/an/ - Animals & Nature » Thread #985697

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 13:31:00 No.985697 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>985826

Just watched this movie and my boyfriend said he wanted a chameleon. I've always wanted a lizard or something so I thought I'd ask /an/'s opinion on them. I hear they're kind of boring, is that true?

How difficult are they? I was thinking of getting a leopard gecko or something simpler eventually but if these guys aren't too difficult and they're bros then I don't mind.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 13:42:00 No.985704 Report

Quoted By: >>985712

Chameleons are one of the hardest lizards to keep.

Also, you usually can't ever handle them.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 13:58:00 No.985712 Report

Quoted By: >>985720

>>985704

Why is that?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:03:00 No.985718 Report

Quoted By: >>985726

What is a chameleon? lol

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:08:00 No.985720 Report

Quoted By: >>985730 >>985791

>>985712
You need a very tall, most likely custom made cage to keep them in, and it can't be made out of glass. You'll have to provide tall plants as well as many horizontal perches, a water drip because they rarely drink from a bowl, and they're very grumpy hands-off lizards. Most of their color changes will be very subtle, and you won't ever see a dramatic change unless they are upset or stressed. Which is bad. They are not in any way bros, sadly.

Leopard geckos on the other hand, while common, are very good beginner lizards and you can handle them regularly unlike chams. Fat-tailed and crested geckos are good ones as well. If you really want a bro lizard I personally recommend a bearded dragon or a blue tongue skink, but they require a larger tank and more involved upkeep.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:10:00 No.985723 Report

Quoted By:

Starting a "I saw an animal in a movie and now I want one but I don't know anything about them" thread on /an/.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:12:00 No.985726 Report

Quoted By: >>985729

>>985718

Did I spell it wrong? I meant those curly-tailed lizards that change colour. They have weird eyes, too...

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:22:00 No.985727 Report

Quoted By:

I think leopard geckos sound good tbh. I was thinking of getting that anyway, but he didn't seem interested. Was surprised to hear him into the chameleon thing so just wanted to confirm that they're difficult/jerks. Maybe I can persuade him.. it's hard to get him to the reptile section of a pet store to see options, because he's afraid of snakes.

We won't be getting any pets until we get a new place this summer, so plenty of time to pick the right one.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:25:00 No.985728 Report

Quoted By: >>985732 >>985733

the chameleon would be NOTHING i repeat NOTHING like that CARTOON depicts , gawd i hate people, you are the definition of a iresponsible pet owner. you know nothing about a animal except it was cool on a cartoon.
you are the reason people cringe when a animal is on a major movie

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:27:00 No.985729 Report

Quoted By:

>>985726
im hopeing this is a joke, but then i remember how stupid people are again

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:28:00 No.985730 Report

Quoted By:

>>985720
Forgot to mention, most of them are rather fragile lizards. The veiled chameleon is probably the best beginner's cham, but it's still pretty advanced compared to a leo or a beardie. Plus you can't interact with them much or you'll stress them out and then derp, you've got a sick or dead animal. This isn't even going into their light and heat requirements, or the upkeep of taking care of the plants they live on, maintaining the drip, their food, etc. A leo, on the other hand, is very simple.

If you have trouble persuading your bf, tell him that he would have to make the cage. Or pay someone to custom make it.

P.S. Don't use sand. Ever.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:31:00 No.985732 Report

Quoted By:

>>985728
Chill out. At least she ASKED if chameleons were a good pet rather than going out and buying one without researching. Go flip your shit over the dozens of parents that still buy blue tangs and clownfish or the inevitable birds for their kids.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:32:00 No.985733 Report

Quoted By: >>985735 >>985740

>>985728

Yea, no, I know.

He knows what a real chameleon looks like, and he knows it's not sentient. He saw the cartoon one for a minute (he didn't even watch the movie, just saw a glimpse) and said "a chameleon would be a cool pet." He didn't rush out and buy one. And here I am, considering the pros and cons of owning one, asking people who know their shit whether or not they make good pets and finding out if I'm qualified to care for one. He's probably already forgotten he mentioned it.

I have been looking into getting a reptile or amphibian for months now, anticipating moving in with said BF this summer. I've always wanted one but I've only ever had what I caught in the yard that day (before my mom flipped her shit and made me release them.) SO I'm getting a muthafukin lizard (or maybe a frog) and it has nothing to do with any movie.

Except maybe Jurassic Park.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:37:00 No.985735 Report

Quoted By: >>985739

>>985733
I like you.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:44:00 No.985739 Report

Quoted By: >>985745

>>985735

Ah I love that picture.

I don't think it'll be hard to convince BF that the chameleon is a bad idea, but it might be hard to get him into the Leopard Gecko idea. He doesn't like the way they look, but I think they're super cute.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:45:00 No.985740 Report

Quoted By: >>985745 >>985748

>>985733
so thats even worse, your boyfriend who mentioned it for a second from a cartoon clip and probibly forgot about it , and here you are scrambling to see if you can get one, meanwhile you mention your experience is yard lizards your mom made you throw out.
you sound like you are very young and just moving out and the last thing you need to plan is what hard to keep exotic animal you are going to get, like how to pay muthafuckin bills and be responsible lololol

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:53:00 No.985745 Report

Quoted By: >>985747

>>985739
Day geckos are some of the cutest geckos of all. Try showing your bf different leo morphs?
>>985740
One, OP was in no way scrambling, only asking about chams. Which is a responsible and good decision. Two, you are a shitty troll.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:58:00 No.985747 Report

Quoted By: >>985756

>>985745
/an/ never responds kindly to people asking about animals from a movie. go ahead and post this again during the day and see the responce u get

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 14:59:00 No.985748 Report

Quoted By:

>>985740

I said we're moving in together.. we're 24, I don't think that's too young to keep a lizard.

We are going to live in a town house so we'd rather not get a dog. I already have a cat so I thought a reptile would be better than a bird or something small and furry.

And aren't there plenty of reptiles and amphibians that aren't "hard to keep"? I specifically said I don't want something that'll be a pain in the ass. I want something fun and interesting that won't drop dead if I sneeze too close to it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 15:09:00 No.985756 Report

Quoted By:

>>985747

>implying this thread will 404 before tomorrow

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 16:18:00 No.985791 Report

Quoted By: >>985807

>>985720
Are blue tongued skinks okay for a beginner? How much money would it cost me? I started browsing /an/ on a daily basis recently and I've seen those get praised a lot here. I probably wouldn't get one for the next five years anyway, but I'd like to know if it's okay for me to start with this particular reptile.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 17:14:00 No.985807 Report

Quoted By: >>985974 >>986002

>>985791
They're higher maintenance than a crestie or a leo, but still good beginner pets. Very, very friendly lizards (seriously, go search blue tongued skink on youtube and dawww at all the videos of them being cute and friendly), very hardy). However, they do need more room--about a 40 gallon long MINIMUM (unless you have a particularly big skink or a Meruake, in which case I'd say 50 or 60 min), and bigger is always better. They are not desk pets.

Expenses... The price of the lizard itself can vary depending on subspecies and whether it's wildcaught or captivebred (always, always go with captivebred, wildcaught individuals tend to be much more agitated and easily stressed) and the species. Indonesians, Irian Jayas tend to be wildcaught. Northerns and Easterns are almost always captivebred assuming you live outside Australia. Tanimbars are kind of a mixed bag. As with all reptiles, most of the costs are in setting up and buying the lizard. You might spend something like $300 on the tank + lizard + UVB bulb + heat lamp + substrate + decorations and hiding places and food dishes etc, but unless you need to take it to the emergency vet you will spend very little compared to a dog or a cat over the rest of its lifetime.

Uh wow I kind of got carried away there. tl;dr Yes you can start with a BTS.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 19:27:00 No.985826 Report

Quoted By: >>985907

>>985697
Get a couple of those water dragons OP. Total awesome bro tier lizards. I kept them in a relatively small terrarium but that's not so bad since they spend most of the time roaming in my room anyway.

Most of the time the just liked to chill on the curtain bar or on my pillows. But they really like to run around the room or even chill on my shoulder when I'm working. They were perfectly docile and even liked me somehow I guess. Also they only shit in thir water pond which is a big plus.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 29 Apr 2011 19:51:00 No.985830 Report

Quoted By: >>985899

Awesome easy ones: (some) monitor lizards, blue tongue skink, bearded dragon.
And for the love of god, remember, iguanas are the spawn of satan. I've never kept/watched after a nice one.

Stay away from tokay geckos, chameleons will get annoying and yeah they're pretty fuckin high maintenance with humidity and temperature. I can't keep frogs. They eventually will die if you don't mist their cage constantly.
Here's my baby eatin a rat. <3
He just needs a light and a rat once every two weeks.
Lowest upkeep pet ever.
Just watch out if any of the easy ones would rather bite than flee. I had a baby savannah that always bit and never tamed down, My baby [when I first got him] would just try to wriggle away or scatter, but never bite.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 01:12:00 No.985899 Report

Quoted By: >>985907

>>985830
Yeah, a chameleon is a MAJOR investment. Savannah monitors get HUGE, bearded dragons are a bit inactive for my tastes, snakes are also inactive, and iguanas really are (as said above) satanic animals.... Allow me to recommend DWARF MONITORS!

You'll still need to build a BIG cage. 4x2x2 is a MINIMUM for most species and the tank will be bigger than you think. The cage must hold humidity, hold at least a foot of dirt/sand/moss substrate (this adds up to over 200lbs), and have a good temperature gradient.

The benefit to having all this crap and a small beast of a lizard? Dwarf monitors are ADORABLE, reasonably large, very active, extremely intelligent, and rewarding to keep. They can also become pretty personable. Look into them, do your homework, and think about it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 01:34:00 No.985907 Report

Quoted By: >>985910 >>985966

>>985826
Water dragons need a HUGE arboreal cage. They are not for beginners.
>>985899
Eh, as lovely as dwarf monitors like ackies are, I think they're a bit too much for someone who's considering a leopard gecko. Same for tegus.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 02:04:00 No.985910 Report

Quoted By: >>985914 >>985952

>>985907

Oh I love the way the water dragon looks, and the cages look so cool.. but I don't really want to buy, assemble, decorate, and maintain one... so we'll stick with something smaller for now.

How are salamanders? They're sort of lizard-like, though I guess you probably can't handle them often. Their skin looks sensitive.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 02:14:00 No.985914 Report

Quoted By:

>>985910
The most common salamanders and frogs are pretty simple, yeah. You do need to watch the water parameters and be careful about handling them, as the oils in your skin can be harmful. I'm not as well-versed about amphibians though, so I can't give you any recommendations except the Axolotl, which has care more similar to a fish as it typically remains in water its entire life.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 03:31:00 No.985952 Report

Quoted By:

>>985910
I guess most salamanders need a low temperature. Depending on where you live, it will get difficult in summer to keep them cool.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 03:56:00 No.985966 Report

Quoted By: >>985968

>>985907
True, though my little man's care doesn't seem too hard to me.

Does anyone else think that, maybe, a few hundred years of selective breeding from now, we'll have truly domesticated reptiles?

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 04:05:00 No.985967 Report

Quoted By:

Get a crested gecko. They can be a bro.. in the lizardy sense of 'bro' where they tolerate your handling well enough and don't die because of it.

pic related. Caught one of my 2.5 gram bebbies sheddin' the other night.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 04:06:00 No.985968 Report

Quoted By: >>986054

>>985966
Hmm, maybe. Definitely not along the lines of dogs, but probably something more like goldfish or rats. I don't think it'd be for all reptiles either, just common reptiles like ball pythons, crested or leopard geckos, bearded dragons etc. We're already getting there with all the different morphs.

...However, I must admit that the thought of a domesticated monitor or tegu is AWESOME even if it's improbable.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 04:29:00 No.985974 Report

Quoted By: >>985975 >>986002

>>985807
Thanks a lot, man. I have seen videos already and they do seem very friendly. I'll probably get one some day, when I'm sure I'll be able to keep it happy and healthy without any space or monetary problems.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 04:42:00 No.985975 Report

Quoted By: >>986002

>>985974
bluetongueskinks.net has a lot more info if you want it. They're really great lizards.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 06:42:00 No.986002 Report

Quoted By:

>>985807
Just to ad in on the tank size: Well when buying for a BTS don't just go off the gallon size. You could get a 50gal and it wont house a BTS properly you need to get a wide tank. The brand they sell in most pet stores is Critter Cage by Zilla. They will have the width they need.
>>985975
Yup, their care-sheet is awesome. Read it OP.
>>985974
If you are not looking to buy now. Start saving up some cash and hit a reptile expo this summer. Best place to find breeders and such for your chosen compainion! Will also be able to pick up extra stuff on the cheap (You will want to have their enclosure already set up and have it running before you put any animal in there.)

I plan on getting a BTS this summer. Doing just rough estimates its going to be around $500-700 all said and done, just to give you a rough idea of the initial cost.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:02:00 No.986054 Report

Quoted By: >>986057 >>986070 >>986073

>>985968
When my company is large enough and I have the disposable income to finance a vanity project.... I fully intend to create Varanus familiaris!

A red ackie, blown up to about water monitor size. Keep the spiny tail. Tinker with the genome to re-activate those venom glands. Improve intelligence beyond that of a Komodo... get it as far into dog territory as possible. We'll have to enlarge the brain case and extend it into the neck... meaning longer jaw and longer neck. This means we'll have to fuck with hox genes a bit. Implement some system of social imprinting like ackie groups use with one another to establish dominance.

End product: a ~150lb 7ft long lizard with a spiny club of a tail, venomous bite, loyalty to its master, and very high intelligence. It's tracking skills would be naturally AMAZING, and it'd be incredibly fast. Only problem would be feeding the thing enough to keep its metabolism up.

We already have corn producing crystalline proteins as a built-in pesticide. I'm sure that with enough money and technology, a domesticated terror lizard could be made.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:06:00 No.986057 Report

Quoted By: >>986066

>>986054

Let me know when you start hiring Henchmen.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:15:00 No.986066 Report

Quoted By:

>>986057
Will do.

I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to think that we could accomplish with genetic engineering in decades what took centuries with mere artificial selection.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:19:00 No.986070 Report

Quoted By: >>986076

>>986054
You have my sword.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:24:00 No.986073 Report

Quoted By:

>>986054
So...basically a red, spiny-tailed, venomous, social, intelligent perentie? I like this idea.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:26:00 No.986076 Report

Quoted By:

>>986070
I think this is the part where I say, "And my axe!"

Or something like that.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 30 Apr 2011 08:28:00 No.986079 Report

Quoted By:

I'll have you know that my Bromeleon is one of the friendliest animals I have ever kept. Sits on my shoulder when I go out for groceries and actually begs at the dinner table.

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