So as many of you know I got a chameleon, whom I named Dio, this past Saturday. It has been a very fun yet very difficult challenge to figure out the best way to take care of him. One of the main struggles that I’ve been dealing with is figuring out the feeding schedule. Since I don’t get home from school until the middle of the day, my parents will tend to feed him instead. This may not seem like a problem at first, but my parents tend to spoil their pets. Instead of feeding him the usual 2-3 crickets, they like to feed him 4-5, so Dio has become quite chubby quite quickly.
Another struggle has been figuring out how to keep the cage humid. Since chameleons are tropical reptiles, they require a humidity of at least 70%. This means that we had to install a dripper which constantly drips water into the cage in order to keep the humidity up. We quickly realized that this wasn’t going to work since the cage became flooded from the extra water. Luckily we were able to figure out a way to catch the water, so that Dio would not have to live in a swamp.
Overall, I am very glad that I was able to get a chameleon. Even though it has been a lot of work to figure out how to properly care for him, I am still grateful for the fun yet challenging experience. (Sorry for the red light in the pictures. That’s the light from the heat lamp in his cage)
Wow! Dio looks like such an interesting pet to own. I feel like personally I wouldn't know how to care for a chameleon but it's really interesting to see you own one.
ReplyDeleteHe is super cool! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteDio looks so cute. I have thought about getting a reptile like a snake or gecko because of how friendly and tiny they are. Every reptile I've ever held or seen interact with their owner has been so nice and outgoing. When I was buying my hamster food, I was really considering purchasing a snake from the pet store. I decided against it because I don't have a tank or anything for a snake.
ReplyDeleteDio is absolutely precious. I love seeing the difference from the photos where he is brown then green. I've always had pets, but never got any reptiles. My sister used to spoil my cat and over feed her and she's been fat ever since. It's really hard to make pets diet and exercise, so my advice would be to stop the problem before it starts. I feel like the next pet I want would be a chameleon. I really want a Polar Bear, but due to laws, global warming, space, and finances I might just have to go for something smaller. I showed my friend your video you attached and we kept replaying it because it was the cutest thing we've seen all day.
ReplyDeleteI love chameleons and Dio looks like an amazing one. He is so cute. I have always wanted reptiles as pets, but more specifically I want a tortoise. Even though I know it would out live me. Now seeing Dio, I kind of want a chameleon too. To try and help with your parents overfeeding Dio maybe try and explain the health risk of an overweight chameleon. This is a website I often use when researching reptiles: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Lizards/ . It might have some tips on helping chameleons lose weight.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness hes so cute!!! I've never wanted to get a reptile (although I've always been OBSESSED with the lizards out west!!) but after seeing these pictures, I'm definitely putting it on my Christmas list!
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