Im New and Intrigued by Chameleons and NEED advice!

[bkb17]

For my panther chameleon, I spend over $1000 in supplies for the first six months, easily, and that does not include the vet care (fecals) and the actual chameleon himself. All together, the first six months was easily $1500. My elaborate living vivarium (something like what a pygmy would need)- with waterfall, etc- cost me over $5000 to set up and run. You should have at least $200+ saved up at all times for vet expenses alone, let alone if something like mechanical failure happens. It's easy to say "Yes! I will have the funds" but, trust me, life outside of highschool is significantly more expensive than you think. My best recommendation is: WAIT. Wait one year. Get settled in university, see what life has to offer. Do your research, slowly start buying supplies, talking to people, and making connections in the reptile world. Get your studies and finances straight. Then, next year, once you have your first year of university under your belt, THEN get a chameleon if you still think one would fit into your lifestyle. Full time university is overwhelming; exams alone are enough to send you over the edge. Adding an addition responsibility before you experience those things is asking for trouble.

I think one of my biggest mistakes in university was saddling myself with a lot of high-needs animals. It really curtailed my activities and opportunities. Also, when I did leave their care to people I trusted, almost without fail it ended badly. And these were close friends of mine who I trusted implicitly. If anyone had said they would forget to give my caine toad water (!!!) I would have laughed in their face. But they did, and it was the caine toad who suffered for it. Even though they forgot, it was still my fault for leaving the care of an animal in my responsibility to people I should not have trusted, but did. I can't trust anyone to care for my animals like I care for them anymore. It also put a huge strain on our friendships, and it's never fully recovered. I've also lived with plenty of roommates through my university years: I would not trust them as far as I could throw them. Sure, it's cool to have a chameleon right now, but in two years? The novelty wears off quickly when you have to be home at 4pm every day to mist the cage because your MistKing konked out last week and you don't have $200 to replace it because tuition is due soon. Or, what happens when those roommates have to move out? It's pretty unusual to have the same roommates throughout university; more often they change yearly if not more frequently. Are your new roommates going to be as reliable? These are real-life experiences. I'm not sure why you would want to add an additional stress to a situation that is stressful enough on it's own.

Maybe a betta fish in a nice 5g tank would be a good idea. Or a crested gecko; they are easy to care for and don't need the setup costs or amount of maintenance care that a chameleon would. They also do not require live food, which is bonus if you have to look for a new place at some point, and look great in a nice planted vivarium. They also travel well, so you could bring them back and forth with you, and are much more handleable than a chameleon (who don't really do well when handled a lot).

Thank you, but I want to make this clear, I am not looking for a pet this year! I am doing research and asking questions so I can be well prepared for next year when I have a house! I also really enjoy your idea of a crested gecko, I will strongly consider that!

 

[wodesorel]

As someone who cares for multiple species across the animal kingdom - chams really are a bit of a headache. They are not a 'eh, today's overloaded, I'll deal with it tomorrow' type pet. Other species like snakes or geckos you can skip a couple days of care (so long as they have water) if something comes up. I took my cham as an emergency rescue. I enjoy her so much and I hope it works out for the best, but I'm still on the fence on if I'm the right permanent home. In my heyday of college of working and being social I never would have had enough time for one. The cats I had in college didn't care so much if I was available only at night for snuggles, and the fish could get water changes anytime. However, a chameleon needs care during set hours and they cannot adjust their schedule to work with yours. It really sucks since they are outrageously awesome otherwise!

 

[Mikesyring]

Honestly if your at college is stay away from chameleons for the mean time I'd suggest a water dragon if your looking to do a really cool set up a little bit sterdyer reptile and the setups can get really cool

 

[Mikesyring]

Here's a cool Chinese water dragon set up

 

[Alexander1]

I agree homeboy, chams are a lot of work, keeping them healthy and happy take up a lot of my time, I don't mind since I'm already working. if your in school the added stress, and yes there will be stress, would distract you from getting yo learn on and frat parties and such, I suggest you start with a girlfriend that's a picky eater, then eventually move up to getting a Cham..