A really good chameleon info site...

Howdy All,

Someone on another site mentioned the site listed below and I couldn't believe that I'd missed it up until now! It's a "must" for newbies and wanna-bes and makes a great read for those who thought they'd already read it all. The Webmaster did a great job of organizing the info into easy-to-follow catagories and sub-catagories. Have-at-it...

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/index.html

How ironic you should post that! I think it's one of the best, most informative and well presented sites I've seen in a long time. I've used it for information for months and I'm not a newbie or wanna-be! I linked that site very recently on another forum for someone I thought would benefit from it, only to get a post from another individual who responded to me with "it only gives basic information and nothing else"; "should not be used for husbandry information", and "it does not give any kind of husbandry detail or information. I don't think it even says what they eat."
LOL..I guess it's true. One person's trash is another's treasure. At any rate, Chameleon's Dish is a great site!

Howdy Laura,

What do you want to bet that they didn't see/use the tabs arcoss the top! That's where it's loaded with all of the husbandry info !

Howdy Laura,

What do you want to bet that they didn't see/use the tabs arcoss the top! That's where it's loaded with all of the husbandry info !

Thanks for posting this, this is exactly what I was looking for! (just got a new veiled over the weekend!)

Just found the site because of this thread. It is well laid out, and does try to present the information in a balanced way. But there are several major problems:

1) While the auther refers to him or herself only as "the author", and their credentials are not listed except to say that they have "lifelong" experience, why hide? While I believe that they are well-intentioned, and acknowledge that other opinions exist, every opinion worth stating should include the identity and experience of the author, whether it be this person, or any other information posted anywhere that is based on either experience of previously existing material.

2) While there is "good" information in many places, I would also rate it as only partial information. In many of the pros and cons, things that are significant in my view are omitted. I don't believe it intentional, but more a lack of experience. Again, it defers back to the qualifications of the author. It is not just about writing style and presentation, which is very good here, but also about content, which has its shortcomings. I didn't see anything that I would call "erroneous" advice, but did see incomplete advice, again with significant ommissions. Without explaining, the area on "feeding chameleons" omitted significant concerns, and not just in my opinion.

All that said, it is a good foundation. It is my hope that the author, in spite of his or her current lifelong experience, would continue to seek out more info. It obviously took an enormous amount of time and effort to get it this far, and is not an easy task. I would recommend that the author identify themselves and stake out their credentials for the evaluation of the reader, and would challenge them by asking what are they hiding? I would also encourage them to seek out more anecdotal information from others, lest they feel they must discover it all themselves.

Howdy Jim,

The "author" is highly receptive to suggestions for additions/changes etc. and welcomes emails with that info along with any other ideas for enhancements. I emailed some info and ideas and got a prompt and positive reply. Those suggestions were evaluated and implemented if they made sense to do so. The website is a work in progress with more sections to come.

Jim, you are a wealth of information from your vast experience with chameleons. I'm sure that you could pass back some very constructive information when you have time.

Dave,
"If I only had the time" being the key words, or for that matter, if the "author" only had the time. There is so much about chameleons that is yet poorly understood in some cases, or in others the cutting edge info is not widely disseminated. Amongst many who write about them, the mark of the most knowledgeable seems to be the uniform self-admission that "I know what I don't know, and it is much". It leads to a conclusion by many to not write about certain things, and certainly not draw conclusions or offer advice, where we "know" that we don't know. It is often better to say nothing about a certain aspect of husbandry that to give misleading information. My comments were more to warn some of those here who had remarked that this was a "good" site, and be sure to raise some real concerns about the differences between image and content. No doubt that the intentions of the author are good, but there are conclusions arrived at where information and experience are noticeably lacking. And I did not have to look far. Maybe more than anything, and I can't say this enough, but "anonymous" advice is to be taken with tremendous caution. To think that it is something that can be looked past, or given its due with a sentance or two that says nothing much more than "trust me" is a red flag. One example that I will point out specifically, is the advice concerning Vitamin A. There is probably no more misunderstood vitamin with regards to chameleons than Vitamin A. There was a lot of erroneous anecdotal information about it earlier in the 90's, that was eventually pretty well debunked by some well-done studies and far more field observation. The author recommends something akin to "go with supplements that are lighter in Vitamin A". I will not explain how bad and innacurate that statement is, but it would have been far better to not even mention Vitamin A than to say that. There is not a product on the market that has too much "usable" Vitamin A, and many that claim to have "Vitamin A", but in fact are grossy mislabeled from a chameleon's point of view.
Alas, I cannot find the time right now to get all the information in my studies, and between my ears, in my own site. But I do not strut out what I do not know.

Hello Everybody.

I usually devote my time online to working on the site as opposed to posting on forums, but was directed to this thread, and would like to toss the following into the mix. Thank you Dave, and others, for your kind words about the site, www.chameleonsdish.com. I can’t wait to see it expand.

Jim, I think it is great you’ve gotten a chance to look over the site, and that you have ideas as to how to make it more useful. I am sure that people would be grateful to hear from experienced breeders such as yourself. The nutrition section of the site does come with a introductory/disclaimer article (chameleon nutrition is controversial, the site tries to portray a cautious approach), but as with the rest of the site, it is completely open for revision.

The site will always have a stable frame of reference (clear cut article sections), but is designed to be frequently updated to stay as current, accurate, handy, and informative as possible. Submissions/revisions are part of the deal. If there are noticeable “holes” in the information presented, please be my guest to fill them in, or direct me to someone willing. The more opinions and shared experiences, the better.

Anyone interested in contributing to the site can contact me anytime at webmaster@chameleonsdish.com. If people would like to share helpful pictures, articles, etc (no matter how small the contribution) they are free to contact me and we can discuss fitting the material into the site and crediting info. Anyone wishing just to discuss the site may also email at anytime. Your thoughts are all welcome.

Remember, if something needs to be added and you hold the information necessary, it only takes a moment to send an email that could benefit chameleon keepers worldwide, and most importantly, the animals they keep. I did the work of getting the site up and running, and am dedicated to continue working to compile helpful advice in a presentable educational way. Feel free to take advantage of my willingness to invest time and energy, and write away. I can also make your articles and photos look fantastic, and you’ll get author/photographer credit…

Thanks for reading, have a great day everyone!
As before, I’m available through email.

Like so many other chameleon info sources out there, I hope for two things from each and every one:
1) Accurate and/or well informed opinions and anecdotal information about the care of chameleons; and
2) Clear acknowledgement of where information is thin, and more importantly, to be sure to not draw conclusions about husbandry etc where the experience and information is short.

Those things said, I will be the first to say that the amount of anecdotal information available is a daunting task to assemble. I do not have the time to put all that I know in my own website, much less those of anyone else, but thank you for the invitation. I do not want to discourage others from offering you what they know. One thing that is known by people who go to my website is who wrote it. There is an introduction to who I am, info about the business, pictures of my operation, clear references to others such as Dr. Alfonso and their experience, etc. Because so much info in the chameleon business is anecdotal, it is imperative that the person who is providing the information be very clear about who they are, what their experience is, etc.
So here's the current meat-of-the-matter for me Chameleon Dish. I haven't read 10% of your site, but in the 10% that I did read, as I noted in my earlier, I found what I thought was bad information. You can claim that you are as open to suggestions and input from others as the sky is blue, but you still have information in your site that more than one of us would take serious issue with, and I am wondering where you got it? Kind of "says who?", cause right now you are a non-entity hiding behind what? Here's the paste of my concern that I made clear earlier:

Maybe more than anything, and I can't say this enough, but "anonymous" advice is to be taken with tremendous caution. To think that it is something that can be looked past, or given its due with a sentance or two that says nothing much more than "trust me" is a red flag.

Buyer beware is the old adage, and that includes those who seek information. I took issue with this thread in that it recommended your site, perhaps because it looked nice, or sounded nice .... I don't know and it doesn't matter, but in going to your site, I then found it flawed in both of the ways that I evaluate that I listed above. There was no point in reading more than I did after I found that the experience was not noted, and some information poor. To have spent more time there would have been just to proof-read. But others will go to your site, maybe kids, and all I can say is "information seeker beware" , because I would ask each of those kids if I could "Why is what is said in this site to be believed or taken as knowledgable?" Of course, I can not ask them that, and like so many others who unfortunately take too much of what they read from limited resources as gospel, they have only themselves to blame for not doing enough homework. CD, I will blame you too though.

I don't think that you have ill intentions here, but at the same time, it is no oversight on your part to have not made it clear as to who you are and exactly what experience you bring to the table. So, until you identify who you are, the sources of your current information and conclusions, and/or the experience upon which you have drawn this information, I would tell all to take your site with a large grain of salt. I also will not reply to you again until you make such disclosure. I hope that you can understand the importance of this in any journalistic endeavor, but to be quite blunt, you have deliberately evaded it so far.