Chameleon Keeping During a Global Pandemic
The world is going through a tough time so I figured we may need a couple more chameleon touchpoints. So here is a daily short talk for people who enjoy podcasts. This is your daily communication from a chameleon keeper in Self-Imposed Social Isolation with a completely unofficial, informal, unscripted talk for podcast listeners. Maybe a little spirit lifting as we all support each other weathering this difficult time? Stay strong friends!
I’ll just share thoughts and if you have questions you would like answered feel free to send them to [email protected] and I’ll do Q&A sessions! This is not in place of the official show episodes which will continue on as scheduled!
March 14, 2020, Self-Imposed Social Isolation: Working From Home
Here is a video of Italians making the best of their entire country being locked down. It is a heartwarming example of humans coming together to find a silver lining.
March 15, 2020, Self-Imposed Social Isolation: Shopping
And if you are interested in Calumma brevicorne or Trioceros melleri I have linked to the gentlemen to speak with below.
March 16, 2020, The Cracks Start to Show
So, you are wondering what a Metal cover of a Disney tune is? Feast your ears below!
March 17, 2020, Things Get More Serious
Check out the Song Salad Podcast Episode I was a guest on and the Modern Day Magic Dragon song was created in real time!
https://soundcloud.com/songsaladpodcast/ep-125-modern-day-magic-dragon
March 18, 2020, An Eerie Silence
March 19, 2020, Productivity
March 21, 2020, Briana O'Brien Joins Me!
Briana O’Brien of Kammerflage Kreations joins me and we just talk the current events and how it is affecting us. This isn’t an interview, just a discussion! We do slip in a very cool news item, but we didn’t mean it! Yep, we uncovered that we are on the verge of a new branch supply company, ReptiBranch, run by Briana’s husband and previous podcast guest Alec O’Brien. I’ll be checking these out!
March 22, 2020, Dr. Sean McNeeley talks chameleons and coronavirus
Dr. Sean McNeeley is on the front lines as a doctor in charge of a medical center dealing with the coronavirus preparations. He is level headed and a voice of reason. We are lucky to be able to claim him as part of the chameleon community. Today we talk about his breeding projects and get a perspective from him as to his day-to-day during this time.
March 23, 2020, Figuring out UVB for Chameleons
We in the chameleon community are working to uncover the needs of chameleons with respect to UVB. We are exploring the minimum levels necessary and the psychological effects of higher levels. Today I talk about the thought process in working out these UVB mysteries.
March 24, 2020, A Reading from Mountain Dragons by Jan Stipala
Sit back, relax, and enjoy an excerpt from the forward of Jan Stipala’s Mountain Dragons. Here we get a behind the scenes look at searching for chameleons in Kenya!
If you are interested in purchasing a copy you can find them available here.
March 25, 2020, Analyzing Vitamin D3 in Chameleon Supplements
This episode is for people who are trying to understand vitamin D3 safe levels. I review the data we have and go over an exercise to translate that into real world supplement powder levels. There will be no quick answers here! Let’s push for D3 from UVB, but let’s also understand dietary D3 as much as we can. This episode is NOT for people wondering what supplement they should use. I focus in on one aspect of supplementation. This episode is for people who are wanting to understand supplementation to feel more comfortable helping people with their supplementation.
March 26, 2020, Chameleon Care Sheets
Care sheets are a high level summary and should be treated as such! Today I talk about how beginners should view care sheets and then speak from the of making a care sheet.
Here is a link to the page here on the Chameleon Academy where I store the care sheets. If you are a breeder and would like to pass them on to your customers feel free to do so as long as you do not modify them in any way. You can use them with the confidence that the link to the website that is on the care sheets will be constantly updated with the latest in information.
March 28, 2020, Chameleon Eating Habits
We deal with chameleons refusing to eat anything but certain feeder insects to chameleons refusing to eat certain feeder insects to al out hunger strikes. Today I give an introduction to chameleon eating habits so we can understand how to work with these conditions!
March 29, 2020, Chameleon Feelings
Today I answer a question posed by Suzanne Collins who was wondering what feelings chameleons have. She wanted to make sure the chameleon she got would be happy. This is a question we will be answering for a long time. We treat things we love with human love. But this is not chameleon love and we need to learn what they need!
Here is a great resource to listen about how to identify stress in chameleons!
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-6-chameleons-and-stress/
And here is a reference for learning what specific chameleon behaviors mean
March 30, 2020, Advising on Glass vs. Screen Cages for Chameleons
We all get that question “should I get a glass or screen enclosure for my chameleon?” How we answer that says a lot about us as advisors. Today I talk about how to balance your experience, the community’s biases, and the enthusiasm of the person asking the question.
March 31, 2020, Selecting Chameleon Plants
Where do you start when trying to figure out what plants to get for your chameleon cage? In today’s episode I give you a starting point and some hints for making it work well!
But here is the PERFECT place to start!
April 1, 2020, Screen Walking Chameleons
Today we talk about the annoying habit chameleons tend to have of walking their screen cage sides. There are many reasons why this could be happening! Listen in and see if any of these options match your condition.
A great reference for understanding this behavior is in the Chameleon Academy behavior section!
April 2, 2020, Advice to Enthusiastic Beginners
I am not sure how to title today’s episode! I started off by intending to answer a question about anything I regret over the last four decades and ended up offering advice on how to grow in your chameleon journey! So, we will just have to go with it!
April 4, 2020, Crossbreeding - should we?
There are a number of issues to consider when answering the question about crossbreeding in the chameleon world. There are many strong opinions out there. I give my opinion, but also present the consideration so you can make your own decision.
April 5, 2020, Spring and outdoors basking
The seasons are warming up for those of us in the Northern hemisphere and it is time to think about getting your chameleon some natural sunlight. I share some experience and advice to have that happen safely.
April 6, 2020, Female Veiled Chameleon Feeding
We are making progress in our drive to determine the feeding schedule and husbandry to maintain healthy female veiled chameleons through their lives – especially including egg laying. By controlling their diet and conditions we can reign in their body’s enthusiasm for making eggs. By providing greater than ideal conditions their body creates more eggs than are healthy. As this is a more serious topic it has been given its own post. Please continue the conversation at this post:
Comments (2)
Hey bill I’m new to chameleon ownership, I have made many mistakes already, none threatening to my chameleons safety. First I bought them from a Petco. I have no idea how old he is, so I don’t know how long till I should move him out of his small mesh cage. I ordered a dragon strand tall hybrid for him when he gets the right size. I also got all the equipment in the build guide as far as lighting, misting, and tools. Is there a way you could expand on finding out how to age a chameleon I would be appreciative.
The age of a chameleon is really only important if you are trying to determine when they are ready to breed. Otherwise, the important characteristic is size. Some chameleons grow faster and some slower and it is the size that determines when they need to move on to another cage or such. But I just put my 3 months old babies in their adult cages. If they are alone in the cage then there is no dager to them not finding the food and basking spots, etc… If a chameleon is old enough to be sold it is old enough to go into the Tall Hybrid cage you purchased. I know the community generally says that babies need smaller cages. There are some valid arguments to this when they are below the age to be sold. But any of the common species (Veiled, Panther, Jackson’s) are just fine going into their adult, properly set-up, cage at 3 months old.
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