Chamaeleo chamaeleon recticrista questions

[Andreashad]

Hello everyone, i am new at your forum and i have a lot of questions.......Before 3 days i found a wild young chamaeleon crossing the road out of my house!!!!.....so i decided to keep it as a pet because i love that animals!!....i searched the internet and i found that the only specie of chameleon that lives in my country (Cyprus) is called "Chamaeleo chamaeleon recticrista"......I checked your forum and found anything about what things should i feed it....i'm taking for example a cricket close to my chameleon but it doesn't eat it (you know that tongue trick)....the only way i found to feed it is to take the cricet so close to him so as to open his mouth making that scary "Haaasss" and release the cricet into his mouth.....what should i do to make him eat regurarly???.......an other fact is the watering system....i made a DIY dripping system placed at the top of his/her enclosure but it doesn't seem to drink water.......how can i know that he/she drinks it???....and at last how can i lern its gender??



thank you and sorry for the long text and bad English.....

 

[AJA]

Welcome to the forum. I am sure that the more experienced people on this forum will help you out, but what I see is that you have caught a wild animal and you are trying to interact with it. This animal is very stressed right now so you need to keep contact to a minimum.

Put your crickets in its cage and leave the room. Put the dripper on and leave the room. Keep its cage in a low traffic area away from noise and activity.

Can you post a photo for us so we can see your set up?

Do you have plants in the cage for it to hide?

Try to imange space aliens picking you up and trying to interact with you. As far as you are concerned they are going eat you.

Your English is better than my Greek.

 

[Chris Anderson]

If I remember correctly the Mediterranean or Common Chameleons on Cyprus are quite rare and possibly even protected. You should release the chameleon where you found it immediately. It sounds like you are not set up to care for it correctly and you are not doing the local population any favors collecting this animal and trying to keep it as a pet.

Chris

 

[TreelionsUK]

What chris said is true,i would let him or her go free..
I used to find these in Malta when i was a kid...these are what got me into the hobby amazing animals!!
Take a snap and let him be free,could you not find any CB animals for the hobby in Cyprus....i don't think the reptile keeping hobby is as acceptable in the med as it is in western countrys

Good luck with it and i hope you make the right choice

Regards
Luke

 

[Andreashad]

If I remember correctly the Mediterranean or Common Chameleons on Cyprus are quite rare and possibly even protected. You should release the chameleon where you found it immediately. It sounds like you are not set up to care for it correctly and you are not doing the local population any favors collecting this animal and trying to keep it as a pet.

Chris

about the set up : I bought an enclosure about 1.2 x 0.90 x 0.30 metres with temperature and humidity control.......i have some live trees inside i think they called ''Juglans nigra'' .......about if they are protected i think is completely the oposite....this animal is very common and very easy to be found in cyprus because of the large number of them...it is also found in large amounts in africa.....

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

.about if they are protected i think is completely the oposite....this animal is very common and very easy to be found in cyprus because of the large number of them...it is also found in large amounts in africa.....

that doesnt at all mean they are not protected, please look it up and do the right thing

 

[Andreashad]

see your self ......... http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/CIN/ContentMgmt.nsf/Conservation/$first?OpenDocument.......

P.S i also found that many pet shops (in paphos) sell that specie for pet legaly......i can list you more than 8...

 

[Chris Anderson]

The link you've provided does not indicate either way whether this species is protected in Cyprus or not. I may be wrong about their status on Cyprus but in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal Chamaeleo chamaeleon is considered endangered and protected and it is illegal in the EU to keep them. Regardless, you obviously do not know how to care for it and it would be best for the animal and for the population if you let it go. Whether or not pet stores have them is not the point.

Chris

 

[Andreashad]

ok...if its is that true thank u very much for your replies i am going to set free the chameleon to a field next to my house right now.....thank you vary much for the info..... i hope i took the right decision...........but i still want to have a chameleon for a pet........ and i bought all the stuff already.......which one do u advise me to buy?

 

[Rocky]

I'm not sure on the availability of chameleons in your area, but a calypratus (Veiled Chameleon) is the general best starter chameleon, next I would say a Panther.