New member with a few questions

[haileymoose]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and have been browsing here for a couple weeks. I'm interested in getting a cham and have been for a few years, but my interest has peaked since Mass has agreed to start allowing chams as pets with a permit. Although I am not getting one for a little while I'd like to be as prepared as possible and know as much as I can before I jump head first into this. I'd like to make this transition with as little stress as possible, so I figured going straight to a source of information is my best bet. As I said I've read alot as far as enclosures, lighting, handling, food sources, etc but I haven't been able to find alot on the different type of chams. Sure, I've found plenty of reading material as far as what makes them different from a scientific stand point, but I'd like some information from people with actual day to day experience with these awesome little creatures. What was your first chameleon, did it end horribly or was it an amazing experience? What did you find out about them or their care that you might not have expected? Which chams seemed to be better equipped to deal with a newbie owner? Any and all stories on any and every topic I will greatly appreciate, and any links you found helpful I am more then willing to read. Sorry this was so long, and thanks to everyone in advance for their time!!

 

[Julirs]

Welcome haileymoose! I find it wonderful that you have found this forum BEFORE you went out and got a cham and ended up having problems! I certainly wish I had! My first came from a petstore and the most completely wrong information for care. He didn't last long. A couple of things to condsider...Chameleons need care several times daily. Of at least twice, so make sure that you will be available to do this. There are ways to make it even easier, like by purchasing a misting system, then you would only need to feed the once a day, but this is not an easy pet to have if you travel or go on vacation alot. Make sure you have someone that can help you if you need to go somewhere. Next, purchase the proper setup and have it all ready and calibrated before your chameleon gets there. Most problems come from improper caging, lighting, and supplementing, or at least a huge number of problems we see here on the forum! If you go to my website in my signature I have a shopping cart from LLLReptile (excellent prices) of the things you need to get started. Now-HUGELY IMPORTANT-buy your nice healthy problem free usually guaranteed chameleon from a breeder. I would personally start with a Veiled or a Flapneck or even a Panther ($$$) MALE-so you do not have to deal with egg laying issues. I have purchased nearly all of my chameleons from FLChams-you can get a 4 month old Veiled for about $110 shipped to your door overnight-and they do fine shipping! This gets you off to a great start. Continue to research on supplements and temps, etc... and we are here to help with any questions. Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

 

[mczoo]

what not to do

Welcome. I am a newbie owners so i will speak from recent experience of what NOT to do
1. do not buy on impulse
2. a healthy chameleon is worth the extra money you might pay
3. have everything you need set up and tested
4. get a chameleon 4 months or older
5. get a chameleon bred in captivity not captured and brought here
6. know the correct husbandry(cage, light, food, temperatures ) for your chameleon
7. f your pet shows any signs of illness such as closing eyes during day, poor feeding, no or abnormal stool, get it to the vet.
8. Most important read the post here everyday particularly the health, food and enclosure posts to see what the rest of us newbies did wrong daily for a few weeks or read the past weeks threads

(yes i did each one of these wrong at least once)

Good luck

Sean

 

[joefarah]

Great advice from Julirs and mczoo.

I would like to suggest browsing the "health clinic" section of this forum and read some of the horror stories on there. Chameleons get ill and die from so many causes it's kinda scary. Go through there and get a feel for some of the more common problems and what you can do to prevent them. Often inadequate caging, lighting, hydration, or diet causes issues that are slow to develop but very difficult to treat.

Learn the signs of a "stressed" chameleon so you can catch any problems with housing and husbandry early.

Oh, and have fun picking out a species and a specimen!!!!

Welcome to the forum.

Joe

 

[Bullsnake]

Diving into the world of Chameleons...

Welcome haileymoose. I have just recently gone through this process, so you have done perfect so far. Here is a link to my thread when I first joined https://www.chameleonforums.com/diving-into-world-chameleons-12165/. I have had to make the frustrating but responsible decision to wait to get purchase my first cham because I'm going on a vacation in two weeks, so I have to wait even longer to get him . Lol... So I can't give you much advise from being an experienced owner, just as a wanabe one . I just have to warn you that this is an AMAZING forum with AMAZING people who are ALL to eager to get you hooked on cham just to see the pics . Good luck and keep posting with your progress so those with more experience than me can help you on the way, and I can keep making stupid jokes about it throughout the process !!!