breeding season colors

I took pix this morning that may help show the difference between the two pale breeding season colors. It's kind of a lousy pic otherwise; the male is really hard to photograph because he is shy. In general, breeding males wear yellow, black, and white. Gravid girls have very low % yellow, mostly gray, black, and white. There is a transition phase of about 2 weeks where they slowly lose their usual green and yellow (what you see here) after becoming gravid/breeding contact. Some go green again shortly before oviposition.

In other words, if you have a melleri showing high yellow with monochrome b/w, it's probably male... probably.

The female is coloring up gravid, in the foreground. The male in his breeding-season daily colors (which is less contrasting than his fired-up actively courting display).



Her creeping-in gravid color is paler from the dorsum down. Some love scratches are still barely evident a black pinpoints:


Bucket feeding, showing her greener ventral surfaces and limbs:


Back to work for me!

Beautiful Mellers

Thanks! Do you keep them, too?

The ongoing effort to illustrate the color differences of males and females...

Here are known genders, from left to right:

receptive female color....................... male in courtship display... unreceptive female color


Note the tail posture of the unreceptive female: arched at the base, but not in the friendly way. It's the territorial/aggressive display. She starts out with the typically male display of tail rolling and knocking, but she's definitely female.


What I'm wondering is, "Does the receptive female not approve of this male, since she's avoiding him, despite her color?"

Is she taking a visual clue from her unreceptive roommate? Both girls ate in his presence, but neither wanted anything to do with him. They have seen him briefly for a few minutes every few days, and show the same reaction each time. The elder of the two started showing receptive color, but she may just be responding chemically to any old courtship visual...?

Kristina,

Your work with this species is fantastic and fascinating to me.
I love your methods, I love your approach and I love that you share these observations with us.
There is (in my opinion) a huge amount to be learned by simply monitoring, feeling, and getting to know these animals.
Please continue to update us.

-Brad

Hey Kristina, I have to agree with Brad.
I love hearing your observations and the pics that accompany them!

I worked with Melleri years ago and believe I had 2 females...
I had to give them up before finding a known male.

Please keep up the good work!
T.

Thank you, Brad and Tokoloshe, for the encouragement. Between drying layers of this sculpt, I get to observe and post. I'm fortunate to be next to them all day (either in the studio or my "perch" in the house) to catch these things, and manage them (testing receptivity). You are right, more daily observation is needed for the advancement of diurnal lizard keeping.

Tokoloshe, I remember you from mellerichams. I'm so sorry you had to give up your females, but it's great to see you back in the hobby.

Ouch! I have been sitting at the computer, with Hercules on my head, processing antiques photos for an upcoming sale when I opened the forum homepage, saw this thread, and clicked on it. Hercules saw your photos, Kristina, and immediately charged down the front of my face toward the computer screen. Great photos! he said, as he left several pinholes in my nose and eyebrows.

He wanted to be held today. That's not always the case, but often. This afternoon when I approached the free range he came to the front edge and lifted his forelegs to be picked up. So I brought him into the office. It seems he'll sit forever on my head. Unless he sees some nice Melleri photos. I had no idea he was paying the least bit of attention (since I can't see him on top of my head).

Our female, Megana, has been sporting the receptive colors you show in your female here. But Herc has been blue-green lately.

gesang said:

Hercules saw your photos, Kristina, and immediately charged down the front of my face toward the computer screen. Great photos! he said, as he left several pinholes in my nose and eyebrows.

Click to expand...

Free facial piercings with purchase of melleri.

Maybe Herc will color up in courtship again, if he sees more pix or a mirror?

The receptive color is very similar to the off-season color both genders can wear.... except receptive green has very, very low % yellow (like gravid females).

Thanks for sharing the story, painful as it was!

studiocham said:

The ongoing effort to illustrate the color

receptive female color....................... male in courtship display... unreceptive female color

Click to expand...

This is simply an amazing photo, showing the true colors of both genders.
This post should be made sticky, very very helpful indeed!

adam1v said:

This is simply an amazing photo, showing the true colors of both genders.
This post should be made sticky, very very helpful indeed!

Click to expand...

Thank you, it's on the Melleri Discovery site's Breeding page, with a bunch more gender color and behavior pix.

It sounds like you are really getting into this species. Have pix to share of your melleri?

Megana changed colors a few weeks ago. The first pic is her normal colors. The second is a pic from her July 26th, when I noticed she'd begun to fade a little. I don't think it's pre-shed coloration, because she just completed a shed, starting in May and shed in different areas til the beginning of August. Also, it would seem unusual for an adult to do a total body shed, turning the body completely white first, the way a youngster would. (But, watch now, I'll look in on her tomorrow and she will have exploded into a juvenile full body shed .)

Could this be gravid coloration, or a problem of some kind? In person, her color looks just like one on the MelleriDiscovery site with the female laying her eggs by a potted plant- with caption "female laying eggs in her nest/ photo courtesy K". Megana is eating well, pooping, basking, drinking, like usual, though not moving around quite as much. She went through a period in June where she paced a lot. And one day I saw her cross Hercules' path, put her chest down on a branch, and raise her rear end in up with tale to the side. But she didn't hold the pose for more than a split second. It's like she was just displaying for Herc for a second. That was when she was showing receptive coloration. And, after she'd shown receptive coloration for a few days, Herc was seen in breeding colors. But I never saw them get together. Anyway, here are pics:

Her normal colors (seen in May and June) with recent shed attached:



July 26th, very slight fade.


Pics from today (she moved away and hid from the camera):

Your melleri look awesome!! its funny how she hid thanks for posting those