Still importing wild caughts? I thought we were passed those days.
@Spyro88 Like Gene, I wonder if you and many other pet chameleon keepers have any real understanding of where we are with different species of chameleons being established in captivity. I say that as a real question and, honestly, I am not being patronizing. I am really interested to know if the average pet chameleon keeper has any understanding of what species are established.
The only species I know that are truly established in captivity are panthers and veileds. Jacksons and Oustalets are established in the wild in the US. Any other species are dependent on the wild caught trade.
A few other species have a few breeders who are successful with them but should they stop breeding them, they are gone from captivity in the US.
@Dooley1 (I believe that is Kevin's name here on CF) has been very successful with F. lateralis (carpet chameleons) for many generations yet only two other breeders seem to share his success. If those three people decide not to breed, the species is likely gone from the US.
I once had someone who should know better tell me he wanted to cancel his purchase of one of my captive born and bred graciliors because he could always get one "later" since they were pretty common. I was dumbfounded. Since I believe I am the only person who has managed to produce any T.q.graciliors, I can assure you and this collector they are definitely NOT common. Should I decide to no longer breed my animals--and if I can't sell them I will have stop producing babies and start culling eggs. I could very easily decide to just let them age out and not produce because raising and housing a clutch of babies is very expensive. If I can't sell them, why produce them? This, in a nutshell, is
@GCash's complaint that the chameleon fancy is not supporting us breeders working with species other than panthers.
People are under the false impression that T.q.quadricornis are common in captivity. Again, wrong. I know only two breeders (me being one of them) who have gotten breedings from the wild caught pairs that were imported recently. I know a few breeders working with stock descending from imports back in 2006 or so and some of those breeders are using new wild caught males that have been imported in the last two years. I know some have clutches of babies hatched from wc females imported gravid. That's it. I think the breeders producing T.q.quadricornis can be counted on one hand, two at most.
There will be no more imports of quads or graciliors. If the few people who are working with the species stop producing, they are gone from the US. These are wonderful species and actually very easy to keep. They are not very demanding other than humidity which an automatic mister takes care of and slightly lower temps which is in the range that people keep their houses. But, if the few breeders that are working with them can't sell them, they will stop and they will be gone forever.
One other aspect about the wild caught trade that no one ever mentions is that with rising incomes in Africa, fewer collectors will be willing to collect. Average per capita income in Madagascar is $260 a year. Other African countries have per capita incomes that although higher than Madagascar aren't all that much higher. Selling a chameleon for $10 is a huge amount of money, but as incomes rise in these countries--and some are--there will be fewer and fewer collectors willing to put in the tremendous effort to make a few dollars that collecting chameleons takes.
So, yes, the wild caught trade is shrinking.
However, the species this thread is dedicated to, Calumma malthe, has rarely been imported or produced in captivity. I have heard of two people in the world who have bred them. I have heard of a handful of clutches of eggs produced by females imported gravid actually hatching. So, if you want to see a C. malthe in captivity in the future, you had better hope that
@GCash, another keeper in Tennessee and I are successful. I think that's it--only three people working with C. malthe in the US.
Then, there is the added complication of Madagascar and other countries being shut down again......
I don't think many in the chameleon fancy really understand how few chameleon species there really are established in captivity or how tenuous their existence in captivity really is.
