What Made You Keep Chameleons>

[ChameleonFan1989]

So what made you feel so attracted towards Chameleons and what made you want to start keeping them as pets or breeding projects?

I remember when I was little seeing a Chameleon in a zoo and at that time I wasn't unaware you could keep them yourself and never really come across or talked to anyone who kept Chams. As a child most pet stores kept more common reptiles, you leopard geckos, bearded dragons, corn snakes etc

I also remember my parents first getting cable set up and that day there was a wild life show on about reptiles and Chams happened to be mentioned, I remember thinking about pretty these animals were and how striking their colours where and their ability to eat and their cute goggly eyes

I've had reptiles for years but it wasn't until about 2 years ago I started keeping Chams and as much as I love snakes and every reptile, Chams are a favorite of mine

 

[patrickfraser]

I, too, fell in love at the zoo and have always wanted one. I loved the reptile rooms at the LA Zoo when I was a kid. I haven't been in forever, maybe it's time for a go.

 

[okiroo]

when i was growing up a girl next door kept a little male cham. thought he was so cool later in life i moved to okinawa, japan. there were alot of chams for sale and i liked looking at them but i got an iguana instead(who i loved dearly and died do to lack of experince from my vet) when i movd back to the states i wanted a cham and decide i missed retiles alot. i made a list on how much it would coast to get started. a year later i got a job and finally had a source to keep a reptile. i went into petsmart and saw a young/baby veiled one day and i wanted her really badly. i saved for two weeks, no one bought her. i went and got her(she was than on sale). i know when i saw clair that i had to have reptiles again.

 

[Davonat]

Because they are the cooooolllllest Reptile EVER! So pretty,, very active,,,climb around the braches alot. Great personalities. (Even the grumpy 1's)...... Thier cages look cool too...Mini rain forest! Although my second choice would be a Beardie...

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

I wanted a crocodile monitor or a large boa but my mom made me look for something a little less dangerous.. I came across chameleons, saw all their unique shapes and colors, and fell in love!

 

[coldbloodedAL]

I always wanted one when I was younger, then one day I was in the reptile store "just looking".. I seen a bunch of baby jacksons so I decided to take the jump! That mostly, but I think the little guy on my shoulder has a lot to do with it!

 

[ataraxia]

The horns, turrets, feet, how they move, tail, projectile tongue of a jacksons was how i was drawn into the world of chameleons.

the facination, difficulties, gratifying aspects, conservation are just some of the reasons i breed.

 

[TriSARAtop]

I always wanted one when I was younger, then one day I was in the reptile store "just looking".. I seen a bunch of baby jacksons so I decided to take the jump! That mostly, but I think the little guy on my shoulder has a lot to do with it!

Oh hunny, You have it wrong.. you wanted a snake and I said no and that you could get a lizard of some sort. Then you came down to wanting a chameleon after the fact you couldn't get a snake.

It was very random though, we decided just to check out a few reptile stores and once we saw the baby jacksonii's, we couldn't resist. They were so cute.

 

[DeremensisBlue]

Loved dinosaurs and dragons as a kid. I have matured, but never really grown up!

Wouldn't it have been the coolest thing to grow up with a father that breeds chameleons? Last week, my 9 year old son informed me he wanted a cat farm.

Cats?.... Cats?..... Cats are cool and all, but COME ON!!!! (face palm)

 

[Whatcamo]

I always wanted a Jackson's as a kid then now all grown up my 3 year old decided she wanted a chameleon after seeing tangled so my research begin to give her the opportunity I didn't have as a kid, she would sit hours researching and looking at the different varieties and their needs.
She fell in love with panther chameleons quickly because she loves rainbows so of course she needed a rainbow chameleon so that's how when ended up with a beautiful ambilobe

 

[DavidBuchan]

I always liked all animals, like most people Had several cats as a kid (mum won that one, dad wanted dogs. Our first cat was called Rover ). I had a pet goldfish that was basically bought for me and lived with my brothers goldfish. When I was allowed my own pets I chose a couple of mice. I kept a pet rat in the air-raid shelter at the bottom of the garden because I wasn't allowed him.
There opened a great new pet shop nearby when I was 12 and I realised it was possible to keep lizards at home so I got my first Green Anole.......This was the start of my lizard keeping and it's just been logical progression since then .........my first Chameleon was also spotted in the pet shop (a different one, many years later) and I bought the Chameleon handbook that day. 2 weeks later the last Chameleon in the shop had a badly twisted spine (mbd or birth defect I'm still not totally sure, I had never heard of mbd at the time). Got her at 1/3 the price for it though, and she was totally enchanting, even though they told me she was male so she was called Stuart.
I've had a few different kinds of lizards now, and I'm definitely going to have some kind of Crocodilian at some point, but there is something particularly special about Chameleons. I could list some of their features and the benefits of keeping them, but I couldn't do justice to the amazement of just looking at them and wondering what on earth happened They are just so highly specialised everything about them is unusual.

 

[KatCham]

Coz they are fascinating!!

Eyes, feet, tail, tongue...then I got to watch one grow up!!!

Seeing my lil boy go from brown baby to beautiful blue, green, red n yellow it's just amazing!!

I could watch Simba all day every day!!

I think they are beautiful, these fabulous gifts of Madagascar!!

 

[LucasD]

How could anyone not like them? We're talking about the most advanced thing on the planet!
Feet that split down the middle giving them TWO thumbs and a vice grip. A lighting fast tongue with pinpoint accuracy fired at 41G's of force with a unique collagen structure unparalleled in nature or mechanics. Nearly 360 degree binocular color vision with telescopic zoom capabilities. Oh, and let's not forget the ability to enlarge three layers of colored cells under a top layer of transparent skin to communicate mood.
They're pretty cool.

 

[KatCham]

How could anyone not like them? We're talking about the most advanced thing on the planet!
Feet that split down the middle giving them TWO thumbs and a vice grip. A lighting fast tongue with pinpoint accuracy fired at 41G's of force with a unique collagen structure unparalleled in nature or mechanics. Nearly 360 degree binocular color vision with telescopic zoom capabilities. Oh, and let's not forget the ability to enlarge three layers of colored cells under a top layer of transparent skin to communicate mood.
They're pretty cool.

You just made them even cooler and more fascinating!!!

 

[Hoj]

i got statred cause my neighbour had a large exo-terra at the end of their driveway with a free sign,
i went and grabbed it and stared at it in my living room for like 3 months. then one day i just decided that i thought a cham would look good in there.
pan to now 13 chams and counting, i love em

 

[Eltortu]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/so-how-did-you-get-started-chameleons-48050/

 

[ChamomilleCame]

I wanted something different for my birthday. I decided I would look for a pet, so I looked at which ones they had at the store online and then I saw a veiled. I went on my birthday, but they only had jacksons (jacksons and commons are they only legal ones here -_-) so I bought the one that was all squirming around and stuff. Best money I've ever spent

 

[imcurt]

There leaf walk grabbed my attention!! The next thing you know we had a room full!

 

[Kent67]

Loved dinosaurs and dragons as a kid. I have matured, but never really grown up! ....

....Wouldn't it have been the coolest thing to grow up with a father that breeds chameleons?

Two things caught my attention there, Bill. Same here, I was all about dinosaurs as a kid and that turned into a fascination with all reptiles. The other is that I have a 12 year-old stepson who does think a room full of chameleons is cool. I bet in a few years your son's going to realize how cool it actually is, too.

As for me, I started working at a reptile-heavy pet shop when I was 16. I personally had a few of the basics (iguana, box turtles, slider, etc.) but wasn't allowed to keep snakes by my parents. Slow lizards were perfect for them, though I'd been working there for over a year when the store got in the first chameleons I had ever seen in person, a pair of WC Johnston's. I was hooked but what really drove me to pursuing chameleons was the manager telling me, "Don't ever buy a chameleon, it'll be dead in a month." I talked to another friend who knew a couple people having multi-generation success with Jackson's so I did go that route, instead. Oh, and, I remember after we sold that pair of WC Johnston's at least one of them was returned dead just a couple days later....