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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 bill@chameleonacademy.com and I’ll do Q&A sessions! This is not in place of the official show episodes which will continue on as scheduled!

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.

And if you are interested in Calumma brevicorne or Trioceros melleri I have linked to the gentlemen to speak with below.

So, you are wondering what a Metal cover of a Disney tune is? Feast your ears below!

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chameleon Academy Care Sheets

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!

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

Chameleon Behavior

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.

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!

Chameleon Cage Plants

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!

Chameleon Behavior: Screen Walking or Glass Pawing

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!

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.

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.

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: