Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey im interested in buying a chameleon and I would like to know what do i have to do daily to ensure its health. I talked to the owner of a petstore and said they are a real pain in the ass to maintain. so could someone tell me what i must do to keep my chameleon healthy?

Chameleons aren't really that hard to take care of. What I do everyday is mist their cage for 3 minutes 2 times a day, feed them, and clean up their cage. You will also need a source of uvb and a heat. That's pretty much it I would start out with a veiled or a panther.

the guy at the reptile store was telling me how alot of people return them saying how hard it is to care for them. they had this big veiled chameleon for display and the guy said it was hard to raise them to get that big. i was expecting to feed and mist them everyday but the guy made it sound pretty bad. what kind of setup should I use for a veiled chameleon? and what kind of food should I give it?

My friend's son is 12 and he has a 10 month old male veiled chameleon. Other people may have other opinions, but I don't think it's that hard. For a baby veiled I would get a 24Lx12Wx24H screen cage and the minimum for an adult veiled is a 18Lx18Wx36 screen cage. I feed mine crickets and silkworms.

what do i have to do to prepare the food? do I have to gut load the worms and crickets?

please find a good care sheet, like the one on Kingsnake, and read carefully....i don't think caring for a cham is a "pain in the ass" but it can be a little time consuming and, though i wouldn't call it an exact science, many things must be done correctly......chams aren't as forgiving as other reptiles...you can't forget to mist them, feed them, turn their lights on and off at the same time every single day, fill the dripper bottle...it's not a pain in the ass, it's a labor of love i suppose

ok that doesn't sound bad, I dont know what the guy was talking about, but what do I have to do with the insects? How many do I put in the cage, and do I have to gutload them? I already read the care sheet and I bought a book on them, sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure I cant take care of one before I buy one.

don't just read a single care sheet - frankly some of them suck. Did you check out the sites I linked you to? They are the ones we(forum) recommend folks begin with...
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I think in part what makes cham's high maintenance is hydration. You have to be sure that it drinks every day and that you keep the humidity up in its cage (not tank unless very young). You also can’t throw in a bunch of crickets and a water bowl and go on vacation for a week. If you go away frequently, you will need to have a reliable, trusted friend to care for it. My suggestion to you is to go to the sites I have listed below and spend some time there looking around. Don't just go to the home page but look at articles, vet topics, etc.
But you might want to begin with this one:
www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/july2003/costs/costs.html

You also need to find yourself a vet within a reasonable distance from where you live - not a cat/dog vet but one that knows herps and their needs. Go here for a state listing then call one to make sure that the herp vet is still there. www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html

After you have done your research, come back here to ask questions. You would be better off researching WHERE you will get your chameleon – a pet shop is not always the best place.

ALL of these have info on breeding, husbandry, baby/nursery info, nutrition, species, feeders, health, vets and MUCH more:

Chameleon News
This is a top source of current information compiled and written by “tops in their field.”
www.chameleonnews.com/

AdCham
www.adcham.com/

Chameleon Paradise – a site by one of our forum posters. He has FAQ, do’s and don’ts, cage building
http://www.chameleonparadise.com/

Chameleon Journals – www.chameleonjournals.com/

Reptayls – another site by a fellow KS poster
groups.msn.com/REPTAYLSChameleons

Of course, there are more but these are the most frequently recommended. PLEASE go to them, look around and then come back to ask questions. Hope this helps you out!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

You da bomb, Genius!
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Raf

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