Chameleon for Christmas?

I am thinking about getting a chameleon for Christmas. Is there anything I need to know? I am planning on ordering the big kit from LLLReptiles. I have a bearded dragon too. Would it be OK if I put the chameleon in my room but out of sight? I have another room just in case, so I won't automatically do it unless I need to. Another thing, would flightless fruit flies be a good staple for them?

Hi there...will it be a veiled cham ? I recommend them, they are hardy, grow quickly + the males are spectacular. If you can put it out on the sun, it will really develop hot colors. Some chams. never really calm down, and babies don't really like to be held, so it's much different than beardies. Hopefully you get one that can be handled. Fruitflies are O.K. for tiny babies, but if the cham is at least 3 -4 inches, you can go with 1/4 crix. I don't know about the effect it will have if the beardie is visible to it....it might be best to see for yourself if it looks like it's stressed. But you will enjoy a cham, very interesting and you won't believe how they snag their food...your friends will be amazed.

AHBD":1yr457eq said:

Hi there...will it be a veiled cham ? I recommend them, they are hardy, grow quickly + the males are spectacular. If you can put it out on the sun, it will really develop hot colors. Some chams. never really calm down, and babies don't really like to be held, so it's much different than beardies. Hopefully you get one that can be handled. Fruitflies are O.K. for tiny babies, but if the cham is at least 3 -4 inches, you can go with 1/4 crix. I don't know about the effect it will have if the beardie is visible to it....it might be best to see for yourself if it looks like it's stressed. But you will enjoy a cham, very interesting and you won't believe how they snag their food...your friends will be amazed.

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It will be a male veiled. I can take him in the sun everyday. Anyways, I have two questions.
1. Can I give it ANYTHING other than crickets as a staple? I find them to be trouble.
2. Can I hold the baby at all during the day? And as far as getting baths, do they have to?

You can offer several prey items....small dubia, silkworms, Phoenix or reptiworms, and small, medium + eventually large superworms as he grows. For handling, be very slow + gentle , you might just offer your finger for him to climb on, if he refuses + goes the other way, you can fix his enclosure so that several of the branches can be lifted out ...slowly...while the cham. is sitting on it. Then just hang out with him close to his enclosure so he doesn't feel too threatened. Never " pull " him off a branch, their toes are fused and grip very tightly on whatever they are climbing on + you can rip their fragile toes if you do it. Just let him climb on your hand, careful that you don't drop him. They do not need baths, they would drown very easily. They only drink from water dripped/sprayed in the tank several times a day...they need a live or fake plant that can be sprayed so there are many droplets to drink from...you will see them drink when you spray them, it's also the way they keep clean + helps them shed. The pet stores also sell " drippers " that can sit on top of a screen cage + let drops fall slowly over a period of time, but you'll have to fix it so you don't have an accumulation of dripped water at the bottom of the cage. Veileds are a blast to raise, the transformation from baby to adult is amazing.

I was just about to buy one of these at PetCo the other day and the employee there talked me out of it. She was saying they are super fragile and if everything in the tank isn't set-up perfectly (heat, lights, humidity, moving water, ect ect" that it would die. Also said it's not good to handle them because of oils in human skin is bad for them, and I wasn't really interested in a pet I can't touch and interact with.

Maybe she is wrong about some of that stuff... I didn't really know anything that's why I asked the employee there first.

Again I do wan't to state I can't say any of that is true... I just don't have the knowledge, just passing on what the employee at PetCo told me.

Hi Troe.....I'm not sure why the Petco employee talked you out of it, unless their baby veiled were sick or became unhealthy when they were shipped to the store. It's well known that baby veiled are the hardiest type of cham. you can get. I've raised hundreds of them, not one ever died. The only way they could become unhealthy at the store is if they were not cared for properly or had some trauma while being shipped, like overheating or dehydration. Of course you need proper lighting , screened cage [ at least partly screened for airflow] but proper set up is required for any reptile. In general they are hearty eaters and grow quickly. They don't really like to be handled, but what you were told about oil from human skin contact harming them is not true. But if the employees at the store can't give proper info about their reptiles, you might just want to go to another store. If the veileds there looked healthy, go ahead and get one, just do research on a big chameleon breeders website [ Google it ] and you'll find all you need. It's true that you can't generally interact with them like a beardie, but veileds are the easiest chams., very hardy and fun to own.

I was worried about the same thing cause i'd love to rescue one but I want it to interact with me, I'm a very very calm person and our house is overall really peaceful. I just was unsure how often it would be able to come out

I wish I would have gotten that cham now. Shoulda known better then to listen to the petco employee... I just thought it was strange that she pulled me aside after I asked about buying it and told me all these things that scared me out of buying it... I was more turned off by the "dont touch it" part. I knew it would need a properly set-up cage as you said, all reptiles do, but I wanted to be able to at least interact a little bit. Good to find out the truth AHBD, thanks for clearing that up for me. Maybe I'll look into getting one now because I still think chams are the neatest lizards. Always wanted one since I was a little boy. Maybe I just wont look at petco anymore and look into a trusted breeder instead.