Can you help?

[Youkai]

Hello all,

I am not new to this hobby at all, but I am not a chameleon keeper. The only reason for this is that quite honestly I do not believe I can provide the amount of room I find would be appropriate for the species I'm fond of. Many of my herping friends are cham keepers however, and I've spent hours chatting about and researching various species.
Now, here's the situation.
I've taken a summer job to pay for yet another year of university. It's at a pet store close to my home. The problem is that some people in the store have some very unusual ideas. I do not know where they got them or how they can justify them. ( What I mean is that I can't find any reference to what is being said in any published material.)
One of these things is that certain staff keep telling people to put veiled chameleons on sand. Aside from providing a sand/soil mix to females for laying eggs, I do not see how sand could be anything but dangerous.
A web footed gecko lives on sand and is adapted to it. The last time I checked, veiled chams certainly were not.

I have a meeting on Sunday. My supervisor (who agrees with me) would like me to address this issue. What I would like is for anyone here to illustrate why sand is an inappropriate substrate for these animals. If you could list what species you work with and for how long you have that would also be appreciated. If you do not want to post that online, please contact me privately. I only want that information so I can add weight to any claims made. You do not have to leave me any contact information if you do not want to.

What I would like to do is print all the reasons you give to me to present it to them to back up my own claims.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

[Trace]

Hi there!

Here's my background: I'm a trained Vet Tech and have worked as the curator of the largest reptile zoo in Canada. I've owned reptiles for almost 20 years and have cared for many, many different species. About 3 years ago I took the plunge and got into chameleons after hearing about all the horror stories about how hard they are to care for. Since then I've gotten out of all the other lizards and snakes and have concentrated solely on these marvelous creatures. I currently have 24 chameleons in my house and also do chameleon rescues. Most of my collection are Veiled's, but I do have Panthers, Fischers (2 different subspecies), Werner's, Giant Spiny's and now Bearded Pygmy Chams. I have also worked with Jackson's and a few others.

As for substrate in chameleon enclosures, they don't need it! The big reason is in case of accidental ingestion when they "zap" their prey items. Their tongues aren't sticky per say, they use muscular contractions to grab the food item, but they can accidently grab sand, dirt, moss, mulch when they do this. Eventually these foreign objects will accumulate in the intestinal tract and cause blockages. They are unable to absorb food and eventually cause slow starvation in the chameleon.

This is a really interesting thread too, that can be applied to chameleons. http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13645&highlight=sand

I'll give this a bit more thought, I'm sure I can find some literature and links for you that will be of some assistance.

Good luck at the meeting!

Trace