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Words From the Editor

By Christopher V. Anderson


Citation:

Anderson, C.V. (2005). Words from the editor. Chameleons! Online E-Zine, October 2005. (http://www.chameleonnews.com/05OctAndersonWFTE.html)


Dear Chameleons! E-Zine Readers,

Well, it's that time again; another E-Zine issue is out. I'd like to remind everyone that in July of 2003, the E-Zine was shifted from a bimonthly publication to a quarterly publication. It has been this way since as you've probably been able to tell. I understand the "Origins" page still described the E-Zine as bimonthly up to this point. This has been updated and I apologize for any confusion that has caused.

Further, I'd like to apologize to anyone who submitted their names and emails or questions to us via the online submission form at the above "Contact" link. There seems to have been a problem that occurred last month and any submissions during this time have been lost. I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. If you did not receive an email notification of the new issue being released, please either submit yourself for the mailing list again.

This issue we decided to pull out a few articles on hydration methods. The first is an article by "roo" on his use of humidifiers. People seemed to really like his last article on the construction of a Stump-Tailed Chameleon Habitat and you'll be glad to see, he's returned to outline another technique of his. Following this article, Jason Descamps has provided us all with an article summarizing some hydration methods as well as methods to cope with drainage. Hopefully his discussion of different methods to correctly hydrate your chameleons will aid keepers in ideas about setting up their animals with adequate hydration.

Additionally, Kristina Lucas and Jason Descamps have teamed up to present an introduction to the importance of Ethical Breeding Practices. With importation rates and conditions such that they are, increased reliance on captive breeding programs is of the utmost importance. Preventing these efforts from being damaged by unethical breeding practices and making efforts to seek out breeders who make the effort to practice breeding safely, with the species in mind, should increasingly be on the minds of all chameleon keepers and especially breeders, regardless of their size. Hopefully this view on some important aspects of ethical breeding practices will encourage increased concern by sellers as to the conditions of their breeders, their offspring and their bloodlines while they are both under their own care and as they are under the care of their buyers.

I've also provided an attempt to clarify some of the difficulties in identification that were presented to me after the release of the Ch. (T.) wiedersheimi article back in February. I've provided photographs and increased explanations as to how to differentiate between the subspecies of Ch. (T.) wiedersheimi. I hope they will be of help to those of you working with this species.

Further, I've included a brief blurb on a few recent releases of online resources. These online resources contain information of particular interest to chameleons or are directly related to them in some other way. Some of these have been mentioned previously but I've decided to make a greater effort to expose them to the chameleon community. I hope you all find them as useful and I think they are.

As usual, a Q&A is included in this issue. Again, I'd like to extend my apologies to those who attempted a submission while our system was down. Please feel free to resubmit your questions. We're working hard on the next issue already and I can tell you that I'm sure it will be excellent. At this moment, we anticipate its release in early December. If you have articles you'd like to submit for this or later issues, please contact me about them. Don't be shy, if you have something you'd like to share, I'd love to talk to you about it!



Christopher V. Anderson


Chris Anderson is a herpetologist currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of South Florida after receiving his B.S. from Cornell University. He has spent time in the jungles of South East Asia, among other areas, aiding in research for publication. He has previously traveled throughout Madagascar in search of, and conducting personal research on, the chameleons of the region. He has traveled to over 35 countries, including chameleon habitat in 6. Currently, Chris is the Editor and Webmaster of the Chameleons! Online E-Zine and is studying the kinematics and morphological basis of ballistic tongue projection and tongue retraction in chameleons for his dissertation. Chris Can be emailed at Chris.Anderson@chameleonnews.com or cvanders@mail.usf.edu.

 

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