Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
"The grass is always greener ..."
-Brad
-Brad
Your First Chameleon
- Thread starter Brad
- Start date
OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
My first Chameleon was called a "Senegal" back in the day. I was only 4 but my dad was was rather "adept" at keeping critters alive. The only reason the little fellow lasted 2 yrs is because my dad noticed the animal always ate better after being near the window. He would then have me take it outside to a plant he bought just for it. It was a highlight every week for me to get to take out the weird lizard......
JBHerps
New Member
My first was a veiled when i was 5...thats right...5.....
He lived for 3 years under my care........The only thing that the parentals did was buy the food and lights for me etc......
He lived in a 10 gallon witha screen lid.....he was cup fed and had one vine and lived with a giant day gecko(also a juvy).
yeah.....the petstore didn't exactly give me good info. lol.
I'm suprised he lived that long....looking back.
He lived for 3 years under my care........The only thing that the parentals did was buy the food and lights for me etc......
He lived in a 10 gallon witha screen lid.....he was cup fed and had one vine and lived with a giant day gecko(also a juvy).
yeah.....the petstore didn't exactly give me good info. lol.
I'm suprised he lived that long....looking back.
desultadox
Established Member
No Gracilis love?
Looks like I'm the only one so far who started with a Graceful Chameleon. I was just a kid, probably 10 or 11. I was bugging my mom for a frilled lizard really, but apparently those weren't so easy to come by some 12 or so years ago. So I thought OK ... what's the next weirdest lizard I can think of? I decided on a chameleon and went to a big importer in So Fla. I'm pretty sure I had my heart set on a Jackson's because they get huge and have horns! But the wholesaler guy recommended a Graceful as my first because they were cheaper and more likely to survive. Despite my rookie/little kid husbandry and the occassional dog ransacking her home, she flourished! ... Until a couple of years later I thought she might like a move-in boyfriend. They both died within a week =(.
A short while later my dear sweet mother tried to console me by surprising me with a TINY baby jackson's! Only problem was we didn't have a cage for it, so we were going to go get one the next day, while the cham sat in a small aquarium. Well, I got home from school the next day to find her being carried away by ants :/
Now, some 10+ years later I've just committed to picking up a pair of young Blue Bar Ambilobe Panthers from the Chameleon Habitat. I'll have them on Friday and this time I'm prepared. Reptariums, live plants, climbing sticks, drippers, misters, supplements, hopefully the crickets are breeding like the Spears sisters, silkies on the way...
Looks like I'm the only one so far who started with a Graceful Chameleon. I was just a kid, probably 10 or 11. I was bugging my mom for a frilled lizard really, but apparently those weren't so easy to come by some 12 or so years ago. So I thought OK ... what's the next weirdest lizard I can think of? I decided on a chameleon and went to a big importer in So Fla. I'm pretty sure I had my heart set on a Jackson's because they get huge and have horns! But the wholesaler guy recommended a Graceful as my first because they were cheaper and more likely to survive. Despite my rookie/little kid husbandry and the occassional dog ransacking her home, she flourished! ... Until a couple of years later I thought she might like a move-in boyfriend. They both died within a week =(.
A short while later my dear sweet mother tried to console me by surprising me with a TINY baby jackson's! Only problem was we didn't have a cage for it, so we were going to go get one the next day, while the cham sat in a small aquarium. Well, I got home from school the next day to find her being carried away by ants :/
Now, some 10+ years later I've just committed to picking up a pair of young Blue Bar Ambilobe Panthers from the Chameleon Habitat. I'll have them on Friday and this time I'm prepared. Reptariums, live plants, climbing sticks, drippers, misters, supplements, hopefully the crickets are breeding like the Spears sisters, silkies on the way...
Tatooineboy
New Member
Veiled for me 
Wouldn't trade him for anything. His appetite has increased greatly since he's become situated here and is growing like a weed.
Wouldn't trade him for anything. His appetite has increased greatly since he's become situated here and is growing like a weed.
casperpetersen
New Member
my first chameleons was 1.2 montium...
THEO555HUGHES
New Member
I HAD A VEILED FRIST. I KEEPED HIM FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS. NOW I HAVE A JACKSONii. HE IS ABOUT 3 MONTHS OLD. 
Treetop Chameleons
Established Member
my first was a veild about two years ago i now have 6 chameleons, i deal mostly with panthers now but i still have my veilds,with more chameleons on the way . i must say i dont know what i would do without them, they even have there own room and basicly have there claws in my check book at all times but it is all worth it. they truly are addictive you defanitly cant have just one.
Matt
Matt
Hi, I have bought a female veiled 4 weeks ago and I am on a very steep learning curve! I live in the midlands, UK, and her heat lamp has broken and I have spent all day driving around trying to find a pet shop to buy a replacement (this is after already replacing the blown bulb yesterday). Tearing my hair out and very frustrated that the pet shop I bought her from have set up her enclosure completely wrong (glass cube with mesh on top, waterfall, rubbish heat lamp.... :-(
Anyone out there who can give me some info for online purchase of 150W heat lamp system, not just a bulb? All advice very gratefully received. I adore the chameleon and am really worried that I will kill her through ignorance! Thanks, Fi.
Anyone out there who can give me some info for online purchase of 150W heat lamp system, not just a bulb? All advice very gratefully received. I adore the chameleon and am really worried that I will kill her through ignorance! Thanks, Fi.
Day Man
New Member
My first (and only) is a female veiled now about 4 years old. I got her from a local pet store. She was around 6 months old and got her for 50.00. It was kind of an impulse purchase. I was like what the heck is that thing, but was fascinated. I feel pretty lucky she has lived as long as she has considering her rough childhood at the pet store. I was also misinformed about how to care for her when i bought her. He sold me a crappy UVB, told me to get a wrong size cage, and when I asked how big she'll get he said it depends how much I feed her. This site and others have definitely been a life saver for her.
Billyjack187
New Member
Ah yea, like it was yesterday. growing up on Oahu had many, many....many advantages. Like Jackson Chams, we would go hiking at night in a "haunted forest", armed with flashlights and mesh nets, these guys would be snoozing everywhere in the trees. I had 3 of em, made cages in wood shop, back in the high school days!
mary prefontaine
New Member
my first
was a pair of jackson chameleons i had moved to my sisters house while my house was being built and she wasnt happy about all the crickets in the house lol so i sold them and now im upset that i did as she was pregnant i think i still have a pic of them breeding hehe
was a pair of jackson chameleons i had moved to my sisters house while my house was being built and she wasnt happy about all the crickets in the house lol so i sold them and now im upset that i did as she was pregnant i think i still have a pic of them breeding hehe
FOREVER ENDEAVOR
New Member
my first was a veiled...i still own her today, shes almost 3....and it didnt end there...lol
mary prefontaine
New Member
my first chams were a pair of jacksons what an experience learning how to keep care of them but it got old and i had to stay with my sister who wasnt too happy about the cricks all over the floor lol so i sold them
mary prefontaine
New Member
jacksons
my first chameleons were a pair of jacksons that i bought off someone here in fl i forgot who. i named them number 1 and 2 cause i never could think of a name for them those are the ones doing the nasty in front of the puzzle box lol
my first chameleons were a pair of jacksons that i bought off someone here in fl i forgot who. i named them number 1 and 2 cause i never could think of a name for them those are the ones doing the nasty in front of the puzzle box lol
Wild Jacksons
1985, went to get a lizard, came home with a male Jackson. That started it all. Learned a lot from him. When he died, most likely from heat exposure, I went to the Veils and they trived like rabbits. They reminded me of that Star Trek show with those little furry things. You know what you get when you feed female Veils a lot of food? A ton of little eggs that turn into a ton of little hungrey Veils! They finally drove me out! Came back to Deremensis, and I think I will try my hand with Mellers starting at the end of the year.
1985, went to get a lizard, came home with a male Jackson. That started it all. Learned a lot from him. When he died, most likely from heat exposure, I went to the Veils and they trived like rabbits. They reminded me of that Star Trek show with those little furry things. You know what you get when you feed female Veils a lot of food? A ton of little eggs that turn into a ton of little hungrey Veils! They finally drove me out! Came back to Deremensis, and I think I will try my hand with Mellers starting at the end of the year.
