So, how did you get started with chameleons?

Oh my goodness...

Well, years ago in a Galaxy far, far...Sorry different life....We were in a local pet shop where this tiny Cham was sitting in this Tiny 5 gallon tank with a paper towel on the bottom. Just sitting there. Nothing to climb on. No dripper. No prey items. No greenery. The guy said "that's the way we keep'em and they do great"! We walked around and lo and behold, there was a book on Chams. After reading for about 5 min if that, we purchased the Cham, (Jackson female) told the Bozo to read his own books so he knew how to care for his OWN animals and left the store. They lasted about 9 months b4 closing thank goodness. Hey after 5 min. we were proffesionals compared to that guy! Or Cham lived about 7 years. Still miss her. After that we were Tonged (hooked)! Now after 22 years, we still learn every day and are proud to know that we do our best and can still ask for help if needed. You guys are the bestest and we love each and everyone of you. Especially you CAROL!!!!!!

May the Great Cham God of the forest bestow his Tonge on everyone of you!
 
Ace is a teenager then?


Way, way, way, back when I was 7-ish I asked my uncle for a chameleon (not quite sure what prompted me to ask...) and he found out that you could actually own one! So he waited until a reptile shop in our area had some baby veileds in and bought me one. Back when veileds were actually worth something. :/ Been keeping for 10-ish years now. The first guy lived to be almost 7! My super smart little kid self took care of him without any help.
 
ive had all types of animals since i was a kid but never seen chameleons in person until about two two and a half years ago i nipped into a retile shop that had just opened near to where i work. i finished work early and thought id go have a look and seen a veiled and thought i want one lol..
so after some reasearch i went and bought him a couple of weeks later and ive been hooked since and now have my veiled and a panther.
 
When I was about 10-11 I saw this guy walking around toys r us with a Jacksons chameleon hanging out on his shoulder. I thought it was the coolest thing, and I believe I saved some money up, and my parents helped outnand I got one! Unfortunately, I followed petsmarts advice and she passed away within like 6 months, along with her 14 babies she gave birth to...

Now I did the necessary research and precautions and have reptar in my care :)
 
A family member from Florida went to an Expo, took a cell phone pic & posted it on Facebook... that's how it all happened for me. One look & I had to find out what kind of reptile that was in the picture. After some internet research... there it was, a Panter Chameleon. I was in love! :D
 
I've always loved animals, specially exotic ones:D. Unfortunately, my mom's fear to snakes did not let me have one until I was older and could properly take care of them that I got one, which turned out to be a good thing. I always found it amazing how chameleons could change colors:eek:, which is a trait very few animals have, none as much as chameleons themselves. After months of research and attending reptile shows I decided to finally get one, and cannot seem to pull away from the addiction :D
 
welll.. sometime around Februar-ish I went to my local petshop to get something for my turtles. (don't remember) lol. and I seen this tiny little Pygmy Chameleon sitting in this tiny glass case, (not fancy or anything, kind of a cheap petshop and waay over-priced) well it was in there on this log thing tilted with some rept-carpet and a fish aquarium plant laying on the bottom with dead crickets on the bottom of the case. It was priced for about $44 and I knew I needed to have it, but before I could get it I knew I had to do my research on it. I subscribed to Stefan(CleaTheChameleon)'s youtube sine he seemed to know what he was doing and I also looked at some articles and care sheets on the internet. I came across the Pygmy Issue on Chameleonnews.com and i found out as much possible information as I could. I went back about two weeks later assuming that the little Pygmy Chameleon would still be there but sadly it wasn't. I honestly was happy that it wasn't because I don't think I was quite ready after only two weeks of research. I kept on researching and thinking just having turtles isn't good enough for me. (don't get me wrong those little turtles are my world lol) but I needed a lizard something that i didn't have to clean out a tank and scrub down a dock and what not. I needed something that didn't want to be taken out constantly (my turtles always want out and always want attention. It's quite adorable.) and held or played with. I thought chameleons were amazing and the look was intriguing and it wasn't the everyday pet that someone said that they had.(I like to stand out sometimes) I did more and more research and then May came around. I was heading down to Sioux Falls (where they had a Petco and Petsmart) and I just got paid and I knew that I was going to be getting a Chameleon that day. I picked up my first Veiled Chameleon. I knew that this was quite possibly the BEST day ever. Sadly I didn't go with all the research I did. :( but now i am proud to say I know my things about these amazing creatures and they are they best thing that I have gotten into! I hope to continue this amazing learning ability and keeping of these magnificent reptiles and expand my knowledge and some day get into more reptiles such as geckos, bearded dragons and other species of chameleons, and a few tortoises too, of course more turtles :). but over time. and that's my story of how I got into this amazing hobby. more like a short book hehe :rolleyes::p
 
Biology classroom 8th had over 150 Animals and I was a teachers aid to the room. Back then I could tell you the genus and species of every animal in the room. My favorite was always the Tokay gecko and the panther Chameleon which died 2 years later on the last day of school. 12 Years later I got my first veiled " which was only like 2weeks ago" from Steele City reptile show and working on finding a perfect panther for myself now.
 
My first experience was through the TV show from Mutual of Omaha somewhere around the turn of the 90's I want to say, I was very young at the time. I remember seeing an episode that was full of reptiles, all of which I was familiar with already; from komodo dragons, to various gekos and water lizards. I remember thinking how cool these things were (remember the first time you say slow mo footage of the lizard that could run on water?) and then they showed some chameleons. In a show all about different reptiles the chameleon was the most different thing I had seen and I knew in the future I would want one.

Fast forward some year to college and a good friend of mine had a veiled cham, he was the one that really intoduced me them personally, I read all his books and started planning my own set up. Another year or two later and I found this website and it fueled my want even more!

After a few short months of finding this website and learning even more I made my 1st purchase of a Panther Chameleon and now as I type I am getting a month or 3 away from my next little guy! I been tongued I say.
 
I was at Petsmart looking for a pet. Who would've thought? Anyways, I was looking at all these lizards and frogs and all of them were nocturnal. I was like "screw that! I wanna see my pet in action in the day time!" So they had this one veiled there which intrigued me and I started doing research and it just happened!
 
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