Life in my greenhouse...may be graphic to some. WARNING

[jpowell86]

Neat video! Watching larger chameleons hunt vertebrates is always something to watch. My Furcifer oustaleti were big about hunting small lizard. Although I have had Trioceros melleri and Calumma parsonii parsonii that would hunt them occasionally too.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

Thanks, Jeremy. They are amazing hunters!

 

[jpowell86]

Really nice video. Impressive!

Thanks, Bob!

 

[jpowell86]

No, he's a T-rex. Just eating some meat.

I've been given a little shit by the occasional newbie who has seen a picture of Atlas eating vertebrates. To date they have been told to pull their heads out of their A$$ since it is clear as day the larger the predator, the larger their prey needs to be. I wish had video of my old Parson when he nailed a hummingbird, but back then we didn't even have flip phones.

Also, we have preached for decades that these animals need a varied diet. No way in hell a huge chameleon is going to thrive on just roaches. Atlas is so big now he won't even look at a jumbo super worm and crickets are tiny now.

Noel you're doing preventative de-wormings a few times a year I would think?

Exactly! I have quite a few melleri that are getting to a size where some popular prey items just don't seem to interest them anymore. I am not offering them anoles(@jajeanpierre) but I also know that they are going to hunt what they want. There is no way a chameleon that size in the wild is going to feed on small prey alone. They are opportunists.

Believe it or not Ralph, I do regular fecals on my melleri because of this and to date have never wormed them past what I did in initial acclimation. That boy in the video has been with me for over 5 years. Iron gut. But, I do still check and always will.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

Exactly! I have quite a few melleri that are getting to a size where some popular prey items just don't seem to interest them anymore. I am not offering them anoles(@jajeanpierre) but I also know that they are going to hunt what they want. There is no way a chameleon that size in the wild is going to feed on small prey alone. They are opportunists.

Believe it or not Ralph, I do regular fecals on my melleri because of this and to date have never wormed them past what I did in initial acclimation. That boy in the video has been with me for over 5 years. Iron gut. But, I do still check and always will.

Actually it makes sense. A healthy animal like that would have a parasite load in the wild. Your habitat is simply large enough to where it breaks the cycle in captivity where the animal just gets reinfected due to a small amount of space and being constantly re-exposed. Also your animals are healthy and well hydrated on a regular basis, unlike what they go through during the shipping ordeal.

I do an annual de-worming on mine just as a routine. Nothing fancy, Panacur tends to catch the majority of stuff and if I notice something amiss I know to get it examined. With wild caught food items like that on a regular basis I'd do what you are doing.

 

[Chameleon Crazy Chick]

That is one crazy cham! I love him. If I had a dollar for every cham species I wanted to keep I'd be rich enough to buy the chams.

 

[jpowell86]

Actually it makes sense. A healthy animal like that would have a parasite load in the wild. Your habitat is simply large enough to where it breaks the cycle in captivity where the animal just gets reinfected due to a small amount of space and being constantly re-exposed. Also your animals are healthy and well hydrated on a regular basis, unlike what they go through during the shipping ordeal.

I do an annual de-worming on mine just as a routine. Nothing fancy, Panacur tends to catch the majority of stuff and if I notice something amiss I know to get it examined. With wild caught food items like that on a regular basis I'd do what you are doing.

My thoughts as well.

 

[jpowell86]

That is one crazy cham! I love him. If I had a dollar for every cham species I wanted to keep I'd be rich enough to buy the chams.

He's a beast for sure!