Chameleons as pets

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I want to start this off simply stating that I do not encourage keeping chameleons as pets, but they can indeed be found in the pet trade. Have you or anyone you known kept (or attempted to keep) a chameleon as a pet? For 5 or so years no, my roommate and I have had at least one chameleon, with our highest number being around 30, when we had a breeding project going. Females typically lay quite a few eggs, and if most hatch, you end up with a lot of babies, hence how we had so many chameleons at once. They are definitely not a beginner reptile, being generally easy to stress out and requiring special care. In some cases, if they are kept in areas that are too active, a chameleon can actual die from being overly stressed. This is especially true of gravid (pregnant) females who become to stressed to lay their clutch or eggs, subsequently become eggbound, and die. They require misting at least twice a day, since they do not naturally drink form standing water (such as a dish or bowl), and this is not something everyone is able to provide. All that being said, they are amazing and fascinating creatures. One of our male panther chameleons has become quite easygoing over time and is not stressed out by being handled. Most chams do not do well with handling and are more of a "look but don't touch" pet (not great for children at all!), though there are exceptions.