Ahaha. Now you are assuming that most people have that much common sense (and about lizards no less!) Sure, they are (for the most part) hardier than people make them sound, BUT they are pretty easy to kill too. I know my rescue sulcata has been through a lot more than my chameleons could ever deal with. I figure it's made out to be this way because it's just easier to scare new owners into good husbandry. Just my $0.02
You know, that's true in the sense that it takes a lot longer to kill most lizards or other herps.
I just got a sulcata off craigs list about a month ago that would have died long ago had it been a chameleon. It was kept in a 10g tank on reptile bark and fed lettuce for the past 3 years. The owner complained that it hadn't grown in 3 years since they bought it- well duh- it probably had no heat or proper diet. it's shell is very soft and flexible. It now lives outside for the summer with lots of grasses and weeds and greens to eat.
BUT- a healthy captive bred chameleon still isn't more difficult to keep. They just die fast if you screw the husbandry up. Take that sulcata for example- really it has similar uv requirements, it needs proper humidity for good shell growth, and it needs a careful diet- the owner must learn about vegetarian diet, how to balance and provide the proper levels of calcium, phosphorous, protein, fiber, etc. How to base it around grasses and not simply off of fresh leafy greens. Etc.
I would say a chameleon diet overall is simpler- especially for warm loving species.
There should be zillions of big sulcata pets, big iguanas, giant monitors, etc out there in pet owners hands, but they are far and away the exception because the owners don't care for them properly and end up killing them off before they reach adult size. It just takes longer for them to kill them.
So, although I agree that yes, many of the other lizards and herps can last longer when cared for inadequately, I'm not sure I agree that makes them easier to care for...
As for breeding- I think breeding panthers and veileds and a few of the others is far easier than breeding most lizards. All you have to do is care for them reasonably properly and you don't even have to cycle them... The flip side of the coin is that long-term multi-generation breeding seems lacking... But then again, there aren't many leopard gecko or bearded dragon owners who breed multi-generations over 20 years- probably only a dozen or so...
Chameleons are no harder to take care of than most other reptiles.
harder.... no but they require more of your time than any reptile ive encountered.
Really? Are you kidding me?
Care takes me about a minute to feed every day or two. Actually I have no idea how long that takes because I feed lots of lizards, but it isn't even a minute per lizard- I grab a bunch of insects out of a tub, count several into a cup, give it a swirl of calcium and put them in for the chameleon to eat.
now you could argue that caring for the insects adds another 5 or 10 minutes per day (If you are me, and have about a zillion insects), but that would not be unique to chameleon- I feed the same insects to my other lizards so there is no difference in time for chameleons vs the others.
Add another minute to do a quick visual exam of the lizard to make sure it is healthy and appreciate it's beauty for 30 secs or so.
What the heck are you doing that takes so much time?
edit- I guess thinking of babies, those take longer with more visits per day and fussing over them. I hadn't thought of that- only healthy adults... Then again, not sure those require much more time than other baby lizards...
"
