Words From the Editor

By Christopher V. Anderson


Citation:

Anderson, C.V. (2006). Words from the editor. Chameleons! Online E-Zine, September 2006. (http://www.chameleonnews.com/06SepAndersonWFTE.html)


Dear Chameleons! E-Zine Readers,

As usual, we’re a little late releasing this issue. I think you’ll be pleased with this one though and the updates for this issue. As you will notice, we have a good article lineup and some new E-Zine items that I think people will like.

As usual, I’d like to remind the readers that by clicking the “Contact” tab on the toolbar at the top of the page, you can submit your name to our email notification list so you know when future issues come out, to submit questions, article suggestions, etc. I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t already signed up for the email notifications to do so!

Before I introduce the articles for this issue, I’d like to inform everyone that the rest of the Chameleons! Online E-Zine staff and I are pleased to announce the release of our online E-Zine store. If you click the “T-Shirts” tab on the navigation bar at the top of the E-Zine page, you’ll be taken to our online store and be able to shop for various E-Zine and chameleon themed items (direct link: http://www.cafepress.com/chameleonnews). Included in these items are men and women’s T-Shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, a 2007 chameleon calendar and much more! So take a look and boast your chameleon addiction with these chameleon inspired items!














Keep an eye out for new item releases from time to time as we are working on some excellent products for release in the near future. Those of you on the email notification list will receive an email notification of new releases, however.

The first article for this issue is an interview with Jim Flaherty of The Chameleon Company. Jim has been nice enough to tell Jason about his large breeding facility and talk with us about some important aspects of chameleon husbandry that he’s observed while caring for and breeding his animals. He’s also given us a number of excellent photos of his facility which I’m sure all chameleon keepers will envy.

For our second article, Franco has provided some information on his experiences raising Parson’s Chameleons, Calumma parsonii parsonii. The data he’s accumulated on growth rates of the specimens in his collection should be very useful for anyone lucky enough to work with this species and we hope to have a more complete article on this species in a future issue.

Steven Deckers has returned with an article on his experiences with the Chamaeleo dilepis complex. Having worked with a couple species from this complex, he’s provided information on their care as well as identification for this highly challenging complex to correctly identify.

I’ve provided a step-by-step guide to building two different enclosure units for the Do-It-Yourself inclined readers. I incorporated a number of features into these enclosures with I hope many of you find useful or inspiring. I’m definitely not a carpenter so these enclosures should be manageable for anyone interested in trying them out.

The E-Zine staff is also holding another photo contest. As with our previous contest, the top submitted photos will be provided in the next issue for voting by the readers. This time, however, we’re providing a first and second place prize. First place winners will receive 5 lbs of Wild Eye Reptile Gutload and their choice of any item on the E-Zine’s new online store while the second place winner will receive 2.5 lbs of WER Gutload!

Jason Descamps has provided us with another Q&A section. As usual, online submissions for this section can be sent via the online submission form in the Contact page or directly to Jason at Jason.Descamps@chameleonnews.com .

If you have articles or ideas you'd like to submit for this next 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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