Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a quick note to say to all that I'm still around, though I haven't been posting in a LONG time. Good to see some old familiar names. Especially good to hear Lele and Luna are still around!
I was a bit surprised by Ryan's posting about filing his chameleon's nails down. Not by his question per se. Sounds like he's fairly new at chameleon keeping and is simply seeking to get some good advice from fellow chameleon keepers. What surprised me was his comment that this was the first time he got gotten advice from a Pet Shop that was 'Way out there'.
I dunno, maybe it's just been my experience with pet shops, but I don't trust the information a pet shop gives for the care of a chameleon ONE BIT! Outside of maybe LLL Reptiles in Oceanside CA, most pet shops are just so ill-informed about the proper husbandry for chameleons.
I'm still in the process of settling into my new digs in AZ. Still haven't gotten any new chameleons, but there's a reptile show this weekend in Phoenix. I'll be looking, but I'm only buying if I find a GREAT chameleon, possibly a veiled or Jackson.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Hi Victor, good to "see" you again! Yes, Luna and I are still here and doing well. She will be 2 years old in May! I am getting a beardie soon

Hope you replenish your herp family soon. Were you able to keep ANY of your animals with the move? How is the new job?

Don't be such a stranger

lele & Luna
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

I was able to keep my small colony of beardies and some orange head roaches, had to get rid of all my other herps though. I do have some beardie eggs cooking even as we speak. The first batch is do to hatch in a couple of weeks.
Glad to hear you and Luna are doing good. She's laid two infertile clutches so far, right?
I REALLY REALLY hope you get a beardie or two. They're really very social; they enjoy each others company and love to be held. Their diet is also different than a veiled chams. They start off as mostly insectivores, but move to a more vegan diet as they get older. I have mine on a 70/30 diet (70% veggies, 30% animal protein, inlcluding a pinkie once a month or so for the females). Mine really love their greens and fruit, but they love nothing better in life than to throttle some plump, fat, meaty roaches.
BTW- the Orange heads are really quite interesting in themselves. If you haven't tried raising them as a food source for you veiled, I would suggest starting a colony for your rew beardie acquisitions. Now that I'm in AZ I'm REALLY looking forward to the summer. Not that I'm a big fan of the heat- I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to be able to get out to the Sonoran Desert and seeing the insect diversity first hand!
Best Regards;
Victor
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

>>Glad to hear you and Luna are doing good. She's laid two infertile clutches so far, right?

*** three. She laid in Decemeber and we had a really tough time. She developed MBD (I have a theory on that since I was giving her NCg, - you know me, the most attentive mom!) and I had a tough time keeping her hydrated. She ended up with some edema (she always seems to get that after laying) and an unknown infection (white count was high so we did antibiotic injections for a few weeks and the next results came back fine a couple weeks ago). Her casque is now a bit "squiggly" so with that and the funny way she holds her mouth when relaxed she can be rather funny looking! lol!

>>I REALLY REALLY hope you get a beardie or two.

*** I am getting ONE and it will be a boy - no more of this infertile clutch stuff, Luna is plenty! I am getting him from Sonia (anson) who was Luna's first Mom. We are waiting for a bit higher temps for shipping and to make sure I get the male. I had just about made up my mind to get a BTS and then Sonia sent me a photo!! That's how I ended up with Luna!

>>They're really very social; they enjoy each others company and love to be held. Their diet is also different than a veiled chams. They start off as mostly insectivores, but move to a more vegan diet as they get older. I have mine on a 70/30 diet (70% veggies, 30% animal protein, inlcluding a pinkie once a month or so for the females). Mine really love their greens and fruit, but they love nothing better in life than to throttle some plump, fat, meaty roaches.

*** have been doing my research and trying to get used to all the differences! Looking forward to the veggie thing and think I will now get some orange heads. He won't get any pinkies though - just can't feed a 4-legged to another 4-legged, (or an 8-legged, my T's only get 6-leggeds). I have myself fooled where the cats are concerned b/c they are disguised in crunchy little balls (the food, not the cats)

>>BTW- the Orange heads are really quite interesting in themselves. If you haven't tried raising them as a food source for you veiled, I would suggest starting a colony for your rew beardie acquisitions. Now that I'm in AZ I'm REALLY looking forward to the summer. Not that I'm a big fan of the heat- I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to be able to get out to the Sonoran Desert and seeing the insect diversity first hand!

*** isn't it always summer out there?? When I was doing research for my Pollinator Conservation project last year I "met" lots of folks in AZ and surrounding area. Lots of accomplished Lepidopterist, too. Oh, and can't forget all the tarantulas. If you notice in my critter list I now have two new T's that I adopted a few months ago.

here's my favorite pic of Luna

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

who do you recommend to get roaches from?
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

I have personally dealt with Richie the Roachman. You can check out his available 'bugs' here:
http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches/Roachman.html
I would HIGHLY HIGHLY reccommend dropping Richie an e-mail before purchasing from anyone. He's very enthusiastic about his bugs and a joy to deal with.
I can't remember if I've personally dealt with James Tuttle at http://www.blaberus.com/ but he's a strong advocate for using roaches instead of crickets as the staple insect item. Lots of good info at his site.
I would also reccommend going over to the roach forum and asking them guys for reccommendations. Most of the guys there use roaches as prey items, so I don't think you'll offend by asking!
Oh, I agree 100% about not feeding pinkies to males! Very high in fat and could damage the liver in the long run. I only feed pinkies to my females, and then only while their laying eggs.
Off I go! Got a reptile show to visit!
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I have dealt with James Tuttle (blaberus.com). He was great to deal with and responsive. I have orange heads too, but I would recommend Blaptica dubia as a better bet for a feeder. Orange heads can be a bit demanding when it comes to food, and are vicious wingbiters when they don't get enough protien. B. dubia also seems to breed a little faster. Fusca and parabolicus are good if you want bigger roaches (BIG!), the humble discoids if you want something smaller. Other blaberus species can be a little harder (not truly hard, just a bit more demanding). Dubia are also the easiest to sex by far (of the common, non hisser, feeders).
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Currently
2.0 F. silvestris (NFO)
1.1 F. pardalis (Ambilobe)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius (Suriname Cobalt)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius (Weygoldt)
0.0.~100 E. prosticus

If I get 10 or 12 from James or Richie at Roachman of the B. dubia (which is what I am leaning toward) how long to get a good colony going?

thanks,
lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

they had alot of chamelons at this show. did you decide to get any there? they had a nice looking ambanja (maybe it was ambilobe i forgot), but the four horns in the cage next to it looked sick. lll had some jacksons but suprisingly i only saw one veild at the show. nice to know theres another keeper in az.

-jon
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1.1 veiled chameleons
0.0.1 normal cornsnake
2.2 leopard geckos

www.funnymanreptiles.com

I bought an adult pair of veileds from LLL on Saturday. They didn't have any Jacksons and besides this pair I bought, all they had were female sub-adult veileds when I was there. Reptile Depot had some ambanjas and 4 horns, but those looked a bit stresssed.
The show was small, but LOTS of fun. It was either under-represented by the chameleon community, or there was such a demand for the chameleons there that they quickly disappeared. I ended up going on both days.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com