You Can Improve Pet Store Chameleon Care Standards!

What do I do to improve pet store standards for keeping chameleons? Not only are chameleons not being cared for correctly, the improper care gives the wrong message to the beginning chameleon keeper. Do we tell the pet store to up their chameleon care? Do we tell the corporation to improve their chameleon care standards? Today I discuss the the ways we can make a difference in creating a better world for captive chameleons.
Please share your experiences and lessons learned related to how to approach people that need to give better chameleon care. It is easy to go in with self-righteous anger, but that rarely gets positive results. What have you done that has actually gotten a pet store or reptile show vendor to improve their chameleon care? Let me know in the comments!
Chapters:
00:00 Why is Pet Store chameleon care important?
01:32 Working at the local pet shop level
05:20 Working at the national chain corporate level
08:36 Why money talks loudest
09:34 Building the community is a powerful tool
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[@NateRowley90]

love the subtitles! also the idea of leading by example and with our wallets! You have to play the game that the companies are playing too :)

[@mariodelpicchia1]

Happen with me. Got a female veiled almost 2 weeks and pet shop guy said- please take from the cage once a day because she will be bothered, give 3 crickets a day,. Sold me a 18x18x24 cage saying, will be fine.. spray tge cage 3 times a day.. try to sell a red heat lamp.. never mention uvb...
Thank god I find your channel. And could better set up the small cage, misting system, temps, vitamins...
She is juvenile so I got time to set up a nice cage 24x24x48 that will be ready by saturday and hopefully she will thrive!!

[@lookhowcreative]

See, I caught up from when I played hookie the other day lol.. I am glad you're putting this out there. I have friends who work for pet stores, and they are constantly being brought counterintuitive info from random crazies, AKA pet keepers. They work at a pet store, most making minimum wage, in what is basically a retail store for pets. If you have EVER worked retail, (I haven't, don't kill me!), you would understand the 💩 they have to put up with on a daily basis. I'm just really glad you put this up, and reminding people that not everyone has time to consume every knowledgeable detail about the pets they sell (not just chams!). I feel bad correcting them, but i do so in a manner that doesn't make them feel like I'm being mean or a "know-it-all", I just hope they can pin the wee bit of knowledge I handed them in the back of their head for future reference. 🎉

[@lizzie8477]

Omg you are so right! I felt so bad last time I went into a local pet shop they had 15 crammed in one bird cage! Some of them were so dark 😢😢

[@everythingallin4905]

The thing I don't understand is the differences in opinions online. Haven't people been keeping chameleons as pets long enough to know? The knowledge from this channel seems the best to me but if I mention anything about a sprayer, fogger or not having a water bowl I am automatically down voted in other communities. It makes no sense.

[@ChameleonAcademy]

Well, now you are getting into power dynamics. There has always been intense debate and the battle of personalities. And there will always be. The difference in the last decade or so is that these personalities can now set up and develop large social media groups to lord over. And it becomes less about husbandry and more about empire building. Each tribe will have their own flavor. And this community does as well. In the Chameleon Academy we have an atmosphere that is unique to us. The way to navigate this social media swamp is to cut out the tribes that are not healthy for you and stick with the ones that are.
As for individual husbandry differences I can usually explain as I have made studying the community a hobby :)
But, yes, this dynamic of so many different, absolutely correct contradictory approaches is what the poor pet store employee has to listen to.