First Chameleon!

Kibu said:
Oh, because I have a petsmart near me with a lady like the one you mentioned. By the way, in the future I wouldn't buy from petsmart because you can get a PAIR of jackson's for $85 vs. $130 4 One. Jackson's aren't good starter chams. I would've recommended a panther or veiled, but u can make it work.
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She was $90 and we really only wanted one. We're full time students and we work part time as well. We have the time for her, but one is enough. We also have a dog. We aren't really into reptiles. We will never have more than one enclosure of reptiles, it's just not our thing. But we really wanted her. She is active during the day and eats all the crickets and drinks off her plants.
 
camilla09 said:
No we actually fell in love with her at PetSmart. The manager there was very helpful and told us everything we needed to know. I don't know the size of a 3 month old. She could be older than what they thought. As far as the dripper, we sometimes put ice cubes on the mesh top and it melts down and she seems to like that.
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Ok, others have already commented on PetSmart. Some Petco/Petsmart employees know their stuff- but my experience locally has been they are few and very very far between. Keep in mind, chameleons have not been in widespread trade for very long at all(as I recall, but I cant give you exact dates off the top of my head)- there is still a lot which is not known and our knowledge is changing rapidly (this is true of a lot of critters).

My point, I am not trying to tell you their advice is automatically bad, but I would consider the source very carefully and be very very skeptical. What one person thinks is "everything you need to know" might be based solely on their personal set up- which may not even apply to you. With employees of big pet stores like that- also bear in mind that they have to sell many species. I highly doubt every employee has had experience with each one. I always ask what their personal experience with a particular animal is. I had a petco guy tell me everything I needed to know about chameleons as well. This advice included telling me that an all glass enclosure (their big promo item of the week at the time incidently) was the ideal enclosure for a chameleon- advice that most people here would disagree with. I asked him what his personal experience was with chameleons- he told me he had one a while back but it only lived a few months and that Veileds do not live very long, the longest living one he had ever heard of being 9 months old. I respect this guy, but despite is apparent confidence and authority in reptiles he not a source I am willing to trust in this case. I have been completely screwed over by the advice of petstore employees before (even small specialty stores now). Just a last comment. Caring for any reptile is complicated. You are not going to be able to get all of the information you need from a 30 minutes discussion with a Petsmart employee. You really should consider getting a good book (or two), and spending a few hours on the web looking around at people's set ups. Try to find examples of successful ones and unsuccessful. I did this for months before I got my chameleon.

Now, to be fair as well, you also cannot trust everything you read on the internet as well. It all boils down to getting as much info as you can and attempting to the best of your ability to distill it down into the quality info. Personal anecdotes are great, and hey- you may have found an employee at petsmart who really knows their stuff! It happens. My point is, even if your next door neighbor is a world famous chameleon expert, still do tons of research and scrutinize all of it (which I know you are doing in coming here, I am just saying...)

Just out of curiosity- what did they tell you?
 
AllFallDown said:
Ok, others have already commented on PetSmart. Some Petco/Petsmart employees know their stuff- but my experience locally has been they are few and very very far between. Keep in mind, chameleons have not been in widespread trade for very long at all(as I recall, but I cant give you exact dates off the top of my head)- there is still a lot which is not known and our knowledge is changing rapidly (this is true of a lot of critters).

My point, I am not trying to tell you their advice is automatically bad, but I would consider the source very carefully and be very very skeptical. What one person thinks is "everything you need to know" might be based solely on their personal set up- which may not even apply to you. With employees of big pet stores like that- also bear in mind that they have to sell many species. I highly doubt every employee has had experience with each one. I always ask what their personal experience with a particular animal is. I had a petco guy tell me everything I needed to know about chameleons as well. This advice included telling me that an all glass enclosure (their big promo item of the week at the time incidently) was the ideal enclosure for a chameleon- advice that most people here would disagree with. I asked him what his personal experience was with chameleons- he told me he had one a while back but it only lived a few months and that Veileds do not live very long, the longest living one he had ever heard of being 9 months old. I respect this guy, but despite is apparent confidence and authority in reptiles he not a source I am willing to trust in this case. I have been completely screwed over by the advice of petstore employees before (even small specialty stores now). Just a last comment. Caring for any reptile is complicated. You are not going to be able to get all of the information you need from a 30 minutes discussion with a Petsmart employee. You really should consider getting a good book (or two), and spending a few hours on the web looking around at people's set ups. Try to find examples of successful ones and unsuccessful. I did this for months before I got my chameleon.

Now, to be fair as well, you also cannot trust everything you read on the internet as well. It all boils down to getting as much info as you can and attempting to the best of your ability to distill it down into the quality info. Personal anecdotes are great, and hey- you may have found an employee at petsmart who really knows their stuff! It happens. My point is, even if your next door neighbor is a world famous chameleon expert, still do tons of research and scrutinize all of it (which I know you are doing in coming here, I am just saying...)r

Just out of curiosity- what did they tell you?
Click to expand...

This^^^, and if your not a reptile person they live up to six years, so when you start seeing that they take a little more work than you expected make sure you have a back up plan. Chameleons aren't your typical easy, hardy, and ready-to-be-handled beardie.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Female jackson, about 3 months we were told
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? 1-2 times a day
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 4-6 crickets every morning, calcium powder a few times a week. We just got mealworms too but haven't given her any yet. What is gut-loading?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Fluker's brand calcium with vitamin D3
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We mist her plants several times a day. She also has a dish incase we are gone for several hours and can't mist her plants. We do see her drinking.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? A solid poop a little smaller than a jelly bean.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? While she is small, we have a ten gallon fish tank that we already owned. We have a mesh top for it now. We will upgrade her to the larger enclosure as she grows.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Zoo med lamp with one uvb bulb and one basking light.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? About 83 during the day and 74 overnight. We have a temperature gauge for the day, and when the light goes out at night our house air temp is at 74.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity is at between 40 and 50, which says normal on the gauge.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? It's about 4 feet off the floor on a stand and we always have a fan running nearby.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida
 
I see several problems. Only giver calcium with d3 once a month, most every two weeks. You need a dripper. They will NOT drink out f a watering bowl. Switch the fish tank as soon as possible. NO GLASS!!! Make sure it is a UVB 5.0
 
AllFallDown said:
Ok, others have already commented on PetSmart. Some Petco/Petsmart employees know their stuff- but my experience locally has been they are few and very very far between. Keep in mind, chameleons have not been in widespread trade for very long at all(as I recall, but I cant give you exact dates off the top of my head)- there is still a lot which is not known and our knowledge is changing rapidly (this is true of a lot of critters).

My point, I am not trying to tell you their advice is automatically bad, but I would consider the source very carefully and be very very skeptical. What one person thinks is "everything you need to know" might be based solely on their personal set up- which may not even apply to you. With employees of big pet stores like that- also bear in mind that they have to sell many species. I highly doubt every employee has had experience with each one. I always ask what their personal experience with a particular animal is. I had a petco guy tell me everything I needed to know about chameleons as well. This advice included telling me that an all glass enclosure (their big promo item of the week at the time incidently) was the ideal enclosure for a chameleon- advice that most people here would disagree with. I asked him what his personal experience was with chameleons- he told me he had one a while back but it only lived a few months and that Veileds do not live very long, the longest living one he had ever heard of being 9 months old. I respect this guy, but despite is apparent confidence and authority in reptiles he not a source I am willing to trust in this case. I have been completely screwed over by the advice of petstore employees before (even small specialty stores now). Just a last comment. Caring for any reptile is complicated. You are not going to be able to get all of the information you need from a 30 minutes discussion with a Petsmart employee. You really should consider getting a good book (or two), and spending a few hours on the web looking around at people's set ups. Try to find examples of successful ones and unsuccessful. I did this for months before I got my chameleon.

Now, to be fair as well, you also cannot trust everything you read on the internet as well. It all boils down to getting as much info as you can and attempting to the best of your ability to distill it down into the quality info. Personal anecdotes are great, and hey- you may have found an employee at petsmart who really knows their stuff! It happens. My point is, even if your next door neighbor is a world famous chameleon expert, still do tons of research and scrutinize all of it (which I know you are doing in coming here, I am just saying...)

Just out of curiosity- what did they tell you?
Click to expand...

I agree some are "BS" experts. There are many in that store that I see and I turn around and walk out cause I know they have no idea what they're talking about. I only go to the manager at my petsmart. She told us she needed 4-6 crickets a day, with calcium added about 3 times a week. She said if we have trouble with buying crickets often then we can use meal worms occasionally and to add the calcium to them in a ceramic dish so the worms can't crawl out and she will just eat out of the bowl. She told us to mist her plants to give her water several times a day, but also leave a water dish incase she needs emergency water. She told us so much it's impossible to type here. So far I haven't seen anything conflicting her info, but I am open to whatever.
 
Kibu said:
I see several problems. Only giver calcium with d3 once a month, most every two weeks. You need a dripper. They will NOT drink out f a watering bowl. Switch the fish tank as soon as possible. NO GLASS!!!
Click to expand...

How do the drippers run? Is it just something you fill periodically? Why no glass? The bigger enclosures I saw were only glass with screen tops and some openings for ventilation. It is UVB 5.0
 
camilla09 said:
I agree some are "BS" experts. There are many in that store that I see and I turn around and walk out cause I know they have no idea what they're talking about. I only go to the manager at my petsmart. She told us she needed 4-6 crickets a day, with calcium added about 3 times a week. She said if we have trouble with buying crickets often then we can use meal worms occasionally and to add the calcium to them in a ceramic dish so the worms can't crawl out and she will just eat out of the bowl. She told us to mist her plants to give her water several times a day, but also leave a water dish incase she needs emergency water. She told us so much it's impossible to type here. So far I haven't seen anything conflicting her info, but I am open to whatever.
Click to expand...

Respectfully speaking,
Achieving manager at a place like that has very little to do with your knowledge of exotic reptiles and much more to do with your loyalty to the company and ability to push products and mediate disputes with employees. The fact that they are a manager might give them a little more authority- but it in the end, it boils down to "do they know their stuff" which has nothing at all to do with their title.

That said, did they tell you how to feed your crickets? You mention not knowing what gutloading is. If they did not give you this information- they definitely did not tell you everything you need to know. Gutloading is crucially important as that is how chameleons get balanced nutrition (well, its a big part of it at least). Username: Sandrachameleon has an excellent blog with entries that cover gutloading and what to feed them. Check it out, best information you are going to find out there.
 
I poke a small hole in the bottom of a cup and fill it with ice. I put it a little to the side of the heat lamp and it slowly drips out throughout the day. They also have things called little drippers that you just fill up when it is out.
 
camilla09 said:
How do the drippers run? Is it just something you fill periodically? Why no glass? The bigger enclosures I saw were only glass with screen tops and some openings for ventilation. It is UVB 5.0
Click to expand...

Glass leads to stagnant air, which can lead to fungal and bacterial colonies forming. Some have argued that chameleons can see their reflections in the glass which stressed them out. I am a little skeptical of this but I think the fungal argument has merit.
 
You need to build a screen cage at least 18x18x36 or buy one. There is no ventilation in glass which may lead to respiratory problems. Also chams can see their reflections in glass and they get stressed.
 
Here is the stack of homework that Sandra Chameleon posted to my "New Chameleon" post about 2 months ago (I am still pretty new myself). I would encourage you to read all of this, it really is good information. Although some of it is on veiled chameleons which is what I have.

Nonetheless, I applaud you for taking the time to come here seeking information. Many people jump into getting reptiles without any real information and any real interest in doing the necessary homework. Alright, here is the stuff she sent me:

"welcome to the forum and the joy of chameleon keeping.

good links for new owners:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ryan-jarosek/119-new-arrival-bringing-home.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/syn/226-frequently-asked-questions.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/frequently-asked-questions-71620/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs...hameleons.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/92-hydration-importance.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://www.chameleonsonline.com/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/olimpia/522-average-cost-owning-chameleon.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/olimpia/573-chameleon-physiology-supplements.html
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
"
 
Kibu said:
There r no appropriate Cham cages at petsmart according to my experience.
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I have seen repti-breezes at our local petsmart. You might have to ask- they are in a really weird place at our petsmart. Our local petco has them as well but they cost a bit more there.
 
I am warning u Camilla, one Cham is never enough!!! B4 u know it u r gonna have more than one. The little suckers r addicting I guess u could say.
 
Kibu said:
I am warning u Camille, one Cham is never enough!!! B4 u know it u r gonna have more than one. The little suckers r addicting I guess u could say.
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he he he...

Im already shopping around for number 2. I am going to be good and wait until my guy is a more few months old before getting another, but.....
 
I have two right now, and I'm considering the idea of getting another pair, but I don't know because my panther girl is pregnant...
 
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