New and Doing HW

I actually considered starting up my colony again but my aunt who I gave eggs to for a lesson in life cycles to her preschool class she teaches no longer has any. Although I can probably obtain some from my aunt in British Columbia again or order some online.
 
I have to correct myself, I apparently had Indian walking sticks, but both are really easy to breed and establish colonies in my experience. Unfortunately Indian walking sticks are an invasive species, and as such keeping them is illegal in most cases. That's why I would suggest the northern walking stick insect. I had to ID what I had by looking up the eggs, both look similar in adult form, the eggs however do not. In Alberta where I live, it is illegal to keep Indian walking sticks without a federal permit.
 
And on doing research, at least in canada, apparently any walking stick insect is illegal to keep without a permit if they are imported, but legal to keep if obtained from a natural population and all roaches are illegal, however, I know this does not stop people from keeping them. The laws surrounding walking stick insects are confusing. Technically since my Indian walking stick insects, although an invasive species, was obtained from a natural population, they were legal to keep.
 
Wow I will need read up on the legality here in CA. For roaches I think dubia is ok and I have not read into orange head or any other roach for that matter. haha. I would consider walking sticks though since they would look cool in there with him (till they get snatched up) and the kids would think they are neat and not scary like roaches.

I was looking into the reptile store by my house who happens to have all 3 types of cham for sale but the jacksons and panther were a little bigger and the veilds were babies. It got me thinking maybe I should get a medium one so that they are not a heavy on feeding requirements as babies. The other side of that coin is I always thought it better to get babies to increase the bond early.

Also their shop has a poor website (as I am away for work this week in Minnesota I can only look up the websites) so I am not clear as to what feeders they have or stock most frequently. I went into the shop before I went on this trip and that's when I saw their chams and the conditions they were in. They looked very healthy and hydrated. active when approached. Panther was $399 Jacksons was $130 and baby veiled was $79.

I have a great respect for all the great information you guys have given me so I will ask your opinions on which to go with of these 3. Please note that I will be building up the cage and ensuring the system is fully functioning as much as possible before anything comes home with me. I have learned this from keeping a reef tank.
 
I wouldn't get a chameleon from a petstore. In all that i have been to, they just can't keep up with their needs. Even if they are in healthy, there is so much cross contamination. You're risking getting a chameleon that will come down with an illness of some sort. You also have no clue where they come from, how healthy the female that layed the eggs was, etc. I would order one from a breeder. You won't be disappointed.

-Jackson's are mostly all WC from hawaii in some way, I'd avoid them unless you can find a CB.

-panthers can be bought from a bunch of great companies/breeders. I have a few from kammerflage and some breeders on here. I know @Matt Vanilla Gorilla has some nice chameleons usually available and takes excellent care of them.

-veileds can be bought in a ton of places, but many aren't well taken care of. @jannb recently had a bunch available and she takes great care of hers.

-other chameleons like quad quads and graciliors aren't difficult either and are extremely cool. Something to consider. I wouldn't settle just because you're new if you want something a little out of the ordinary. Just do the research for the species that really catches your eye and go for it. If you can handle a SW aquarium, you can handle a chameleon given you set up the enclosure correctly(which I have no doubt that you would).
 
jamest0o0 said:
I wouldn't get a chameleon from a petstore. In all that i have been to, they just can't keep up with their needs. Even if they are in healthy, there is so much cross contamination. You're risking getting a chameleon that will come down with an illness of some sort. You also have no clue where they come from, how healthy the female that layed the eggs was, etc. I would order one from a breeder. You won't be disappointed.

-Jackson's are mostly all WC from hawaii in some way, I'd avoid them unless you can find a CB.

-panthers can be bought from a bunch of great companies/breeders. I have a few from kammerflage and some breeders on here. I know @Matt Vanilla Gorilla has some nice chameleons usually available and takes excellent care of them.

-veileds can be bought in a ton of places, but many aren't well taken care of. @jannb recently had a bunch available and she takes great care of hers.

-other chameleons like quad quads and graciliors aren't difficult either and are extremely cool. Something to consider. I wouldn't settle just because you're new if you want something a little out of the ordinary. Just do the research for the species that really catches your eye and go for it. If you can handle a SW aquarium, you can handle a chameleon given you set up the enclosure correctly(which I have no doubt that you would).
Click to expand...


I wasn't looking into shipping them as I don't want to stress them out anymore then I have to so that I can get off to a good start but if that is better then a petstore I will look into it. I started looking into local breeder as well. My daughter and wife like the bright colors of the panthers. I had to explain that the color changing doesn't work like tv but they get it now. haha.

As for the species, I like the veiled and jacksons a lot actually but am open to other types as long as they are not a sensitive (well more then common ones) species. I like the giant one as well but don't want a massive cage. I would consider a smaller species to keep the cage size down.
 
I don’t have anymore available babies but I do know a lady with some big, healthy and friendly baby veileds. If you are interested PM me and I can put you in touch with her.
 
@jannb I'm very interested but I will be working on Getting the cage setup before I purchase a Cham but will let you know as soon as I am ready.
 
@jannb I forgot that I saw your FS post when I first started lurking these forums and absolutely love the red coloration on them. Too bad you don't have any left they looked amazing. I like when they have red like that. I saw some photos of panthers that were all red and thought that was cool.
 
JoshD49 said:
@jannb I'm very interested but I will be working on Getting the cage setup before I purchase a Cham but will let you know as soon as I am ready.
Click to expand...

You might want to go ahead and talk to her and have her hold one for you. She is the type of person that would not want to send you a baby until you are 100% ready.

Thank you for you nice complements on my babies. ❤️
 
Don't be afraid of having them shipped. I think it is less off a trauma for them to be in a good breeders care and shipped overnight and sleep thru that then be exposed to possibly subpar care and the stress of being displayed in a busy store with the cross contamination mentioned above.
 
So I started looking into breeders in my area and I see only LLLreptiles has veiled chams and @jannb referral may have 1 male left which they will let me know but how do you feel about LLLreptile? If not it's ok I'm not in a hurry so it will be ok.
 
@Jevin I think I might buy because I have a friend that might be able to get wholesale prices on equipment. If that comes through then I will buy. If not then build. The good news is that he also said he would be my nanny when I'm out of town. He doesn't know about chams much but he is interested in them. He also takes care of SW aquariums for a living so he is very detailed.
 
Ok guys I purchased my reptibreeze xl so I can get going and start decorating.

Will be getting mistking as well with 2 nozzles. Should be enough I hope. I will use a plexi cover on the sides so I don't get water everywhere during mists.

I plan to buy/make a pic cup feeder for superworms and gornworms when I'm out of town and feed crickets and Dubai when im in town. My friend agreed to make visits while I'm gone.

This is just to start the cage and then once it's going I will be shopping for the cham. Hopefully there will be some available here haha.

I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all the advice and I cannot wait to get my new little family member. You guys have been great.
 
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