Why do you own chameleons?
- Thread starter KRuehle
- Start date
Ponyboy
Member
As far as lizards, and in my opinion, even all reptiles are concerned, chameleons to me are the most fascinating, complex, dynamic, personable, and full of character...If there was an animal closest to a dog in terms of friendship, love, and sense of appreciation, to me the old-world chameleon would be it in the reptile kingdom. What other cold-blooded creatures seem so excited and display human-like traits of happiness when you open their cage to say hello, spray a misting bottle, and pass out calcium-candied crickets??
As an individual obsessed with nature, the outdoors, animals, academia, and things with tails that eat bugs: the chameleon is a creature which I've been fascinated and interested in since I was a child. When I was 11 I asked my parents for a chameleon for my birthday and they brought me home a Green Anole...all of the chameleon enthusiasts I'm sure are already playing out in their heads what my reaction was.
As an adult, I'm even more interested in them now as I'm able to provide spacious, healthy, complex, natural, safe, and prosperous environment for them to live and thrive in and have the ability to interact with them and study the species on a daily basis. I have an enjoyable and established relationship with my animal - I feed the chameleon and give him the most bad ass husbandry possible, the chameleon gives me a beautiful piece of nature to appreciate every day I'm alive.
I just, love these cute little bug-eyed, color-changing lizards...now I must go do something manly like split some wood or watch football.
As an individual obsessed with nature, the outdoors, animals, academia, and things with tails that eat bugs: the chameleon is a creature which I've been fascinated and interested in since I was a child. When I was 11 I asked my parents for a chameleon for my birthday and they brought me home a Green Anole...all of the chameleon enthusiasts I'm sure are already playing out in their heads what my reaction was.
As an adult, I'm even more interested in them now as I'm able to provide spacious, healthy, complex, natural, safe, and prosperous environment for them to live and thrive in and have the ability to interact with them and study the species on a daily basis. I have an enjoyable and established relationship with my animal - I feed the chameleon and give him the most bad ass husbandry possible, the chameleon gives me a beautiful piece of nature to appreciate every day I'm alive.
I just, love these cute little bug-eyed, color-changing lizards...now I must go do something manly like split some wood or watch football.
brittbritt
Member
We have several other type pets in our family and my 12 year old daughter decided she would like a chameleon as "her" personal pet. Shortly after she told me that we found a chameleon being rehomed on Craigslist. Since adopting him we have fallen in love with our Mister Li-zard.
I'm not sure if anyone could have said it for me any better. Thanks for your response!
Alexander1
Avid Member
I love being constantly worried about an animal that hates the sight of me and itself, drains my already skimpy wallet, I love staring a tiny turds every other day to make sure it's secretly drinking and eating when Im not home and have a thing for keeping hideous roaches and worms in my house next to my cookies and bread. ... Love it. The cricket odor is just a cherry on top..
Labor of love little homie..
Labor of love little homie..
Nursemaia
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sounds like you keep veiled
Auracle
Member
Lol ... Reading this made my entire day. Thank you! I might be too easy to please. idk
Lazereth
Avid Member
Don't forget the random vet visit cause it blinked funny....
OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
I like keeping chameleons since somewhere, somehow, a member of PETA will just know there is a chameleon in captivity they can't do a thing about. Their tears fuel me.
That and I'm good at it? We do what we love.
That and I'm good at it? We do what we love.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
I enjoy them for their habits, body composition, and unique, yet trademark appearance. I'm also a sucker for cryptic coloring, crest, horns, prehistoric looking lizards, and colorful animals. After working with melleri, the personality of them won me over. I enjoy challenges and working with animal and plant species that need focus, either for conservation or better captive management.
I also genuinely enjoy dreaming up and creating my own gut loads, enclosures, breeding and growing my feeder insects, and taking a homegrown approach to keeping my animals. Out of the many herps, fish, arachnids, plants, and other things I've had my nose in, chameleons are the only one I've taken a lengthy break from and come back to. They are an enduring and amazingly multifaceted, masterpiece of the living world.
I also genuinely enjoy dreaming up and creating my own gut loads, enclosures, breeding and growing my feeder insects, and taking a homegrown approach to keeping my animals. Out of the many herps, fish, arachnids, plants, and other things I've had my nose in, chameleons are the only one I've taken a lengthy break from and come back to. They are an enduring and amazingly multifaceted, masterpiece of the living world.
R.H
Member
classic.... whoop whoop to all of us chameleon keepers!!
I hope one day i will stop worrying about if my lola is healthy or if she's sick, each and every single day brings new worries and concerns. But if we didn't love them we wouldn't have them x
absolutbill
Chameleon Enthusiast
I just think they are amazing, with their methodical stalking along branches, and contemplation before shooting at a feeder. When I have my guys out on their free ranges on the lanai, and am sitting on the swing with a book and a drink, well you can't beat that type of relaxation for anything!
MissLissa
Avid Member
I'm a bit obsessed with bizarre animal behavours and anatomy, and you can't really get more bizarre than a chameleon. Basically everything about them is bizarre. Also, I really enjoy having things to fuss over. I do a fair bit of gardening, and I always do best with delicate hybrid tea roses only hardy to zone 5 (if I squint I can pretend that I live in Zone 3 at best), unusual orchid hybrids, and the like. Spider plants? I kill them dead. I love too deeply and strong, and plants and animals that thrive mostly on neglect would not do well in my care.
Not people, though, I mostly ignore people. Care for your own selves, hoomans. I have chameleons to coddle.
Not people, though, I mostly ignore people. Care for your own selves, hoomans. I have chameleons to coddle.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I own one because of my love of all reptiles and also because I think they are very cool and unique. They way they change color, how they move, their eyes, their tongue. Its all so cool.
little leaf
Avid Member
HA !! LOVE THIS
- its all so true -
doto
Member
There were many reasons we got a chameleon after doing a ton of research on here and various other internet resources. With kids in competitive sports throughout the year we knew we didn't have the time to dedicate to walking a dog or the time to spend with a cat to insure it got the affection it deserved.
After hearing all the postings about chameleons being a "look but don't touch" pet similar to a fish we thought this would be a great pet to admire from afar while teaching the kids responsibilities of caring for an animal.
We thought everything would be perfect if we could automate the lights and Mistking system. Aside from maintenance the only time we would truly need to spend with/near our guy for him to be happiest was in the morning feeding him.
Then we ended up with Munsch. The general rules of thumb we read were, try hand feeding so he gets used to you, when handling make it an enjoyable experience for him. Make sure he has plenty of foillage in his terrarium and lots of branches at different levels so he can feel most comfortable.
Day 1 he hand fed within minutes of us opening his shipping package. Within the first hour he crawled out on my hand when I was positioning a feeder cup. When we put him back in he turned around on himself and came back out on my arm. Thinking his new environment was stressing him because it was new we figured we needed to get him back in to acclimatize him, surely our handling him must be more stressful as I had read.
His terrarium is 4ft high 3feet wide and 20" deep so it's large enough for a panther. Judging by the enclosure threads he has more foillage and branches than 90% of the enclosures posted so he has hiding spots and lots of pathways. Our husbandry matches all the caresheets to a T, yet to this day every time we go by his terrarium he wants to come out. He will sit with us, and on us. While on our hands, arms and shoulders he will handfeed worms. He has never puffed up so we have actually never seen him at his finest. The only thing that seems to bother him is the shower. We've tried a few times since it seemed like something that would be beneficial if we ever needed to resort to that in case he became dehydrated.
We are actually to the point where we feel like we neglect him if we don't bring him out when he scurries toward the front of the enclosure when he sees us come down the stairs.
So much for us getting the look but don't touch pet we were originally looking for.
After hearing all the postings about chameleons being a "look but don't touch" pet similar to a fish we thought this would be a great pet to admire from afar while teaching the kids responsibilities of caring for an animal.
We thought everything would be perfect if we could automate the lights and Mistking system. Aside from maintenance the only time we would truly need to spend with/near our guy for him to be happiest was in the morning feeding him.
Then we ended up with Munsch. The general rules of thumb we read were, try hand feeding so he gets used to you, when handling make it an enjoyable experience for him. Make sure he has plenty of foillage in his terrarium and lots of branches at different levels so he can feel most comfortable.
Day 1 he hand fed within minutes of us opening his shipping package. Within the first hour he crawled out on my hand when I was positioning a feeder cup. When we put him back in he turned around on himself and came back out on my arm. Thinking his new environment was stressing him because it was new we figured we needed to get him back in to acclimatize him, surely our handling him must be more stressful as I had read.
His terrarium is 4ft high 3feet wide and 20" deep so it's large enough for a panther. Judging by the enclosure threads he has more foillage and branches than 90% of the enclosures posted so he has hiding spots and lots of pathways. Our husbandry matches all the caresheets to a T, yet to this day every time we go by his terrarium he wants to come out. He will sit with us, and on us. While on our hands, arms and shoulders he will handfeed worms. He has never puffed up so we have actually never seen him at his finest. The only thing that seems to bother him is the shower. We've tried a few times since it seemed like something that would be beneficial if we ever needed to resort to that in case he became dehydrated.
We are actually to the point where we feel like we neglect him if we don't bring him out when he scurries toward the front of the enclosure when he sees us come down the stairs.
So much for us getting the look but don't touch pet we were originally looking for.
JoeVet
Established Member
I became fascinated when I used to catch them as a kid in Libya (the location of our only and last Air Forces base in Africa). Loved them ever since. They are amazing for many reasons. The tongue, color, independent eyes, ect. They are the only animals with an negative or concave eye lens allowing them to magnify images. They are just not like any other reptile.
happy
Member
I always kinda joked about this and chameleons, You don't really own them. sure they have a space in your house, sure they cost money that would otherwise be spent on a car part, or a game for the xbox, but in reality, they are members of the family. You re-arrange your living arrangements, your vacation plans... you find some one you really really trust to come to your home while you are not there, to feed and water them, the grumpy mother-in law that just wont let you have a nice day. they are picky eaters, they don't like the affection you want to give, and they definitely don't like you. but you still keep trying. You put in a little bit of time every day, and a few hours a week cleaning enclosures, prepping gut load, planning your next enclosure upgrade, thinking about lighting, and temperatures, humidity and misting. its more a labor of love, than ownership. to step back, look at your 2'x4' slice of jungle and see an animal that has no place in sub-urban concrete jungle flourishing, that makes it worth the adventure.
