Hello, this is a letter from Beijing, I want to buy a adult Veiled Chameleon,but I don't know how to recognize the age of the Veiled Chameleon, please teach me ok? Thanks a lot.
there isn't really a way to determine the age of a pet store or expo bought animal, or WC animals.
size cannot really tell an age, in pet stores they are usually over fed, over supplemented or given deficient amounts. Thus the size of the chameleon could be very misleading when trying to deal with it's age.
at expo shows, vendors sometimes dont know anything about the animal, but just bring them to make the money. misleading and false information can and is given to the buyer, unless you are dealing with a breeder who knows the exact dates the clutch started hatching.
WC chameleons is also a long shot of determining an age, but IMHO WC is more sensible to get an idea from. as the chameleon gets everything they need from their natural habitat, growth is more consistent, and researchers can usually get a quick estimation on the age when observing in the wild.
i would suggest a site sponsor breeder if you are set on knowing the age.... hopefully living in bejing, you have the opportunity to do something like that. do you know of any breeders in bejing?
Thanks a lot, There are only 3-4petshop in Beijing you can find the chameleons, and every shop you maybe just can see 1-3chameleons ,we just can know about the chameleons from the web, even there are no pet clinic can cure the ill chameleons, I know some other breeders in Beijing, they have lost 1-2chameleons just because they don't know what wrong with them. So i want to know more form this Forums and ask the question I don't know, so thank you very much~
that sums it up. Brad is 110% right. reptiles never stop growing, they obviously slow down dramatically, but dont stop growing. so i guess the real question is, what is average life time size? again its going to factor in your husbandry, feeding, supplementine. if you want to take Kinyongia's posts, just remember that those are HEALTHY and well raised chameleons, IMHO leaves no justification on determining age in a pet store, expo, etc. any place without valuable information on the particular animal. and in your situation by the sounds of it, it's going to be hella hard for you to get what you're really looking for in Bejing.