Any one know anything about Chamaeleo africanus?

[Bullsnake]

Hey Everyone,
I was just browsing this cham gallery http://markmlucas.com/Galleries/Chameleons%20Gallery.html to get an idea of the different genus's and saw the African Chameleon. I think they are awesome looking, and at least the one in the picture seems pretty small. Does anyone here have one? What are they like? How could I get one ? I wouldn't be getting ANYTIME soon, since I am still getting ready for my first Veiled, but I was just curious for down the road. Thanks for the help.

-Bullsnake

Here are the pictures I found.
http://markmlucas.com/images/Chameleons/Chamaeleo%20africanus.jpg
http://markmlucas.com/images/Chameleons/Chamaeleo%20africanus%20(1).jpg

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

yeah.. thats a cool looking species.. dont know much about them, from what ive been told similar to a veiled..

 

[kinyonga]

From my very limited experience with them, they are a very nervous chameleon.

 

[kinyonga]

Africanus is not something that I have seen available for sale as a rule.

Here's a site that fives information about them....
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=34

 

[mika]

http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html

In 2008, does this mean 3,000 wc were exported from Niger and 1500 were exported from Ethiopia?

Where can I find out how many were exported to the US & to which breeders?

 

[Chris Anderson]

Shipments rarely come in to breeders. The vast majority are sent to large scale importers who then distribute them to who ever orders them (pet stores, breeders, middle men, etc.). A large number of Ch. africanus came in last year and very few are around any more. Other then those last year, they have rarely ever come into the US. The captive hatched babies from these imports were extremely challenging and like indicated in the article referenced, the best we can figure is that they are missing something critical in their diet that causes them not to do well.

Chris

 

[Tygerr]

the best we can figure is that they are missing something critical in their diet that causes them not to do well.

Chris, the article on your e-zine seemed to indicate that that 'missing' ingredient was potassium iodide. Are you saying now that this is not the complete solution, and that the chams are still not doing well in captivity?

 

[Chris Anderson]

The animals that came in came from a different area and the article indicated that the missing nutrient was a result of the local habitat that we were not aware was also an issue in other areas. We were unable to verify whether this same nutrient would have fixed the issues we all experienced raising these babies. As a result, I'm definitely saying we aren't giving them something but I can't say definitively that it is the same thing across their range, although there is a good chance it is.

Chris