# Chameleons, Chameleons, Chameleons!!!!!!



## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 15, 2006)

Brought some pics back of some animals I used to keep and breed back when I was still living in South Africa. We have quite a few native chamaleon species and about 95% of them are endemic. We also have dwarf chameleons from the genus Bradypodion witch means slow foot. These little chameleons occur all over the country and are live bearers. Here are some pics of the adults and some babies the common name is the Cape Dwarf Chameleon or Bradypodion pumilim.
Adult:






Adult:






Baby:






Babies tend to be less colourfull than the adults and males are real show offs. Our chameleons are some of the most prettiest lizards in the world.

I am also attaching some pics of a Parsons Chameleon I was also lucky enough to keep. Just before CITES laws made it impossible for them to leave Madagascar. These chameleons grow to 3 foot in length and this male was close to that.


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## chameleon (Mar 15, 2006)

adorable..


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## chameleon (Mar 15, 2006)

is it true that you must provide running water in their enclosures?


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## southy (Mar 15, 2006)

lucky man, id love to keep on of them, maybe when the npws let us  (not trying to start a fight or any bitching i know they are illegal etc etc etc)


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## newtosnakes (Mar 15, 2006)

How tiny is that baby!!! So gorgeous!!


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 15, 2006)

Just need to be sprayed as they only lick water off leaves. They are some of the most difficult reptiles to maintain in captivity. It took me many years and lots of mistakes to perfect keeping them. Especially the more exotic rainforest species.


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## Rupes (Mar 15, 2006)

they so cute ohhhhhhh


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## southy (Mar 15, 2006)

is it true also that if they don't get proper uv their bones go all spastic "metorphorically speaking"


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## SLACkra (Mar 15, 2006)

ah chameleons my favorite lizards. if they were legal i would have a vieled chameleon again in a heart beat!



> Just need to be sprayed as they only lick water off leaves. They are some of the most difficult reptiles to maintain in captivity. It took me many years and lots of mistakes to perfect keeping them. Especially the more exotic rainforest species.



ya thats what i ended up doing with my veiled. i would clip in romane lettuce leafs to the side of her cage then mist them. she loved her romane lettuce so it allowed me to make sure she was hydrated. 



> is it true also that if they don't get proper uv their bones go all spastic "metorphorically speaking"



yes, if i remember correctly insufficient uva/uvb causes bone deformaties. i kept my little girl under a desert type uva/uvb bulb. 

morelia hunter what were your cage setups like? mine was quite basic. it was roughly a 1m x 1m x 1m cube. completely diy and with some non-toxic plants. had a red heat lamp aimed at one branch and the uv lamp. no thermostats ect. i generaly hand fed her crickets and gave her calcium suppliments regularly. 

nice pictures btw!

andrew


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 15, 2006)

Outside is the way to go! If only those mesh vivariums were available ten years ago. Would have made life a lot easier. I used to keep them in old aviaries in summer and move them inside during winter. Into big hanging enclosures. With some tanning globes I imported from germany. South Africas economy is not that strong so these globes nearly broke me. They also get bored with crickets and other commercially available live foods, so I had to take a net and do it the old fashioned way. They are very prone to metabolic bone disease and a electrolite imbalance causes their tongue to not withdraw and thus be amputated. They are great to keep if you have the right setup and food for them. Males and females are highly territorial and hate each other. They are best kept singly or in pairs. Those dwarf chameleons do occur in colonys though and can reach densities of up to 200 per hectare.


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## redline (Mar 15, 2006)

Wow thast nice i wish we could get that here.


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## AntaresiaLady (Mar 15, 2006)

They have to be one of the most beautiful exquisite creatures I have ever seen. 
I am awestruck!


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## Hickson (Mar 15, 2006)

Absolutely gorgeous. That first pic is a beauty!



Hix


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## nickvelez (Mar 15, 2006)

absolutely phenomenal male cape dwarf chameleon. great pics


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## SLACkra (Mar 15, 2006)

> They are very prone to metabolic bone disease and a electrolite imbalance causes their tongue to not withdraw and thus be amputated.



electrolite imbalance? first time i have heard of that, maybe more common with that peticular species than the species i kept.



> They also get bored with crickets and other commercially available live foods



never had any boredom with mine she just gulped them down with glee 

cheers

Andrew


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## pugsly (Mar 15, 2006)

WOW! Stunning!

Lucky [email protected]$!...


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## thals (Mar 16, 2006)

Great pics Morelia, especially that first one! I'd love to be able to keep chamelians, those creatures are truly fascinating


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## Linus (Mar 16, 2006)

> These chameleons grow to 3 foot in length and this male was close to that.


 :shock: I had no idea chameleons could get that big. What do you feed one that size? Great photos too mate. This would be the only reptile I want to keep that lives outside Australia.


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## NinaPeas (Mar 16, 2006)

Is there a big demand for reptiles in South Africa? I know it's getting more and more popular here, but do many people keep them as pets over there??


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 16, 2006)

Electrolite imbalance is common in them. Veiled chameleons are common and hardy, thats why they are so popular. Rainforest specialists are notorious for getting bored with food. I used to feed the parsons black crickets, grass hoppers, american cockroaches and hissing cockroaches. They are good feeders if there is variety. Reptile keeping is common back home. We are not allowed to keep indigeounous reptiles without a license. And we have a red data book that contains a list of CITES animals that are endangered or vulnerable that is a no go for keeping. Otherwise most exotic reptiles is legal to keep without a license. Of course there are a few like red eared sliders that have been outlawed but this is the case in most countries. They are trying to restrict it at the moment but in the last 40 years we have not had any ferrel population of any species establish itself. There is regulated import from overseas and this seems to curb the smuggling trade, although this still happens. But hey it happens in every country. Chameleons will always be my favourite reptiles to keep, closely followed by pythons.


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## MannyM (Mar 16, 2006)

AntaresiaLady said:


> They have to be one of the most beautiful exquisite creatures I have ever seen.
> I am awestruck!



Ditto, the markings are amazing!


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## orsm (Mar 16, 2006)

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Very nice!!!


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## Moreliaman (Mar 16, 2006)

> They are very prone to metabolic bone disease and a electrolite imbalance causes their tongue to not withdraw and thus be amputated.



electrolite imbalance happens with alot of chams, ive had yemens/jackons & panthers with this problem. Easy enough to cure though. Dunno about being amputated ! i would have thought a chameleon without a tounge would starve unless its hand fed !



> They also get bored with crickets and other commercially available live foods



Yep some of mine did too, they love colourful things..... so green cockroaches, butterflies,moths are gulped down..... you should'nt really feed the same food all the time to any animal, much healthier to vary the type of food offered.



Linus said:


> > These chameleons grow to 3 foot in length and this male was close to that.
> 
> 
> 
> lol...you should tell them that includes tail !! which can be 1+ foot long on its own ! Ive got a pair of Mellors atm, they get a bit on the large side too, they dont half drink alot of water !


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 16, 2006)

Those are Panthers, not Mellers. Chamaeleo pardalis, saw lots of them when I was in Madagascar!


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## Retic (Mar 16, 2006)

I must agree, they look like Panther Chameleons.


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## Moreliaman (Mar 16, 2006)

lol.....i didnt the say the pics were mellors..........it is a panther...lmao!

you two should read my signature ! :lol:


Ahhh is this the "no pic not true" thing ? ok ill take some pics of the mellors tomorrow when i get my camera back :wink:


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## reptililian (Mar 17, 2006)

*Chameleons*



boa said:


> I must agree, they look like Panther Chameleons.


I must disagree, they look like a bad hawaiian shirt, which is actually a very nice look for a chameleon!


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## instar (Mar 17, 2006)

OH Ilove the first two pics, Chams are very beautiful animals. Its nice to see folk post pics of herps that are not local occasionally, I love our herps but theres a big world out there!
Thankyou.


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## Linus (Mar 17, 2006)

What sort of temperament do they have? That one sitting on your hand there looks pretty relaxed.


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## Retic (Mar 17, 2006)

Chameleons generally rely on a lot of bluff and bluster, big wide open mouth etc. Most of those in captivity are many generations captive bred and are very relaxed and have great temperaments.


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## waruikazi (Mar 17, 2006)

They have to be the most bizzare and awesome lizards that exist!


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## SLACkra (Mar 17, 2006)

> Chameleons generally rely on a lot of bluff and bluster, big wide open mouth etc. Most of those in captivity are many generations captive bred and are very relaxed and have great temperaments.



mmm mine used to go ballistic when i went to take her down off the blinds. i had these blinds in my room which she could easily climb so she loved climbing up them and sitting in the sun. whenever i went to take her down she would huff and puff! same with getting her out of the enclosure. i eventually took the method of using crickets to get her to come out and come down(off the blinds) without too much fuss.

moreliaman you have some very attractive chameleons!

andrew


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 17, 2006)

Just some pics of a Mellers Chameleon I saw when on holiday a few weeks ago:





And this little guy stopped traffic in the Kruger National Park when I was there 4 weeks ago!:




And a close up. This guy was almost begging to be deported to Australia!!!!


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 17, 2006)

Chameleons ARe amazing animals,in the first two pics they not only change color but they change the color of thier surrounding as well,,the mysteries of nature aye?
but great pics
baz


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## Rennie (Mar 17, 2006)

Absolutely beautiful, I'd love to have one of any of those species if we were allowed.


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## Moreliaman (Mar 23, 2006)

Sorry, been a bit busy latley & i forgot !! 

Heres those mellors, interesting to keep but certianly dont like being handled (you can see just by taking pictures they start to display stress colours) They were bought by a shop to re-sell on from an importer, but they were in a pretty poor state when they arrived, so much so i phoned the importer & gave him a mouthful, they shouldnt have been sold in that condition, let alone transported via corrier !, he gave us one free so i was happy with the compensation, but will think twice before i buy from or reccomend him again! (Fauna Import :evil: )
Anyway, i have to nurse them back to health now so that they can be sold, basically i recomended the importer to my friend because i'd used them before with no problems, so feeling a tad guilty i offered to look after them, until they were in a condition he can sell (plus theres meaning to my madness...how many people get to look after fantastic reptiles like this for free!?  )
They get a good mixture of foods like madagascan hissing cockroaches, crickets, hoppers, green cockroaches, butterflies, moths, waxworms
All the food items get fed veg & fruit & a wartery honey mixture mixed with vitamins, they will take food from my hand, but just getting them to do that took 2-3 weeks, like i said before they get stressed out very easily, when they first arrived i tried to give them some water with a turkey baster (due to their size & the amout of water they drink every day!) but they went ballastic at the sight of the baster ! :lol: so i had to leave it in the enclosure so that they could get used to the sight of it & change watering to a little pipette, it took ages !, thankfully they dont mind the baster now, so combined with the drip bottles that get filled twice a day, it takes about 5 mins !  
They've come along quite well in the 5 weeks ive had them so far, When i took first them home One of them used to have a nasty open wound along its back, (you could nearly see the back bone !) I had to swab it everyday with an iodine/saline solution, as you can see from one of the pics it doesnt look too bad now.
Anyway, sorry about the delay, enjoy the pics :wink:


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## Morelia_Hunter (Mar 23, 2006)

I have foung that their eyes are a good sign of health as well as theeir skin sunken eyes and black blotchy skin means its too late. Great animals though.


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## Moreliaman (Mar 24, 2006)

Yep, dark eyes on a chameleon means trouble & sunken eyes usually's mean's death shortly follows :cry:


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