come with a "vet guarantee". I guess they guarantee that they have never seen a vet.

 

[Lennoncham]

That poor cham looks starved.

The real sad part is that no matter how many times people try and do the right thing by "rescuing" an animal, it does absolutely nothing to stop the real issue. Petsmart gets these animals for cheap ($8 or so) and sells them for $50-80. By buying, you just made them a profit many times more than they paid for it. So what happens? They replace it with another animal for the next person to rescue.

The best thing to do is not support this and just not buy these animals. It's very sad, but the only way to stop this is to make it non-profitable for the big box stores.

I have been on both sides. My first two chams came from a big box store, because my wife bought them. I would not have. My new cham, I purchased from a reputable breeder. I also very politely but sternly told my wife no more big box store pets of any kind.

It's also not just the ones at the store. For every one you actually see there are probably dozens more that are abused and killed.

Warning, this video is disturbing.

I know. I don't support them selling these guys at all but as I said I only bought her so she wouldn't die. Or get sold to someone who has no idea about chameleons. My question is if peta knows how bad it is and has done investigations why have they not done anything to stop it.