Might buy my first Chameleon

[BradInBlack]

I have been researching a lot and lurking around these forums for a couple weeks and I am about to break down and go buy a chameleon. I went over to petsmart about 10 minutes ago after my first class got out. I like to just walk around and look at the animals and stuff. I went over to the reptiles and saw they had what appears to me to be a brand new veiled chameleon. It was sooooooooo small and adorable. From head to tail it couldn't be any longer than my pinky finger. Then I start looking around its cage to see if there were any others. There weren't, but I noticed that they were feeding it crickets that were damn near the same size as it was. Then I start looking around at all the other enclosures and notice a lizard below him that I'm 99% sure was dead. It made me so sad and wanted to buy the little chameleon and take it home.

Just kinda wanted any opinions on the idea of buying it. Are there crickets small enough for such a little fella? I currently don't own any reptile keeping equipment so I would buy all that first, set it up, then get the chameleon. Repticon comes to my area in a couple weeks and I'm planning on going for the first time.

Thanks

 

[will187]

hi there. glad your thinking about joining this wonderful pastime, but i just want to offer a word of warning. try to buy EVERYTHING for your cham BEFORE you buy the animal. this means that you wont need to dash out in an emergency if he needs something and you forgot to buy it at the time. i would say a good way to do this would be to print a copy of the form we use on here when asking for help, and use your imagination. leave out the bits that are asking about cham age and current problems etc, just focus on thinking, where will i keep him? how will i mantain good temps and humidity? how will i monitor all of the above? what will i use for supps? etc etc. im sure youve seen all this since you said youve done your research, but it never hurts to reiterate good knowledge and also, when theyre really young, they should be on either fruit flies (for hatchlings) or baby crix if theyre a bit bigger. a good rule of thumb is that the feeders should be no longer than the space between the chams eyes. oh and dont forget about your feeders! gut-loading and keeping them alive, hydrated and healthy and all that. well i wish you the best of luck, keep us posted on what you decide to do! all the best.

 

[camimom]

I have been researching a lot and lurking around these forums for a couple weeks and I am about to break down and go buy a chameleon. I went over to petsmart about 10 minutes ago after my first class got out. I like to just walk around and look at the animals and stuff. I went over to the reptiles and saw they had what appears to me to be a brand new veiled chameleon. It was sooooooooo small and adorable. From head to tail it couldn't be any longer than my pinky finger. Then I start looking around its cage to see if there were any others. There weren't, but I noticed that they were feeding it crickets that were damn near the same size as it was. Then I start looking around at all the other enclosures and notice a lizard below him that I'm 99% sure was dead. It made me so sad and wanted to buy the little chameleon and take it home.

Just kinda wanted any opinions on the idea of buying it. Are there crickets small enough for such a little fella? I currently don't own any reptile keeping equipment so I would buy all that first, set it up, then get the chameleon. Repticon comes to my area in a couple weeks and I'm planning on going for the first time.

Thanks

Well,first welcome!
many people here will say dont buy from the chain stores. Some will say do it, you are saving it. its up to you.
If you think it looks healthy enough, and the fact that it is so young, you might be ok.
Good idea on getting the stuff first then getting the chameleon.
As for crickets, if the chameleon is as tiny as you say it is, then it should be eating pinhead crickets, which are like the size of your pinky nail.
the feeder insects should be no wider than the space between a chameleons eyes. also, babies that young can and will and should eat fruit flies, which you can guy a container of at petsmart.
Good luck, and ask any more questions you have! no matter how 'silly' you think they are!

 

[BradInBlack]

a good rule of thumb is that the feeders should be no longer than the space between the chams eyes.

That is what I needed to know. Petsmart obviously hasn't heard that rule seeing as how they had huge crickets in there. I took a picture of it with my phone. I'm trying to get the email to go through so I can post the picture on here. Is it possible to tell gender when its that young?

 

[will187]

yeah you can usually tell gender. look at the back of the hind legs. if you see a small fleshy lump in the middle of each foot, its a male and thus the easiest to care for. if there nothing there at all, its a female, and you;ll need to know all about egg-laying bins and whatnot then. a little out of my field of expertise to say the least, but theres loads of awesome people that can help you with that if you want a female.

http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/care-sheet.html (for the diff between a male and female cham )

 

[BradInBlack]

yeah you can usually tell gender. look at the back of the hind legs. if you see a small fleshy lump in the middle of each foot, its a male and thus the easiest to care for. if there nothing there at all, its a female, and you;ll need to know all about egg-laying bins and whatnot then. a little out of my field of expertise to say the least, but theres loads of awesome people that can help you with that if you want a female.

http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/care-sheet.html (for the diff between a male and female cham )

Thanks for that link. I had read about the spurs but hadn't seen a picture. I looked for them on the one I'm talking about. Didn't see them but then again didn't exactly know what to look for.

 

[will187]

Thanks for that link. I had read about the spurs but hadn't seen a picture. I looked for them on the one I'm talking about. Didn't see them but then again didn't exactly know what to look for.

thats alright buddy. glad to help in any way that i can.

 

[BradInBlack]

Does anyone know what an average price for a veiled or panther chameleon would be from a breeder or at repticon?

 

[camimom]

Does anyone know what an average price for a veiled or panther chameleon would be from a breeder or at repticon?

anywhere from 100-400, could be more. panthers are normally more expensive.

 

[Ace]

for baby veileds you can go as low as 35 bucks depending who has them, and if they have a lot but i'd say for a young one no more than 50 bucks, adults can cost 100-150,


panthers range depending on rarity, color, age, and maybe sex between 150-350 is the average and normal

 

[BradInBlack]

Thanks. Yeah the one at petsmart has a $100 price tag and I thought that seemed a little high. I dunno if they might lower the price at all seeing as how it's so young or if that petsmart even works like that. haha

 

[BradInBlack]

Finally figured out how to get pictures from my phone to my computer via help from my fiancée. She is asian, therefore good with technology. It's science. You can see the temperature indicator behind it as a size comparison.

 

[Ace]

lol well petsmart are firm with their prices, no bargaining but those prices i mentioned were for the reptile shows

loook on the sponsors here , i suggest tiki tiki, they have some vieleds now and are a decent price in my opnion considering they are healthy from the get go, unlike th risk you can get from petstores that usually dont know jack about chamleleons and they get all offended by mere suggested advice

 

[brudd]

I just got my baby veiled from tiki tiki at the reptile show. I paid 185 for a screen cage, basking light, uvb light, vines, supplements and the chameleon. Great price for everything! Its been 2 weeks and Kumar is healthy and doing great! Can't wait to watch him grow.