New to chameleons

[natieb]

Hey there,

My name's Nathan, and I'm new here so I just wanted to say Hi. I love boas and ball pythons and have been keeping them for some time now, but I've always been fascinated by chameleons. Recently a friend of mine ran into some circumstances by which he had to get rid of a female veiled, so I bit the bullet and took her off his hands.

First of all, I must say there was a huge learning curve going from the relatively simple care of a snake to the modestly complicated world of lizards. There's so much from gutloading bugs to UVB to become familiar with. It's a great learning experience, and so far I've enjoyed everything about it.

I'm a little bit obsessed with the Panthers, in particular the Blue Bar Ambilobes, but it was entirely by chance that I took in a female veiled as what I can only call a rescue. Her owner didn't have time for her, she was dropped off with another individual who meant well but honestly didn't know what to do with her, and eventually got to me. I have already determined that her cage is too small and that there is a lot more that she needs before I'm content that she's in the best possible setup for her.

She is currently in a.. I want to say 18"x10"x24" mostly plexi (some window screen) cage that seems like it's probably meant for hatchlings. All of the plants are fake. My intention is to put her into a 18x18x36 diycages enclosure with live plants. I recently purchased a bunch of dubias from dragonbreeder's to keep her fed; I will rave about how well the transaction went on another thread.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say that I don't really have much to say because this site has been so incredibly helpful and every question I've had has been answered simply by browsing the forum. Thank you so much for making this information available.

One question that I do have is regarding the genetics of the veiled chameleon. I could write a short book about the various genetic mutations of the boa constrictor imperator, with all of the codominant, simple recessive, incomplete dominant morphs out there. Is there some sort of documentation online about the various forms of veiled chameleons available? I see plenty of color combinations out there, but I would be interested to see how they would work with a normal old boring green female veiled.

Thanks for everything everyone and I'll be sure to contribute here as I learn more about this exciting new critter that I am now caring for.

 

[Pure]

Hi and welcome.

No there isn't much out there documented in the way of chameleon genetics. The truth is that it's so new, the ones who do know about it aren't talking.

 

[JabbaThePanther]

Hello!

Welcome to the forums!
thats all i really have to say, lol.
Ive been waiting to say that for a while.

 

[Chris Anderson]

With veiled chameleons there are a few genetic mutation around but only one is really available yet.

The "translucent" or "transbald" or "piebald" morph is the best known and is the only one that is currently available. This trait is codominant. Heterozygotes only show the white/translucent skin in the toes and the "supers" (homozygous) show more including on the head, legs and tail.

There is a breeder in England working with a morph that exhibits random patches of black color but I don't recall what the results of his outcrosses were so I can't comment on what the genetic inheritance pattern of them is.

Similarly, there is a line of blue (axanthic?) veileds. These aren't just the turqoise lines you see people advertising which are just specimens that happen to show a nice amount of blue in their body, they are blue. Unfortunately, I don't know much about their inheritance either yet.

There may be more but for the most part, beyond these genetic morphs, the "sunburst", "turquoise" and other lines you see advertised as simply sales pitches. They are simply colorful specimens that they market but there is no evidence that these are individual traits and these colorful individuals can produce highly variable offspring.

Chris