Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am wondering what other reptiles chameleon fans fancy?
What did you start with,what did you end up keeping but most importantly, what does really excite you as much as your chameleon?
We've all probably started with simple species like leopard geckos but because of the huge diversity of reptile kingdom we are forced to cut down the reptiles we keep to 5,10 or 15.So which are these favourites?

I really like snakes, but I hate feeding mice. So my favorites are geckos, and chams. I also like tarantulas. I think the frogs are really cute to, and monitors. But I currently have leopard geckos and cham. I want to get a giant leaf tail soon. So those are my favs... How about yours??

I gave up snakes for the same reason too,if it wasn't for mice I would have lots of them.Some of the heps that are on my future list are poison dart frogs,several uroplatus,day geckos.panther chameleon.I would definately have a varanus if it wasn't for their nasty feeding habits...
For some reason I feel the urge to buy more and more demanding species as time goes by.Perhaps is the challenge that makes us love this.

You can't go wrong with aboreal snakes, especially emerald boas (basins in particular). They're easy, clean, zero smell and only go the bathroom about 10 times a year. Can't beat that! Nobody can deny the beauty in a big acrylic cage.

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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

np

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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Very nice,challenging and expensive I guess,if it wasn't for those live mice....
Damn....

If you've got CBB snakes, they'll almost always be eating frozen/thawed mice or rats when you get them. There's no squealing rodents around here.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Beautiful! I love the setups! I want, I want!!

wow very cool. post more pics!

some people just hate snakes!

For me, it is dart frogs! Mainly D. Leucomelas (bumlebee)

but I also like cobalt tincs, azureus

I would own many of them if you didn't have to feed them fruit flies or pinheads. Just the idea of having to breed and feed those tiny crickets or having fruit flies all over my house is a major turnoff for me and will probably be the one reason stopping me from owning them in teh future. I did own 2 Leucs though for about 6 months but was offered good money for them that I needed at the time. I had two females so never got to hear their canary-like call.

I want to get an ambilobe and/or nosey be panther someday when I have more money and am out of college.

1.1 Veiled
1.1 Ambilobe/Nosey Be Panther will do great for me!

Plus my girlfriends 2 cats and rabbit!

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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
11.5 months

I just got into Dart frogs. They are awesome. It took awhile (2 years) to decide if I wanted to deal with tiny fruit flies but after looking at the various colors I went ahead and ordered six.
It's great, no heat lamps, occasional misting, and the wife doesn't mind the viv since it's alot of plants. The water on the glass makes it hard to see but in person they look great. By the way darts are great to watch when they hunt. I do love snakes but only have one ball python which devours rats..

In the past I had "the usual" anoles and house geckos (the latter "found me". ALso had a 4' king snake when I was 14 years old. Some friends found it and built me a really lice big wood and screen cage. I went ot eh pet store and bought a white mouse (which I had as pets as a little kid), put it in the cage and every day would see it cowering in the corner. after about a week I gave the mouse back to the store and let the snake go. The snake had bitten me (minor) and mom was freaking out since we didn't know the species at the time so she called a herpetologist! First time I ever heard the word and thought it was a very funny one! He assured us the snake was not poisonous. So I do not own snakes for the same reason as the rest of you. My African Clawed frog cracks me up! I love my tarantulas, will get leaf chams again at some point. Also want dart frogs and some day geckos - gold dust, blue tail, standings.

So many to choose from, but living in a cold climate does force a few limitations :-
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she's back!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I started off with Asian (aka Chinese and Green) Water Dragons. Their requirements for high humidity, insectivore diet and arboreal habitat led me to investigate chameleons. I had hoped to house a chameleon pair in with the dragons. I didn't have to do much research to find out that I not only could not keep a pair in my Dragon enclosure-I couldn't even keep a pair together AT ALL. But doing the research got me hooked. Chameleons are definitely more work. Here is my male, CWD, Avanyu. He has 2 females, Tripod and Drago who are his harem. Diane

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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

Diane,

how large of an enclosure are your dragons in? I looked into them once but will have to wait until I have more space. I understand they do some serious nose rubbing if in too small an enclosure. Can you show a pic of you whole setup?

Will probably be moving in a bout a year and will probably look for an extra room strictly for some of the herps. How are they about seeing other animals? Do they stress like chams.

Don't mean to hijack this thread we may need to chat elsewhere! lol!
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she's back!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Hey are water dragons nice?

Can you touch them at all without them biting?

My little brother mentioned wanting a reptile and I suggested water dragons cause I think their environment is just awesome but I can't remember any of the research I did one night. I think i dismissed the idea when I heard about how mean they were hehe

that true at all?
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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
11.5 months

You can find some information about my CWD on my website. They do not stress like chams. Are not agressive like iguanas and easy to handle except for their killer nails. I don't trim their nails because in their viv they need them to climb. My big cage is 5' tall, 4' wide and 2' deep and houses my 2 largest dragons. Drago is intimidated by the alpha female of the group (Tripod), so she has her own 4' tall by 3' wide by 18" deep bookcase that I converted to a cage. My grandchildren have been allowed to handle the dragons since they reached their 3rd birthday. Diane
Link

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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

He is beautiful. I rescued a female once (from my horrid mother in law) and after working with her a little she was so sweet, good eater too. I love thier personality, but I didn't like the poo smell, what do you do for that?? Thanks!!

P.S. I healed her underweight issue and mouth rot, and placed her with a friend in a great home!! At the tine I could not keep her.

Nymph: I've never noticed an odor with their poo. Stinky poo is usually one of the signs of parasites and mine get dewormed yearly so maybe that's why I've never noticed. They are really pretty docile and easy going critters. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

Well she was at my horror in laws so maybe it was just from her body getting the nutrition it needed and regulating her system or what I was feeding. Thanks

great info on the WD!

Would you recommend a Chinese one (I assume thats what you have..CWD)

What other kinds are there?

What/how much do you feed them ?

I think their environment/terrarium is just sweet and it would be a really cool display.

How many can you keep together? Is 1.1 recommended or 2.0/0.2 ?

Thanks for the info! I'll have to check it out!
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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
11.5 months

There are Chinese Water Dragons and their cousins-Australian Water Dragons (also known as Eastern Water Dragons and a variety from the Gippsland region known as 'Gippsland' dragons)
You can keep multiple females with a single male. In fact that is usually recommended because the males are pretty brutal with the female during breeding season. Their diet is very similar to that of panther chameleons. They can be fed pinkies, fuzzies and whole mice/rats as they grow (I'm not a rodent fan so mine still eat insects.) I feed primarily superworms (cricketfood.com gutload with probiotics)and crickets (cricket gutload from the same source. I do get silkworms from coastalsilkworms, but Tripod is the only one who eats them readily. My dragons range in weight from 300 grams to almost 700 grams and in length from 20" to 30". As babies they face some of the same issues as WC chams-almost all are WC and parasite laden and if not treated when young it impacts their growth and health (which is why Drago is only 20" long and 300 grams). I have learned a lot. Their heat, humidity, lighting and vitamin supplements are all pretty equal to that used for most commonly kept chams so much of the same equipment can be used for both habitats which makes it handy to keep spare bulbs etc. around. They don't require the skill level of a chameleon but would make an excellent pet for the child of a cham lover who would like something to handle on occassion. sorry for the book. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

My high yellow Chondro. I got lucky w/this one. Should be ready to breed next year!

Bill

I have alot of different species of lizards. All are pets, I'm here all day.

I focus heavily on breeding the beautiful collared lizards , several species.
And have chuckwallas, desert iguana, uromastyx, uroplatus /leaftail geckos, day and banded geckos, black agamas, shield tail agama, Blue tongue skink, emerald swifts, redeye tree frogs/green tree frogs

Heres a pic of a few buddies out basking on a floor basking spot thats set up in a corner.

*The chucks, desert iggy, Kong the aquaflame collared, and Chippewa the Vestigium or Baja collared

More pretty kids

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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

I started with a pair of iguanas (lost them to a girl who dumped me) then had a breif encounter with a nile monitor (viscous) had a savannah monitor for about 6 years and a retic python as a hatchling and when he reached 14 feet my lovely wife was pregnant with my son and gave me an altumatum.However I love chams and everything that goes with it the bug breeding the setup everything.I am working to start breeding my Jackson soon,once the cages are done. Thanks Matt

In addition to chameleons I also keep a leopard tortoise and just recently purchased a bearded dragon.