Reptile & Amphibian Forums

are Fischer's chameleons care requirements the same as jacksons chameleons?....why aren't they losted in the top for eginners if they are from the same region and have the same care?

They are very much the same as a Jacksons. In fact they are the next to be added to my "collection". However I for one do not consider a Jacksons to be a true beginner's cham...they have very interesting requirements humidity and temp-wise. They stress much more quickly than the V or a P.

back to the Fischers...

I think they are not listed as beg chams for a few reasons..some of them not really "important"...

1) They are a bit more frail than a Jacskons. Just a bit. not enought to be that much different.

2) They are not as nice looking as the big three. There are many chams that are easy to care for. However without horns or bright colors or something "special"..they generally get left out.

3) They are not as common as the big three. So they are less popular.

I think it would be nice to make a true beginners list. covering all of the species.
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Adam
Portland, OR

1.1 Jacksons Chameleons (Female is red phase)
0.0.4 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1 Uroplatus Phantasticus

I keep our fischers pretty similiar to the way we keep our jacksons with the following differences:

1) Cooler temps. While they both like very similiar temperatures I've found that the jacksons can stand heat better than the fischers (we're inland Southern California).

2) More water. Fischers love water. Lots and lots of water. While this is true of jacksons as well, it seems the fischers like it more (let's say 15% to put a number on it).

3) Lots of vegetation. They tend to stay dark (stress) if you only have a plant and some vines in the cage. Really pack in the vegetation and they feel a lot more secure.

And what do you mean not as good looking???!???

Scales - Premium Exotic Reptiles

There are other major reasons why I would not consider Fischeri a beginner cham. First, almost all for sale are wc and subject to a lot of potential health problems that beginners may have no clue about. Second, fewer keepers have experience with them (health basics, successful breeding not just hatching babies from dying wc females) and I suspect there are some diet sensitivities we don't have figured out yet. Horns? Male fischeri have great horns! Color? Depending on the subspecies they are the most beautiful almost metallic green, blue, purple. I don't consider jax a beginner cham either. I had 2 as a relative beginning keeper and they suffered a lot while I learned. Fischeri are also not as tolerant to handling as many jax (though there are exceptions of course). I don't like trying to identify "beginner" chams very much. So much depends on the motivation and dedication of the beginner keeper! Some beginners really incorporate a huge amount of information quickly and make amazing progress with chams. They could start with almost any species and pour themselves into it's welfare. Others could be at it for years and still have very little understanding of chams...they lose them fairly soon and just buy new ones on a regular basis. Also, if as a beginner someone develops a serious interest in a species not on the "list" they may do better with it than with a species not as interesting to them.

i can totally agree with that. i started out with ch melleri, definitely not a beginner cham. i still have "it", unsure of sex. the only problems i have ever had were in the beginning, and i have learned much about the keeping of chams. if you are truly dedicated to keeping them, then anything is possible.
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groups.msn.com/JEChameleons
1.1 Chameleo Calyptratus
1.1 Furcifer Pardalis (Diego Suarez)
1 Chameleo Melleri