Book comments please :)

trevev said:
The book is ok. It gives a general overview of panthers, veiled and parson's chameleons.

This book is pretty good also:http://www.amazon.com/Chameleons-Breeding-Linda-J-Davison/dp/0888393539/.

I have yet to find a really good book on chams so my advice would be to get a couple different ones and go from there
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I second this, at least the comment on Davis's book. That book you listed is worth reading but it can be a bit weak on the husbandry (IMO). It is nice because it gives some specific information on those species, including info on their native habitats which is worth gold IMO.

Davis's book is strong on the husbandry (keep in mind it is an older book though and when you get to the supplementation section keep in mind that she sells the product she speaks so highly of (google search the product itself 'Miner-all' or 'sticky tongue farms' which is her business) and other products have since hit the market. Not taking a stance, just pointing out the facts. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.)

Of the few books I have read so far, Davis's is my favorite. I was flipping through this book in the store a few weeks ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Chameleon-Handbook-Barrons-Pet-Handbooks/dp/0764141422/

I did not get a chance to really evaluate it but I do plan to get a copy at some point.
 
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I'm gonna have to disagree slightly. Each one of the species in that first book gets approximately 15 to 20 pages devoted to them. I haven't read it in a while but I can't imagine there being that much missing husbandry info when each profile is that significant. If anything I would say it is one of the most technical books out there about keeping those 4 species.
 
I'd have to say its very general.. ur posting in the biggest best book of all time!. I collect em and its not the best. I have one from 1977 that groups Chameleons and anoles together and man o mighty Is it terrible.. lol
 
I have that book as well and I find that it gave me a pretty decent foundation when I started keeping chameleons. I just had to figure out the details, like what exactly is good gutload food, for example, but it was useful.

If you're on this forum though you probably know what it has to teach anyway, and then some.
 
The panther chameleon section alone is 28 pages long! I still don't understand how that's general information compared to a couple paragraphs in other books. The feeding and gutloading section alone takes up four full pages of text. Each of the other three species has sections about feeding and gutloading. Are you guys sure we're talking about the same book here?
 
I just flipped through it and it is indeed pretty thorough, but little details like exact gut loading ingredients aren't really mentioned in detail. It mentions cereals and leafy greens, but doesn't provide a list of which ones are good/best, for example. Until you get to the Parson's section, and then it gives you a few examples. I had the book years before I scanned through the Parson's section because, really, why bother if I'm not going to get one.

Overall it's pretty thorough, but it could include a few more details here and there. I still reference it from time to time if I don't want to reach for the computer. It's why it's still in my chameleon room!
 
reptilover said:
I'd have to say its very general.. ur posting in the biggest best book of all time!. I collect em and its not the best. I have one from 1977 that groups Chameleons and anoles together and man o mighty Is it terrible.. lol
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Which are you talking about?
 
i loved the book before i bought a cham i bought this book and it taught me alot.for a beginer it really helps u understand of what ur getting into. recommend it to a newbie.
 
The book in my OP is up to date and is writen by 3 authors, but I am going to buy a few other books as well.
Thanks everyone for the input ;)
 
Ok, I will say a little more later, last night after the debate about how thorough it is started, I pulled out Davis's book and this book side by side and looked through both. I realized that when I said that this book was weak on the husbandry, I was kind of implicitly comparing it to Davis's book.

I do like this book. I have really only payed attention to the veiled section. Each species does get its own section this is true...... but there is quite a bit of overlap. That is, off the top of my head, all three basically say the same thing about enclosures give or take some details(I will confirm this later). So if these authors had condensed this information and handled the exceptions on a case by case basis, those long sections would probably not look as impressive.

I feel the overwhelming strength of this book is how they tie the proper husbandry for each species to the species' native habitat (I am not saying that with any kind of authority mind you, I am speaking soley from the perspective of my own confidence in their strategies and the helpfulness of the information received).

Things like specifics on gutloading and supplimentation are not covered in great depth as I recall. Mentioned yes, but its very general statements.

I'll say more in a little bit.
 
By the way,
I want to make the point clear, I do think this is a book worth reading. I never meant to suggest otherwise. I feel it should be considered supplimental reading though. (I actually have an extra copy)
 
AllFallDown said:
By the way,
I want to make the point clear, I do think this is a book worth reading. I never meant to suggest otherwise. I feel it should be considered supplimental reading though. (I actually have an extra copy)
Click to expand...

Do you have a personal favorite book, or do they all have their strenghts and weakness?

Are there any books that go into anatomy, taxonomy, stuff like that?
 
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