How did YOU get into chameleon keeping?

Ambilobe123 said:
All right… here’s my story.

Ever since I was little, I loved reptiles and birds. Unfortunately for me, my mom hated birds and my dad hated reptiles.

Fast forward to middle school. I meet the outdoor Ed teacher, who just happens to be a panther breeder, with experience in leopard geckos, tarantulas, melleri, carpet chams, and I don’t even know what else. He brings a 3-week-old cham to school one day, and I’m in love.

So here I am, looking for an opportunity.

This comes in the form of a work trip for my dad. A week in China. Perfect, younger me thinks, the only thing stopping me from getting a cham is on the other side of the globe.

I talk to my mom, tell her how I’ll keep my room clean.

The day after dad leaves, I go to the teacher. After a bit of conversation, he lets me take a little cham home for the day. My mom immediately falls in love with the lil guy, and it is determined that he stays. I bring him back the next day, and make arrangements to keep him.

Fast forward a year

Leo is doing well, dad is accepting that we now have a family reptile. I have successfully proven that
a) I can take care of a chameleon
b) said chameleon does not, in fact, stink
c) my room is much cleaner, and I am happier with a chameleon

So, being really careful, I ask, stressing how I’ll keep my room
clean.

Dad says fine

Next week I meet my teacher and take home a female cham, as he is downsizing.

Seven months later, here I am with 14 baby chams, 2 adults, five frogs, a toad, a cockatiel, and a tiger salamander.

My room is now the cleanest it has ever been.
Click to expand...
That’s amazing!
 
When I was in college (late 90s) I went to a pet store that had a free-ranging iguana. I was entranced, but knew I couldn't and shouldn't get one while in school. I started doing research (again, the EARLY days of the internet), and slowly realized how big these guys get. So, I thought, well, I'll get something that LOOKS like an iguana, but is smaller, so I found the water dragon. Did more research, again slowly, and figured out that while they are physically smaller they need a big enclosure with water. On one of the pages someone mentioned chameleons, so I bought a book called Chameleons: Care and Breeding, and read it cover to cover. With that info I decided to jump into panthers and joined the forums about 13-14 years ago. My husband set up my account, hence the username, and a couple of months after lurking and being WAY too shy to jump into a conversation I bought Kibi, a purple-barred Ambanja from FLChams. Kibi is long gone, but I learned a lot from him, and then Kimani, then Kosby, Keeley, Cecil, Sunny, and now Turk, Nymeria, and Bortus.
 
Decadancin said:
So, although the wheel was mostly perfected back when I was growing up, I do remember the first time I saw a couple chameleons in a local pet shop for the first time. I had quite a few pets at the time, but always dreamed of having an “ Old World” chameleon. They were not colorful, and I think they were Senegal Chameleons, but I’m not sure. I just stared at the two of them in their 5 gallon tank. I was in awe. I had seen all sorts of exotic lizards due to my best friend’s father’s collection, but these were unreal. I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to keep them. I visited that store for months until one day they were gone.

Fast forward to the time of Google and self driving cars 🤪 and I had a 20 gallon long terrarium that I wanted to add some small lizards to. Long story even longer… I spotted a tiny veiled chameleon stressed out by a larger one at the local pet store. I just knew I had to do something. So, I “rescued” the little guy. I found the Chameleon Forums soon after and the legend of Zaphod was born 🦎. Within a day of reading threads here and one new thread about my new boy, the rest is history.

I know this, I am addicted to these amazing animals, and yes, the Chameleon Forums 💚…
Click to expand...
There were self-driving cars in 2012? Whoops—I guess there were! :oops:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_self-driving_cars

Dang, time flies—and the older we get, the faster it flies. :mad:
 
Mountain Dragon said:
Same lol I didn’t want a botany degree I just wanted a chameleon shoulder pet but obviously after I read up lol they are not shoulder pets 😂 💀
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I knew that much. I have a beardie for that. I just love watching the chameleon watch me. He's out today, on the plant table. I love watching him eyeball where he wants to go, figure out how he's going to get there, and then execute his evil plan. You can see the wheels turning.

And I never get tired of watching him zap bugs! 🤗 😋
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
I knew that much. I have a beardie for that. I just love watching the chameleon watch me. He's out today, on the plant table. I love watching him eyeball where he wants to go, figure out how he's going to get there, and then execute his evil plan. You can see the wheels turning.

And I never get tired of watching him zap bugs! 🤗 😋
Click to expand...
Definitely 😂 they are so fascinating to watch
 
Great stories and experiences.
I have shared other places, but I was a late bloomer when it was with chameleons.
I have seen them in Ranger Rick mag when I was younger but didn't think they were still alive anymore.
Duty Station In Hawaii (K-bay USMC air station) there were some local kids at one of the corners and they had a few males climbing on their shirts (1988). I almost crashed and that was the beginning of the Chameleon bug. Went to the Kailua Pet Shop where the Hawaiian Chameleon were imported, so went over and spoke to the guy that accidently had a few pair escaped while cleaning (I guess the rest is history).
It took a few years later before getting my 1st which was the C. Fuelleborni (1993 or 4) San Diego Reptile Show (I didn't know they were different than Jacksons, but they did have 3 horns and ear flaps). My phone connected computer was slow so I would Call the CIN personnel at home to start this wonderful journey.

Picture: thank you google search.

Sad but i personally didn't have any smart phones or cameras back in the day. Just underwater camera since I was big into scuba diving.
( i didn't know it worked out of the water until a few years later) (y)
 

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absolutbill said:
When I was in college (late 90s) I went to a pet store that had a free-ranging iguana. I was entranced, but knew I couldn't and shouldn't get one while in school. I started doing research (again, the EARLY days of the internet), and slowly realized how big these guys get. So, I thought, well, I'll get something that LOOKS like an iguana, but is smaller, so I found the water dragon. Did more research, again slowly, and figured out that while they are physically smaller they need a big enclosure with water. On one of the pages someone mentioned chameleons, so I bought a book called Chameleons: Care and Breeding, and read it cover to cover. With that info I decided to jump into panthers and joined the forums about 13-14 years ago. My husband set up my account, hence the username, and a couple of months after lurking and being WAY too shy to jump into a conversation I bought Kibi, a purple-barred Ambanja from FLChams. Kibi is long gone, but I learned a lot from him, and then Kimani, then Kosby, Keeley, Cecil, Sunny, and now Turk, Nymeria, and Bortus.
Click to expand...
This WHOLE TIME I thought your name was Bill! Haha!
 
I would just like to say that I love this forum and this community. What rings out to me from this thread is how much this forums helps people. Tons of long-time keepers who have been through a lot with their chameleons provide a rich environment for learning. Things are still changing in how we keep chameleons and it's so nice to have such a great place for collective ideas. I joined a few fish forums and planted tank forums and tbh... they all sucked. No one responded to my questions and no one was helpful -- I actually came HERE to get info on planted tanks -- and I got way more answers than on other forums.

I can say with total certainty that without this forum I would not have been able to give my chameleons good lives. So, thanks everyone!
 
AnamCara said:
A year or so ago I created an "introduction" thread for people to post their picture and introduce themselves. I think lots of people were surprised to see how many women were behind the screen names of the members here!
Click to expand...
Where’s that thread? Could u link so I know what gender to address lol
 
I have a background in animal husbandry so I guess a chameleon was going to come into my life eventually. I went to Petco one day and saw what I felt was the cutest little creature and that was all it took! Yes Breeann is a pet store baby...not the best place to purchase a pet but I feel I could have done worse. She is a sweet little girl and although we've only had her about a month she has stolen our hearts! We are on a waiting list for a male premium color veiled chameleon and I feel ready to bring him into our lives as well. Hope this doesn't end up like the first Cockatiel we bought. We started with one, bought another and ended up with 78 Cockatiels in our bedroom! WE then opened a bird shop!.I've handfed well over a hundred baby birds of all kinds since then. Now we have just one Sylva who was 4 weeks old when we got her and handfed her, she is now 38! an African grey parrot with an impressive vocabulary. Anyways, I guess it really all started at the science center when Boris the Gila Monster refused to eat..with a gang of Naturalist watching ready to help me out if I need it it, I handfed him 3 eggs and he regurgitated the shells! That was the beginning. Breeann is a new venture and I'm lovin it!
 
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