what got you into chameleon keeping?

[deadhd5]

I got married in St Thomas USVI and honeymooned for 3 weeks in a villa up in the mountain. Being from Ohio, I am only used to seeing squirrels and birds in trees, so the 20 or so iguanas that were living in the trees around the villa were a constant source of fascination and I immediately wanted one. When researching websites to buy an iguana I also saw chameleons, which I have always found beautiful, fascinating, and a little absurd (perfect combo for an oddball like myself).

I was hooked in by the blue Nosy Be and the dinosaurlike Jackson... The beginning of what I believe will be a lifelong passion

 

[Hakai]

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.

That's good to know. Maybe I'll reconsider getting one when I move. I wouldn't be able to clean a cage that often.

 

[Fretfreak13]

Wow, no Tangled stories yet? lol

My love for these guys came on very suddenly, although I think I just figured out why recently. I have seahorses and reef tanks, and those are my true passion.

I went home to my old high school for a visit over winter break from college and we have a greenhouse room right in the middle of the school that I used to take care of. Turtle pond, native fish tank, tons of plants, etc. Well, to my surprise when I walked in there I found a three month old veiled! I had forgotten about it for a few months, but then I started researching and realized that they were doing it all wrong! I feel like its my fault now that I didn't look into it right away, but this poor dear was misted once a day if lucky by students (none on weekends), and had no UVB. Once I realized I called the teacher who was now running the room, but sadly the little guy had died.

I don't have one yet, but I'll be getting one of Camimom's babies. Before he's even here I let my boyfriend name him so that he can have a part in this too (he thinks my hobbies are nuts). He is an Art Education major in college, so our little boy's name will be Dali, after Salvador Dali.

And the reason I found a sudden, crazy attraction to chameleons? They share so many physical characteristics as seahorses!

 

[jannb]

I laid eyes on my first chameleon in the summer of 2004 when my daughter came home from college for the summer with one. At first I thought what does she want with that thing????? Then I quickly fell in love with her. By the next summer she came home with several and the summer after so many they wouldn’t all fit in the house. My daughter has traveled a lot with her boyfriend so I was always the cham-sitter. She had mostly panthers and Melleri. She's also had a veiled, Bearded dragons, a Leopard Gecko, a Chinchilla and more recently two cats.

I didn’t get my very own chameleon until 2007 when my husband surprised me with Luie. I got Camille a year later in 2008. Camille laid a fertile clutches of eggs in 2009 and I raised a clutch of 27 babies in 2010. Then Camille's 6 month retained clutch hatch and i had my precious little preemie Elly. Then I got my Parsonii and in 2010 my daughter decided she no longer wanted to keep chameleons and left me with 7 panthers.

I also have a Cuban Knight Anole named Dulce and a mixed breed dog named Red.
__________________
Veileds Luie & Sadie Parsonii Hera Panthers Sid, Jr & Hendershot Other pets Red & Dulce RIP Mufasa, Padre, Gizmo, Elly, Camille, Bertha & Joppa

 

[Decadancin]

Over the years I have kept many animals. I have had many lizards, but never a chameleon. (though I always wanted one ) I was considering getting back into keeping some small lizards and had set up a vivarium for some anoles and grass lizards when I stumbled upon two veiled chameleons in a small tank. I started asking questions to the person in the department and decided to bring my wife to see the chams. I was concerned for the safety of the smaller of the two because the larger one was persistently bothering him. Long story short, I came home with our little boy Zaphod. Short story long... I started to realize how NOT ready the vivarium was for a chameleon ! Anyway, its been less than a year and Zaphod loves his new home!

 

[Carlton]

When I was small I loved going with my mom to a rambling plant nursery. The owner happened to have a jackson's that wandered his greenhouse. This was back in the 60s. I would hunt for that jax every time we shopped there. I always asked about him but the owner discouraged me from buying one (thankfully). I grew up with "normal" pets but usually brought home all sorts of captured, injured, sick, orphaned, or dead critters from daily neighborhood wanderings. My mom learned to make me empty my pockets before letting me indoors. I had the usual doomed wc horned lizard, carnival goldfish, a pair of anoles (that actually lived quite a while because we took decent care of them), and kept lots of cage birds over the years. Got my degree in wildlife biology and began working for various wildlife departments around the US.

In 1994 I saw my first cbb juvenile veiled in a NJ pet shop. I stared, hovered, begged to handle him, grilled the shop owner until he cheerfully threw me out, bought their one used copy of Vosjoli's chameleon book and then started in on the breeder to find out if they could truly be kept. Two weeks later went back and bought him. He ruled my house for about 3 years. A few months later somehow found out about the Chameleon Information Network (internet was just not up in those days) and started spending hours on the phone with other members, learning. Began stalking pet shops for abused chams and lecturing the staff about proper care (I hate to think what my local rep was like!). Then people began giving me mistreated chams they couldn't handle or afford vet care for. I don't remember just how many chams I've kept over the years offhand. Most were rescues. Some I had for days or weeks, some for years.

I don't have any chams at the moment. There are no good herp vets within a 2 hour jet flight (even getting lab work for herp issues is complicated and slow), my house is tiny for the large cages I prefer, and the climate here isn't great for basking herps of any sort. Sure I miss caring for them and hope to keep some again in future.

 

[sagemoon2004]

I, like many on here, was the kid who collected creatures, bugs, etc...always in love with nature. Had many critters in jars, cans, buckets, bugs in cigar boxes in my dresser. My parents limited indoor pets to one cat, one dog, but I lived down the road at my grandparents farm every moment available. As an adult, had various lizards, iguanas, anoles, different snakes, fish. My first chameleon was a Senegal, probably close to twenty yrs ago, no info available out there, so my husbandry was not so great. Changed a light bulb from clear to red, and it died in less then 6 months. I was devastated. Fast forward to a few years ago, found a veilded on Craigs list, bought off a college student, corrected his bad husbandry, joined the forum, learned much. Unfortunately, Saki, my veiled must have been much older then I was originally told, because he aged rapidly after only a few years and passed. Now we have a Jacksons that I love dearly. I would love to get deeper into the hobby, but satisfy myself with the daily visits to CF for now. Love these guys so much, and the montanes are my fav now.

 

[dom1959]

some great passionate stories, thanks to everyone for sharing!

i dreamed of having a cham since the 70's, always read all i could but never had enough confidence in myself to get one. last fall during a very dark time in my life i just said before it's too late i am getting a cham. read more, found the forum and chams on youtube. there is a reptile shop that i remembered being in the same place for decades, so i drove over. i walked in and asked about them,
the gal working showed me some young veileds they just got from their supplier. i pounded this gal for 45 minutes, question after question. she was happy to help. in the end i said "i am going to do this", i bought their package and said to her, "i am going to take the cage home and set it up and come back for the cham". i was sweating bullets setting it up. never felt so nervous before.
i went back and she said "ok, pick your cham". to be honest i almost passed out.
i said that i wanted her to pick it for me, pick the biggest most active great eater that she saw.

i came home with minion(tearing up as i type) that little guy is responsible in a big way for me still being here bangin away at this keyboard.