Chameleon Care
A Few Basics About Chameleon Care
Chameleon care can be rather simple and straightforward, or it can be time consuming and at times complicated. It all depends upon which species you get for a pet. The small pygmy chameleon breeds are generally pretty easy to keep. You can use an aquarium, 25 gallons or so, and keep more than one chameleon in a single enclosure. Veiled chameleons on the other hand, though a favorite as a pet, require larger and more elaborate enclosures, and you can normally only keep one chameleon at a time in an enclosure.
Give careful thought to chameleon care before you buy one. Some species, like the pygmies, live for 3 or 4 years, other species live 4 to 5 times that long. As with any pet, when you get one, you need to make the commitment to keeping it cared for and healthy throughout its natural life. The basics of care revolve around food, water, and a proper environment in the chameleon's enclosure. Let's take these one at a time, starting with the chameleon diet.
Unfortunately, you can't just buy a box a "chameleon food" and consider that part of chameleon care taken care of. While some chameleon species do nibble on plants on occasion, they are in general insectivorous. Crickets are a favorite, with other sources of food being wax worms, meal worms, flies, cultured snails, and grasshoppers. You have to be careful about getting insects from the wild, as they may carry parasites, or have been exposed to pesticides. Some chameleon owners purchase "gut loaded" insects, which have been cultured, and fed a good dose of the vitamins and essential elements needed by the chameleon. Since you don't want to be running around your house, or in your garden, looking for bugs to feed your pet (clean bugs by the way), it's a good idea to find out where sources for food are before you bring a pet chameleon home.
While stocking a proper food source can be a little complicated, the water supply is not quite as much. Still, it's not simple either. If you put a little dish of water in its enclosure, chances are your chameleon won't touch it (some species might, but most won't). Chameleons like to drink from running water, which can be a problem in a small enclosure, and maybe in a big one for that matter. There are several methods you can look into, to see which method might work best for you. A chameleon enclosure needs to have live plants. Chameleons often drink from water running down leaves. One approach then is to install a drip system, where water will drip down on the plants. You can put a small hole in a container on top of their enclosure, or purchase a commercial drip system. You can also spray the plants, and even the chameleon, with a fine mist. Warm water is best. If fact you can spray with fairly hot, though not scalding, water as it will cool when sprayed. Some chameleons can become used to drinking from an eyedropper or syringe (with the needle removed). Whatever the method, remember to keep the water container clean, and don't allow water to accumulate and stand on the floor of the enclosure.
With the simple matters of food and water out of the way, the other thing to consider is the enclosure. A larger chameleon, like the veiled chameleon, likes room to roam, branches to climb on, and solitude. A typical enclosure might be an aluminum screened structure, measuring about 3 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet deep, located in a low traffic area of your house, and sitting at about eye level. The enclosure needs to contain live plants and climbing branches. The climbing branches can be artificial, and the more the better, as a climbing chameleon is a healthy chameleon. You'll need an enclosure that is easy to keep clean and preferably with a rubber mat on the bottom, or a removable bottom, as debris will accumulate, and when wet can be a breeding ground for bacteria.
As you can see, chameleon care is not a simple task, though it may well become one once you get in the hang of it. Bear in mind that if you leave the house for a weekend, or go on vacation, you'll need someone to check in on, or care for your pet. So if it seems like it's going to be too much of a hassle, stick with a dog or cat.