Chameleon Obsession

[shermanator]

awesome posts people.....couldn't agree more, most people who keep animals such as chams, dart frogs, geckos, aren't the same as the "weirdos" who hoard cats, etc.

Most afficionados(sp?) know more about the species of chams, frogs, etc they are keeping than even the normal pet stores....I have seen that show before and I would hate to see an "example" using chams, geckos, etc.

Chams, geckos, etc don't have the "bad boy/girl" label that poisonous / dangerous reptiles have and so aren't as likely to have the novelty / weird obsession that they are looking to use for their show.

 

[DanSB]

Dear Television Researcher,

I am sure you will find your weird chameleon people. There are weird people of every type and the most inflammatory, strange, and awkward will be featured on the television show. This is what the producers will demand because it is what the people will tune into.

Nobody who isn't a chameleon keeper will tune into a responsible interesting program on chameleon husbandry and the responsible intelligent people who keep them from a love a species so if that is what you're really looking for you're show will get terrible ratings and go away soon.

Thus there is a direct conflict of interest: The people here don't want to be portrayed to the public by a select few weirdos who don't represent the hobby and the producers of the television show would not stand to profit by chronicling those who do represent the hobby.

If it was me and I was looking to showcase chameleon people and didn't want to make a bunch of people angry to get ratings I would focus on the professional breeders and legitimate reputable operations. These would be interesting due to their scale to more people. A quick look through this sites sponsors would give you a good list of businesses that would love to be showcased (I'm sure) and likely provide some very interesting people whose lives are dedicated to chameleons in a professional manner.

 

[Carlton]

My thoughts exactly,..

But, we all know that the more extreme the content, the more likely it will be picked up by those pseudo-reality cable networks and actually watched (which is the baseline intent for producing a show in the first place).

The "average" dedicated, knowledgeable chameleon owner won't be weird, bizarre, aberrant, or do dumb stuff like dressing up like their pets or eating their food. Sleeping with a cham? Are you serious? Good way to stress it to the point of sickness or killing it. These keepers are too busy caring for the chams they have, educating others on forums or public events, or bailing out newbies in trouble!

We all know what happens to responsible conservation-focused wildlife shows...they get cancelled to make room for the stupid-human-trick escapades of clownish snake hunters in khaki shorts prancing around in the bushes pissing off the local vipers.

BUT, now that we are all refusing to take the OP's bait, we will continue to languish in obscurity, alone, misunderstood, unappreciated because we could not attract publicity the weirdos do..............

 

[Carlton]

awesome posts people.....couldn't agree more, most people who keep animals such as chams, dart frogs, geckos, aren't the same as the "weirdos" who hoard cats, etc.

Most afficionados(sp?) know more about the species of chams, frogs, etc they are keeping than even the normal pet stores....I have seen that show before and I would hate to see an "example" using chams, geckos, etc.

Chams, geckos, etc don't have the "bad boy/girl" label that poisonous / dangerous reptiles have and so aren't as likely to have the novelty / weird obsession that they are looking to use for their show.

Normal pet stores are about the LAST place to get accurate herp keeping information! We probably also have more experience than most normal vets too.

 

[d3s5]

Wow, can't believe I didn't see this thread until now. It's just been a hectic two days. First, the zipper broke on my chameleon suit. Then I ran out of floss and couldn't get the cricket legs out from between my teeth. And to top it off, Phineas forgot to set the alarm before we went to bed last night. We both overslept and I got docked for being late to work!

It's really rough being passionate and dedicated to chameleons. . .

 

[Captive Creations]

I have nothing to say cause all you guys said everything I was thinking lol
joking aside great posts everyone. I couldn't have said it better than anyone of you.
The 4 year old chameleons really cracked me up which I was reading it lmao