Shifty Eyes, Drinks, & Blenders... Carl the Accidental Chameleon by HorN Pets guest contributor, reptile aficionado, John F Taylor.

I met Carl quite by accident at the Pomona Reptile Super show this year. Each reptile show has an auction hosted by the USARK which is the United States Association of Reptile Keepers. This organization is responsible for showing the government that unreasonable regulation will not be tolerated by those who keep reptiles. They raise money by obtaining donations of products and animals from vendors at the show and then auctioning them off at a mixer at the end of the show the first night. They also provide food and beverages for the mixer as well.

I arrived at the mixer and saw some incredible animals and products that were to be auctioned off. It wasn’t my intention of purchasing anything as I had limited funding available to me. I bought a round of drinks for some colleagues and myself as we waited for the auction to kick off. Then about a quarter of the way into the auction whether it was the drinks or just over confidence on my part I am not sure but I found myself bidding on some of the items available. I knew that someone would always outbid me so I really wasn’t worried about buying something.

Then it happened! A Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus came up for bid from FL Chams which is a vendor I have a lot of respect for. Babies normally go for $50.00 and up. The bidding as I recall started at somewhere around $20.00 or so. Now remember, I was being outbid on every single item so far and I was only bidding to make the price go higher in the first place so as to create more money for USARK.

Within 3 short bids I was the happy owner of Carl the Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus. My son showed up right after the bidding concluded and instantly reminded me of why I wasn’t supposed to be bidding in the first place.

“Mom’s going to kill you.” He said emphatically.

I had to think fast. I knew we had an enclosure to put Carl in that wasn’t an issue the issue was that my wonderful wife told me before we left as she does before every show.

“No more animals.”

Now I had Carl and I needed to figure out quickly what excuse I could possibly use to explain to her why I had ended up with a Chameleon. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I would also have to explain why said Chameleon already had a name. In my home it has been a long standing rule that my wife names all of our reptile pets. As the drinks would have it I made the brilliant decision to post pictures of my new purchase to the social networks. As luck would have it my editor and longtime friend Jeanette Nielsen immediately replied that his name was Carl the Chameleon stating a reference to the Culture Club song Karma Chameleon.

I called my wife and explained that I had purchased her a gift that she was sure to enjoy and would only tell her that the item was extremely cute and that it had shifty eyes. She was confused as to what could be cute and have shifty eyes. After a few moments of trying to skirt the fact that she was going to find out eventually I spilled the news rapidly that I had accidentally purchased a Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus and that I would be bringing it home. As evidenced by me writing this my wife didn’t kill me as my son was convinced she would and as it turns out she was happy with Carl.

Carl the unexpected Chameleon now resides in a large arboreal vivarium with some plastic vines and a live Mother in Laws tongue plant as well as some climbing branches. Carl happily munches calcium dusted crickets every other day and is showered lightly through misting of reverse osmosis water which he drinks off of the leaves and his body. He likes the temperatures to be around 75-85 degrees in ambient temperature and a basking spot of 90-95 degrees. Carl likes the humidity in his enclosure to be about 85% at all times. He spends time both moving about to different areas and hunting the live crickets which are his food source.

If you’re considering getting a Chameleon as a reptile pet the Veiled Chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus is definitely the one we recommend starting with. They are a great addition to any reptile collection but don’t forget that Chameleons don’t like to be handled so they are strictly a ‘hands off’ pet.

To learn more about John, Carl, and all things reptile visit reptileapartment.com today... or tomorrow!!!

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