New and Hello from Hong Kong

[Rayzilla]

Hello everyone [I wanted to use chameleon forum lingo here but I don't really know any yet so feel free to teach me some ]

I am originally from Toronto, Canada until moving to Hong Kong in 2009 so I am a CBC (Canadian Born Chinese), although my Cantonese is not very good.

If any of you are from the Hong Kong or Asia/South East Asia area, I would love to hear from you. It would be priceless to learn in person from an experienced local Hong Kong member that can show me some reliable shops or to check out your set up if you don't mind.

I am new to the idea of raising a chameleon. I have had many pets in the past including saltwater marine fish and invertebrates, African cichlids, frogs, crayfishes, dogs (currently have one now too along with a Siamese Fighting Fish), etc.

I have been doing some research so far and I am considering a male captive born Veiled Chameleon as my first. If I come across a great opportunity for a Panther Chameleon, I would consider that. I will continue researching on proper care and raising of chameleons and hope to make a purchase in a few months from now (July).

The other task at hand is to get my wife to buy in on this new adventure. If your significant other was initially not on the same page in terms of getting into the reptile hobby, how did you go about changing their mind? I could hear some funny or creative ideas here. lol

I look forward to receiving many tips and advice from this forum and learning as much as I can to make sure that my cham will have a comfortable and happy environment.


Cheers!

 

[JaxyGirl]

Hello and welcome to the forums

You've come to the right place! There are so many people on here that have lots of knowledge about chameleons along with really informative care sheets.

As for convincing your wife about getting one...just show her some pictures of baby chameleons..they're just so cute and really hard to resist!

 

[Rayzilla]

Thanks for the welcome JaxyGirl. With a website address name like "chameleonforums" I don't think there can be a better forum website to discuss all things chameleon and to learn from the experts. lol

I have been spending a lot of time reading and watching about chameleons because I want to make sure that I do things right for both the household and especially the new addition to our family.

I've been slowly working on the 'convincing the wife' part and will continue to do so in the next short while. I've got my two daughters on my side so far, although they still have their hearts set on guinea pigs. lol. I took some time on my own yesterday and visited one of the local reptile shops. They had a group of Veiled Chameleons and I started talking to the shopkeeper about them. Initially I was leaning towards getting a smaller species, such as the Carpet Chameleon but since I think I can manage a bigger viv (I just learned this term the other day) and the short life expectancy of the Carpet, I am now leaning towards the Veiled. I am leaning this way because it appears to be the most recommended for its hardiness and availability in the local shops.

I'm still researching on the types of chameleons but I am now researching quite a bit on the different types of cages, misters, plants, etc. I love all those drainage ideas but I am not sure if anyone here supplies those kind of set ups. When I lived in Canada, I was a lot more handy with tools and materials but since moving to Hong Kong with the limited space and the abundance of cheap handymen, I have been less handy myself and less equipped with the proper tools.

I will try to attach pictures of my visit to the local shop yesterday. There was one particular moment where I was at the Veiled Chameleon viv and the shopkeeper opened the door to teach me about sexing them. He had to walk away to take a phone call. At that moment, one of the amazing females that kept giving me a lot of attention wanted to come out to me. She was so cute but I was afraid that she was going to fall out of the viv so I felt that I had to put my hand in front of her to let her crawl on it instead of fall on the floor. The moment it stepped on my hand, and this was my first time ever touching a chameleon, it felt so right. She just wouldn't leave me alone even after we put her back in the cage. I think if I had a viv all set up at home and fully ready, I would have been tempted to take her because of the connection we seemed to have but then I would have reminded myself that I can't start with a female. Poor girl. Hopefully I can get the pictures to work.

 

[Rayzilla]

 

[Rayzilla]

 

[Remkon]

I had reptiles before I met my wife and I made it well known that this was part of me and that she just had to accept that... Sure she tried to minimise the amount of terrariums when we were still living in an apartment but now we have a bigger house she has given in and since I have a chameleon she starts to like my hobby/passion more too.

Good luck with reading up on chameleons!
I'm sure yer wife will end up loving them.

 

[Decadancin]

A few other things to consider (not knowing anything about your area...) are having a reputable reptile vet nearby that has experience with chameleons, and if you can get varied types of feeders.

 

[Decadancin]

Oh, and welcome to the forums!

 

[Rayzilla]

A few other things to consider (not knowing anything about your area...) are having a reputable reptile vet nearby that has experience with chameleons, and if you can get varied types of feeders.

Yes. I remember seeing a post by a person here in Hong Kong and it seemed like her cham was given proper medication so I have already reached out to that member to ask about the vet that she went to. There is also the Hong Kong Reptile and Amphibian Society that I am sure I can get some good vet referrals from.

For feeders, I do hope to mix it up. There are many sole proprietor pet shops around that sell various feeders.

And thanks for the welcome Decadancin.

 

[carol5208]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Rayzilla]

So I have an update. So I've continued to let my wife know about my interest in chameleons. After we had lunch today, she agreed to get me this little guy.



We got home and she put him together right away for me.

I was going to start a thread and give it a title like "Can you help me sex my cham?" or "New Cham Owner" or "New cham species discovered in Hong Kong!" and others...

At least things are moving in the right direction.