Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone here keep these chameleons?I am intersted in them and I think I am going to buy one if they are not terribly hard to keep.I have a veiled right now and 13 other reptiles.I also have breeding experience for Fat tail geckos.My question is does anyone know how to care for them?

Thanks in advance
Kevin the Herper123

until yesterday i had a 6 week old flapneck. intially i had 2 but after a few days the first one died. i got them when they were 2 weeks old. yesterday i the last one died. i think the 2 things they need is the right environs and a vet check as they are known have a heavy parasite load. flapnecks are frequently imported from a varitiy of places. this can make it difficult to get their cages to their liking. i know one of the main obsticles i had was their age. i'm not sure if i will get another flapneck but if i do it will be alot older. cute litle guys though! if i remember correctly morgana from reptayls has some CBB flapnecks, that would be the way to go. you could probBLY get around most of the parasite problem and habitat isssues buying from her. i know there was a guy named mark lucas that has adult WC availble too. best of luck.

dennis

Hi Kevin,

We keep many species of chameleons, and we don't consider the flapneck to be harder to keep than veiled. Their environmental conditions are similar, as the flapnecks (C. dilepsis) typically inhabit dry forests and savannahs in central Africa. They love to bask, and the temperature ranges would be similar to those required for the veiled chameleon.

We mist ours and drip them several times daily, even though they are rarely seen to drink. We feed them crickets; superworms, roaches and the ocassional wax worm. They will also eat silkworms and hormnworms.

Dilepsis are egg-layers, and usually lay a single clutch per year. The offspring will reach sexual maturity at 10-12 months. We don't recommend keeping the pair together, unless for breeding. The males are a bit smaller than the females, and the females can be quite fiesty towards an unwanted male companion. They are not particularly aggressive to handlers, especially if you get them young and they learn to trust you.

Our breeding pair was CB, so we didn't have too much to worry about with parasites. The last clutch took 11 months to hatch, and a few didn't make it out of the egg, but the majority did and are doing great. They are born smaller than veiled, so you will need to give fruit flies (hydei) for the first month, and then add pinhead crix to their diet. We mist the babies 3x per day with warm water.

You can read more on AdCham too.
Hope this helps,
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