sick chameleon?!?!?

[meow_mix450]

OMG!!!!!!!!! you would have never guessed wut i saw at the pet store, i was going to all the pet stores in scarbrough, cause my dad was getting a new fish tank ands stuff, and i went to this pet store, not gonna name it cause, its not right...well i saw a chameleon in this cage...i believe it was sick, because i always come to these forums and learn as much as i can, and i saw sunken eye, which i believe means it need water...also when i was looking at the eye, how they were moving, suddenly the right eye would look at the back of its body and u could see this big thing just balgout, it looked really nasty it didnt look health to me. there was something wrong. it was only 6 inches long poor guy...his mouth opened a period of time, looked weak. Anyone kno wut it is, cause i got no clue.....

[katev17]

you would have never guessed

Unfortunately, a sick, unhealthy animal would be in my top 3 choices to answer "Guess what I saw at the pet store today" ... it seems to be a sad, reoccuring theme in commercialized pet stores. (Not ALL petstores , though.. just ... many)

It's very sad to see; but did you talk to someone about it ? Although we all know how they probably won't listen, all you can do is try... Get a bunch of friends and go in throughout one day and have you all tell the SAME person ... "You know that chameleon is very unhealthy, right?"... "Do I get a discount because that's only half a chameleon?"

As I said, all you can do is try!!!!!
Kate

[Trace]

Do I get a discount because that's only half a chameleon?

Yeah... you know as well as I do that if they sell that poor beast, they will just replace him with another sickly animal. Sad really.

Trace

[Bartman]

ye same thing happened to me about two or three days ago..wont name names also..but there was a leopard gecko and i dont even know if it was unhealthy..it could have been DEAD! it was soooooo skinny you could see its bones and it was just laying almost on its back against the glass. The water was empty, it was about 3 months old, and go figure they had it on sand. no surprise. there was also a full grown boa in the smallest tank ive ever seen. The thing was wrapped around the inside of the enclosure going around the tank like 2 times! but you cant do much unless you do what katev said and make them feel guilty or realize that eveyrone notices this sick animal..its a shame all these animals suffer. i wish i could buy em all and help them out but sadly i dont have the space, money or time :(

[meow_mix450]

ya but katev got another good point as well, NOT all are bad, but its just so hard to see them like that.

well i didnt get to talk to anyone cause my dad had to leave, so i was not able to, poor guys, which u could buy them and save them, but the problem is money, and they will always come back unless you shut the store down...wut trace said is true its sad...

[katev17]

Yea, plus buying them is supporting the pet store... Just encourages them. That's the worst part of it all. When it comes down to it, if you buy these animals, they see it as business, not a 'rescue' or whatever... So they'll just , as Trace said, replace it. It's an endless cycle, and sooooo hard to fix... well the solution is easy... implementing it is the hard part.

Kate

[eyespy]

It's worse than an endless cycle. Since the store obviously doesn't practice proper husbandry or hygiene, what are the odds that cage will be disinfected before the replacement arrives? Each shipment increases the risk of the spread of disease.

If you want to rescue an animal, it's best to do it through having the animal confiscated. In that case the store is forced to disininfect, and sometimes there is a court order issued that the store can no longer carry that species. Plus there is publicity that sometimes shames a store into changing their procedures.

Of course, that all depends on how the local animal cruelty statutes are written so it varies from place to place.