# I have some awesome news!



## never-sleep (Mar 3, 2012)

Well I've been looking into getting a reptile. I'm willing to get pretty much any reptile that doesn't eat mammals lol. So I just couldn't think of anything. Especially with living with my parents, they have pretty strict requirements when it comes to "nontraditional" pets, so finding a reptile was tough. It was an uphill battle convincing them to let me have rats.

So I've made my decision. 

I will be getting a panther chameleon. I haven't decided on a morph yet, but that's not really important to me anyway. I would have went with a veiled chameleon, as everything I've read said they are good first time chameleons, but since they are sold in pet stores I'm pretty sure my parents would want me to get one from there. 

I won't be getting him (or her) anytime soon. Because my parents have some things I have to do.

-get a good sized fund going (for vet, food, etc.).

- build a cage (I would buy, but Panthers are a large chameleon and I can't find a commercial cage of reasonable price or size). 

- research (duh).

-have all materials I will need.

- I have to buy the chameleon myself.



I've read in a lot of places chameleons aren't the best for beginners, but I'm willing to go above and beyond in caring for and researching this animal.

It will probably take me a little over a year to save the money for everything I need, so that gives more time to think about it. I don't want to go to fast and regret getting one.

I also plan on breeding my own crickets, so I know they are "gut loaded".

So, any of you have chameleons? If so, any advice? Include pics if you want, I won't complain lol.


----------



## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I have an interesting idea when it comes to the cage. If you know someone who has a cracked 40 gallon breeder tank you could always flip the tank so the long side is pointed upward and attach the screened lid like a door. I know cracked tanks are basically worthless as fish tanks, but they still make excellent reptile cages.


----------



## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

I know a guy who breeds these! They are sooo beautiful. He actually sells the eggs so you can hatch your own. He told me it is pretty easy to do. Maybe you can do that? It would be a fun thing to hatch your own.


----------



## JulianBashir (Oct 2, 2014)

I think it's amazing, that you're getting a reptile. I have a soft spot for quite big snakes. I love turtles too, even though I don't have the space for them currently. It seems that you're really willing to put in the work which is awesome! But I have to agree a chameleon is not a good beginner reptile. They are very easily stressed and managing temperature and humidity is key. They're also very fragile. Research is amazing, but experience helps a lot when it comes to animals as tricky as these. It's a bit like running before you can walk, really. Experts have problems with their chameleons. Every pet owner makes mistakes but with certain animals the results can be more disastrous. Also be prepared to keep a variety of feeders on hand, most with chameleons people end up breeding as it is more convenient.


----------



## MyHeroHasATail (Sep 29, 2014)

I have had leopard geckos in the past, those are my favorite


----------

