This is an interesting debate, but at the core of it is that some people believe the fate of the calyptratus juvenile was cruel, or that it suffered unnecessarily. The suffering of this calyptratus juvenile was limited to being attacked by the pardalis and consumed, which likely transpired in under ten minutes. Compare a quick death by predation to the fate of more than 75% of all chameleons born into captivity - they become injured or ill, then suffer in pain and misery for weeks, or even months before expiring from one or more common and recurring husbandry failures including, but certainly not limited to:



- renal failure from insufficient drinking water and ineffective watering methods;



- Metabolic Bone Disease from imbalanced and poor diets, usually accompanied by organ failure. The chameleon may become crippled by weak, rubbery bones and linger for months, terrified and getting weaker and weaker before starving to death because it can no longer feed or drink;



- first-degree burns from improperly placed lamps, which usually go untreated, followed by bacterial infection;



- bacterial and fungal infections, internal and external, from poor hygiene of the cage or prey insects they consume, watering systems that are contaminated, and cage environments that are kept too wet;



- improper temperature ranges and insufficient illumination and UVB exposure;



- injuries or biological shutdown from inappropriate caging materials and cages that are far too small;



- lack of veterinary care or appropriate medical treatments;



and in nearly all cases;



- captivity-related psychological stress from handling and exposure to moving objects chameleons instinctively view as predators,especially humans.



Chameleons suffer much longer than 10 minutes from this kind of treatment, and it is by far a crueler fate than being consumed by another chameleon. Day after day, people post to this forum about sick, injured, and dead chameleons that are that way because they were not provided with adequate care by their keepers to sustain life and reasonably good health in a chameleon, or because the chameleon was taken out of the wild, and failed to adapt to life in a cage and was abused terribly at every stage of being sold into captivity. The simple fact is that most captive chameleons die well in advance of their potential lifespan simply because they are captive.



These are greater tragedies than feeding a calyptratus to a pardalis, and more deserving of serious thought, discussion, and remedy.

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