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Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)
I used to keep Carpet Chameleons (Furcifer lateralis lateralis). I love these guys. I just didn't like having to deal with sending them to the vet after paying a good amount of money for them and then having to assist feed them if they are not in the greatest of health upon purchase. If I didn't have to deal with these issues, I'd try again.
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Yikes. I'm not particularly familiar with carpet chameleons, but I know they were a species that used to be sold primarily as wild-caught individuals (and if they are available captive bred now I do not believe it is particularly widely). In my experience, wild caught animals make terrible pets, and this applies even more to fragile species like chameleons.
For what it's worth, captive bred panthers appear to be fairly hardy as chameleons go. Veiled chameleons are also hardy and widely available as captive bred animals, but are more inclined to eat foliage and thus are probably not as good of an animal to keep if you're planning to plant your enclosure. Jackson's chameleons are also fairly common, but are a bit harder to keep healthy and are also fairly often wild-caught.
If you do want to try again, I'd recommend a captive bred sub-adult male panther chameleon purchased from a breeder or reputable reptile store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)
It might snap new leads or new spikes the way it's behaving.
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Regarding chameleon damage, I have moved his climbing vine to just above the orchid, and he seems less interested in crawling on it now. I do worry that if I manage to get a spike he'll snap it off, but I've had a few Tillandsia blooms and a Phal bloom in his enclosure and he really didn't damage those. That said, the possibility of damage to delicate flowers is essentially inherent in the project of trying to grow blooming plants in a chameleon vivarium. I am doing my best to select plants I think will survive an occasional pawing.
Incidentally, I saw that you've commented on a couple Bulbophyllum makoyanum posts. Are you familiar with how to get these plants to bloom? I currently have it at about 75-80 degree F day temps, high sixties at night, and about 1500 foot candles. It is mounted to a stick with some sphagnum and it gets hit by my mister. I haven't found much in the way of concrete culture information.
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