He's looking good day 3

[WAMBO]

Yes, and there is a word for it, but cannot recall. I use a cricket bowl, but allow the larger ones to jump out so he can hunt. He prefers it. But it is easier to keep track of the amount he eats by using a bowl, so I can count the feeders.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

I put boba in a bin first and dump in the crickets. We call it the hunting bin. Delta on the other hand hates hunting and is just plain lazy. Lol. Although he climbs a lot.

Frances started out in a glass enclosure 18 /18/36 we always hand fed her except crecket . She had health issues so feeding and hydration was mainly hand baby dropped or syringe for water and long misting sessions .

 

[Remkon]

I'm currently obsessing over green tree monitors and quince monitors.

Indicus are cool, but every single one I've had interactions with has left sort of a sour taste in my mouth. First line of defense: poop. All over you. Second line? Bite. Third? Poop some more.

To be fair, all of these were WC.

I used to be intern at a reptile (serpent) zoo/rescue in my younger days, they had a huge Indicus that was just like a big dog, he would come to you when you were cleaning his enclosure and you could just pet him... Always had to be mindful that this big mellow animal could turn on you without an obvious reason tho... you don't want that biting or scratching you.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Not to get off topic here but you said something that made me chuckle. The look don't touch fish aquarium thing. My dad hand feeds his fish every day and his eel too. He has one fish that follows his hand around if it's in the tank because he thinks there is food in it. I tell him all the time his hands are dirty but w.e. Not trying to pick a fight I just thought it was funny this was brought up because we were just talking about it.

I once had a gold bar clown fish that would come and rub herself against me for attention. I would cup my hand and she would nestle herself in my hand while I rubbed her with my thumb. When I added new corrals or rocks to the aquarium I had to wait for her to show me where she wanted it! If I did not move it for her, she would! So, I would put the item in the aquarium and look at her trying to figure out what she wanted. She would go bump against the item and then swim to the spot where she wanted the item. She would then turn towards me while waiting in the spot where she wanted the item moved and just stare at me till I move it! I once added in a rather large rock with a nice corral to the aquarium. It was easily 5 times her weight. I was in a hurry an had to quickly leave to go do something. Because I was in a hurry I did not pay her any atention as she showed disapproval for my location I picked! I left the room as she frantically swam around in frustration at me leaving! A couple of hours later when I came back the rock was where she wanted it! She had gashes all over her forehead aquired by her moving the rock to where it BELONGED!!! I never did that again. Every time, after that day, when I added something to the aquarium I made sure the Queen was happy!

 

[wavingsnail]

There was a guy in my old herp society named David that had a "dog tame" crocodile monitor named Chester. Shining example of the species, the intelligence it showed was insane. Chester was clicker trained, could definitely distinguish between people, and had a memory like an elephant. Unfortunately, one day Chester decided to bite David's hand for a reason only know to Chester, and David lost half of his pinky finger.

Monitors are amazing animals, but it's so easy to be lulled into a false sense of security with them. It was definitely an eye opening experience.

 

[Remkon]

There was a guy in my old herp society named David that had a "dog tame" crocodile monitor named Chester. Shining example of the species, the intelligence it showed was insane. Chester was clicker trained, could definitely distinguish between people, and had a memory like an elephant. Unfortunately, one day Chester decided to bite David's hand for a reason only know to Chester, and David lost half of his pinky finger.

Monitors are amazing animals, but it's so easy to be lulled into a false sense of security with them. It was definitely an eye opening experience.

They clickertrained the komodo dragons in the zoo here, monitor lizards are especially smart lizards, they are also selfaware which makes em extra cool but aslo more unpredictable.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

I had an oscar I used to hand feed. But I certainly wasn't petting him.

My son petted his first 2 fish you can imagine how that turned out lol .

 

[Remkon]

My son petted his first 2 fish you can imagine how that turned out lol .

Haha, my nephew would take em out of the aquarium, take em to his room and pet them... His father wondered why he had so many dead fish all the time. Sad but funny.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

I once had a gold bar clown fish that would come and rub herself against me for attention. I would cup my hand and she would nestle herself in my hand while I rubbed her with my thumb. When I added new corrals or rocks to the aquarium I had to wait for her to show me where she wanted it! If I did not move it for her, she would! So, I would put the item in the aquarium and look at her trying to figure out what she wanted. She would go bump against the item and then swim to the spot where she wanted the item. She would then turn towards me while waiting in the spot where she wanted the item moved and just stare at me till I move it! I once added in a rather large rock with a nice corral to the aquarium. It was easily 5 times her weight. I was in a hurry an had to quickly leave to go do something. Because I was in a hurry I did not pay her any atention as she showed disapproval for my location I picked! I left the room as she frantically swam around in frustration at me leaving! A couple of hours later when I came back the rock was where she wanted it! She had gashes all over her forehead aquired by her moving the rock to where it BELONGED!!! I never did that again. Every time, after that day, when I added something to the aquarium I made sure the Queen was happy!

I just think your Magic lol . We all need to come stay with you for a bit learn some things . I'm sure it's your ever ending patients .

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Haha, my nephew would take em out of the aquarium, take em to his room and pet them... His father wondered why he had so many dead fish all the time. Sad but funny.

Hehe yup after the first 2 I figured maybe Hubters bedroom was not the place for them .

 

[Remkon]

I just think your Magic lol . We all need to come stay with you for a bit learn some things . I'm sure it's your ever ending patients .

Wambo is the one with a never ending patients... Matt may have a lot.of patience.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Wambo is the one with a never ending patients... Matt may have a lot.of patience.

Teacher do I get a ruler across my knuckles ? You got patiences with me and my spelling hehe . .

 

[All usernames were taken]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that and I hope that you'll get better... I dont know if the affection for your chameleon has anything to do with it, you know... Maybe it comforts you in some way when you handle him. But you must also see from the animals perspective that they are just not cuddly and pet able, any trust from them is slowly obtained, if you ignore that and keep on handling him time and time again eventually his health will suffer.

I hope you and your chameleon can find a balance that gives him his privacy and you the interaction you want out of it.

Kick that depression square in the nuts, life is to short and beautiful to be depressed about it. May your chameleon be living proof of the wonders of nature!

Thank you for that and i will do anything for my chams as i never want any1 to ever feel sad. Although saying this boba won't be here much longer. He is old and slow and I'm doing everything I can to make him more comfortable but he is 5 years now and old.

 

[Remkon]

Thank you for that and i will do anything for my chams as i never want any1 to ever feel sad. Although saying this boba won't be here much longer. He is old and slow and I'm doing everything I can to make him more comfortable but he is 5 years now and old.

Well, while 5 years is an average life for them there are cases where they lived to be 7,8 or even very rarely to 9 years old.
So it doesn't have to end soon, just make sure you give him the proper care and ajust the enclosure to his mobility so he can live to be a healthy old chameleon.

 

[All usernames were taken]

Well, while 5 years is an average life for them there are cases where they lived to be 7,8 or even very rarely to 9 years old.
So it doesn't have to end soon, just make sure you give him the proper care and ajust the enclosure to his mobility so he can live to be a healthy old chameleon.

I'm trying my best

 

[acarrera]

This is how I feel when I read a post like yours above:


Stress is a biological response.

When an animal is stressed, there are many physiological responses caused by the release of hormones. Heart rates increase, blood supply is diverted away from the digestive track, blood pressure increases, cortisol is released which affects the blood sugar levels and most importantly, suppresses the immune system.

This is the kicker: stress--both chronic low grade stress and acute stressful events--suppresses the immune system. This is why chameleons are so hard to keep alive--because most people keep them in situations of chronic stress and they die at too young an age.

Bottom line, the people you are dismissing are worried that you are killing your chameleon. It won't be today and it won't be tomorrow. You, like others that insist they can make a chameleon into a poodle, will not even recognize the role they played in their animals ill health and early demise.

Fascinating write up, Janet. If I understand this right, your description of the chameleon's biological stress responses leading to clinical behaviors is very similar to the biological stress responses in that of a human. Do these studies differentiate stress hormones between scenarios of being handled (survival) or mating? These studies are exactly what I've been searching for the past several years but came up empty handed (i.e. none specifically related to chameleons). If you have the citations to these studies readily available, I would love to follow the studies myself.

Quite honestly, up to just moments ago, I felt that our understanding of chameleons barely scratches the surface of the true nature of these species, despite rapid advancement and breeding programs over the past couple decades. I'm now heartened to hear that we've begun to understand the biochemical behavior of stress hormones in chameleons as posted above, and thus we are now further from my previous estimation in our knowledge of chameleons. Although in this quest, we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Keep up the good work!

 

[jajeanpierre]

I put boba in a bin first and dump in the crickets. We call it the hunting bin. Delta on the other hand hates hunting and is just plain lazy. Lol. Although he climbs a lot.

That's not very enriching for the chameleon. They love to hunt. It's one of the only things they get to do that is natural behavior and stimulating. I free range most of my feeders in the cage.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Yes, and there is a word for it, but cannot recall. I use a cricket bowl, but allow the larger ones to jump out so he can hunt. He prefers it. But it is easier to keep track of the amount he eats by using a bowl, so I can count the feeders.

I use their weight as a means to check how much they are eating. Plus their stool. No stool, not eating.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Fascinating write up, Janet. If I understand this right, your description of the chameleon's biological stress responses leading to clinical behaviors is very similar to the biological stress responses in that of a human. Do these studies differentiate stress hormones between scenarios of being handled (survival) or mating? These studies are exactly what I've been searching for the past several years but came up empty handed (i.e. none specifically related to chameleons). If you have the citations to these studies readily available, I would love to follow the studies myself.

Quite honestly, up to just moments ago, I felt that our understanding of chameleons barely scratches the surface of the true nature of these species, despite rapid advancement and breeding programs over the past couple decades. I'm now heartened to hear that we've begun to understand the biochemical behavior of stress hormones in chameleons as posted above, and thus we are now further from my previous estimation in our knowledge of chameleons. Although in this quest, we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Keep up the good work!

Read the chapter "Stress in Captive Reptiles" in Mader's veterinary text book, Reptile Medicine and Surgery, second edition. At the end of the chapter all the references are listed.

 

[jajeanpierre]

@acarrera I recommend you buy that text book. You will learn a heck of a lot about keeping them from that book. A lot will be over your (and my!) head, but it is surprising how much you can learn from it by reading with a medical dictionary and Google searches. I study it when I have the time. It's the book I take with me when I have long waits although it is really heavy.