Accurate caresheets for "rare"r species?

[SaintJimmy]

Would something like this be ideal? It's a rough sketch (gave up with google sketchup because I am lazy in that aspect), but it gives you an idea.

I plan on having it 5 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. the total cost of the PVC would be 17.40$ (not including the L joints I'd need to join the PVC).

I also plan on having wheels on it somehow, and I don't know how I'd handle the door, but I would most likely have a thick plastic (clearish white) for the siding, then coated chicken wire at the top.

I don't really even know. I want it to look professional, too. Not just thrown together.

edit now I realize how weird pvc would look, even though it would be cheap. It is also very hard to find "large racks" in google search...due to boobs.

Ay ay ay

 

[JacobH]

Europeans have published quite a few articles and care sheets to look over.

If you want to study biology, I recommend that you start to use binomial nomenclature properly, unlike almost everyone on this whole entire site.

 

[kplatvoet]

On your interest in Biology - Have you tried the App "Best Open Course" I've found some amazing lectures from UC Berkeley- Stanford MIT and a bunch of others - I haven't found any good reptile specific ones yet - but there's some great stuff- I like to listen on my way to work- I don't think 5% sinks in but it's a free droid app-

 

[CarlC]

I really want to stick with my two current favorites: Jackson's and Meller's. Parsons are a great opportunity, but very expensive, and I don't want to risk anything so big.


Jackson's are my main preference due to the horns and easy husbandry/lax behavior and the fact that they like humidity. I love the misting system business. Even taking out the buckets is "fun" to me really, I love setting up the system and watching it rain.

The care for a lot of the horned species is similar especially the east African species. Stay into the less worked with species and you'll find they are just as easy going when their needs are met. The problem comes in with meeting their needs. Most people are not able to provide the cool to almost cold conditions that are needed to sustain the species over multiple generations. Getting the species to live isn't an issue getting them to thrive is. Once you get the thought of breeding out of your head and work on providing the seasonal conditions that closely match their natural conditions the reproduction of the species will come naturally.

Carl

 

[Deevo]

I could put one together for a fishers. I gotta admit it was hard to find help for my species when I first got here...my help threads went unanswered and yet there were 30+ replies for somebody with a veiled that has a little black spot /rant

 

[ChamaeleonidaeHerper]

I know that careers are no piece of cake, I will have to work to get where I want. What about more specialized, like herps?

I would love to volunteer somewhere or work somewhere to add more things to my resume that way I will have more experience and better odds vs other people too, which is obvious.

I think that maybe after college, once I am stable in a job, I will mainly focus on mellers seriously, but only have jacksons as pets.

Is it possible to have a PVC big enclosure, as long as I have support rods every couple of feet? I'm talking like... 5 feet wide, 5 feet tall, 3 feet deep, and I would want it inside. I would also want plexiglass or plastic to be able to lock into the sides, but be able to remove it for transport in case I had to move. I would also need it to have wheels and a drain bucket, so maybe I'd go with the "convert a rack into a cage idea". I would have a mist king attached too. I don't know how I'd make everything portable though, given all the plants and such. Agh.

Actually, scratch that. Moving trucks would do the moving and then I'd keep the chams in the car.

You could always find the nearest zoo and/or rehabilitation center. You can also volunteer at the local humane society. You don't have to necessarily have experience with a certain type of animal as long as you are working with animals and getting your name and face out in the world. Letting people know you have a passion for a certain kingdom along the way. You never know if the person you're volunteering for will be the Director of the Zoo you will apply to down the road once you have a degree.

 

[fluxlizard]

I plan on having it 5 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. the total cost of the PVC would be 17.40$ (not including the L joints I'd need to join the PVC).

After a fire last year that burned my reptariums, I'm not a big fan, BUT- if you want a PVC frame- you can take 2 reptarium covers 175 gallon size, cut one side out of each and sew them together, build a 1" pvc frame to fit your new double door reptarium and have a cage 5' long 4' high and 29" wide for pretty cheap and pretty little work.

At one point I was buying covers for this size for $30-$35 from somewhere (can't remember source now)- if you search around you can probably find them still for $35 some place. So the whole cage for maybe $100 or a little more...

 

[laurie]

Emily, you need to finish high school, get a couple years of college under your belt, then you will have a better idea where to focus your future. Since you can't have a chameleon at most colleges, or in my opinion, time to properly care for one, you are a long way from building cages. Who know what will be available in 4 or 5 years? things are changing fast.

Take care of the cham you have and learn from that. Read the forum, and in my opinion, since you have very little background, or time with chameleons, be a littler slower to criticize members on the forum so harshly.

That is all the advice I have to offer.

 

[Chris Anderson]

There are actually a fair number of species profiles and care sheets for less common species if you know where to look for them. In addition to a lot of useful information in English language books like Spawls et al. (2002), Necas (2004), Glaw & Vences (2007) and Tilbury (2010), there are a number of German language books with a lot of information in them as well. Some of these are even available online (example: Henkel, F. W. & Heinecke, S. 1996. Chamäleons im Terrarium: http://en.bookfi.org/book/1555342). There are also many online sources and while many are in German or in other languages, if you put the URL into Google Translate, it will do its best and give you a better idea of what the articles are saying. Here are a few links to where you can find some of these care sheets:

Chameleons! Online E-Zine - Article Reference Page
ADCHAM - Web Archive
Chamaeleons Online - Wiki Page
IG-Chamäleons
AG Chamäleons - Journal Downloads

Specifically for Trioceros johnstoni, for instance, ADCHAM has a profile (ADCHAM T. johnstoni profile), Chamaeleons Online has a write up as well (Chamaeleons Online T. johnstoni profile) and there is an article in one of the AG Chamäleons journal volumes (AG Chamäleons - Volume 27).

As far as pursuing biology goes, for your undergraduate studies (Bachelor's degree), chances are you will major in Biology or Zoology, or some similar, relatively broad biological discipling. You may also have a similarly broad specialization (Marine Bio, Ecology, etc.) and you might be able to take some specialized courses, but the education you'll receive overall is going to be fairly broad and would enable you to pursue a lot of options after the fact. You really won't be able to specialize in herpetology, for instance, at this level. To be honest, most "herpetologists" are actually trained in broader fields (ecology, evolution, functional morphology, etc.) and then simply use reptiles and amphibians as their study organism.

A Bachelor's degree is really the first big step you'll probably need to make, and as has been mentioned, your long term interests may evolve during the process and put you on the right track. At some point during your training, however, you'll probably want to decide what type of work you want to do so that you can determine how much education and what degrees you will need. If you want to work at a zoo, teach high school biology, or something like that, for instance, you will need far less schooling than if you want to teach university level biology, conduct your own research, etc., and it may not be worth going through the entire process if it isn't what you want to do. There are a number of sectors, however, that you could end up working in that have positions for a wide range of qualification levels (from field/lab technicians working on assigned projects up to senior scientist with your own research programs). Ultimately with time, as you go through your education and talk to your advisors, you'll start to get an idea for what you are interested in doing.

Chris

 

[GrimsbyPatchwork]

Extremely interesting and informative thread!

 

[ReptiGeek]

Believe it or not, this book has an amazing care sheet on Parsons Chameleons. Last week it was slow at work, so I grabbed this book off the shelf and read it front to back and was quite amazed with the information provided.

http://www.petsmart.ca/reptile/rept...6-5126196/cat-36-catid-500014?_t=pfm=category

 

[SaintJimmy]

I recommend that you start to use binomial nomenclature properly, unlike almost everyone on this whole entire site.

I think the people on here are just using it casually? Is there something wrong with just saying "melleri" or "parsonii"?

On your interest in Biology - Have you tried the App "Best Open Course"

Thanks, I'll check it out

The care for a lot of the horned species is similar especially the east African species. Stay into the less worked with species and you'll find they are just as easy going when their needs are met. The problem comes in with meeting their needs. Most people are not able to provide the cool to almost cold conditions that are needed to sustain the species over multiple generations. Getting the species to live isn't an issue getting them to thrive is. Once you get the thought of breeding out of your head and work on providing the seasonal conditions that closely match their natural conditions the reproduction of the species will come naturally.

Carl

I really do care about chameleons. I know it's farfetched but maybe later I will stick with one species. The purpose of this thread is just to gather info in case I decide to in fact go through with what I want. I am very .. loyal... more like stubborn.. to what I like doing. Basically, now that I know how mistakes are so easily made, I want everything to be perfect. If everything goes well I'd love to breed. But you're right. Proper care of species goes first, then the breeding, maybe I am getting ahead of myself.

my help threads went unanswered and yet there were 30+ replies for somebody with a veiled that has a little black spot /rant

That bothers me too, but other people need help urgently sometimes, whether the species be common or rare. Usually the threads with most replies are about common issues with new members too. Haha but I feel you.

You could always find the nearest zoo and/or rehabilitation center. You can also volunteer at the local humane society. You don't have to necessarily have experience with a certain type of animal as long as you are working with animals and getting your name and face out in the world. Letting people know you have a passion for a certain kingdom along the way. You never know if the person you're volunteering for will be the Director of the Zoo you will apply to down the road once you have a degree.

When I become old enough for a job, I want to work somewhere "low" like petco and at least try to curve their husbandry a little. I already plan on finishing college, but when I am not taking classes I would love to volunteer somewhere like a zoo or rehab center. Humane society depresses me.

Emily, you need to finish high school, get a couple years of college under your belt, then you will have a better idea where to focus your future. Since you can't have a chameleon at most colleges, or in my opinion, time to properly care for one, you are a long way from building cages. Who know what will be available in 4 or 5 years? things are changing fast.

Take care of the cham you have and learn from that. Read the forum, and in my opinion, since you have very little background, or time with chameleons, be a littler slower to criticize members on the forum so harshly.

That is all the advice I have to offer.

I am in no way saying that I am disregarding high school and college. I am just asking questions in this thread in case I did plan on having meller's I think I mentioned that I would prefer a portable cage since I would be in an apartment. I have already planned to not go "dorm" wise, but if exotics aren't allowed in the apartment, I would just not have a chameleon. And about being a long way from building, I already know how to build things, but that I guess, doesn't apply (my dad builds things with me, like furniture, I do a lot of the sawing, the hammering, the painting, the planning).

I am taking care of the chameleon I have, nothing says that I am not. I am always learning from him and trying to improve his situation and spoil him even more. All of his stuff comes from my earned money. Even though I may not have much experience with chameleons, I do read, and I read A LOT about them. Constantly, and I would say that the majority of my time spent at home is either a) chores b) on this website c) research about.. chameleons. I am sorry that I am young and arrogant sometimes, but when someone is doing something absolutely unacceptable, why should we let it stand? Why sugar coat the people who are giving their chameleons horrible situations? Just because I am young/do not have experience with chameleons very much doesn't mean I cannot speak against the blatant abuse we see here on basically a daily basis.

I really try not to be rude, to criticize, but.. I guess I do sometimes. I will try to stop.

There are actually a fair number of species profiles and care sheets for less common species if you know where to look for them. In addition to a lot of useful information in English language books like Spawls et al. (2002), Necas (2004), Glaw & Vences (2007) and Tilbury (2010), there are a number of German language books with a lot of information in them as well. Some of these are even available online (example: Henkel, F. W. & Heinecke, S. 1996. Chamäleons im Terrarium: http://en.bookfi.org/book/1555342). There are also many online sources and while many are in German or in other languages, if you put the URL into Google Translate, it will do its best and give you a better idea of what the articles are saying. Here are a few links to where you can find some of these care sheets:

Chameleons! Online E-Zine - Article Reference Page
ADCHAM - Web Archive
Chamaeleons Online - Wiki Page
IG-Chamäleons
AG Chamäleons - Journal Downloads

Specifically for Trioceros johnstoni, for instance, ADCHAM has a profile (ADCHAM T. johnstoni profile), Chamaeleons Online has a write up as well (Chamaeleons Online T. johnstoni profile) and there is an article in one of the AG Chamäleons journal volumes (AG Chamäleons - Volume 27).

As far as pursuing biology goes, for your undergraduate studies (Bachelor's degree), chances are you will major in Biology or Zoology, or some similar, relatively broad biological discipling. You may also have a similarly broad specialization (Marine Bio, Ecology, etc.) and you might be able to take some specialized courses, but the education you'll receive overall is going to be fairly broad and would enable you to pursue a lot of options after the fact. You really won't be able to specialize in herpetology, for instance, at this level. To be honest, most "herpetologists" are actually trained in broader fields (ecology, evolution, functional morphology, etc.) and then simply use reptiles and amphibians as their study organism.

A Bachelor's degree is really the first big step you'll probably need to make, and as has been mentioned, your long term interests may evolve during the process and put you on the right track. At some point during your training, however, you'll probably want to decide what type of work you want to do so that you can determine how much education and what degrees you will need. If you want to work at a zoo, teach high school biology, or something like that, for instance, you will need far less schooling than if you want to teach university level biology, conduct your own research, etc., and it may not be worth going through the entire process if it isn't what you want to do. There are a number of sectors, however, that you could end up working in that have positions for a wide range of qualification levels (from field/lab technicians working on assigned projects up to senior scientist with your own research programs). Ultimately with time, as you go through your education and talk to your advisors, you'll start to get an idea for what you are interested in doing.

Chris

Thank you Chris I love having advice from you guys here.

Anyway I already know that the Biology area is what I definitely 100% no doubt wish to go into. I would prefer zoology to be specific, but horticulture seems interesting to me as well.

I am currently learning German and Spanish so maybe I could read some of your sources soon. Thank you.

Believe it or not, this book has an amazing care sheet on Parsons Chameleons. Last week it was slow at work, so I grabbed this book off the shelf and read it front to back and was quite amazed with the information provided.

http://www.petsmart.ca/reptile/rept...6-5126196/cat-36-catid-500014?_t=pfm=category

Maybe I will give it a look