Keeping a valid easy or med or hard Difficulty
- Thread starter Jd♂️♂️
- Start date
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
I don't know what your animal experience is, but I think of keeping Chams as an entire biotope, like a planted tank, or reef.
It is honestly easy, IF you set up the proper enclosure to start with. Consider how you will provide lights for your plants, that gets skipped a lot.
You could start with the cage and plant lights, get it growing well, then add proper uv and cham and you will likely be very successful.
All that said I tell my wife exotic = dies easy. But setting up right from the beginning has always the best results. The Vields are great I love them. I have had many animals over the years, and these are my favorite.
For me they are worth the effort. Just set up right from beginning, and dont shortcut on lights, by a double or quad fixture, that way your plants will thrive.
It is honestly easy, IF you set up the proper enclosure to start with. Consider how you will provide lights for your plants, that gets skipped a lot.
You could start with the cage and plant lights, get it growing well, then add proper uv and cham and you will likely be very successful.
All that said I tell my wife exotic = dies easy. But setting up right from the beginning has always the best results. The Vields are great I love them. I have had many animals over the years, and these are my favorite.
For me they are worth the effort. Just set up right from beginning, and dont shortcut on lights, by a double or quad fixture, that way your plants will thrive.
No they are not easy... Nor are they cheap... A Vet trip can cost hundreds of dollars. The items they need for an enclosure are also expensive.
If you are looking for a cuddly companion then do not do it. If your looking for something to hold when ever you want then do not do it. If your looking for something easy then do not do it.
Veileds are temperamental. While they are young they can appear to be more gentile but as they mature their personality can change completely. They can become aggressive and bite.
Even if you set up their enclosure properly and have perfect husbandry you can still end up with a cham that has health issues... There is no guarantee.
If you are looking for a cuddly companion then do not do it. If your looking for something to hold when ever you want then do not do it. If your looking for something easy then do not do it.
Veileds are temperamental. While they are young they can appear to be more gentile but as they mature their personality can change completely. They can become aggressive and bite.
Even if you set up their enclosure properly and have perfect husbandry you can still end up with a cham that has health issues... There is no guarantee.
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yes maybe easy was the wrong term, but yes like a reef tank, every short cut brings you closer to failure, and worse you can have everything right and it still doesn't work out.
And like a reef it is something you observe more than touch. And like a reef you do just need to spend the upfront money to have the best chances.
I guess my easy meant once it is all established and running well it is easy.
And like I said exotic = dies easy It is defiantly a part of dealing with exotics, and as you mentioned cost.
CasqueAbove
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you understand all they are and what they are and except that you will be good. You are already ahead of many that already bought one.
I still say they are worth the effort, but it is a commitment.
Lol I was basing my comment on the OP’s subject line of the thread... not your comment
I agree with everything you said... I think people jump into having Chams... 25% do great and become learning machines and money is never a worry. 25% try to halfway do it with parts and pieces of their husbandry correct. Then there is the other 50% that don’t try to do anything because they feel it’s good enough then get upset when the Cham dies. I tend to be overly honest in threads like this because personally I think if someone has doubts then they need to think long and hard before jumping into this hobby.
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
We got our first cham just this past August (after having a bearded dragon for a year. The learning has been continuous, and as Beman mentioned, it can go great if you keep digging for best practices and take time for continual improvement. It has been extremely rewarding caring for our cham, and she gives joy to so many people! If your heart is set on a cham and you are prepared to do the research and the behind the scenes work for success, I wouldn't fear to do it. But only if. . .
Sharon12
Established Member
I wanted a chameleon and took.the plunge really without knowing what I was getting into. But I am a scientist so the whole thing has been right up my alley. I love to research things so dove right in and with the help.of forum members I have been.successful and Etosha is a delight. Still listen to all the podcasts and still questions to ask a year later. Getting a good reptile vet is super important and having that wellness check was really worth it to have that relationship established were something to go wrong. Must like insects and i am also enjoying my silkworm breeding efforts. So expensive, complicated and requires dedication.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sounds like you need to read up on chameleon nutrition. Have you read the husbandry articles under the forum's Resources tab? I can think of much scarier health problems than Metabolic Bone Disease.
Oh ? Like explain message me
Way you put it you make it sound really dramatic...I know everything sept the amounts of nutritions meaning power an multi vitamin how much to use of what that’s what I’m nervous about or the tongue getting damaged during feeding
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
It can be very dramatic when the husbandry is done wrong. Especially for the chameleon. I guess I find it hard to be so cavalier about cham care.
You still not goin into depth about your option
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
That’s what I wann get I haven’t can you send the link please...
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
Hi Jd,
If you have already taken so much time to research this far and buy things, not to mention doing research here and making sure things are good be for you get a cham...I think this indicates you are serious about taking good care of the cham.
We are fairly new cham owners and there are people on this forum with much more experience and expertise...but here are some thoughts.
Compared to a dog\cat....chams seem difficult or at least much more complex! Compared to other reptiles (eg turtle/bearded dragon) I think it is a little harder but certainly doable and rewarding!
If you get proper lighting and heat with a schedule for light on/off that is regular (use a timer if you can e.g. lights on at 7am and lights off at 7pm or something like that) proper cage size and appropriate plants/branches, then it's on to appropriate feeder insects with gutloading and dusting with supplements (Calcium without D3 every day except twice a month calcium with D3 and twice a month multivitamin) You can find different articles on the internet on how to gutload your feeder insects. You will find your own best way! There are threads on here for how much to feed depending upon age and gender of your cham). What is important is humidity and hydration which can be as simple as hand spraying cage several times a day amd running a dripper to wonderful automated misting/fogger systems and a system for drainage. Again, you will find info. Our cham drinks froma syringe every day after eating her crickets from a bucket while sitting on my arm( and we run a dripper for most of the day). Every cham will be different I think!
You will want to find a location for your cham that is not too high traffic...but also a place where it will peacefully get used to you being around and where you spend time! There are articles on how to start getting your cham to start trusting you and recommendations on how soon/how you should start handling them.
Feeding seems best In the morning but could be later, but not too close to lights off or it can affect the cham's digestion.
If you get a female you will be involved with possible egg laying but again there are lots of threads here to help you!
There are websites too (not pet store websites but reptile/cham specialist websites) that can help too!
Those would be key areas to focus on. If we can do it....you can too...if you are prepared for the somewhat complex things. Once you have a basic system down (including keeper your feeder insects alive and healthy to keeping your enclosure with appropriate humidity and clean too) the complexity is not too daunting but there are.always things to learn. I am grateful for the knowledgeable people on this forum who have been so helpful!!
I hope this is even in a small way helpful.
All the best!
If you have already taken so much time to research this far and buy things, not to mention doing research here and making sure things are good be for you get a cham...I think this indicates you are serious about taking good care of the cham.
We are fairly new cham owners and there are people on this forum with much more experience and expertise...but here are some thoughts.
Compared to a dog\cat....chams seem difficult or at least much more complex! Compared to other reptiles (eg turtle/bearded dragon) I think it is a little harder but certainly doable and rewarding!
If you get proper lighting and heat with a schedule for light on/off that is regular (use a timer if you can e.g. lights on at 7am and lights off at 7pm or something like that) proper cage size and appropriate plants/branches, then it's on to appropriate feeder insects with gutloading and dusting with supplements (Calcium without D3 every day except twice a month calcium with D3 and twice a month multivitamin) You can find different articles on the internet on how to gutload your feeder insects. You will find your own best way! There are threads on here for how much to feed depending upon age and gender of your cham). What is important is humidity and hydration which can be as simple as hand spraying cage several times a day amd running a dripper to wonderful automated misting/fogger systems and a system for drainage. Again, you will find info. Our cham drinks froma syringe every day after eating her crickets from a bucket while sitting on my arm( and we run a dripper for most of the day). Every cham will be different I think!
You will want to find a location for your cham that is not too high traffic...but also a place where it will peacefully get used to you being around and where you spend time! There are articles on how to start getting your cham to start trusting you and recommendations on how soon/how you should start handling them.
Feeding seems best In the morning but could be later, but not too close to lights off or it can affect the cham's digestion.
If you get a female you will be involved with possible egg laying but again there are lots of threads here to help you!
There are websites too (not pet store websites but reptile/cham specialist websites) that can help too!
Those would be key areas to focus on. If we can do it....you can too...if you are prepared for the somewhat complex things. Once you have a basic system down (including keeper your feeder insects alive and healthy to keeping your enclosure with appropriate humidity and clean too) the complexity is not too daunting but there are.always things to learn. I am grateful for the knowledgeable people on this forum who have been so helpful!!
I hope this is even in a small way helpful.
All the best!
Zebenox
Member
So I came home with a veiled chameleon having done zero prior research and didn't even have a cage for him. I rushed to get things set up (I thought correctly) and spent the next month tweaking everything (Temps were inconsistent, air flow problems, humidity problems, standing water, etc.) And I'm not going to lie Randall looked a bit rough in the middle of my fumblings and I was not confident he'd make it. But I pulled it together and now he's about 6 months old (got him at 8 weeks) active, sassy, healthy, hydrated and getting ready to move into his big boy cage. Things I've learned:
1. Don't impulse buy a chameleon
2. Get accurate measurements on temp and humidity
3. Drainage is important, and so is night time humidity spikes.
4. Learn chameleon language (Bill Strand's chameleon breeder podcast was super helpful)
5. Don't listen to pet store people (and even some people at reptile shows give really bad info, this forum is a great resource).
6. Veileds are SASSY. I was away a lot when I first got him so he was pretty scared of me but with quarantine he no longer tries to bite me when I put my hand in the cage so consistency seems to be important for handling (i don't really handle mine but I want to make sure I CAN with minimum stress in case he needs medical care.) I looked up sub adult pictures recently because I was worried my boy was getting fat and almost every picture is a puffed, up saluting, angry boy.
As far as MBD goes, just don't slack on your supplements and you should be fine.
1. Don't impulse buy a chameleon
2. Get accurate measurements on temp and humidity
3. Drainage is important, and so is night time humidity spikes.
4. Learn chameleon language (Bill Strand's chameleon breeder podcast was super helpful)
5. Don't listen to pet store people (and even some people at reptile shows give really bad info, this forum is a great resource).
6. Veileds are SASSY. I was away a lot when I first got him so he was pretty scared of me but with quarantine he no longer tries to bite me when I put my hand in the cage so consistency seems to be important for handling (i don't really handle mine but I want to make sure I CAN with minimum stress in case he needs medical care.) I looked up sub adult pictures recently because I was worried my boy was getting fat and almost every picture is a puffed, up saluting, angry boy.
As far as MBD goes, just don't slack on your supplements and you should be fine.
