Where should the next conference take place?

Where should the next conference take place?

by Alex Laube AG Interna

At the general member meeting during our 2023 conference, the question arose as to whether the next meeting could take place at a different location in Germany. The AG Chamäleons has been meeting in Boppard am Rhein for 21 years. Other DGHT working groups use different locations, so that all members sometimes have a longer, sometimes a shorter journey. Therefore we simply put the question of the meeting place to the vote. Please participate diligently in the poll so that we get an up-to-date picture of our members’ wishes and can act accordingly.

Please click here to go to the poll.

Donations to the AG Chamäleons

Donations to the AG Chamäleons

by Alex Laube AG Interna

During our conference, several donations were handed over, which we are of course very happy about. Firstly, Jean-Dominique Dufraine from Terra-Kultur donated 500 €, secondly, Jutta Dwinger handed over the proceeds of the bags she sold during the conference amounting to 320 € to the AG. Thirdly, Caro Vierbücher joined in and added another 100 € to the already high sum. Thank you very much for these great donations!

Hand-made stuff at our conference

Hand-made stuff at our conference

by Alex Laube AG Interna

As every year, some of our AG members will bring great handmade things with chameleon motifs that can be purchased directly on site.

Firstly, Caro Vierbücher will bring a selection of her creative handicrafts. These include small decorative tiles, cups, bowls, egg cups, and other beautiful things, but also wooden plugs and inscribable wooden motifs to attach to the terrarium. Everything is lovingly hand-painted by Caro at home. Our presenters this year and the winners of the photo competition can each look forward to receiving one of our coveted conference collector’s mugs from Caro. This year a very beautiful Furcifer timoni adorns the cups.

For the first time this year, Jutta Dwinger will bring a selection of her handmade bags and pouches with chameleon motifs to the conference. These include very high-quality gym bags with and without zips as well as chic toiletry bags for the chameleon friend who loves to travel. Other small or larger works of art can also be sewn on request.

Also at the conference, Martin Knauf will bring some of his photo tableaus, which can be purchased on Saturday. The tableaus each contain nine matching motifs, measure 50 x 50 cm and come with high-quality Nielsen aluminium frames. Photos, cutting and sorting are done by Martin himself. Special requests can also be taken into account.

Our conference programme for May 2023

Our conference programme for May 2023

by Alex Laube AG Interna

After we were able to publish a preview of the conference programme in December last year, we now have the final conference programme. This year’s conference will take place from 05 to 07 May 2023 in the tranquil town of Boppard am Rhein. As experience shows that the weekends in Boppard are booked up quickly, we recommend that you look for a hotel or guesthouse soon. Our programme has become a nice mixture of keeping reports, general terraristics and travel reports. Friday is the traditional day for arrival and a pleasant dinner in the local restaurants.

Saturday starts with a classic husbandry and breeding report. Jean-Dominique Dufraine has been keeping Rieppeleon brevicaudatus and Archaius tigris for several years. He talks about his experiences in breeding, but also in the everyday keeping of the two species. Afterwards, Thorsten Negro will take us on a search for Parson’s Chameleons in their natural habitat in Madagascar.

In the afternoon, Oliver Witte will give us an exciting insight into law, legislation and terrarium keeping – don’t worry, it won’t be as dry as it sounds, but very interesting for chameleon keepers. As a highlight, the physicist Sarina Wunderlich from www.lichtimterrarium.de has also agreed to join us. LEDs are becoming increasingly popular in terrarium keeping, not least because they can save a lot of electricity. Sarina will show us the advantages and risks of LEDs and discuss the latest development, UV LEDs. After these two presentations, we have planned plenty of time for discussion and questions, because there will certainly be plenty to talk about. At the end of Saturday, Rayana Vuillemain will introduce us to the Association Caméléon Centre Conservation (Switzerland) – this is the only presentation in English.

Sunday will be another colourful day: Lars Dwinger will report on a Madagascar trip to the southern highlands and the central east of the island. He travelled between carpet chameleons and rice fields as well as in the rainforest of Ranomafana, where he met a variety of small and large chameleons. Markus Grimm will conclude with an overview of Chamaeleo chamaeleon in its natural habitat in Europe as well as keeping and breeding them in terrariums.

We are very much looking forward to a nice meeting and many chameleon friends!

Chamaeleo namaquensis offspring in the AG

Chamaeleo namaquensis offspring in the AG

by Alex Laube AG Interna Nachzuchten

A great breeding success was achieved by AG-member and former AG-speaker Timo Weiß this week: His Chamaeleo namaquensis offspring hatched successfully. Congratulations!

The Namaqua chameleon is one of the few existing chameleons that actually occur in real deserts. It lives in the wild in Namibia, South Africa and Angola on the African continent. Unlike many other chameleon species, it inhabits mainly the ground and low shrubs.

Photo: One-day-old juvenile on the hand of the successful keeper

Farewell to Guy Kremer

by jbglaw AG Interna General topics

Dear AG members,

We have received some sad news.

Our long-time and loyal member Guy Kremer sadly passed away far too young last Saturday.

Everyone who knew him appreciated him for his calm, matter-of-fact manner and his wealth of knowledge. You could have controversial discussions with him and always got new suggestions and tips, be it about the next Seychelles trip or about life in general.

Unfortunately, he lost his last difficult battle. Our thoughts are now with his family.

We will miss you….

David