nate65809
New Member
Hello!
I have had a couple friends who own/owned chams in the USA. Now I’m an American expat in Bangalore India and I’m considering screening in my ~100 sq ft. porch and getting my own Cham.
I’ve read a lot of forums and info online at this point, but I still have a lot of questions.
If you could respond to any of these using the number for whichever one you’re responding to, that would be most helpful and clear. Thank you!!
I have had a couple friends who own/owned chams in the USA. Now I’m an American expat in Bangalore India and I’m considering screening in my ~100 sq ft. porch and getting my own Cham.
I’ve read a lot of forums and info online at this point, but I still have a lot of questions.
If you could respond to any of these using the number for whichever one you’re responding to, that would be most helpful and clear. Thank you!!
- Since I’m in India, I would love to have an Indian Chameleon (chamaeleo zeylanicus). However, I am seeing conflicting information online. a) Can I have a chamaeleo zeylanicus as a pet in India, legally? I have searched through the Wildlife Protection Act (nbaindia.org/uploaded/Biodiversityindia/Legal/15.%20Wildlife%20(Protection)%20Act,%201972.pdf) but haven’t found any chameleons listed. b) Does the answer to that question change based on whether I find one in the wild or buy one from a dealer? c) Is it even legal to buy/sell these in India? d) If so, does anyone know a good trusted dealer? Preferably in Bangalore.
- Is all of the information I’m reading about chameleons (mostly veiled chams) applicable to an Indian Cham (chamaeleo zeylanicus) too?
- A friend told me that if I were to obtain a wild chameleon (the assumption being that this would be legal), then a wild Cham would be more self-sufficient because he would know how to hunt for himself and I could therefore more easily dump random live food into his 100 square foot ‘cage’ and he’d eventually find it himself. As opposed to a captive-bred Cham which would need more attention and ‘training’ in how to eat, so to speak. is there any truth to that?
- If my 100 square foot screened-in porch has a [screened] opening in the ceiling for the Cham to bask, will that be sufficient for him? I’d love to avoid buying lamps. Surely he’s alright if he’s basically living outside? Granted, there’s a cloudy part of the year (monsoon season) but if he’s an Indian Cham and therefore native to South India (see question 1), then surely this is something he’s designed for.
- If my 100 square foot screened-in porch has a [screened] opening in the ceiling for the Cham to get rainwater, and the average humidity in Bangalore is 60%+ (only dipping under 50% for a month or two) (https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Humidity-perc,bangalore,India), do I still need to get a mister? Do I still need to get a dropper? Most forums and FAQs advocate strongly for both, however the question tends to come from a North American context with a small indoor tank setup. Do my unique plans a geographic location change the typical answer to that question?
- Can chams get diseases that are harmful to humans?
- Are there any types of food that chams simply shouldn’t eat because they are outright poisonous to chams? (I have read some of the stuff about mice and other vertebra being hard on the kidneys; that’s not really what I’m asking.) In other words, if I find random creatures outside, like silk worms hanging from trees over the sidewalk, should I take mental note of any ‘dangerous’ things I shouldn’t take home and feed the Cham?
- Can chams hunt live food even when they’re babies?
- What are some good shows, videos, documentaries, or podcasts highlighting chameleons?
- It looks like there’s a whole element (or two) to this that I hadn’t considered; namely, feeding my live bait the right food (i.e. feeding crickets certain leaves) in order to carefully flush diseases before I feed them to my Cham. Another example is simply gardening and taking care of plants (beyond simply watering them). What are some good resources on these topics? Is it as daunting as it sounds?