Regarding Wild Caught Chams

[eppcheck]

Prolly a noob topic, but I'm just curious about the main diffrences between WC and CB. I know that wild caught chameleons potentially could have unknown health issues like parasites and such but what else? Are wild caught avoided because they are not easily adapted to a captive environment? I noticed that some breeders bring in WC into their breeding projects I'm assuming to improve/mixup the bloodlines.

Basically, why or why wouldn't you want a WC and are they usually recommended only for breeders or experienced keepers?

The reason I ask is because some of the more rare chameleon types are usually only available WC from what I could find. I'm not planning on getting any but was just curious for future reference.

Thanks

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I know that wild caught chameleons potentially could have unknown health issues like parasites and such but what else?"...many of them come in with health issues and parasites...but many also arrive in good condition. Its always a crap shoot. Treating the parasites can sometimes kill them if they have a heavy load and its not done properly. (Live parasites are not looked on as "garbage"...but as soon as they are dead the body has to get rid of them and their dead bodies can be toxic if the load is heavy. Many have infections, etc. that are difficult to treat and the chameleons are stressed out by the treatment often which doesn't help. Many of them arrive dehydrated, not having been fed along the way, etc.

You said..."Are wild caught avoided because they are not easily adapted to a captive environment?"..this is true for some species more than others. I've seen some that can't handle it and just fade away.

You said..."I noticed that some breeders bring in WC into their breeding projects I'm assuming to improve/mixup the bloodlines"...when I first started keeping them (over 20 years ago) WC's were all you could get....but I still like to add them to my collection to keep the gene pool clean.

You said..."some of the more rare chameleon types are usually only available WC from what I could find"...true. Some of the species are hard to breed and hatch the eggs of in captivity so they still aren't readily available. Some never were available.

Hope this helps a little?

 

[eppcheck]

Hope this helps a little?

It does and is much appreciated. I was just curious more than anything. At the rate my collection is growing I thought it would be good to know if in the future I plan on purchasing a wild caught that I can't find captive bred. Thanks again