Rudis maybe????

Clearly you are excited about reptiles; they are pretty cool. Is there a zoo, reptile store, rescue or breeder you could volunteer your time at to learn a bit more?

Working with different kinds of reptiles (crocodilians, varanids, snakes, etc.) may help narrow down some choices for you and/or realize how much work and money they actually take.
 
Trace said:
Clearly you are excited about reptiles; they are pretty cool. Is there a zoo, reptile store, rescue or breeder you could volunteer your time at to learn a bit more?

Working with different kinds of reptiles (crocodilians, varanids, snakes, etc.) may help narrow down some choices for you and/or realize how much work and money they actually take.
Click to expand...

Good advise.

CHEERS!

Nick:D
 
Trace said:
Clearly you are excited about reptiles; they are pretty cool. Is there a zoo, reptile store, rescue or breeder you could volunteer your time at to learn a bit more?

Working with different kinds of reptiles (crocodilians, varanids, snakes, etc.) may help narrow down some choices for you and/or realize how much work and money they actually take.
Click to expand...

Agreed, when I was younger that was how I got to really dive into the hobby, all the cool stuff was at work then especially growing up in a no snake home.
 
I live a few blocks away from the Fort Worth Zoo, and they have a Herp House. I don't know of any programs but I'll check it out.
 
So you want to be a herpetologist?

First thing, do no harm. That means if you really want to make this your career or passion learn to do no harm to it to the best of your ability. There will be times you do everything right and still lose an animal, so avoid doing things that people who came before you already know don't work.



13 years old. Young man I have been keeping reptiles for 39 years (40 in a few months) which is three times longer than you have been alive. That is the type of people who frequent this forum. People whose advice you have ignored in your posts. People who will give you nearly no help after seeing your posts saying how you are going to do what you want to do.

Now I had my first chameleon at an age younger than you. However I had the privilege of my father who understood even way back before the internet came to be that the key to keeping any reptile alive was understanding where it came from. I had to use a library back then to look up about the weather and humidity and all sorts of things. Because of that I learned that a bird cage would be better than a glass tank. Adults from a local pet store laughed at me but my chameleons lived longer than theirs. My father also knew that imported birds had parasites, and he got the wild idea to treat an imported reptile for them too. Our chameleons lived more often than not because of his common sense.

So you want help? I had to stand around outside pet stores and ask strangers who bought reptile food (That way I knew they owned reptiles) for advice. Scary in today's terms. You have the safety and comfort of the internet.


First off- Screen cage. No if's, and's, or but's anymore out of you please. I hear you go off about your current set up again and I'll never so much as waste my time clicking on any post of yours. Get a simple screen cage. Look in the recycler or yard sales in your area. Real chameleon keepers improvise all the time. Glass tank = not a chameleon keeper. Go put some Dart frogs in your tank.

Second- make sure it has a drip tray you can empty or just make one. You need to have a dripper on top and fill it up before school once a day. Your glass cage will flood. Didn't think of that did you, but figured you'd just spray it daily? That crap doesn't work long term. You need a simple drip system for the mornings and can spray the animal twice a day after you get home for humidity needs. You screw up on too much humidity in a glass tank and you get a respiratory infection, or should I be quiet and let you kill it? There are a dozen things that will kill your chameleon and I doubt anybody here other than me is going to offer to help prevent that considering your past posts.

Third - Don't buy a chameleon until you have a Zoo-Med 5.0 tube light. Do not buy the screw in bulbs, period. Put it on a timer to turn on at sunrise and off at sundown. Replace the bulb every 6 months because it dims and the UV light is not strong anymore. It won't burn out, they just fade.


You want me to type up about how to NOT overdose your animal on vitamin supplements? Which ones work best? You want help in finding an animal. Then before I waste my time typing anything more (Us old people get tired plus I got kids to chase off my lawn using my new Drone) I want to see how you are going to respond. So far you've been a waste of time.

13? Herpetologist? Young man I worked in the pet industry for 15 years. That's two years longer than your life. You still going to blow off the advice given? It's no skin off my nose to ignore your posts.
 
I did follow most I your advice, actually. I will probably get this extension that is a mesh cage (about 18" all 3 ways) and that way he can decide if he wants more humidity or not (by going to glass or mesh part) I have that bulb actually, and I happen to have just gotten a timer as well. I'll use that I suppose. Anyway, I have a humidifier and may or may not use it, for a dripper system I've asked several other sites, experts, and so ons and they agree that several plastic cups with holes in them will suffice instead of a 50$ system that works just as well. My Pothos will soak up some of the water, and I will get another soon, so I will have two plastic cups, one above each (refill each day) and that way everyone gets their water and my tank doesn't flood. I appreciate your 40 years of expertise, and while you think you are wasting your time on me you are not. I know quite a bit, and I am duly prepared. I also, as stated, take your advice into consideration. The mesh cage part will allow for more ventilation, and the glass part will allow for more humidity. Tell me if I got anything wrong, as I would love any and all advice given to me. PS can someone help me post in the classifieds? I want to post a wanted ad......

Nick, the Herp Boy
 
PS my favorite part of that post you made was that you as a senior member.....sorry I just thought that was funny. And your Username. Good times. Anyway, I have to do a reading assignment. Oh, almost forgot. Should I stock up on fruit flies and crickets? If so, should I put them in, say, a 10 gallon aquarium for each (cricket/fruit fly)? And I know I need flightless, should I handfeed my new guy or what? Glad I know some experts. Anyway, (sorry I say anyway a lot) should I use a UVB and hear bulb? UVB gets the temp up to 73 or so, the heat bulb gets it up to 76-79. Any advice is welcome (besides sarcastic advice and people telling me to go to a vendor and buy a WC or to buy a puppy or put a Panther in my cage.) Much appreciated.
 
PPS what does "skin off my nose" mean? It sounds like something my mom or uncle or maybe my grandma on my dad's side would say.
 
The cham "won't choose more or less hunidity" do you think they get a choice in the wild? Remember we are trying to replicate its natural home the best we can. With that said mother nature chooses the humidity (which will be your job, I highly doubt the cham will mosey up and down to suit his humidity needs)
 
NickyChameleon said:
PS my favorite part of that post you made was that you as a senior member.....sorry I just thought that was funny. And your Username. Good times. Anyway, I have to do a reading assignment. Oh, almost forgot. Should I stock up on fruit flies and crickets? If so, should I put them in, say, a 10 gallon aquarium for each (cricket/fruit fly)? And I know I need flightless, should I handfeed my new guy or what? Glad I know some experts. Anyway, (sorry I say anyway a lot) should I use a UVB and hear bulb? UVB gets the temp up to 73 or so, the heat bulb gets it up to 76-79. Any advice is welcome (besides sarcastic advice and people telling me to go to a vendor and buy a WC or to buy a puppy or put a Panther in my cage.) Much appreciated.
Click to expand...

You need a uvb AND a heat source, 80-85 BASKING is good. Higher temps aid in digestion and metabolism
 
NickyChameleon said:
how do I become a regular member?
Click to expand...

As like most of your questions t this was answered, time on site as a member, your activity and your rep (ppl can comment on posts and replies leaving good or bad feedback) id work on that by not passing ppl off and or talking bad about the experts here.
 
The real question here is how enthusiastic are the parents about this whole ordeal, IMO from the sounds of it not very.

You are 13, you are going to have a million things you are going to want to spend your money on. Is it the right time to keep such an expensive animal? If you don't have the support of your parents don't go for it.
 
Every time you respond to his posts, they get pushed back to the top of the forum. How about we give these posts some space and let them drift into obscurity. He's been given the proper information, good advise, and sources for additional research. What he does with that info is beyond any of our control. Almost a week of this nonstop has been exhausting, and based on other posts I've seen, it is turning off other new members.
 
the best advice for you is really take some good long time doing all this. It will do wonders more than you imagen.

you will get your chameleon eventually and then you will know more than you do know, everyone wins.
 
Last edited:
Seriously? I have not been "pushing off some of the experts" or whatever and I've spent forever on this. I'm not just gonna not get a chameleon now, and thanks for the advice on the heating. I may just be a kid, ya might wanna check my quote. Also, I've been trying to be nice and take everyone's advice into consideration. While I agree that screen cages work well, many have disagreed on this and therefore it is just an opinion. Look up Rudis chameleon on YouTube. All of the videos feature a glass terrarium. They only get to be 6 MAYBE 7 inches, and a 16"x16"x30" glass OR screen is reccomended by most. And even if he doesn't decide where he wants to go based on humidity, the humidity will level out and there will be a compromise of screen and glass, the big debate. I don't have anything else to spend my money on, this trioceros sternfeldi is all I want. My parents took 7 months to convince, but now they support me, but say that I have to pay. By the time I add the extension, the cage will be 18"x18"x42" and will be far big enough for a 6" chameleon, probably even a 10" chameleon, but I want a Rudis. I have taken all the necessary precautions, and all I really need now is a heat source slightly warmer, my cricket and flightless fruit fly collections, and of course Chiche. My Pothos has already grown in the week I have had it, and I will get a second one for more foliage. Despite what all of you think, I am actually quite qualified to take care of a new little guy, and I will need him probably to cope the sure soon loss of Leo, Bob, and Hank.

Wishing for information that is helpful (I do take certain advice, such as heat, into consideration),


Nick, the Herp Boy
 
In taking y'all's advice...

I'm ordering from FLChams. It will take me a month or so to get the money together, so I will have more time to research as well.
 
Did you decide on the Rudis for sure? Such awesome little chams from what I've heard.

I wish I had space for some myself. :)
 
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