Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Arkist,
I don't know who runs reptilesncritters but they are feeding you a line. The parasites carried by Ch. senegalensis are no more transmissible to other animals then the parasites carried by any other WC chameleon. With proper cleaning practices, prevention of cross contamination of feeder insects and treatment of parasitic loads, transmission is easily avoided. The reason you see so few CB or even CH specimens is due to their egg incubation and acclimation/recovery from the import process. The incubation of Senegal eggs seems to be challenging for some reason and even when WC gravid females are acquired, hatching of eggs is difficult and success is infrequent. Additionally, since Senegal's are so cheap retail, the exporters are getting next to nothing for them and have no incentive to care for them properly. As a result, when they finally arrive at an importer's facility, many are already dead and the rest of typically extremely dehydrated, emaciated from a lack of food while being held at the exporter's and stressed. They frequently receive not significantly better care in the mean time before they are sent to individual retailers and as a result of these factors, parasite loads are able to explode and take over their bodies, if they survive long enough for that to be an issue. Those that do make it into the hands of individual keepers are then in typically rough condition with a relatively delicate road of deparatization, rehydration, heavy feeding and general acclimation. Many do not successfully complete this process. Those are the reasons you don't see many CB or CH specimens.
Here is another article for you on Senegal Chams: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=164
Here is an article for you on the acclimation process for WC chams: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=71
On a side note, I previously have had problems with the owner of this site (reptilesncritters.com) for using photos of mine to advertise their Peacock Chameleons (Ch. wiedersheimi). When I spoke to them and demanded they remove and stop using my photos, they replied that they would, and immediately did, but asked if I knew where they could get photos to use for their site for this species. Additionally, a number of the photos in their chameleon adds are from other websites like adcham.com. Many, if not all, of the animals advertised on their site are thus misrepresented without the knowledge of the owners of the photographs they use to sell their animals. This is against the law and they technically could be taken to the cleaners for every cent they make selling their animals. I would be cautious of considering conducting business with them!
Chris
I don't know who runs reptilesncritters but they are feeding you a line. The parasites carried by Ch. senegalensis are no more transmissible to other animals then the parasites carried by any other WC chameleon. With proper cleaning practices, prevention of cross contamination of feeder insects and treatment of parasitic loads, transmission is easily avoided. The reason you see so few CB or even CH specimens is due to their egg incubation and acclimation/recovery from the import process. The incubation of Senegal eggs seems to be challenging for some reason and even when WC gravid females are acquired, hatching of eggs is difficult and success is infrequent. Additionally, since Senegal's are so cheap retail, the exporters are getting next to nothing for them and have no incentive to care for them properly. As a result, when they finally arrive at an importer's facility, many are already dead and the rest of typically extremely dehydrated, emaciated from a lack of food while being held at the exporter's and stressed. They frequently receive not significantly better care in the mean time before they are sent to individual retailers and as a result of these factors, parasite loads are able to explode and take over their bodies, if they survive long enough for that to be an issue. Those that do make it into the hands of individual keepers are then in typically rough condition with a relatively delicate road of deparatization, rehydration, heavy feeding and general acclimation. Many do not successfully complete this process. Those are the reasons you don't see many CB or CH specimens.
Here is another article for you on Senegal Chams: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=164
Here is an article for you on the acclimation process for WC chams: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=71
On a side note, I previously have had problems with the owner of this site (reptilesncritters.com) for using photos of mine to advertise their Peacock Chameleons (Ch. wiedersheimi). When I spoke to them and demanded they remove and stop using my photos, they replied that they would, and immediately did, but asked if I knew where they could get photos to use for their site for this species. Additionally, a number of the photos in their chameleon adds are from other websites like adcham.com. Many, if not all, of the animals advertised on their site are thus misrepresented without the knowledge of the owners of the photographs they use to sell their animals. This is against the law and they technically could be taken to the cleaners for every cent they make selling their animals. I would be cautious of considering conducting business with them!
Chris
