what got you into chameleon keeping?

sulley

sulley

New Member
id love to know what got you into chameleon keeping?
where did it all start? & how many have you had/do you have?

looking forward to hearing your stories guys :D:D
 
I don't really remember how i stumbled across a video on youtube of the unboxing of a panther but I basically was on board from that moment on... I had just started a reef tank so it wasn't in the card at the time... But a year later here I am... I finally got Dexter (Red Barred Ambilobe Panther) right after Christmas this year...
 
Personally I always loved animals....my first family pet was a cat.....my Dad wanted to have a dog.....but my Mum is more of a cat person......so when I was very young...actually maybe before I was born......I'll check.....we got a big grey coloured moggy and he was called 'Rover' :D
I had various fish and rodent and arthropod pets.....when I was 12 though I realised I could have a pet lizard. I got a Green Anole........
Good move Dave.........

My Anole was called 'Camel'.....after the cigarette brand....it was a silly thing that was popular at my school at the time......
Smoking is bad....m'kay kids? :D:cool:

Anyways....I had a few lizards...and my first cham I got hold of at the age of around 17 or 18....(memory is not so good.....)....lol....

The pet store sold her to me as a male.....she was called 'Stuart'.......
Hahahaa.......anyway....I got her cheap due to a severely twisted spine (I now think was MBD)......£20...last one in the shop bargain....they knew me at the shop......
She got through 2 infertile egg layings and I think got to around 3 1/2 or maybe even 4 years old...
I have some stories about her.......
My 3 current lizards I got a couple of years ago....if you look on my profile albums you can see a few pictures....
Here is a link to my Youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbxYn0TnM44&list=UUAfRQzxDvwxAghCmLyLhopw&index=2
 
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Corrections....Rover was a tabby cat. And they got him about a year before I was born.
 
Chameleons always amazed me, I've tryed a few diffrent reptiles but I lost intrest quite quickly(apart from my old Aussie water dragon witch I loved witch I unfortunately lost due to a cheaply made Viv exotic Vivarium) but with chameleons every time I go to my chams I'm glad I owned them. I love to get rare chameleons noing where there from and the journey there made to get to me :)
 
I boutht a jacksons and flapneck chams at a exotic pet store in Washington
DC, close to the US Capital building.
It was sometime in the late 1970 to early 80's, no internet ! :eek: :rolleyes:

Pet store guy didnt know anything about them, neither did anyone else for that matter!!
He told me they were from Mexico and need a hot, dry 'terrarium' with a sand substrate!!

When they started to look terrible, I suspected he didnt know what he was talking about.

I never did find any care sheets, books, etc. and they died :(

Then, the internet came along, so I bought another jacksons, only this time, I had more comfidence.
I did most things right, but he died anyway from parasites (no such thing as reptiles vets back then!!)!!
I was upset, and swore I would NEVER buy another one, they are just toooo fragile!!
Fast forward, and I find website's like this one, all about how to care for cham's WOW!!! Where were you 20+ years ago!! LOL :eek:

So, here I am :D
 
My story's quite funny really i was on youtube and i think if you type in chameleon colour change you can find it in the video theres lots of difrent colours of sunglasses wich the chameleon changes colour to instantly so i thought i must have one of these! After looking for a cham i realised that type of colour changing is not possible however i still thought they were pretty kool to have one of these now i want more! Ive got a sambava cross ambolibe and hes wicked!
 
I had always liked exotic pets, especially reptiles, and I always saw chameleons as the holy grail of reptiles, as a child i could not afford a cham. As I grew older I lost my interest in all but fish and the chameleons. I think because of the fact that in my childhood days when I was really into pets, chameleons were like "the one that got away". I think this is also why I love firearms so much now.
 
Psychobunny said:
I boutht a jacksons and flapneck chams at a exotic pet store in Washington
DC, close to the US Capital building.
It was sometime in the late 1970 to early 80's, no internet ! :eek: :rolleyes:

Pet store guy didnt know anything about them, neither did anyone else for that matter!!
He told me they were from Mexico and need a hot, dry 'terrarium' with a sand substrate!!

When they started to look terrible, I suspected he didnt know what he was talking about.

I never did find any care sheets, books, etc. and they died :(

Then, the internet came along, so I bought another jacksons, only this time, I had more comfidence.
I did most things right, but he died anyway from parasites (no such thing as reptiles vets back then!!)!!
I was upset, and swore I would NEVER buy another one, they are just toooo fragile!!
Fast forward, and I find website's like this one, all about how to care for cham's WOW!!! Where were you 20+ years ago!! LOL :eek:

So, here I am :D
Click to expand...

This is a good story, I noticed from your sig that you own jacksons again now aswell, good for you
 
I wanted a hedgehog. After three hours of research, I discovered that they are illegal to own in the state that I live in. I stumbled upon chameleons and thought they were freakin' awesome so I directed my research toward them.
 
Hakai said:
I wanted a hedgehog. After three hours of research, I discovered that they are illegal to own in the state that I live in. I stumbled upon chameleons and thought they were freakin' awesome so I directed my research toward them.
Click to expand...

I had a hedgehog, he was really cool and friendly, really a great pet like a mini dog, however, they have really strong smelling urine and if you don't clean the cage like every 2 days, it would stink up my whole room.
 
I have always owned cats, dogs, guinea pigs, gerbils, things like that. When I got to college I became fascinated by iguanas, but knew I would have to wait until I was on my own before I could own one. Then, after graduating and moving to Florida I began researching them and decided that their eventual size wasn't for me. I turned to water dragons for my research, and somehow found my way to chameleons.

I currently have 3, as well as bearded dragons, a leopard gecko, and dart frogs. To be honest, once the dragons and gecko pass away (naturally, I'm committed to taking care of them through their natural life) I don't think I would get them again, however I can honestly say I'll always have chameleons in my life. I am addicted, and I admit it :eek:
 
Jay1501 said:
My story's quite funny really i was on youtube and i think if you type in chameleon colour change you can find it in the video theres lots of difrent colours of sunglasses wich the chameleon changes colour to instantly so i thought i must have one of these! After looking for a cham i realised that type of colour changing is not possible however i still thought they were pretty kool to have one of these now i want more! Ive got a sambava cross ambolibe and hes wicked!
Click to expand...

yeah ive seen that lol.:)
 
I've always loved reptiles but never bought one due to lack of time.in the autumn of last year my girlfriend brought to a reptile zoo and I was like a child in a,sweet shop.I came away after deciding to buy a bearded dragon in the near future as it was the only reptile available in the pet store other than snakes.but I really wanted something more unusual.in the meantime my girlfriend had gone somewhere else and ordered me my chameleon so here I am now
 
Just as background, I've been working with exotic animals and wildlife since I was 8, so about 16 years by now. I moved to the US at that time and immediately started volunteering at an exotic bird and iguana center near my house, and then spent every year after that volunteering at the wildlife center of the local museum of science, various vet clinics (here in Florida, Spain, and Costa Rica), and at odd wildlife rescues in Costa Rica. So I've always managed to work directly with lots of reptiles, either venomous or not, and other delicate, exotic animals.

When I went to college for biology I finally had the independence to start getting real pets (my mother was horrified even by the two beta fish I had at the time) so I started looking into what was out there. I got a dog first, since I'd always wanted one, but had at the same time caught sight of a panther chameleon and I was hooked. I didn't know they could be kept as pets, I'd never seen one anywhere in person outside of a zoo.

About a year later I got my first chameleon, a Jackson's, and a few months later I traded a panther male for some artwork.

The rest is history, as it were. I've had since then 17 chameleons, although not all of them were long-lived successes, and I have at this time 7. It's been a learning process, but my degree in biology and my experience with other exotic animals has served me quite a bit in how I care for them, I feel like.
 
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I never knew they could be kept as pets until I stumbled across my Penelope in a pet shop. I could tell she was sick and she looked at me with the sweetest eyes... and that was that!
 
The google eyes got my my first male veiled Kink.

Then I found a Triceros Hoehnelli, and I just fell in love with the button nose.

It snowballed from there.
 
I always loved reptiles. The very first time I say them was 89". I was about 10 and they just opened a new pet store in town. The owner breed veileds. I saw crazy little eye, chase down crickets, and crazy tongues. Wow, I want one. Lol
Never had the money till later in life. Lol
I was able to buy an iguana and buy some lighting. I was about 12-13 at that time, and saved my cash from cutting apircots with my mom.
Home made cage too.
I had him for a good while and he got pretty big. Till one day I was out playing with my friends and he escaped.
Well my parents chased him around the house and nearly gave my mom a heart attack. Wasn't allowed to keep him after that. But the passion never ended. Life happened. And after wife n kids n needing a hobby, a got back to reptiles. And the rest is history.
I hope you enjoyed.
 
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