Anyone have a reptile?

[LucheroTena]

I’m in my late 40s and about to indulge my dream of owning a Panther Chameleon. We have a reputable shop near us that has been around for years and they’ve talked me through it all. Plus they do holiday boarding but I think Mum will be ok (she moves in and looks after the cats and is used to small pets too). I’ve thought about it for a year and can’t talk myself out of it. The only things that concerns me a little is

1. live feeding and where to keep the critters
   
2. we have 2 cats but shut them out of the sitting room when we’re not there as we have a few valuable and fragile ornaments in there.
   

Come tell me about your experience with reptiles, good and bad.

[Pleasebeafleabite]

Hi OP you might be better somewhere like chat with more traffic

I have had a beardie for 2 years, bought for DS but I do most of his care now. I have a cat too

I think I underestimated how calming he would be, I find him a very relaxing pet. As reptiles go he is easier to keep than your chameleon will be, he has a dry environment and now he is adult he is 90% veggie.

We pick up his live food from the reptile shop as they breed their own there and they last well. Your big thing will be crickets I imagine. Stinky things they are so you best get a cricket pen and get used to them making their little cricket noises. I prefer to buy hoppers as they are larger, smell better and don't seem quite so revolting. The best advice I was given is to catch them in the bathtub so when they escape they have nowhere to go

Now he only has live food once a week or so I buy one day, gut load them and feed them all the next day so I am not keeping them for long at all

My cat is very chilled around him, I can have them both on my lap. But very early on once he set off across the living room floor and suddenly she saw him and flew off the sofa to pounce on him, I only just managed to stop her. From then on I only have her around him on an evening when he is settling down and not running about

For holidays for a few days I put his lights on a timer and have a friend call in once a day. For longer he goes to beardie boarding to the reptile shop.

Hope you enjoy him or her, chameleons are beautiful.