Best Type of Chameleon and a few more questions.

LunaLovegood said:
No, I have not. I have kept hermit crabs (it was a long time ago and they died) and fish and I have a dog. Not reptiles though. I've always wanted to since I have caught them in the wild and kept them for like half a day. I love baby iguanas in the wild but I would never get an iguana because they grow HUGE.

I have a crimson bellied-conure. Similar to a green cheek conure, but more colors. She is the sweetest thing.
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I have a Aferican Grey, a dog , 4 cats and 2 Crested Geckos and now my Panther. Love them all:love:
 
@LunaLovegood ...I don't want to discourage you from getting a chameleon but I do want you to have enough knowledge to succeed if you decide to get one. From the questions you are asking now, you are not ready yet because you don't have enough knowledge to be successful yet. This is a good place to learn...so keep asking questions and reading information on this forum about them before you finally decide. Bearded dragons are a good choice too though.

You said..."I heard that they can turn blue and red and orange which is really cool. Do Jackson's have a wide range of colors?"...Jacksons are basically green although they do some light green mixed with dark green patterns and a few have a yellowish green sort of stripe down their sides. Each kind/morph of panther has a different range of colors it can do...so they can't all do all colors. Part of the chwmeleon's color changing is a "language"....they express their emotions and " tell" you when they are gravid or angry or hot or cold, etc by their colors and posture.

Here's some information to get you started...
Female veileds or panthers can be more difficult to keep because both can suffer from reproductive problems. How you feed them and keep them is more critical than for males. Both can lay (infertile) eggs without having a mate. You will more than likely have to deal with egglaying if you get a female veiled or panther.

Most chameleons don't seem to like being handled but some will tolerate it. Some won't tolerate it at all. It seems some look at us as a safe tree to sit on sometimes.

Your temperatures have to be proper in the basking area and the other areas of the cage. They need proper temperatures to help them digest their food.

You need to mist them and set up a dripper for them so they can get the water they need.

You need a UVB bulb so they can produce the D3 they need to use the calcium in the system. You need to dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder and other powders and feed/gutload the insects to provide the proper nutrients for the chameleon.

They need lots of plants in the cage to hide in and branches to climb on. Plants need to be non-toxic and well washed...both sides of the leaves.

Female veileds and panthers need an egglaying bin in their cages once they are mature.

There is lots more to learn than just this!
Here are some good links with good information to get you started including some from this site....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/Home.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...-like-how-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it.95071/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/supplementation-mbd-1.2451/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/quarantine.36078/

BTW..the care for bearded dragons is quite similar for feeding, supplementing and feeding/gutloading the insects but they need veggies and greens in addition to the insects and need different basking temperatures and different humidity and watering methods.

Hope this helps!
 
kinyonga said:
@LunaLovegood ...I don't want to discourage you from getting a chameleon but I do want you to have enough knowledge to succeed if you decide to get one. From the questions you are asking now, you are not ready yet because you don't have enough knowledge to be successful yet. This is a good place to learn...so keep asking questions and reading information on this forum about them before you finally decide. Bearded dragons are a good choice too though.

You said..."I heard that they can turn blue and red and orange which is really cool. Do Jackson's have a wide range of colors?"...Jacksons are basically green although they do some light green mixed with dark green patterns and a few have a yellowish green sort of stripe down their sides. Each kind/morph of panther has a different range of colors it can do...so they can't all do all colors. Part of the chwmeleon's color changing is a "language"....they express their emotions and " tell" you when they are gravid or angry or hot or cold, etc by their colors and posture.

Here's some information to get you started...
Female veileds or panthers can be more difficult to keep because both can suffer from reproductive problems. How you feed them and keep them is more critical than for males. Both can lay (infertile) eggs without having a mate. You will more than likely have to deal with egglaying if you get a female veiled or panther.

Most chameleons don't seem to like being handled but some will tolerate it. Some won't tolerate it at all. It seems some look at us as a safe tree to sit on sometimes.

Your temperatures have to be proper in the basking area and the other areas of the cage. They need proper temperatures to help them digest their food.

You need to mist them and set up a dripper for them so they can get the water they need.

You need a UVB bulb so they can produce the D3 they need to use the calcium in the system. You need to dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder and other powders and feed/gutload the insects to provide the proper nutrients for the chameleon.

They need lots of plants in the cage to hide in and branches to climb on. Plants need to be non-toxic and well washed...both sides of the leaves.

Female veileds and panthers need an egglaying bin in their cages once they are mature.

There is lots more to learn than just this!
Here are some good links with good information to get you started including some from this site....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/Home.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...-like-how-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it.95071/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/supplementation-mbd-1.2451/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/quarantine.36078/

BTW..the care for bearded dragons is quite similar for feeding, supplementing and feeding/gutloading the insects but they need veggies and greens in addition to the insects and need different basking temperatures and different humidity and watering methods.

Hope this helps!
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Great Info! I'm posting here to learn as much as I can so I can make the right decision when getting a chameleon or any lizard. :)
 
Good that you are doing your research before jumping into buying a reptile! I've been keeping chameleons for over 30 years and a lot of tortoises, geckos, water dragons, beardies, cone heads, helmeted iguanasetc , and even a frog or two...and I'm still learning!
 
jamest0o0 said:
@JoeDigiorgio good point, I just look at wild caughts as if they were another species. CB should be the only way for a new person
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You really have to look at it that way. I've learned the hard way that simply providing textbook care to a wild import is not enough in many cases. They just start from too far behind.

I'd been chomping at the bit since I saw him post those oustaleti eggs months ago but now I have no room with the melleri all over and a trio of jacksonii jacksonii coming in this month. Very upsetting. I wish I could just have everything I ever wanted lol
 
Oh I know same here... i actually have a list in my head of which chameleons I want, in which order (y). I wanted oustaleti awhile back, but now I don't have room. Going to be up to 7 chameleons for me.
 
jamest0o0 said:
Oh I know same here... i actually have a list in my head of which chameleons I want, in which order (y). I wanted oustaleti awhile back, but now I don't have room. Going to be up to 7 chameleons for me.
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OMG! Verrucosus! Another one on my list I have no room for! That's a great chameleon for the OP to look into! James Raymond over at Psychadelic Chameleons is doing amazing work with them. They're very similar to panthers, but much more rare in the hobby. A little less dramatic in color but beautiful in their own right. They're also very affordable.
 
JoeDigiorgio said:
OMG! Verrucosus! Another one on my list I have no room for! That's a great chameleon for the OP to look into! James Raymond over at Psychadelic Chameleons is doing amazing work with them. They're very similar to panthers, but much more rare in the hobby. A little less dramatic in color but beautiful in their own right. They're also very affordable.
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They sound pretty cool but when I looked them up it looks like they grow to be huge. I kind of want to stick to something a bit smaller, but if larger means hardier/easier care for then I am all for it.
 
Larger doesn't mean easier, size doesn't really play a role in that aspect. I just have a bigger is better attitude when it comes to my animals lol.

@JoeDigiorgio I saw some on here, displayed some really nice blues and greens. I love their spikes and they get to be a decent size as well. They are on my 'one day' list... when the gf's tyrannical house rules don't limit me to only 2 rooms filled with chameleons.
 
I don't think verrucosus get particularly large. Not like oustaleti or melleri at least. I think they're very comparable to panthers in size as well as care.
 
JoeDigiorgio said:
I don't think verrucosus get particularly large. Not like oustaleti or melleri at least. I think they're very comparable to panthers in size as well as care.
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That sounds great! Also, I heard they were timid when I read the care sheet. Are they timid in any of your experiences?
 
In my experience so far panthers are more mellow. It's not impossible to "tame" a chameleon but it takes a lot of time, patience, and treats. My female veiled warmed up to me after a year of working with her... then I went on vacation for a week and I'm back to square one. My male panther however is warming up to me in months and now occasionally comes out onto me on his own. My male veiled is a mooch for food but he will bite me if I get to close. I never force my chameleons onto me and do everything by their own pace of comfortablility. Every reptile has their own personality but there's nothing more magical then when they accept you and just walk onto your hand on their own.
 
Fireborn said:
In my experience so far panthers are more mellow. It's not impossible to "tame" a chameleon but it takes a lot of time, patience, and treats. My female veiled warmed up to me after a year of working with her... then I went on vacation for a week and I'm back to square one. My male panther however is warming up to me in months and now occasionally comes out onto me on his own. My male veiled is a mooch for food but he will bite me if I get to close. I never force my chameleons onto me and do everything by their own pace of comfortablility. Every reptile has their own personality but there's nothing more magical then when they accept you and just walk onto your hand on their own.
Click to expand...
I love holding reptiles because they curl their tail around you and it's just so cute xD. I've held baby iguanas in the wild, house geckos, and anoles (I love anoles but they are very skiddish.) Once when I was holding a baby iguana it escaped and jumped in the pool. Thankfully, I got it out but it held it's breath for like 5 minutes. I didn't know they were such good swimmers.
 
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