Are Meller's unsexable, even as adults?

[jessica]

You can not really identify males from females..... I have had up to nine melleri in my care at once... I've been right and wrong when 'calling' the sex of them. I've had a little more success than failure..... but you can't really ever know until you see hard evidence. The link posted by Linda about endoscoping is a bit dated (2002) if I remember and from my understanding is something you DON"T want to do on a non-sexually mature melleri. It is also something you SHOULD NOT ask your vet to do. This is not a procedure that should be taken lightly. You will harm your animal if there is any mishap.

Honestly, the best thing to do is to just raise them up and see what happens. The rush to find proper mates/pairs is silly in my mind. Even if you get a male and female, it doesn't mean they'll get along or even want to mate. They aren't like the other chameleons. They aren't veileds that just bone on site. I have a known female and male living together. They've 'courted' but mostly keep to themselves now, on oposite ends of the free range. When I say courting I mean they have done the abusive and aggressive pushing and showing off. I think mostly to show one another 'hey this is my area...'. I have never seen them mate.

Something I am noticing is that I think females sleep together. I am not 100%... but Pat, I thought was male and Lenny and Pat used to sleep close, often. Part of why I thought Pat was male. When Pat died from a midnight fall, we found that Pat was a female. Right now I have a third melleri living with Sam and Lenny in the free range who I would bet is female.... and Lenny and George sleep fairly close to one another. They don't sleep side by side, but in the same tree, lenny above george. This is the same arrangement that Lenny and Pat would be in. Lenny must be the dominent female of the group. George always submits and avoids conflict with Lenny.

I don't want to sound condescending here... but I think people who keep melleri or think they want to, just need to understand they are slow growers and that mating them isn't some overnight hobby. You won't make a bunch of money being a 'breeder' of melleri over night, or evan at all. I have been keeping melleri for almost 4 years...... and not had any mate. It has taken time for me to get my husbandry to the point it is now, and to get my understanding of the species to where it is now. These chams aren't 'easy'. Sure, you follow some of the basic husbandry of chameleons and can have 'success' keeping them, but that doesn't mean every need is met. Melleri need space... this is key. I sometimes think people under estimate the space needed for melleri. I am not perfect, my care is not perfect. But I just want to encourage people to be sure they research these chameleons before getting into it.

I think this is an excellent post!

It is not meant to be condescending at all, it is meant to be informative. I also know it is not directed at anyone in particular but written for all the people who read this post. There's people out there who jump into species without the knowledge or for the wrong reasons every day.

Taken correctly this is a good post from someone who houses multiple Melleri it's not meant to scold or put anyone down.

 

[Aminah Undone]

I appreciate all of the info that was provided here, by every single person that responded to my question. I think the internet leaves a lot to be desired in proper communication and with that said, it is left up to each individual that puts something out in cyberville to CAREFULLY present themselves with respect for others. It doesn't benefit anyone to sit behind a monitor and ASS-U-ME anything about anyone else.

And to lighten this up a bit, I would love to see some pics of everyone's Meller's. I've exhausted the pics that show up in the search.