DanSB
Avid Member
As some of you know my Pipin my Senegal passed away a little while ago. The first few days were tough, I kept trying to mist the enclosure or get some insects ready for dinner. I still have an impulse to mist and the frogs appreciate the extra attention I suppose.
I can't find any dang Chameleons!! I do have a pair of babies reserved but they won't be ready for awhile longer, and I want a chameleon right now!
Unless you want a Panther, Veiled, or Xantho Jackson it is really a lot of work to find a decent Chameleon! The closest i came was a flap neck in town but my wife just didn't like him. A great Cameroon shipment showed up with some Triceros species I really wanted but they were sold out in a day. i found someone else with Captive Hatched Senegal babies, I was ready to order 3, gone... And so on and so forth.
The take away here is if you see an uncommon chameleon for sale you want DO NOT hesitate, it will be gone.
I think chameleon prices should increase because they are moving far too fast and this might encourage captive breeding and availability of some more variety of species. Not to mention people would tend to take better care of 200 dollar investment than one where the animal cost less than the UV light fixture over it...
I should also like to complain about the general state of importing animals. I think WC Chameleons being marketed as pets is wrong. They are not good pets, they are likely to die inside of a year, will cost money in vet bills if you do try to keep them alive, and are generally less healthy than teir captive bred cousins.
Importers should only be selling to people with established or attempting to establish breeding groups specifically as new genetic material for the captive populations. Anything less is cruel to the people buying the chameleons and cruel to the chameleon who is not getting the care it needs in the hands of some kid who bought a cheap pet...
Am I done complaining? Not even close...
Why do herp dealers often not answer their phones or reply to e-mails? Are they busy? Likely, why would you not set up an away message or say so on the answering machine?
I have a lot more but I will close with why in the world have we not devised a more efficient method to get reptiles across the country? I know for a fact packaging exists that could keep temperature stabilized for 48 hours in all but the most intense conditions, and maybe even then! But we can't seem to get an overnight shipment that leaves in the evening and arrives in the morning to ship safely in the middle of summer?
Okay I'm done complaining thank you all for letting me vent...
I can't find any dang Chameleons!! I do have a pair of babies reserved but they won't be ready for awhile longer, and I want a chameleon right now!
Unless you want a Panther, Veiled, or Xantho Jackson it is really a lot of work to find a decent Chameleon! The closest i came was a flap neck in town but my wife just didn't like him. A great Cameroon shipment showed up with some Triceros species I really wanted but they were sold out in a day. i found someone else with Captive Hatched Senegal babies, I was ready to order 3, gone... And so on and so forth.
The take away here is if you see an uncommon chameleon for sale you want DO NOT hesitate, it will be gone.
I think chameleon prices should increase because they are moving far too fast and this might encourage captive breeding and availability of some more variety of species. Not to mention people would tend to take better care of 200 dollar investment than one where the animal cost less than the UV light fixture over it...
I should also like to complain about the general state of importing animals. I think WC Chameleons being marketed as pets is wrong. They are not good pets, they are likely to die inside of a year, will cost money in vet bills if you do try to keep them alive, and are generally less healthy than teir captive bred cousins.
Importers should only be selling to people with established or attempting to establish breeding groups specifically as new genetic material for the captive populations. Anything less is cruel to the people buying the chameleons and cruel to the chameleon who is not getting the care it needs in the hands of some kid who bought a cheap pet...
Am I done complaining? Not even close...
Why do herp dealers often not answer their phones or reply to e-mails? Are they busy? Likely, why would you not set up an away message or say so on the answering machine?
I have a lot more but I will close with why in the world have we not devised a more efficient method to get reptiles across the country? I know for a fact packaging exists that could keep temperature stabilized for 48 hours in all but the most intense conditions, and maybe even then! But we can't seem to get an overnight shipment that leaves in the evening and arrives in the morning to ship safely in the middle of summer?
Okay I'm done complaining thank you all for letting me vent...
