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 #2063222


JFrias25
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 Opinion on a new Chameleon

About two years ago I bough a baby Veiled chameleon along with a Bearded Dragon,ball python, green iguana, and other common house pets (not all at the same time ofcourse lol) but the baby veiled was about 3 months when I purchased it and had the proper hunbrandry for an animal its size (12x12x36 reptarium, 5.0 uvb, clamp lamp with heat bulb, drip system and I also misted 3 times a day, many braches to climb on and many plants for hiding and ofcourse care sheets) I had it for about 5 months because I didn’t get enough information on these animals because my cham ended up dying because of MBD I was sad but I was also madd at myself for not knowin about this so I blaimed it on myself and I gave my other reptiles to good homes wich I found for them but receptly through a series of events that happened to me I was thinking about trying again so I recently bought all the supplies I needed to build a 36x36x60 screen cage and I still have everything left over from my old cham plus more and the main thing that I got was A LOT of information on chams and dieses and feeding basically I been on the internet for 2 months reading and learning about them but my main question is should I not feel guilty about the past and get another one?



08/25/09  10:34am

 #2063270


Jonas77
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   Message To: JFrias25   In reference to Message Id: 2063222


 Opinion on a new Chameleon

You can feel guilty if you want, but dont let it get in the way of your interest and the pursuit of interesting hobbies.

When I started keeping reptiles the Internet was still young. A lot of the knowledge then was based on trial and error, and a collective knowledge in the form of herpetological societies with people that share this interest. I sure had one animal or so that died because of my lack of knowledge back then. I was one of the dumb ones who kept my iguana free in the apartment, not knowing that they need almost 100% humidity or they will have kidney failure and die way too young. Today a well kept iguana can easily pass the 20 year mark.

It sounds like you did your research well, I think you should try again if you want to. As long as we learn from the mistakes and show the animals the respect of reading up on what went wrong, it should not stop you from trying again.
You can regularly dump pictures and stats here if you want, benefiting from our experience. Im sure we can help you spot problems way before you have a sick animal again.

/ Jonas



08/25/09  12:29pm

 #2063404


JFrias25
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   Message To: Jonas77   In reference to Message Id: 2063270


 Opinion on a new Chameleon

Thanx Jonas

I was reading a lot of the other posts before I posted this one and I saw that people that give the best advice was you Jonas and LunaC and Julir I told myself if I make this post and I was told by one of you guys that I should try again then I was gonna take your advice and do it so I am gonna go ahead and start building my cage and gettin everything ready for when I purchase my new Cham and I still will do a lot of more research on them but if I have any questions ill be sure to ask right away....

(And I know that your very compasionite about all animals so I was kinda surpised when I didn’t get even a lil bit of critisism from you lol and I know you only do it for the well beign of the animal)



But thnx again Jonas
08/25/09  05:43pm

 #2063466


LunaC
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   Message To: JFrias25   In reference to Message Id: 2063404


 Opinion on a new Chameleon

That’s a very nice compliment, thanks kindly.

I will second the vote then. By all means, after you have done (and it sounds like you have) lots and lots of research, choose a good reputable breeder to buy from. Buy a cham that is not a weeks-old hatchling, but rather is well started and established.

Bear in mind, that if you get a young cham, you will want to house it in your smaller enclosure to help maintain the best temps, UVB exposure, humidity and the security a young cham will need. Smaller enclosures are also easier for the little ones to hunt in.

All the best! Looking forward to hearing about your new little buddy :)



08/25/09  08:49pm

 #2063563


Jonas77
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   Message To: LunaC   In reference to Message Id: 2063466


 Opinion on a new Chameleon

It is really a compliment, I do appreciate it.

Like I said, you should start again. Besides, building and fiddling with the setup is the best part...

Its kind of interesting how things get to be a habit. In the beginning one can struggle with the most "simple" things, when you get experience you hardly understand what was so hard before.
I would say that a lot i chameleon keeping is about routine from experience. Keeping some species is really no problem for me today, Im having a harder time preventing my sourdough alive... One gets there after a while, that is certain.

Like I said, just offload on the forum and we will help you keep an eye on the chameleon for you.
I forgot to mention, sometimes shite happens. You do everything right, but the animal goes bad, possibly because it was predisposed by genetics or earlier husbandry. Bad UV from the factory, etc...
It is really hardy animals if they get the right environment. At one time I raised just under 100 calyptratus juveniles at once, I think two or three just dropped of the branches without any obvious reason to die, the rest lived, so they really are quite robust.

Ps. try to find a private breeder, I find that many problems can be traced back to a pet shop a lot of times.

/ Jonas




08/25/09  11:27pm


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