Mistakes

[JohnnyD]

A common phrase on this forum is different species being more foregiving of keepers "mistakes". I thought it might be helpful to the newer cham owners for the experienced keepers to chime in about mistakes they have made in the past so everyone, including the chameleons, don't have to learn the hard way. If you've lost chameleons, eggs, babies, etc... please post your experiences here.

 

[Warrix642]

Do not feed insects that are too big. Chameleons can choke...

 

[pssh]

I probably would have supplemented my first Cham better, and I would have covered the soil (he got impacted eventually!) I also would have left the dripper on longer/more often when I wasn't home.

 

[summoner12]

Mistake: Using CFls.

Result: Death.

 

[JohnnyD]

He became impacted from the soil?

 

[summoner12]

He became impacted from the soil?

if the cham is small and the dirt is big... what fit's in the mouth doesn't always fit through the other end...

 

[weezyboi94]

Fed wild caught Maggots (fly larvae) to him from my compost bin and he passed 3 weeks later due to parasites. I realized he was infected too late to save him.

 

[morpheon]

Excuse me, but what is CFls? I know that CFL can stand for Canadian Football League, but i doubt this applies here! And i couldn't find any meaning for the S!

 

[Tputtwhatwhat]

compact fluorescent light.. not sure if you were joking, so i thought I'd answer

 

[CNorton]

1. A chameleon can't tell you what it needs.
2. Don't wait to "figure out" what's wrong with your cham.
3. Know when you're in over your head and have the wallet ready to pay the vet for bailing you out.
4. Be proactive in your research.
5. Know signs and find out what to do if...etc.

Even the experts have mentors. None of us knows everything there is to know about these amazing little creatures. Don't be afraid to share because we're all in this together!

 

[rocket89]

compact fluorescent light.. not sure if you were joking, so i thought I'd answer

tell us your story about CFLs

 

[FroggtheCham]

I used this site before I got my first cham. I learned from everyones mistakes here and for that I'm thankful. It has saved my chameleons from having to experience a lot of painful, expensive, and possibly life threatening issues. I am guilty of oversupplementing with Frogg, my adult veiled. The complications of this are yet to be seen, but I know it's coming .

 

[BocaJan]

OK, I hate to admit it but I did all the wrong things at first like a lot of newbies do so here I am in the confessional.

I kept my cham in a cricket keeper with a couple of sticks.
I used a compact bulb
I gave him a squirt of water when I thought of it.
I used calcium with D3 after about 4 months and that was when I thought of it and "ghosted" my crickets. Arnie always had white stuff coming out his nose from too much calcium, poor guy.
He had no basking light but he was in a warm room by a window so he got the heat and light.

Poor little guy didn't get MBD but he was almost blinded by the compact. He could no longer shoot at food and I had to put the crickets in a cup so he could grab them.

I found this forum because I kept thinking I should be doing a better job and boy did I get a kick in the butt! Within a week my guy had a big screened cage, proper UVB linear tubes and Calcium w and w/o D3 and multi vits. I started to give him 3/4" crickets so he could get them easier and of course he got more "meat". He cup fed until the day he died because of his poor eye sight but I at least improved his living conditions. He lived for 4 1/2 years and I miss Arnie to this day. He was gentle and loving and I called him "The Man". ~sniff~ nuff said.

 

[nosytrish]

Our mistakes lead in our first chameleon Coral, only living with us for three weeks, she never thrived at home. We know some of the reasons why now (p[poor lighting, air circulation, etc], but it was a huge learning process and has only motivated us to take better care of her brother, Zephyr.

Our first chameleon was tiny (less than one month old), and we didn't know that chameleons that young should not be sold (even though she was the biggest in the bunch). She never did well, kept her eyes closed from the first day home, and didn't eat.We kept her in a 5 gallon glass tank with a flukers 20 watt bulb (which was sold to us upon purchase). She was kept in these conditions at the store with her brothers and sisters, and we were assured that she would not need a mesh cage for a while longer. After one week of being home, we returned with coral to the store where the owner would care for her because she was sleeping during the day, and after several tweaks, we could tell that our conditions were not suiting her. She stayed at the store for a week, and after another week of being home, and the first night in her new mesh cage and ideal settings (dripper, foliage,pothos plant, basking light, reptisun 5.0 uvb, the works), she passed away.

We have to take fault in our ignorance, not realizing the commitment involves in loving these little creatures. The best way to make it up to these guys is to make sure that we are doing our best in caring for them. It might not always easy to find the answers, but in my experience, Asking questions has always been well received and more informative than any other source I have used. I just wanted to thank everyone on cham forums for being so informative and supportive in taking care of our second chameleon, Zephyr.
I hope that we all make a little less "mistakes", and learn from the ones that we have made.

Trish

 

[shanksfaml]

-When I looked into getting a cham I took the advice of a local pet shop that was heavily into reptiles, but probably know nothing about chameleons. The pet store used the situation to get me to buy the largest exo terrarium made, at a cost a little over $200. In the end I spent I don't know how many hundreds on equipment that had to be replaced in the end in order to configure an appropriate cham home.

-I did not know that the cricket keeper needed to be kept clean and swapped out between batches (I think that in the end that is what specifically killed my first cham).

-I bought my first cham from a reptile show vs. a reputable/ known breeder, when I called the number for help and advice, no one ever picked up or returned calls. I did get a cool free T-shirt though.

--My subsequent chams have only been purchased from members of our sponsor list, and I can't think of a single complaint. Only positive experiences. (thanks Sandy).

 

[Miss Lily]

The worst thing I have done was overfeeding my first female. I fed her all she wanted (as I was told by the reptile shop) and had her basking spot too hot - BIG mistake. Just because the lighting is designed for a particular set up it doesn't mean that the temps are automatically ok! She laid two enormous clutches of infertiles. I only had her a year but she brought me so much joy and we had such a bond - something that I didn't think was possible with a chameleon. She was very special and she taught me so much. It was just a shame that I had to learn the hard way.

 

[Ocelot357]

if your in south cali, Dont buy a cham from swapmeets!.I bought a montium once at a swapmeet for $30, i thought it was cheap.The seller had it with about 2 other veilds and 3 other montiums in a very small cage.To top it off my montium had a few scrathes and cuts,parasites and even broken off toe nails, but i still decided to take him.He died 2 weeks after.

They had so many chams i counted at least 3 vendors with chams, mostly mellers,montiums and veilds with no knowledge on how to keep them.The conditions werent that bad, they just needed a bit of improving.

I probably go again and get another, but this time i will observe the cham closely, now i know how to look for bad signs.I made the mistake, just ignored all signs and just went for the buy.

i forgot the name of the swapmeet, i will post it on here when i get the name and city its in.

 

[summoner12]

if your in south cali, Dont buy a cham from swapmeets!

Why not take you own advice and not buy again?

I probably go again and get another, but this time i will observe the cham closely, now i know how to look for bad signs.I made the mistake, just ignored all signs and just went for the buy.

i forgot the name of the swapmeet, i will post it on here when i get the name and city its in.

Buying chams from a swap meet just means they'll bring more the next time. this supports the idea that it is a good idea, people want them and they think they can make money. These people don't take any responsibility for the animal dying, nor do they care, they got their money.

 

[ajacobson]

I listened to the pet store. They can sound like they know everything and still be wrong! Luckily at the first signs of trouble I logged on here and both my boys are doing well now.

 

[sandrachameleon]

With my first chameleon, I thought mealworms were a perfectly acceptable food item for regular use, since the chameleon liked them so much. I also provided less water than I do now. Result: impaction, requiring vet assistance. Luckily, the chameleon recovered, I learned and he went on to live a very long otherwise healthy life. I now only offer mealworms infrequently.