Curious Gardener: What did I find?

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viperx731

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Hello all,

I was just uprooting some unwanted bushes in my backyard when I discovered this little guy(or gal) hiding on my fence. I grew kinda curious and wanted to know more about 'em, but my superior Google searching power provided me with empty results. So I was hoping you guys could help.

Here's some more info if needed: I live in St. Pete, Florida and the little guy/gal is about two inches long

Thank you!
 

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Wow excellent find! Not native in sure so that'd explain lack of results from the search.. I'm incredibly interested in wat it is..
 
look around and see if there are any more and or bigger ones lurking around take a picture of bigger ones if there are any and post em. That is pretty freakin awesome that you found him
 
Looks like a newly hatched baby veiled. I don't see a spur on the hind foot so I'm guessing a female. If it has a small bump on the back of the back feet it is a male.
 
Goggles said:
Looks like a newly hatched baby veiled. I don't see a spur on the hind foot so I'm guessing a female. If it has a small bump on the back of the back feet it is a male.
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I wouldnt say veiled it has no casque at all! :) and I don't know of any species of chams personally that don't have some kind of identifiable head structure.. so this is interesting hopfully someone knows!
 
I think it could be a veiled hatchling.

while there is no casque yet freshly hatched veileds dont have them.
 
Damn! Why can't I ever find anything that wonderful in my garden?! I never find frogs or geckos in my prepacked salad either!:mad:

Seriously though, it does look like a baby Veiled, and being that small the spurs aren't always very obvious. As for the casque, these develop and usually start growing by two months or thereabouts.
 
I say definite veiled.

They seem to be well enough established by now in the wild there....unfortunately. Are you in Florida or California or elsewhere?

I'd give him to a reptile lover or keep him as a pet. Non-Native wildlife can wreak havoc on Native populations such as bird hatchlings.
 
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Thanks guys!

Wow thanks for all the great comments!

I'm definitely going to try to do some more research. I tried looking around the spot i found him/her at but there was nothing there...

As for keeping him/her... I'm not sure, I want to release it back to the wild but it's so small and I have a ton of lizards running around that are like godzilla compared to it. Plus the more recent blue jays and robins that visit my garden that might snatch it up...
 
jannb said:
Are you plannng to keep him? If so we can help you with the care that he will need. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers below. It's more for 2 to 3 months old and he looks younger so he's need a smaller cage or a baby bin. I can also find you a link on baby bins.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

Thread to baby bins. The bins I used are post #6
https://www.chameleonforums.com/baby-bins-72646/
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Wow that's interesting! I'm not sure if I'll be keeping him or not just yet... But thank you for the great info!!! :D
 
viperx731 said:
Wow thanks for all the great comments!

I'm definitely going to try to do some more research. I tried looking around the spot i found him/her at but there was nothing there...

As for keeping him/her... I'm not sure, I want to release it back to the wild but it's so small and I have a ton of lizards running around that are like godzilla compared to it. Plus the more recent blue jays and robins that visit my garden that might snatch it up...
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I would strongly urge you not to release him- he's not native and it really is a HUGE problem when invasive species become established. It causes so much damage to native wildlife by out-competing existing species and upseting the ecosystem

He's a really cute little guy, but I'd be nervous about trying look after such a young one after discovering these guys are so delicate and specific in their needs... but, on the other hand, my heart would undoubtably win and I end up keeping him anyway! Good luck with him whatever you decide, perhaps someone can take him for you. :)

Sorry, I mean IF he's not indigenous, as I don't know where you are. :)
 
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viperx731 said:
Wow that's interesting! I'm not sure if I'll be keeping him or not just yet... But thank you for the great info!!! :D
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If you don't keep him please allow the members here to help you find a good home for him. We do have some keepers in the Tampa area.
 
Veileds are pretty much beyond established in SW Florida. I find it rather amusing to watch people that know little or nothing about the area beeping about " How terrible invasive non-native species are " Have you done any of your own research or are you just parroting back some article that you read? We have plenty of non-native animals in Florida and few of them are doing any serious harm. Most of these articles are written by government folks that couldn't get a job anywhere else in their field and they often exaggerate things to get more funding. The snakes are an issue but not so much of one as the state would have you believe. Are they eating native and non-native animals? yes but so what?

Most of the time it seems to me that folks just want something to complain about. They used to bitch about the alligators because they were federally protected and when one ate somebodies pet the villagers brought out the torches and pissed and moaned about " why are they protected? it could have been my child waaaaaaaaaaaa "

So now the pythons are eating some of the alligators and the same argument is being used.

imo folks should be excited that they live in an area where things like this live and if you don't like it, don't live here.

I have been in Florida since I was a child, I stay here because of the exciting creatures that live here and if new creatures can live here as well that's all the better. I don't see people flooding the streets to get rid of the brown anole. It has pretty much wiped out the " native " carolina anole. Sure you still see them but not very often.

So try to curb the ill informed drivel or move to Hawaii where xenophobia reaches new heights. They would still get rid of the jackson's chameleon if they could because it eats a " native " snail. I'm sure the ecology could never survive a reduction in the snail population.


Oh and sorry to the OP for trolling in your thread but it needed to be said. As Jann mentioned if you are worried about releasing it you can contact members in the Florida area that would be happy to help you out.
 
Montium said:
Veileds are pretty much beyond established in SW Florida. I find it rather amusing to watch people that know little or nothing about the area beeping about " How terrible invasive non-native species are " Have you done any of your own research or are you just parroting back some article that you read? We have plenty of non-native animals in Florida and few of them are doing any serious harm. Most of these articles are written by government folks that couldn't get a job anywhere else in their field and they often exaggerate things to get more funding. The snakes are an issue but not so much of one as the state would have you believe. Are they eating native and non-native animals? yes but so what?

Most of the time it seems to me that folks just want something to complain about. They used to bitch about the alligators because they were federally protected and when one ate somebodies pet the villagers brought out the torches and pissed and moaned about " why are they protected? it could have been my child waaaaaaaaaaaa "

So now the pythons are eating some of the alligators and the same argument is being used.

imo folks should be excited that they live in an area where things like this live and if you don't like it, don't live here.

I have been in Florida since I was a child, I stay here because of the exciting creatures that live here and if new creatures can live here as well that's all the better. I don't see people flooding the streets to get rid of the brown anole. It has pretty much wiped out the " native " carolina anole. Sure you still see them but not very often.

So try to curb the ill informed drivel or move to Hawaii where xenophobia reaches new heights. They would still get rid of the jackson's chameleon if they could because it eats a " native " snail. I'm sure the ecology could never survive a reduction in the snail population.


Oh and sorry to the OP for trolling in your thread but it needed to be said. As Jann mentioned if you are worried about releasing it you can contact members in the Florida area that would be happy to help you out.
Click to expand...

Wow, perhaps you'd like to pay my £21,000 (about $40,000) university fee, seeing they are clearly teaching me ALL the wrong information.
 
chameleon are not evasive. what is it that they do that would endanger the ecosystem? they just eat bugs and IF they get big maybe a small mouse or bird but thats it. trust me, ive got a friend who majoring in animal biology and specializing in reptiles, he was excited when i got a chameleon. but never the less ive spoken to him on this very subject before and theres nothing they do thats over bearing on any ecosystem, especially one with large predators like aligators and pythons all over. so just chill out.
 
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