Breeding Rudis Chameleons
- Thread starter Chase
- Start date
Chase
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well, I don't want to get too small of a cage because then they will be unhappy but I don't want to get a very large cage because they are only 6" to 7". How big are the babies when they are born? Is the Gestation period the same length? Sorry for all the questions, the Rudis I might get are already gravid so ya. Thanks
Brandy
New Member
jsut because they are small dosent mean anyting, alot of small chams need roaming room , id say 1.5' or more on each side min. Gestation i dont know specifically i think it depends on seasion 4-6 months would be my estimate, babies are tiny less then a inch they usually eat fruit flies or pin head crix. keep them cool, and humid that is the key with any montain chameleon. look into deworming the female after she gives birth. they usually give birth in the am b4 11 am, litters vaire is size, females look like huge balls and start sleeping and resting in weird postiions b4 birth, they do not always go of food so that is not a good indicator. again the key points are cool temps and humidity and watch out for oversupplementations montains are much more sencitive them lowlands. read up on montain chameleon care
Brandy
New Member
please look into it before you get the rudis montain chams are much more dificult them lowlands and you have to be able to maintain there environment they are not flexible like veilds and will not handle hot spells or dry contitions. As well they would be wild caught adding an additional obsticle, im not saying dont get it but from you list of animals a montain cham would not fit in with your current collection. And yes supplementaion is very different.
AFH
Avid Member
Hey LP, not to try to discourage you, but I think Brandy has a very good point about a montane not fitting into your collection. Unless you've got a completely separate room you're planning on putting this one in, a common environment probably won't work for both. You'll either have it too cool and humid for the veiled and beardies, or you'll have it too hot and dry for the montane.
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
I agree. I'd like to add something form experience. Montanes are only slightly trickier than lowlands in most regards. That includes vitamin and mineral balances and humidity. They are BIG differences, and if you can deal with them, they're not hard, just different.
I never reccomend a montane as a beginner chameleon, simply because of the really difficult aspects of them: Temperatures.
Temps are much harder to get right than you'd expect. Especially if yo've already got lowland species. Put it this way: If you're going to keep a montane species in the same room as veileds, beardeds and of all thigns, a uromastix, it's gonna die early. the heat itself might not do it, but it'll cause issues in the long term.
I had this happen with deremensis, one of the more "warmth tolerant" montane species.
In my animal room in the Raleigh area, it just din't get cool enough at night. They all died at around 2 years of care with grossly fattened livers. Temps never got cold enough for them to go through a cool-down period. That period is vital for their metabolism - not cool down/fasting period, and the never lose their fat reserves.
Montanes just do better in a basement. If you cannot get the day temps around 75 degrees, and if you cannot get nighttime temp drops in the 60's, I'd forget abo montanes. It's just not worth it.
I dont' want to discourage you. If anythign, montanes are underappreciated. I encourage you to continue your research (which you are clearly doing well in advance of purchase). See if they can fit. If you've got a basement to use, or a cooler room, I'd go for it.
Montanes are a heck of a lot more interesting than the other species. The problem is most people (me included) like to keep them all in the same area.
Aside from a MANDATORY cooldown and fasting over a couple months, I find deremensis to be the hands down easiest species to keep. They always eat from your hand, they are much less sensitive to vitamin imbalances than other montane species, they dont' require the nail-biting paradox of a heat lamp and cool temperatures... a tube is all they need for most of the year (only after cold nights, they will bask, and gravid females will bask too). They don't eat too much, they're big, not very shy, and will almost always eat from your hand right out of the shipping container.
They are not easy to breed. Deremensis have a reputation for being weird and inconsisten in behavior. I think it has to do wiht seasonal temp cycles. I've let them have a rough winter, barely eating for the coldest months, and they are perfectly behaved animals the rest of the year. When I had them at constant (70-80degrees) year round, they'd go through fasting periods of 1-2 months by themselves - especially the males - it drove me nuts.
Now, after they warm up post-fast, they never refuse food.
my only gripe against rudis: tiny tiny babies. Man those babies are tiny. very small and not super fast growing. that means small prey for a long time. Veileds are on small insects for a week.
I never reccomend a montane as a beginner chameleon, simply because of the really difficult aspects of them: Temperatures.
Temps are much harder to get right than you'd expect. Especially if yo've already got lowland species. Put it this way: If you're going to keep a montane species in the same room as veileds, beardeds and of all thigns, a uromastix, it's gonna die early. the heat itself might not do it, but it'll cause issues in the long term.
I had this happen with deremensis, one of the more "warmth tolerant" montane species.
In my animal room in the Raleigh area, it just din't get cool enough at night. They all died at around 2 years of care with grossly fattened livers. Temps never got cold enough for them to go through a cool-down period. That period is vital for their metabolism - not cool down/fasting period, and the never lose their fat reserves.
Montanes just do better in a basement. If you cannot get the day temps around 75 degrees, and if you cannot get nighttime temp drops in the 60's, I'd forget abo montanes. It's just not worth it.
I dont' want to discourage you. If anythign, montanes are underappreciated. I encourage you to continue your research (which you are clearly doing well in advance of purchase). See if they can fit. If you've got a basement to use, or a cooler room, I'd go for it.
Montanes are a heck of a lot more interesting than the other species. The problem is most people (me included) like to keep them all in the same area.
Aside from a MANDATORY cooldown and fasting over a couple months, I find deremensis to be the hands down easiest species to keep. They always eat from your hand, they are much less sensitive to vitamin imbalances than other montane species, they dont' require the nail-biting paradox of a heat lamp and cool temperatures... a tube is all they need for most of the year (only after cold nights, they will bask, and gravid females will bask too). They don't eat too much, they're big, not very shy, and will almost always eat from your hand right out of the shipping container.
They are not easy to breed. Deremensis have a reputation for being weird and inconsisten in behavior. I think it has to do wiht seasonal temp cycles. I've let them have a rough winter, barely eating for the coldest months, and they are perfectly behaved animals the rest of the year. When I had them at constant (70-80degrees) year round, they'd go through fasting periods of 1-2 months by themselves - especially the males - it drove me nuts.
Now, after they warm up post-fast, they never refuse food.
my only gripe against rudis: tiny tiny babies. Man those babies are tiny. very small and not super fast growing. that means small prey for a long time. Veileds are on small insects for a week.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
I do want to discourage you from getting the Rudis.
For the same reasons mentioned, I do not mess with the mountain chameleons.
I am (as Trace says) Hot Lowland Guy
You need to keep them at 80% humidity in the day and 100% at night, very cool (as mentioned) so, basically, in a whole different part of the house with a constant humidifier.
Is your mom going to let you do that?
I also think you're collecting too quickly.
You just got your pygmies and now your off looking to acquire a gravid Rudis.
Slow down ... focus on the animals you have, and the environment you have created. Don't try to keep a goldfish in a doghouse.
-Brad
For the same reasons mentioned, I do not mess with the mountain chameleons.
I am (as Trace says) Hot Lowland Guy
You need to keep them at 80% humidity in the day and 100% at night, very cool (as mentioned) so, basically, in a whole different part of the house with a constant humidifier.
Is your mom going to let you do that?
I also think you're collecting too quickly.
You just got your pygmies and now your off looking to acquire a gravid Rudis.
Slow down ... focus on the animals you have, and the environment you have created. Don't try to keep a goldfish in a doghouse.
-Brad
