Chameleons

Jackson Chameleon Chamaeleo jacksoni

• RATING: intermediate to expert
• FOOD: collard greens mustard greens, apples... crickets,
  mealworms, king mealworms, wax worms, moths, pinkies
• WATER: drip system or mist 2 X daily
• DAY TEMP: 75 F (23.8 C)
• NIGHT TEMP: 70 F (21 C)
• LIGHTING: incandescent basking lights, UVB fluorescent
• SUBSTRATE: Potting soil, cypress mulch
• NOTES: large enclosure, well planted, branches for climbing

PANTHER CHAMELEON Chamaeleo pardalis

• RATING: intermediate to expert
• FOOD: crickets, roaches, moths, mealworms, flies, wax worms, butterworms, grasshoppers, pinkies
• WATER: Mist X 2 daily, drip system
• DAY TEMP: 82F (28 C)
• NIGHT TEMP: 72 F (22 C)
• LIGHTING: Incandescent and UVB fluorescent
• SUBSTRATE: Potting soil and playground sand mix, orchid bark, cypress mulch
• NOTES: 13" - 22" stl, sexually mature approx. 6 months, 2-4 year life span, needs well planted vivarium with branches for climbing. Chameleons are solitary creatures and should be housed separately.

Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptrutus

• RATING: intermediate to expert
• FOOD: vegetation, fruit, crickets, mealworms, king mealworms, waxworms, moths, pinkies
• WATER: drip system, or mist leaves 2 X day
• DAY TEMP: 75 F (23.8 C)
• NIGHT TEMP: 70 F (21 C)
• LIGHTING: incandescent basking, UVB fluorescent lights
• SUBSTRATE: potting soil, cypress mulch,
• NOTES: size- 2 feet, Needs large well planted enclosure

Chameleon Books

Jackson's Chameleons by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia Pope Bartlett

      These fascinating animals are difficult to keep in captivity and require specialized care. This book offers expert advice for hobbyists. Books in this series give hobbyists basic information on reptiles' anatomy, life cycles, and traits, as well as specific instructions on care and breeding. There is expert information on selecting good specimens, determining sex, providing proper caging, nutritious feeding, and health care. All books are heavily illustrated with full-color photos.

Chameleons: Their Care and Breeding by Linda J. Davison

      If you are a new chameleon hobbiest owner or are about to take that plunge into chameleon ownership, this is the ONLY book you will need. It covers feeding, caging, care specific to many different and exotic species, and basic medical information as well. The book is well written and covers topics thoroughly. The pictures are superb and the author's personal experience keeping chameleons and other herps is very reassuring and lends to her credibility.

The Chameleon Handbook by Jacques Leberre, Francois Le Berre

      What do chameleons eat? How long do they live? Do they really change color? How can you construct a good terrarium for them? These are just a few of the many questions answered in this heavily illustrated handbook. Titles in Barron's popular Pet Handbooks series instruct pet owners on health care, proper feeding and housing, and other facts important to owners and their pets. All books in this series have high quality, full-color photos, line drawings, and run to an average of approximately 140 pages.

Essential Care of Chameleons by Philippe De Vosjoli

     Captive husbandry, including diet and habitat are described in detail within this book.

Chameleons: Nature's Hidden Jewels by Petr Necas

      Introduces chameleons in all their beauty and curiousness, and outlines the present state of knowledge of chameleons. Compiles published information and summarizes unpublished data from breeders, biologists, and veterinarians. Early chapters give general information on origin and distribution, biology, reproduction, and care of chameleons in terrariums. Species accounts offer recent captive husbandry information and tell how a particular genus is related to others. Includes a wealth of color photos of rare species and subspecies.

Chameleons : Everything About Selection, Care, Nutrition, Diseases, Breeding, and Behaviour (Barron's Pet Owner's Manuals) by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia P. Bartlett (Contributor), Tom Kerr (Illustrator)

     Basic information on a variety of different species.

The New Chameleons Handbook : Everything About Selection, Care, Diet, Disease, Reproduction, and Behaviour (Barron's Pet Owner's Manuals) by Francois Le Berre

     Accompanied by more than 100 full-colour photos and drawings, Le Berre's discussion of the chameleon is divided into 14 sections, ranging from such topics as physiology and behaviour to the ideal terrarium, nutrition, and health and medical aspects.

Eat This Bug : A Guide to Invertebrate Live Foods for Reptiles and Amphibians by Lynn Davis

     This book is a guide for owners of reptiles and amphibians who feed insects and other live foods to their pets. Advice is offered for selecting , ordering and raising your own supply of live invertebrate foods. More than a dozen species of live foods are discussed. The book includes instructions on keeping cultures of insects, and recipes & diets for insects.

Feeding Insect Eating Lizards by Zoffer, David Zoffer

      The proper feeding of lizards is important to their survival in captivity. Diet is one aspect of lizard keeping that many new lizard owners know little about, and their pets suffer as a result. This book provides lizard owners with plenty of information on the diets of insect-eating lizards, including the right feeding techniques for making sure that their pets get the right nutrients.

The Guide to Plants for the Reptile Terrarium by Jerry G. Walls, Maleta M. Walls

     If you are thinking of adding plants to your reptile or amphibians terrarium this book might be of interest to you!

Terrarium and Cage Construction and Care by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia Bartlett, Fredric L. Frye

     Reptile and amphibian owners add a new dimension to their hobby when they design and build terraria that simulate the natural habitats of their companion animals. This book gives directions for a variety of terrarium options. You can build enclosures in spare rooms, glass tanks, greenhouses, outdoor pools, or virtually any other available space. With this book's help, you can also transform your terrarium into a scaled-down replica of desert, rain forest, semiaquatic, or woodland environment.

The Terrarium: With Full-Color Photographs (Complete Pet Owner's Manual) by Harald Jes, Johann Brandstetter

     Here are detailed instructions for constructing both indoor and outdoor terrariums in different sizes to fit different needs. Books in the Complete Pet Owner's Manuals series present basic information for new or soon-to-be owners. Advice and instruction covers feeding, housing, health care, training, grooming, and much more. Texts emphasize pet care basics and are easy for all readers to understand. All books in this series are filled with high quality full-color photos and instructive line drawings.

Reptile & Amphibian Parasites by Eric M. Rundquist

     Loaded with good information and practical, sensible, easy-to-apply advice. Great for beginners, but even the pros can learn a lot from them.

Understanding Reptile Parasites : A Basic Manual for Herpetoculturists & Veterinarians by Roger Klingenberg

     An important manual for the reptile breeder. This manual takes the reptile owner beyond the simple task of care into the subject of why to prevent and how to treat parasites in our reptiles. The manual explains in simple terms the complexities of reptile parasites. It goes into the how-to of fecal floats, parasite identification and treatments. It takes the mystery out of the vet's back room. One of the shortest yet most useful chapters is "Hygiene and the Herpetoculturist". An important read for all reptile keepers and breeders.

Lizard Care from A to Z by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia P. Bartlett (Contributor)

      Which lizard might be right for you? Find out with this overview by the Bartletts, two of herpetology's most respected figures. This is a great book for beginner-intermediate lizard keepers; illustrations and diagrams on how to actually set up the terrarium for the lizards.

Loco for Lizards by Jim Cherry, James Cherry

      This is a real find. Even if they have zero interest in reptiles, anyone who has curiosity and a sense of humor would enjoy this little book. The writing style is a combination of Dennis Miller's sarcasm, Bill Nye the Science Guy's mix of facts and fun, Monty Python's surrealism, and a pinch of David Sedaris's self-deprecation. A great airplane or lazy day read. Makes a great stocking stuffer gift for the readers on my list. Most amazing is this book's artful blend of solid information, interestingly presented and wacky fun. Great colorful graphics, too, including paintings by Hieronymous Bosch, Ed Mell, Maynard Dixon and others. Godzilla makes a couple appearances, as well.

Lizard Social Behavior by Stanley F. Fox

     This is an original, substantial, and long-needed contribution. The introduction places the subject in context and shows how lizards can provide unique information not readily available through study of other organisms. The book is logically organized, beginning with a focus on individual variation, moving to comparisons between populations, and finishing with species comparisons. Readers with a general interest in social behavior will be drawn to peruse other sections where they will find an abundance of additional interesting and informative material.

About these Mini Care Sheets

      The following mini care sheets are meant to provide only basic care information. In order to provide the most accurate and up to date data I searched for and cross referenced information about the following herps on the Internet, through herp magazines, and through specific herp care books. If you come across information that is inaccurate or out of date please write to me with the correct information.

      I do not personally keep Chameleons. I receive many letters asking me for advice concerning the particular chameleon they are keeping. To tell you the truth- I probably wont be that much help other than with basic, general care guidelines, most of which can be found on this page. :) If you need help identifying a lizard- either take it in to a reptile store where the staff may be helpful, call your local herpetological society, or look through a book that contains many pictures of different reptiles and see if you can identify it in the book. :)

      You might also think about joining one of the many reptile or amphibian related mailing lists that are on the net, where you can ask questions about your reptile or amphibian and learn more about it. To see if there is a mailing list for the reptile or amphibian that you want to know more about please go to my mailing list page and check out all the herp lists!

      You might also want to visit my Reptile and Amphibian Care Sheets page to see if I have listed any links to specific reptile or amphibian sites that you might be interested in visiting.

      In addition to providing the basics of care as listed below, any new animal in your collection should be kept in a separate enclosure (quarantined) for one to six months and monitored for illness, mites or ticks, internal parasites, and treated accordingly during this period.

      Please take your new herps to a qualified reptile vet for a check-up when you purchase them - or, at the very least have a fresh stool sample tested for parasites in the first week or two of having your new pet. If you don't know of a reptile vet in your area you can visit Melissa Kaplan's Herp Societies/Vets Page: http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html for American and international vet listings, or you can visit my Canadian reptile vet page: http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/canrepvt.htm for Canadian Reptile vet listings.