Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Took a lil trip to pet smart this afternoon, my girlfriend wanted some new toys for her Quaker parrot so I went a long. I didn't really expect to see any reptiles but when I got there, they had a juvenile veiled (Aprox 6" in a lil 15z15z15 cage. Not only was there NO place for them to hide (had some wood branches and like 2 small fake leaves), he was set up with a drinking dish, he was in a glass cage, and was housed with a Jackson and a gecko!! I couldn't believe all the things I seen wrong. I wanted to purchase him but couldn't see shelling out over 100 for him (broke college student) I just hope he goes to a good owner soon.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (No Name yet)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.2 Chinese Water Dragons (Merl & Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Comming
Senegal Chameleon breeding pair
Hopefuls
Female beardie named Sissy. Hoping to adopt her from mid michigan reptile rescue. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Just out of curiosity, do you live in a dorm with those herps, or are they still at home. I'm going to college in a little over a year and am afraid I'm going to have to sell all my herps (don't think my parents or brothers will take care of them) Just curious, if anyone else has had this experience chime in. Sorry its off topic, but I just had to ask.

live with my parents, about 20-25 miles from campus.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (No Name yet)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.2 Chinese Water Dragons (Merl & Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Comming
Senegal Chameleon breeding pair
Hopefuls
Female beardie named Sissy. Hoping to adopt her from mid michigan reptile rescue. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I got my first chameleons when I was in college up in Utah. I started with 1 male Mountain chameleon and by the end of the year, had 2 mountains, and 2 graceful chameleons (all WC). I kept the male mountain for the next 2 years, while the others did not so well (they were all a learning experience). I lived in a 4 bedroom apartment with 3 other guys and had a full wall for them. All I could sugest is to try to find out who you're going to live with and make sure they don't care..... I'd keep it on the downlow with the management as much as possible. I can't imagine they'd be thrilled. Keeping chameleos in college is also a good way to test out girlfriends.... If they let it fly, they're a keeper.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Lucky for me my girlfriend takes care of 10 of my leopard geckos and my two little Veileds. However, I do have two leopard geckos in my dorm room. The campus housing does not know I have them.....He he he

You can always rent out a small storage unit and set that up for your herps that way they wont be in your dorm room, and if the college your going to is anything like Chico State then your dorm room is going to be VERY small.

So since I'm still in college and I breed chameleons, does that mean I should be a definate keeper?

haha now I just gotta find a NICE(key word) single guy that thinks that way.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

Yep, Jovana, that would make you a keeper. I'd kill to have a girl that enjoyed chameleons as much as I do. I'm stuck with one that won't even enter the room they're in.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

well maybe she will come around one day. You have some awsome chams...one day she has to see that
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

Yeah I had the same problem, I have 2 veileds but couldnt bring them to the dorm. There was no where to put them and we cant have any animal that cant live out of water, AKA fish. (I have an ablino clawed frog though, breathes air but lives in water technically ^_^ gotta love the system)
Im in my second year at college right now, but my parents were cool with taking care of my babies.
My suggestion is just to talk to your parents or find someone you trust who might take care of them for a year or so.
I know some colleges also let you keep animals as long as they are "flushable"... horrible term I know, Maybe check with them and see what they have to say.
Good luck @ school and hope everything works out!!

~Erin

Very sorry to hear about that poor veild. Thankfully the two pets marts near me do not sell any chameleons (I've given some friendly advice to the managers about other lizards). I still feel really bad for the other reptiles they have in the tiny tanks.

Was tempted to put him on my credit card, but I don't have adequate space or money to provide him with much right now. I have 2 veileds and 2 Senegal's coming tomorrow. IM keeping a pretty full house right now. Either way, I can only hope someone provides him with a good home soon.

On another note, they had a full grown MACAW parrot in a lil 4x4 cage. He looked so cramped I couldn't stand to look at him. Poor animals! Doesn't some kinda animal rights people watch for this kinda stuff. This parrot was obviously in need of a MUCH LARGER cage! Needless to say, I will not be going to their establishment any time soon.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (No Name yet)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.2 Chinese Water Dragons (Merl & Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Comming
Senegal Chameleon breeding pair
Hopefuls
Female beardie named Sissy. Hoping to adopt her from mid michigan reptile rescue. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Honestly, I have never liked pet-stores no matter how well the animals are kept.

The store staff is usually uneducated, irritating and try to sell you useless garbage that will probably do more harm then good for your reptiles...(ie calci-sand) Seriously, do not even attempt to buy the poor chameleon. Sure it is a terrible situation but if you buy the little guy another poor soul will just come back in to replace him.

The best way to discourage pet stores from selling reptiles...don't even set foot in the store. If need be go to a pet store that only sells animal foods and supplies but no animals.

Just my two cents.
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Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
E-mail Me
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 Veiled Chameleons
3.4.0 Corn Snakes
1.0.0 Tokay Geckos
1.2.0 California Kingsnakes
1.3.0 South Florida Kingsnakes
1.1.0 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snakes
1.4.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Green Iguanas

I like to go one step further. I TELL them just why I will not buy anything from their store and do it in public (to a manager or employee in front of customers). If you don't like to do this at least send them a letter. I am polite, but firm. I also tell them I will report their poor conditions to the local Better Business Bureau, the local Humane Society, and to a local Animal Control officer (depending on who has authority to inspect shops in your city). When I report the bad conditions I bring along a good reference for what is supposed to be given the animal...they may not just take your word for it.

those are some very good points, a letter is the least i could do. I will also see about contacting the store manager over the phone and point out all of their mistakes. If anything, atleast i tried.

I usually NEVER purchase anything from a pet store. Most of anything i could need is much cheaper online anyways. My girlfiend likes to get toys since they are easier to just get there. She would never purchase a bird form a place like that as well. Her quaker was from a breeder just like 90% of my animals are from breeders. On the other hand, i found some reptisun 5.0 15" bulbs there for 7 ea. I cleaned em out! So that wasnt a total waster....
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (No Name yet)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.2 Chinese Water Dragons (Merl & Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Comming
Senegal Chameleon breeding pair
Hopefuls
Female beardie named Sissy. Hoping to adopt her from mid michigan reptile rescue. Keeping my fingers crossed!

4 foot long by 4 foot deep? thats not a bad cage size at all for a single macaw as long as it gets some out of cage time, and has plenty of toys. I am an "animal care specialist" at a theme park and our birds are kept in 4x4x6 cages (at home 4x3x6). Unless you have a breeding pair of macaws no larger cage is needed.

Dont be angry at that, that is actually much larger than I've seen pet stores house macaws in. Granted it probably does not get the outside play time that it needs, but as long as it has some toys it will be fine until someone buys it.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

4ft was a guess. the cage came from the floor to my belly button and was not 4 feet wide, more like 2x2. But this cage was deff not large enough to house this bird. He seemed very crampped, had no toys and was prolly never taken out.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (No Name yet)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.2 Chinese Water Dragons (Merl & Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Comming
Senegal Chameleon breeding pair
Hopefuls
Female beardie named Sissy. Hoping to adopt her from mid michigan reptile rescue. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ohhhh...yea thats way to small, unless your a giant. you should be at least eye level with the cage and it should be around 3 feet long... I'd contact the humane socity asap! I have a very low tolorance for that sort of thing.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther