Welcome to the first post of the World Chameleon Species Tour where we are exploring the chameleons of the world with our tour guide, Jurgen Van Overbeke! Today we have made landfall on the western shore of Africa in a country called Cameroon. The Republic of Cameroon
Introduction to Trioceros cristatus
Our first featured chameleon is Trioceros cristatus. This chameleon is often called the Crested Chameleon. T. cristatus is a rarely imported species. Though, they are not necessarily difficult to breed. It is a popular species for those who know it exists! Should Cameroon export again, T. cristatus would be a prime candidate for captive breeding projects. The IUCN RedList reports this species to occur up to 900 meters a.s.l.
Husbandry and Breeding notes:
Let's hear about breeding can husbandry conditions from Jurgen who just happens to have eggs incubating at the time of posting!
(Note that the writing style will still sound like me because I am transcribing and smoothing out this information from audio files that Jurgen has prepared for me.)
“Trioceros cristatus is also known as the Crested Chameleon. It is from the Republic of Cameroon and is a rainforest species. Both the male and female have a high crest. The male is reddish orange while the female is green. The male will get a beautiful line of blue dots on their helmet.
T. cristatus requires a well planted terrarium. Like Parson’s Chameleons, they sit in the same place for long periods of time. In a departure from what we are used to, T. cristatus tends to hunt near the ground. Gives them lots and lots of real plants to make them feel at home!
This is a male Trioceros cristatus easily identifiable by the chestnut body color. Image courtesy of Kevin Stanford
These are female Trioceros cristatus showing their green body color. Image courtesy of Fred Pierre
A juvenile male Trioceros cristatus hatched by Jurgen Van Overbeke
T. cristatus is a lowland species that likes temperatures between 75 and 80F. You can give a basking spot, but they seem to rarely use it. As they are a lowland species, a dramatic nighttime temperature drop is not necessary. They are big drinkers so it is important to give them fogging at night for at least a few hours and run a dripper during the morning and later afternoon. They are not picky eaters. This is an egg layer and incubation at room temperatures can go 10-11 months. The babies can be quite large and can be sexed at 2 months old.”
As can be seen by the pictures, Trioceros cristatus is a beautiful chameleon. Note the shorter tail and, of course, the dramatic difference between males and females!
Introduction to Trioceros cristatus
Our first featured chameleon is Trioceros cristatus. This chameleon is often called the Crested Chameleon. T. cristatus is a rarely imported species. Though, they are not necessarily difficult to breed. It is a popular species for those who know it exists! Should Cameroon export again, T. cristatus would be a prime candidate for captive breeding projects. The IUCN RedList reports this species to occur up to 900 meters a.s.l.
Husbandry and Breeding notes:
Let's hear about breeding can husbandry conditions from Jurgen who just happens to have eggs incubating at the time of posting!
(Note that the writing style will still sound like me because I am transcribing and smoothing out this information from audio files that Jurgen has prepared for me.)
“Trioceros cristatus is also known as the Crested Chameleon. It is from the Republic of Cameroon and is a rainforest species. Both the male and female have a high crest. The male is reddish orange while the female is green. The male will get a beautiful line of blue dots on their helmet.
T. cristatus requires a well planted terrarium. Like Parson’s Chameleons, they sit in the same place for long periods of time. In a departure from what we are used to, T. cristatus tends to hunt near the ground. Gives them lots and lots of real plants to make them feel at home!
This is a male Trioceros cristatus easily identifiable by the chestnut body color. Image courtesy of Kevin Stanford
These are female Trioceros cristatus showing their green body color. Image courtesy of Fred Pierre
A juvenile male Trioceros cristatus hatched by Jurgen Van Overbeke
T. cristatus is a lowland species that likes temperatures between 75 and 80F. You can give a basking spot, but they seem to rarely use it. As they are a lowland species, a dramatic nighttime temperature drop is not necessary. They are big drinkers so it is important to give them fogging at night for at least a few hours and run a dripper during the morning and later afternoon. They are not picky eaters. This is an egg layer and incubation at room temperatures can go 10-11 months. The babies can be quite large and can be sexed at 2 months old.”
As can be seen by the pictures, Trioceros cristatus is a beautiful chameleon. Note the shorter tail and, of course, the dramatic difference between males and females!
