Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
Im glad I found this message board. I was wondering if the expierenced chameleon keepers out there could tell me which chameleon makes the better pet. When I was growing up my mother had a jacksons chameleon that she kept in a fish tank (not the best enclosure I now know). Anyways, each morning she would take the chameleon out of the fish tank and place him on this huge hanging plant we had in our front picture window. Then in the evening she would take him off the plant and return him to his fish tank for the night. She had him for about 5 yrears and I remember him being very sweet(not trying to ever bite) and healthy. I told this to one of the guys in my local reptile store and he said that she got very lucky because in general..jacksons are very nasty and try to bite all the time. He suggested I get a veiled instead as he said they have much nicer personalities. Is this true? I was hoping to get a jacksons and keep it pretty much the same way my mom did (except for the fish tank part) but now Im hesitant because I dont want to get a cham thats known for biting all the time.

Thanks,
Stacey

Hheheheheh.... sorry still laughing at what the petshop guy said. Jacksons biting, known for biting all the time. Very funny!
No, Jacksons are very much disinclined to bite. I have had one male bite me, but that was because I ignored his signs (mouth agape, dark colors). Veileds are well known to be anti-social little miscreants. And being that they can be considerably larger than jacksons, they have a bite to match their mood.
That's all I'm gonna post about this. I'll leave others to post about how you really shouldn't handle ANY chameleon and such. Just kinda late in the day and don't feel like posting much.
Aggressive jacksons.... makes my day!
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Further evidence that 4 out of 5 pet shop employees are total morons when it comes to Chameleons.

Jacksons are very docile, and it is widely known. I've never had any of mine bite me. Veileds are more aggressive, but tend to be hardier and easier to care for in my opinion.

couldn't agree more...i have a male jax and he's a sweetheart...when i mist him he rests his front legs on my finger and drinks...the male veiled i once had would open his mouth, hiss, lunge as soon as i opened the cage door...great to look at but it's not the most tolerant animal

Stacey,

I have a very mean Jacksons female (named satan-girl) She is the only Jacksons I have ever owned that had any menace to her personality. When I got her, she was severely dehydrated and required constant attention. Since recovering, she resents being looked at, touched, handled, thought about or talked about. She won't bite, but will let you think she will.

As far as veileds being a more timid chameleon than jacksons.. that gets filed in the BS section. Not true.
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Joe
- www.silkwormfarm.com-

If I were you, I wouldn't get either one from the shop in question. Those guys have it backwards. As far as biting goes, you are better off with a Jacksons. Someone on this Fourm could probably recommend a good place to pick one up. Good luck.
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1.1 Jacksons (no names yet)
1.1 Argentine B/W Tegus (Draco and Drucilla)
0.1 Columbian B/W Tegu (Diablo)
2.0 Black Throat Monitors (Razor and Spike)
1.0 Desert Tortoise (Tubbs) from Tortoise Rescue
1.0 Boxer (Shadow)
0.1 Feline (CK)

I can't comment on Jackson's (I've never had one) but I can tell you about my veiled. I got my sweet placid baby last year (actually he was around 6 months old at the time). I fed him from my hand and held him far more than I should have, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. Then one day *WHAM* the horror-mones kicked in and he was gone, only to be replaced by the pet of satan. He doesn't want ANY attention at all.

Thankfully I found this forum shortly after getting him and was prepared for the personality change. When I clean his cage he gets very pissy and, although I've never been bit, I could see him doing it if I were to try and pick him up.

Now I tend to treat him like I would an aquarium of fish; nice to look at but don't touch. And before anyone goes jumping the gun, no I don't have him in a tank. He's in a 6 foot tall cage.

As far as pet shop employees go? Most of the ones I've dealt with don't know squat. You should've heard the info I got when I bought my cham.

Good luck!

Meemee

I got my veiled at 3 months old. He was SOOOO sweet, I'd open the cage and he'd run at me and climb on my hand and look at me like "ok is it food time mommy?" You'd think he was starving from how fast he'd come to me. Then 5 months later....I go outside one day to feed him and he starts hissing at me and gaping! now I cant open the cage without getting attacked litteraly! he runs at me and tries to bite! I manuver around him and pick him up to weigh him once a week and after he's on my hand he starts attacking the hand he's holding onto! (keep in mind I have 2 large macaws..I know how to manuver around an animal without getting bitten easily..minus Ra my satan spawn)
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veiled
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther

OK, I'll put in the "they are individuals" speech. My first cham was a huge veiled. He was pissy as a youngster and quite mellow as an adult. Liked to have his gular rubbed and would climb on anyone. He was all bluff and no bite ever. Then I had a deremensis (often described as docile like jax) who was just plain evil. He would lure me into thinking he was OK when being handled, but wait for the perfect moment I dropped my guard and nail me. He got my earlobe in front of a houseguest more than once.

reading all this i feel already a bit better about yussuf's (veiled male 8 months) relationship to me.

whenever i have to handle him, either to water the plants or to fix something in the cage, he hisses runs away or even snaps at me.

i thought i was doing something wrong since he wasn't that hostile when he was a baby...

will his hormones level again sometime soon.. or is that the mature yussuf i'll have to deal with the next few years?

My male use to only hiss from 8 mo. to about a year...now he attacks. he calmed down for about a week after he was bred.. thats it. have fun
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veiled
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther

lol... at least i have a cuddly girlfriend that compensates for the hostile cham )