Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The local pet store has a young flap neck cham that I was thinking about getting. Does anyone keep these? Are they a desirable species?

Hi,
Since the chances of this chameleon being captive bred are slim, it may be a challenge to establish this chameleon in captivity. Most Chamaeleo dilepis, or Flap Neck chameleons, are captured from the wild. The species, as a whole, tends to have a heavy parasite load which is often difficult to overcome. Being that you believe it is younger, it may be easier to acclimate the animal to captivity but parasites will almost always be a problem. There are methods of deparisitization and I'm not saying it can not be done but you would be best buying one that was born in captivity. I have kept numerous C.dilepis, pictured is a one day old hatchling. Hope this helps.

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Christopher Luecht
Chameleon Crazy
www.chameleoncrazy.com
Email: info@chameleoncrazy.com

I don't consider any species less "desirable" than others. Imported flap necks are often purchased by general pet shops as they are relatively inexpensive. If it is a young cham (how do they know? Is it a juvenile?) it may have been hatched/raised in captivity. I don't think anyone is breeding them in the US. Any cham can have parasites as their insect feeders carry them. If the cham is active, healthy, good weight, and had good care it could do well. Check the forum's care links to compare the right husbandry to what the pet shop is doing. Just be sure to have a decent herp vet check a fecal sample for parasites so you know what to expect.

I'm fairly certain it is WC and the pet store isn't taking good care of it. Last week it looked good, this week it looks lathergic and dehydrated. I'm afraid it will die if left there and was thinking about buying it and rehoming her when she is older/healthy. Right now it is about 2 inches in body length.

Is panacur safe to use on chameleons?

That would be your call. If they aren't taking care of it and it looks lethargic and in poor health, chances are the chameleon may not survive. Chameleons and other reptiles should never be purchased from a pet store just because you feel sorry for the animal. I know it is a hard concept to grasp but if you buy this chameleon, the pet store thinks they can get away without taking proper care of them, and then the cycle will just continue. You would be better off handing them a caresheet and trying to inform them of proper chameleon husbandry techniques.
Panacur is safe for chameleons and other reptiles. They do require a much smaller dose than larger animals. Just enough to cover the tip of their tongue is a good estimate. You should give it to them in two doses, once and then again in two weeks or so.
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Christopher Luecht
Chameleon Crazy
www.chameleoncrazy.com
Email: info@chameleoncrazy.com

The nice thing about this pet store is if they have problems with a certain type of animal, they won't order it again. Its a small family owned buisiness and they are very good about taking care of there animals(most of the time), since we are a small town there isn't a big demand for reptiles and its not worth it for them to keep trying a species that won't survive in the store.
At this point the cham looks mostly dehydrated, she still has good body weight but I know there is a major humidity problem. The store did put in a dripper system for her when I told them to so I'll go back later today and see how she is.
My mom has 3 chameleons and is willing to take this one in too.

One of the problems with keeping flaps is that there are a number of subspecies and its not easy to determine which one you have. They come from a wide range of habitats so its hard to know how to set it up so it will be close to where it came from.

Here are some articles/sites that might help you if you decide to get it...
http://adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chdilepis.html

In the current issue there is an article on flaps...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/

We went ahead and got her today.So far she is doing pretty good, she ate some silkies and crickets. Seems to really like her new cage and the increase in humidity. She is in the middle of a shed so I can't really see her colors yet, there appers to be a few black spots and of course the white lateral line.

She is a tad bit skinnier then when she first came into the pet store a month ago but I think she will be ok.
Mom will worm her ASAP, would have done it today but I forgot to bring the panacure with me to moms.
I'll try to get some photos next week after she settles in more.

Hope all goes well and best of luck to you. Be sure to put up some pics when you get a chance.
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Christopher Luecht
Chameleon Crazy
www.chameleoncrazy.com
Email: info@chameleoncrazy.com