Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello. I am currently looking around for a lizard that would be fun to own and i just wanted to get all of your opinions on chameleons. They seem pretty cool, but never having owned one i wouldn't know too much. If you could please tell me how you like owning them, if they are fun, if they move a lot, etc, anything that you could think of about your chameleon. I would appreciate it a lot. Thanks.

I suppose it depends on what you think is "fun". Basically, chams are not really social, so it won't want to be held or carried around much. If you prefer a herp that likes handling chams will not be a good choice. They need a fair amount of daily care compared to many other herps (such as daily feeding, caring for live insect prey, spraying drinking water for 15 minutes or more 2-3 times each day, etc), and need larger screen cages instead of the usual tank. They are beautiful to watch, and creating a setup with live plants, humidity and correct lighting is the fun part if you are a creative person. For good basic info on what you will need to care for a cham correctly, read on these sites:
www.adcham.com, www.chameleonjournals.com, www.geocities.com/ccicenter, www.chamresearch.com, and www.chameleonnews.com

Best "starter" species are the veiled and panther chameleons, but don't be tempted to get a small baby...you'll have to deal with delicacy and hundreds of tiny fruit flies as food! Choose an older cham instead.

Thanks for the reply. I'll take it all into consideration before i buy a new pet. Thanks again.

Having owned a variety of herps over the years, I would recommend that for a fun lizard, the call is to go with a Bearded Dragon. They are as close to owning a dog as you can get in the reptile world and they are relatively easy to care for. Of course, you will want to do plenty of research before jumping in.

As far as Chams go, I agree with everything in the previous post. They are truly amazing animals, but there is a tremendous amount of care and dedication (and even worry!) that go into owning and raising chameleons.

Good luck!
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4 Month Old Ambanja Male I - LESTER
4 Month Old Ambanja Male II - SHOGO

you really cant "play with" a chameleon. i bought my veilded on a impluse buy, but didnt have it shipped for like a week so i could get my supplys togather.

i keep all my herps in my computer room (where i am most of the day due to working online) the chameleons are just cool to watch the geckos i take out of there tank and let them crawl around
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2 month old veilded chamleon (heinekin)
2 juvie crested geckos (not named)
3 month old ambanja panther chameleon (not named yet)