Re: thank you

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Iguana Forum ]

Posted by PH Meliss on December 14, 2002 at 11:13:28:

In Reply to: Re: thank you posted by Annaka on December 13, 2002 at 12:02:36:

::Their care is not all that dissimilar - they both require space, privacy, plenty of varied food, and good humidity levels.

Care for who is not dissimilar? Care for certain anoles (there are dozens of species) and some of the chameleons species? That's true. But given the range of habitats chameleons are from, there is no one generic "chameleon care" for Chameleo. IOW, whereas Anolis are more similar to one another in their care requirements most being from similar types of tropical forests, Chamaeleonidae have enough dissimularities that one needs to be very specific as to the species and what care that species requires.

:They are climbers, and insect eaters. Their temperature needs match up with the commonly kept cham species, and besides, experienced cham owners know how to read their animals' needs.

Define "commonly kept chameleons". :)

:Personaly I know a green anole would do VERY well if set up like a chameleon

What kind of chameleon: a Jackson's (arboreal cool montane), or a fringed (terrestrial tropical wet), or a Namaqua (terrestrial/fossorial desert? That's why I have a problem when someone says to "just care for it like a chameleon". ;)

- I've had [an anole] for 5 years, living in and out of a large "chameleon-type" planted setup.

For him to be 5, you obviously selected the right chameleon species whose environmental requriements you recreated for your green anole.

But someone who buys a "forest chameleon" and goes to the Chameleon forum to find out about care clearly doesn't know enough about chameleons to be able to figure out the correct care. I do not mean any insult to this person: he cared enough to start looking for information, and when rebuffed in one place, didn't just give up but kept looking.

It can be dangerous for the animals when we make assumptions based on common names alone. It can also be dangerous when we generalize too broadly, as in "care for it like you would a chameleon".

:Why is it horrifying?

It has been all too easy to tell when a new swatch of rainforest is being decimated as new species start appearing in pet stores, species for whom there are no known Western common names, very little known about their habits and habitats in the wild, and less than that known about how to care for them in captivity. Helmeted iguanas, and later casque-headed iguanas hit the pet scene in just that way, as did, a few years later, the "mountain dragons" and "tree dragons". The animals that are captured and exported are for the most part full adults, heavily parasitized, dehdyrated, starved, covered with feces, urates and scratches, and seriously stressed. The numbers that die before the survivors even hit the pet stores are staggering and, absent well documented care information, inexperienced buyers who end up getting them founder trying to figure out how to care for them. A few, like the fellow who started this thread, luck out and find useful information. Given that the interet isn't as widespread as we tend to think it is and information access and assessment skills aren't at the top of most peoples' skills list, once someone is on the 'net, finding accurate useful information is still a challenge.

So, I find it horrifying that these aspects of the trade continue to go on, and that they do so often without people realizing what the real story is behind the scenes...

--
PH Meliss
Pet Hobbyist Volunteer * Iguana Forum
Iguanas for Dummies
Anapsid.org: Herp & Green Iguana Care, Herp Societies/Rescues & Vets

Follow Ups:

Well... Annaka 12/16/02 (0)