South African Chameleon Keeping/Breeding

[pieter089]

I know we are probably few and far between, but I would appreciate it if some South-African Cham keepers and/or breeders post here.

Maybe just tell us what cham(s) you have, what difficulties you have faced and if you know anything that could be helpful to other people in S.A like where to get the best supplies in your area and from who to buy chams.

Add anything else you think could be useful, I'm sure it would be much appreciated

 

[chameleonneeds]

Well you know about me..

There are maybe 4 or 5 other guys from S.A that are on this forum, the biggest breeder being Paul R...the rest arent really breeders.

Well you dont get too many species here in S.A but there will be more soon enough...
A problem here is importing them...but I guess the huge problem with importing is what keeps them so high in demand and low in supply so they are very expensive...that goes for basicly every specie you will see here except Veileds, Mellers and maybe Carpet chameleons.

It can also be a challenge to breed some species here if you dont have everything perfect, it can even be difficult to keep them alive such as a lot of the trioceros species, that is because of the really hot and dry climate here in Gauteng..so you need to have strong healthy stock to make sure that you can do well with anything...

Another thing is you wont really find most guys with the very rare species...we are quite secretive so no one will go telling you if they have really nice chams like jacksons, new panther locales, etc.

You have to go a long way in the business and know the right people to get what you need and all that...otherwise you need to work really hard and pay extremely high prices to get what you want...

 

[pieter089]

Awesome reply

Well you know about me..

There are maybe 4 or 5 other guys from S.A that are on this forum, the biggest breeder being Paul R...the rest arent really breeders.

Well you dont get too many species here in S.A but there will be more soon enough...
A problem here is importing them...but I guess the huge problem with importing is what keeps them so high in demand and low in supply so they are very expensive...that goes for basicly every specie you will see here except Veileds, Mellers and maybe Carpet chameleons.

It can also be a challenge to breed some species here if you dont have everything perfect, it can even be difficult to keep them alive such as a lot of the trioceros species, that is because of the really hot and dry climate here in Gauteng..so you need to have strong healthy stock to make sure that you can do well with anything...

Another thing is you wont really find most guys with the very rare species...we are quite secretive so no one will go telling you if they have really nice chams like jacksons, new panther locales, etc.

You have to go a long way in the business and know the right people to get what you need and all that...otherwise you need to work really hard and pay extremely high prices to get what you want...

Thanx that is really informative ! I wish I knew all the guys or at least some guys here in S.A who are cham keepers or breeders I really feel alone in this.

Don't you have trouble in providing a variety of food for your chams? I can only find crickets and i don't want to feed mealworms so I Have gotten some Silkworm eggs and started to breed them myself, although the first 50 I hatched all died because they weren't eating(think the leaves were too hard) so I have now ordered something that you mix for them to eat, haven't yet figured out how to mix it but I'm going to...maybe they will eat that.

But I see people feeding their chams green worms like I think their called horn worms, and wax worms even, but cant find those anywhere...

 

[eisentrauti]

If you want to concentrate on smaller species, like merumontanus or all the Bradypodions which live in SA you can use flys and Drosophilas as staple feeders, together with crickets and from time to time self catched food it shouldnt be a problem for the chameleons to stay healthy.
You can "breed" Drosophila really easy if you put old apples or other fruits in small buckets and put them outside. The Drosophilas will lay their eggs and you will get really fast good running colonies.

 

[shane dewar]

i am from S.A, i live kzn. i am not really a breeder or anything like that but i do own a midlands dwarf cham and i used to have a veiled. i have the exact same problem as you all i can find are crickets and silkworms so i have to catch alot of wild insects

 

[eisentrauti]

i am from S.A, i live kzn. i am not really a breeder or anything like that but i do own a midlands dwarf cham and i used to have a veiled. i have the exact same problem as you all i can find are crickets and silkworms so i have to catch alot of wild insects

If you want to do it the easy way, keep at least the thamnobates outdoor in a cage with large-meshed screen, add old cat food or fruit and you dont need to feed your cham for the next month ;-)

 

[pieter089]

If you want to concentrate on smaller species, like merumontanus or all the Bradypodions which live in SA you can use flys and Drosophilas as staple feeders, together with crickets and from time to time self catched food it shouldnt be a problem for the chameleons to stay healthy.
You can "breed" Drosophila really easy if you put old apples or other fruits in small buckets and put them outside. The Drosophilas will lay their eggs and you will get really fast good running colonies.

Thanks for the advice, I have a veiled so if he's gonna be eating flies there better be allot of them, actually I have never seen a fruit fly anywhere here, only the nasty ones that goes to rotten meat and try to sit in your face

Hi Shane, thanks for the reply and nice to add another South African to the list, I will definitively be in contact with you maybe we can help each other...

 

[chameleonneeds]

I provide my chameleons with Cockraoches, crickets and mealworms...I mainly have them on a staple of crickets and roaches and occasionaly offer some mealworms...my male jacksons really likes the mealworms..

In summer time or whenever I can find silkworms I feed them those and for gravid and young chameleons I feed gaga grubs, they are high in calcium.

You can also feed them pray mantises that you find, though I dont do that because I actualy like to keep the mantises sometimes.

Somtimes at expos you can find stuff like Wax worms which the chams really love as a treat.

 

[shane dewar]

Hi Shane, thanks for the reply and nice to add another South African to the list, I will definitively be in contact with you maybe we can help each other...

yea its always nice to know the people who live near you

 

[pieter089]

I provide my chameleons with Cockraoches, crickets and mealworms...I mainly have them on a staple of crickets and roaches and occasionaly offer some mealworms...my male jacksons really likes the mealworms..

In summer time or whenever I can find silkworms I feed them those and for gravid and young chameleons I feed gaga grubs, they are high in calcium.

You can also feed them pray mantises that you find, though I dont do that because I actualy like to keep the mantises sometimes.

Somtimes at expos you can find stuff like Wax worms which the chams really love as a treat.

I am going to be hatching silkworms through the whole year, apparently it is excellent food because of the ratio between cal. and phos. or something... I am going to TRY and make that his staple dieet but first I got to get the heating and food set up for the worms. I dont ever know when the reptile xpo's are I would like to go, even though its going to be a long drive.

I have no idea what gaga grubs are but sounds cool. And the first mantis I find is going down.lol

 

[MrSideliner]

Sa

More South Africans

All SA people add me

 

[Priscilla]

Hi guys.

I am also from SA, I am from Pretoria and have a flap neck. The only thing is, she isn't eating for a week and two days now. This is my first chameleon. She is healthy. So I tried to make her a place to lay eggs, for in case she has eggs, but she doesn't want anything to do with the sand.

So if anyone can help me, it would be great. And if anyone wants to add me, feel free.

Priscilla

 

[chameleonneeds]

Make sure you have a proper setup for her. She should be in a screened enclosure with a basking spot and a 5.0 UVB source.

The basking spot is achieved with a spot lamp/bulb which you can buy at most shops for like R25. If you really want to play it safe get one from a petstore sold as a branded basking bulb. I would not go any higher that 60 watts. I prefer to keep the bulbs outside of the cage to prevent the chameleon from being burnt.

Make sure the cage is heavily planted, she should be SPRAYED with clean water every day atleast twice a day. Morning and afternoon are perfect times.
The cage should also be atleast 30cm(wide) x 30cm(long) x 65cm (tall)

If she is gravid she will look lumpy on her sides, close to her legs, like she is a green bag of marballs

Good luck

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
And welcome to the forum

 

[Ranco]

yea iam also from sa.. do any of you guys selling so chameleons

 

[SageZA]

Howzit

Whats happening.

Here are my Beasts

https://www.chameleonforums.com/jimbo-3-months-uber-pic-heavy-54174/

 

[SageZA]

Hi guys.

I am also from SA, I am from Pretoria and have a flap neck. The only thing is, she isn't eating for a week and two days now. This is my first chameleon. She is healthy. So I tried to make her a place to lay eggs, for in case she has eggs, but she doesn't want anything to do with the sand.

So if anyone can help me, it would be great. And if anyone wants to add me, feel free.

Priscilla

I don't want to come across as an ass here just looking out for you and the chameleon, It totally illegal to own a flapneck chameleon in South Africa. You may not keep any indigenous South African chameleon species with out a permit. Your best bet is to let it go or ask were a good place to do so will be.

You can get a veiled chameleon for around R700 very cool and Hardy pet.

 

[chameleonneeds]

Psyrocco it is illegal to keep indegenous chameleons in S.A but so are A LOT of other things in this country

I would say if you want to keep an indegenous chameleon, go for it just dont let Cape Nature find out. They wont be checking on this forum for people keeping indegenous stuff anyway.

Did you get your female panther bru???

Cheers

@Ranco there are chameleons forsale here in Johannesburg Im not sure about in Richards bay. Check on junkmail I have seen panthers and veileds forsale.
Cheers

 

[SageZA]

Psyrocco it is illegal to keep indegenous chameleons in S.A but so are A LOT of other things in this country

I would say if you want to keep an indegenous chameleon, go for it just dont let Cape Nature find out. They wont be checking on this forum for people keeping indegenous stuff anyway.

Did you get your female panther bru???

Cheers

@Ranco there are chameleons forsale here in Johannesburg Im not sure about in Richards bay. Check on junkmail I have seen panthers and veileds forsale.
Cheers

Yes collecting this weekend.

 

[joneill]

Hey everyone, my name is Jenni and I live in Crestholme, KZN. We own a male veiled cham and he is about to turn 1 year old. Got him from a local pet shop, rescued is more accurate. We feed him crickets, dubia roaches, superworms, meal worms and silkworms. He loves silkworms and will eat them off your finger. His staple diet consists of superworms, they are meaty and dont have too much chitinous shell to digest. Looking forward to summer cos then we will be able to offer him flying ants.

I would like to know where I can get a panther cham from in SA cos obviously I am addicted to chams in a big way and really want another. Preferably a baby cos I would like to raise it myself and watch it grow.

Great to know that there are other South Africans that belong to this forum!

 

[Jono]

Hey chaps, Jono here from CT, I keep Veilds and a few rescued damaranum.