a little more info on this cham b4 i buy him..

[foxymiche]

hi all,

ive said previouy that ive had my eye on a little cham in my local store and yesterday i decided to ask about him.
he is a tanzanian side striped chameleon, he is only little, about 3 inches head to vent and he is brown with a white stripe down his sides.

he was up for £150 but ive been offered him for £100 and ive been told i can pay in instalments too

the man in the shop said he got a pair from germany as he was going to breed them himself, unfortunately the female died on the way back so he has put the male up for sale as he cant find another female.
he has told me that they are mountain chameleons and prefer cooler temperatures.

I love the look of this little guy and he is a pretty rare find.. only problem is, i already have a male yemen who i love to bits and my mum has said i cant have another one. i do live in her house but this cham is smaller and doesnt need such a big viv so i dont see the problem really, she is being a pain.

was thinking i could pay in installments and treat myself to him for xmas, and hopefully my mum will come round to the idea. im going to start making a viv whilst im thinking about it anyways!

i just wanted a bit more info on him before i bite the bullet. I think he is a bit stresses at the mo because he is brown and all pics on the net ive found are of green side striped chams. was just wondering if anyone has any info on them atall like potential size, lighting and any habits different to my veiled.

thanks

 

[Trace]

Hi Michelle

You been thinking about this guy for a while haven't you - I'm pretty sure I've seen some posts about him before. You make mention that most side-striped chameleons that you seen are green; I assume those would be Chamaeleo trioceros rudis (Mountain or Rough Chameleon) a very closely related species to the Chamaeleo trioceros bitaeniatus (Side-Striped Chameleon). Just to make sure, this is what you are seeing in the pet shop right?

The bitaeniatus are montane chameleons and thus need cooler temperatures and higher humidity than your calyptratus. I keep my bitaeniatus complex critters with a hot spot of 80F and the humidity no less than 80%. My night drop drops into the 60's. A cool night drop is needed and tolerated. I found that if my temps spiked over the 80F mark the chameleons looked very uncomfortable and blanched. Too high a temperature can be lethal to montane chameleons. I can not spout off enough that high humidity is crucial to ALL species of chameleons. Like your Veiled, you will need a screen cage, UV lights and non-toxic plants.

The true bitaeniatus are not very active so a big cage isn't necessarily needed. This non activity can be construed as boring to most keepers so be prepared for that. I, personally, think it's cool as! Seriously though, they do not move for days sometimes so if you are looking for flash and substance, the bitaeniatus isn't it. I've found the bitaeniatus to not be fussy eaters and most crunchy insects are accepted. (Crickets, flies, roaches) Because of their slower lifestyle I didn't need to feed them every day - every other day was fine. There are periods of the year that their appetites are bigger than others so I adjust accordingly.

Don't be shy about asking questions about your potential new pet - I'm sure I've missed more than a few tips for you!

Cheers,
t

 

[ciafardo 4]

i am currently breeding rudis with great sucess i love these little guys they are brown when they are juvies but become green as they mature i have even had a few bright red babies in one of my litters from a wc female that was already gravid when i got her

 

[foxymiche]

yeah the pics look the same as the one in the shop, he is ssoooo cute! I dont mind if he doesnt want to move much, i just fell in love with him because he is so little and very cute and i would love to have 2 different types of cham just so i can compare the 2 and its nice to find a rare type.

My veiled is 5 months old, at the moment he is in a 2ftX1.5ftx3ft viv which i built. I made a wooden frame and the back and bottom half of the sides are wooden however the top half of the sides, front and top are mesh. I have a 60w light on the top of the viv and a 10% uvb inside the viv at the top. I mist twice a day. The temps are good at 75 at the bottom and 90 at the top and the humidity is 30%.

I will be moving out in about 5 months time and i plan to buy a large wardrobe split it in 2 with a wooden divider and put mesh in the door frames to create a big tall viv for each of the chams.

In the meantime what sort of size viv should i make for the new cham? It will have to last him about 5-6 months.
Also what should i do differently to get the humidity up for this guy?
And do you know how big they get and what age they live to approx?

Thanks

 

[Julirs]

Here is a female that I have had for a few months. I keep my "cooler" species in a different room than the Panthers and Veileds and they seem to do much better. She is a funny little thing-when I water her she hangs upside down like a bat, and she thinks fruit flies are the most tasty thing in the world.

 

[Trace]

Hello Hello.

I house my bitaeniatus individually in 22gal Reptariums (22x14x14) and there is seemingly is plenty room for them because of their inactive lifestyle. I use an undercabinet halogen light to make the basking spot 80F but I rarely see them directly underneath. Again, depending on the fluctuating annual ambient temps they will move closer or further away from that spot accordingly. Always, give your chameleons a basking spot and temperature variation within the cage. They will choose what's best for them.

I use a cool mist humidifier to add moisture to my chameleon room. I do make seasonal adjustments to humidity levels and ambient temperatures to stimulate breeding within my group but I never drop it below 80%. Aim for that. Your Veiled will appreciate the extra humidity as well. Do a search on plumbing a humidifier directly into (here's one thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/carpet-setup-humidifier-mister-16179/ ) your cage(s). Doing that may be more effective because you only have the two chameleons than trying to humidify an entire room.

I consider the bitaeniatus to be a small chameleon with a Snout to Vent Length (SVL) of about 3 to 4 inches give or take. It sounds like the one you are looking at is almost full grown. Not all, but a lot of the bitaeniatus you see are WC specimens so a fecal test is recommended. Average lifespan is about 5 years.

The bitans are one of my absolute favourites, so let me know the decision you make about the little guy. And again, don't be shy with the questions either!

Cheers,
t