i want a chameleon

[elrojo]

I'll add that UVB bulbs lose their spectrum over time. The phosphors that give the bulb the color temperature and ultra violet rays weaken as they burn. I replace mine annually. A mister and drip system will work fine for one animal, a Mist King type unit isn't needed until you get addicted. Which there is a good chance you will! But even my most agreeable animals are never handled for my enjoyment or to show to people. Respect them as creatures in the trees; and everything is either something to eat, be afraid of, or a good place to stand on to hunt!

 

[jannb]

how often will i have to take them to the vet?

My vet recommends well check up and fecals twice a year. I had some people that bought one of my babies spend at least $1000.00 or more to set up for the arrival and I took the babies for a 10 week well check up and fecal.

 

[iwantachameleon]

when are they to be handled?

 

[elrojo]

With a microscope, you can do your own fecals. Again, with one animal, it's still probably cheaper and safer to take a sealed baggie of moist poo (if not the cham) to the vet. Having a microscope is a lot of fun in it's own right, though!

 

[draetish]

when are they to be handled?

That really depends on the cham and your patience and age you aquire them. Handling really means able to take them in and out of their enclosure, hand feeding, not stressing at the sight of you and any human, not "holding". I recommend that you do lots of research on your own "Google" is great! Keep reading the forum and you'll be ready.

 

[alexcoppola]

I have had Kongo my ambilobe Cham for almost a month now and I thought the same way before I perchest him "sorry for my spelling" that I wanted to hold him and everything but it's really not that big of a deal to not hold them, there amazing animals and just to have one in your room is awsome enouf, i'm having a blast taking care of him and alwase trying to make him as happy as possible, my girlfriend thinks I'm going crazy haha, but really there awsome and start off by getting the supplys you need to house a Cham little by little and study these forums becuase this site will pretty much teach you all you will need to know, read for a good month and by the time you have your set up ready you will know what to and what not to do, don't worry about handaling trust me it's not a big deal, and when your ready I would recamend visiting kalidascope chameleons that's a breeder in florida that I baught my Cham from they r really nice people and love there chams and there prices are not bad and little kongo is nice n healthy.

 

[chamtrainer]

Not all panthers don't like to be touched and handled. Infact some love it. Mine reaches out to my hand to be played with. I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

 

[morpheon]

Not all panthers don't like to be touched and handled. Infact some love it. Mine reaches out to my hand to be played with. I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

I won't get into an argument, but i'll just answer your post by something simple: how can you know that he LOVES being handled?

There are various reasons that can explain why your chameleon is reaching out your hand: his enclosure can be too small, he may have spotted another chameleon (female) in the area, he can be curious and explorer, he may be wanting more light or less light (like UV exposure), and so on. From a scientific point of view, i have seen no reason that justifies the hypothesis that "some chameleon love/like being handled".

Please, make sure that you have the proper proofs to justify what you are saying, otherwise the new and future breeders may not be able to filter the good infos from the bad, and then they may make the wrong conclusions. Suggesting to a future breeder that some chameleons love being handled is like offering them on a golden plate that he will be able to manipulate a chameleon as much as he wants, which is NOT a good thing. I hope you understand what i mean Chamtrainer.

 

[billbuckner]

i think you need to read about them a lot more. once you do that, keep reading!! and so on and so on! it is a lot of commitment, just judging by your question i do not think you should get a chameleon. just saying

 

[Jsiddens]

I have two veileds. One male and one female. The male doesnt really care what I do in his cage when I'm watering his plants or cleaning poo's. The female aka "miniature t-rex" fires up and hisses and gapes at me everytime I do anything remotely near her cage. I leave them alone other than cleaning and misting and feeding. Now clearly my veileds both have different temperaments. So I agree there are nicer ones out there. If you did want one to kinda chill out with you on a rare occasion I might buy a larger ficus and put it in the living room as long as theres not gonna be alot of traffic and see what he or she does when you put it in it. Maybe a outdoor sunning cage with a big plant in it to climb on. Thats as far as i'd ever go towards handling one.

 

[SpinyFranky]

I won't get into an argument, but i'll just answer your post by something simple: how can you know that he LOVES being handled?

There are various reasons that can explain why your chameleon is reaching out your hand: his enclosure can be too small, he may have spotted another chameleon (female) in the area, he can be curious and explorer, he may be wanting more light or less light (like UV exposure), and so on. From a scientific point of view, i have seen no reason that justifies the hypothesis that "some chameleon love/like being handled".

not to sound rude, but for all you listed, isn't it at all possible that actually liking to come out of its cage may be one reason for the chameleon to want to leave its cage?

Sure UVB this and Space that, or sexual frustration and what not, but say all that was not a factor and the animal wanted out, is it so mind boggling to people that an animal may actually have some traits that *gasp and how dare he!* link it to what makes us human?

Im not saying the chameleon will know "hate" or "love" but I think that saying "its an animal, it doesn't like things" is quite the silly statement.

Your chameleon "likes" a favorite prey item, but by that same statement, a chameleon can like to stay inside of its cage or it can like to leave it.

From personal experience my Ambanja prefers to be left alone in his cage, and my Sambava tolerates coming out. I wont say like since he doesn't exactly jump on my hand and give me kisses the moment the door opens but he does come onto the hand and does not turn stress colorations and stick the infamous chameleon chin out at me. But if you do a search, its easy to find threads about chameleons that seemingly like to come out of their cage, or to hang around with their owners. Dont you think that it gives some "proof" that perhaps the animal isnt as animalistic as you believe?

Anatomically, animals have every organ Humans do. We are all made from similar Eukaryotic cell structures, we breathe the same air, metabolize the same nutritional requirements *aka the calorie*. Humans and Animals are both creatures, both of us are living breathing creatures, set on equal playing ground.

If I pinch my dog he yaps because it hurts, so he obviously feels pain, and when I come home he barks and runs to me because he is excited to see me.

This isn't so much aimed at you alone Morph as it is to the people who tend to refuse to admit that people and animals are much closer than they think. Or rather, its directed to those that use it as an excuse to abuse/neglect/mistreat/ or kill animals with no fear of consequence, after all they're just animals.

 

[Jsiddens]

I like what you said SpinyFranky. The Chams never will love us. They tolerate us at best. We should all remember that they are captives and even with our best efforts we can't completely simulate there natural environment. They dont have to worry about some threats that they would in the wild, but an inexperienced owner maybe an even bigger threat.

 

[chamtrainer]

okay, it seems like there has been a confusion of some sort. The panther chameleon i have is in a 2 ft by 2ft by 4ft.He is getting fed very well and is out of sight of males or females. He lives outdoors in the warm SoCal sun and couldn't be happier. When he sees a male, he will fire up or when he sees a female he will bob. He fires up other birds and other animals as well. But never once has he gaped or try to run away from my hand. No matter if he is or isn't in his cage, he will reaches out to my hand.

 

[Psi]

I took the babies for a 10 week well check up and fecal.

Holy crap, you must have an affordable vet!
I'd bet that it would be case by case situation for me.

 

[jannb]

Holy crap, you must have an affordable vet!
I'd bet that it would be case by case situation for me.

I have a truly awesome chameleon vet..... Dr. Ivan Alfonso. He's one of the best cham vets in the US and he is very reasonable.......less than my dogs vet. He checked over the babies and mashed together poop from each bin and did fecals. If one baby in the bin or cage had anything he said they'd probably all have it but luckly ever fecal was clean. I wanted to make sure that my babies were healthy before they went to their new home.

 

[kiltheduck]

As a prospective first-time owner myself, well into my reading and research phase, I have similar questions to iwantachameleon. I do understand the principle that chameleons, as a rule, don't like being handled. But I'm sure you can all remember back to when you first got your first chameleon. I look forward to the excitement and am greatly anticipating it now. And they are such interesting animals you can't help but want to touch them. But I will show restraint . . . espeically in the first few weeks as it gets adjusted to it's new surroundings. But I somewhat reluctantly admit that I would like to be able to handle it on occasion. So I would repeat the question that started this thread with a small qualifier. Are there any particular lines of chameleons that are better adjusted and adapted to more frequent handling? All kinds of traits are selectively bred into all kinds of domesticated animals. Is there perhaps a breed, or a specific line, of chameleon that can live a normal lifespan despite occasional handling? I have decided that I'd like a panther myself, but I am flexible and I'm far from buying anything yet anyway because I'm a long way from getting everything set up the way I want it. I'd love to find a breeder that feels his/her chameleons are well adjusted to handling.

 

[Symbiot]

I have seen several people here say that their panther chameleon loves being handled and doesn't seem to stress out at all when handled. So if you plan on getting a panther chameleon you are good in that aspect. The thing is, there isn't truly a way to tell if your chameleon is not stressed out even though he may not be showing it by changing his colors. There is also the chance that the panther chameleon you get just won't tolerate being handled as it gets older. You really won't know till you buy him/her.

 

[kiltheduck]

I hope I get lucky, then. But I'd think that an offspring from well-adjusted parents would be more likely to have the same qualities.

 

[draetish]

I have seen several people here say that their panther chameleon loves being handled and doesn't seem to stress out at all when handled. So if you plan on getting a panther chameleon you are good in that aspect. The thing is, there isn't truly a way to tell if your chameleon is not stressed out even though he may not be showing it by changing his colors. There is also the chance that the panther chameleon you get just won't tolerate being handled as it gets older. You really won't know till you buy him/her.

This is very true. Panthers and Jacksons seem to tolerate us and there are occassional Veileds. Buy from a reputible breeder from this forum and buy them when they are 3-4 mos old. Start working slowly with hand feeding and letting them associate you with food by opening the door and coaxing them out onto one hand by holding the feeder with the other. Once they are on your hand let them have their reward. Slow movement is crucial as they are slow. Also you can occassionally take them out and reward them by letting them free roam on a limb gym or similar. Do this in the evening so they have had their basking time and you are not depriving them of precious UVB. Let them fall asleep on the outside limb and put them back in after they have gone to sleep, it's less stress. Younger chams are a bit more skittish just because they are young and haven't been around you alot, so don't over do it.

 

[Leedslad88]

Although i fully agree that Chams should only be handled rarely.

I believe that it is truely upto the cham itsself. Flo (12 month Panther female) love it when i wonder into the room, she gets straight up from the branch and wanders down onto my hand!!!

however, on the other hand a couple of my others are very 'showy' and will only come to you if you approach them......

I suggest you do a LOT of research and consider weither this species is for you