Thinking about trying again... (sorry so long)

[Barbel]

Hey all! My boyfriend and I used to come on this site allllll the time a few years ago! Haven't been here in a long while. Anyway... After two failed attempts at keeping a chameleon, we are considering giving it another shot. They are such amazing reptiles and every time I see one I want to take it home!
A little background:
The first cham we purchased was a young, male veiled about 2 months old. He was an awesome eater, handled well and acted and appeared to be very healthy. I woke up one day and he was dead! After speaking with several local (back in Austin) reptile shop owners, discussing his diet and showing pictures of him (alive) and his habitat, they all have no idea why he would have suddenly died.
About 6 months later, sort of on a whim (which was my fault; we normally do a lot of research before buying), we bought a male flapneck at an expo. The "breeder" assured me their care was simple and very similar to that of a veiled, just more humidity. Well, after a few weeks, he stopped eating. After two to three weeks of hand feeding, he too passed away.
Well, it's been almost two years and we still have all the supplies stored away in our garage. We are going to the Tuscan show next month and are thinking about purchasing another chameleon. I am so nervous though that it will also die. Since our first veiled we have started collecting various types of reptiles and all of them are healthy, we haven't lost a single one and even successfully bred. Has anyone else had their first or even second or third chameleon die, but still go on to raise a healthy one?? Any advice for us? I don't really know what to ask because we have researched their care and I think we have gotten it all down... Not sure what might be missing...???

 

[chameleonneeds]

What things do you have for their setup?
What chameleon do you plan on getting.
A reccomended species is veiled or panther for beginners, flap necks can be hard to keep so I wasnt surprised it died, how big was it, it might possibly have been a WC instead of CB, and WC flap necks normaly come loaded with worms from what I have seen.

You can never do enough research with these guys, youl always learn something new along the way.

-Tyrone

 

[moody232002]

i know exactly how you feel,i lost two chameleons in a close timespan.despite vowing i wasn't going to have another one the pull was too strong and i got a four month veiled.
He is my pride and joy he will be a year old on the 4th september and he is going from strength to strength.
good luck with your next cham

 

[Julirs]

Absolutely try again. Set up your enclosure and lighting and post a picture here. That way you will get advice on everything being good to go. Then get a chameleon from a forum member or sponsor so you know it will have had the best start in life. I would go with a male Veiled 3+ months old.

 

[jannb]

Below are a couple links that will be helpful:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ryan-jarosek/119-new-arrival-bringing-home.html

http://www.julirschameleons.com/chameleonshoppinglist.htm

 

[BocaJan]

Jann's advice is good. Read everything you can on the setup before you purchase one. Pet stores don't always give good advice or even know anything about raising a chameleon, after all they just keep them for a couple weeks until sold or they die. I have two hatched clutches I'm raising right now and out of the 100 eggs I only lost one that died trying to hatch. If you keep reading the posts you will see pics of many excellent set ups. When you get your cage and supplies out of the garage be sure to wash it well before putting anything in it. Wash the plants you buy by removing them from the pot, rinsing all the dirt (they put fertilizer in the dirt) off the roots and even gently rubbing with the fingers the leaves. They are usually sprayed with insect repellent by the nursery. If you get a plant or two now, you can have that done and growing in your house just waiting for your cham. Those links in Jann's post will include what types of plants to get. I also go to a craft store and get river rock to cover the dirt with so that your little guy won't become impacted by eating dirt. I have one that every once in awhile will roam around the bottom of her pot and chew on dead leaves.

After you have your set up done, please post pics! The time to make changes to a poor home for your cham is before it comes, not after you see problems with its health.

Good luck! I think my veileds are absolutely beautiful!

 

[Sang]

Hello barbel.

i noticed your in phoenix AZ.

There will be a reptile show this september the 19th and 20th. i suggest you go and pick up your guy from there.


i will be there, and we can talk, along with several other forum members.

 

[Vampire.queen]

If you've read as much as possible and have everything prepared, the you shouldn't be araid to try once again.
Hope you will find a healthy one! -> perhaps you can try to find a member of this forum in your location with chameleons for sale...

 

[xanthoman]

posting your setup for critique is good advice and young chams can be problematic even for experienced keepers, my advice would be to try and get something 5 or 6 months if possible and i certainly wouldnt get a a second one until you are confident you have things under control. you have to be responsible for doing your own research from a broad knowledge base, no one person , care sheet, or website, has all of the answers, and i certainly wouldnt base care or health evaluation of your animal based on what just the seller has to tell you , especially if it seems just that easy. sellers often have motivation beyond your success or the well being of the animal. there are some sellers that should be avoided altogether . it might not be a bad idea to visit the web site of the show you are attending and get a list of vendors. show websites often list their vendors and what they will be selling, narrow it down to the ones you would be most likely to buy from and do your best to find out what you can about them before you buy. if you dont have time to do that then talk to other people at the show you may want to even do a little loitering and evesdropping before you make a decision, you would be suprised what you can learn from people that way, also if you have any doubts or reservations remember there are other ways to get healthy chameleons than from a show, if you dont get a good feeling from a buyer or what other people are saying about them, its better to wait until you find one you have confidence in . buying an animal based soley on the cuteness of the animal, or ease of care as recomended by the seller, is often the first mistake and frequently the downfall of begining cham keepers. one of the best places to do research is in the help forums. there you get a sense of problems people have had and a broad response of advice to deal with it . its just as important to learn what not to do, as it is to learn what to do

 

[Barbel]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling a little better about it. We are going to be attending that show (Tuscan) already, looking for more ball pythons. My boyfriend researched chameleons for a good three months and talked to a lot of different people before we bought our first one. We posted pics of our set up on here and were approved so we felt prepared. We also made sure to get a male to avoid the whole egg bound issue. His eyes were moving around and his color was good so we felt confident in our purchase.
As far as the pet store owners I spoke with after he passed, they were not your run of the mill chain store employees. They were privately owned stores and one of the guys I spoke with actually breeds veileds, so I feel we got trustworthy feedback from them. We also posted about it on here and no one could give us a reason as to why he might have died.
I am also a firm believer in continued research. My boyfriend and I read and watch videos about ball pythons and red tails weekly. We also watched a lot of videos back when we had our veiled. No one can know everything and there is always something to learn, but as far as the actual set up goes, I feel like we've got everything down. I will of course post pictures once we get everything back together. We have a small, tall screened enclosure, I want say around 20-30 gallons (not exactly sure cause we bought it 3 years ago!) for a young cham and then a 6 foot tall reptarium for when it is an adult, each with appropriate sized uva/b lights and heat lamps, temp/humidity gauges, lots of plants and vines, a ficus for the big enclosure and a dripper for water.
We are not sure exactly which type we will get. I would like another veiled, but my boyfriend has always wanted a panther, so we'll see! I would like it to be at least 3 months old, but would prefer the 4-6 months range.