Chamaeleo Weidershimi question

I received a pair of peacocks a little over a week ago, to house sit for a fellow keeper, and maybe re-home at some point this spring. And this weekend really got first chance to view their behavior. So question is; Does this species tend to bask alot? I witness them warm up for hours at a time, before dissapearing back in the plants. Normal? Female might be with eggs, but this is a new species for me, so unsure of a few things.
 
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i honestly do not know anything about weidershimi but am certainly very fascinated with them. they are very nice looking chameleons. how high is their basking temperature? they may just prefer the warmer and drier areas of the enclosure. but i am sure it is normal for every chameleon to want to go hide out during their day. during the cooler months, im finding my K. Multi basking more often and longer than usual before going to hide.
 
Maybe you will run with your head against the next wall Chad, but this male looks like a typical one of the recently new described species Trioceros serratus :p

@Steve: As long as they stop the basking on their own I wont change anything. As you probably know, many of the submontane and montane species are completely unable to notice when they bask too long. My johnstonis or merumontanus would probably never stop it if the spots wont go on/off every other hour.
 
Steve - The animals you have are currently classified as Trioceros perreti (no longer considered a subspecies of wiedersheimi). They look quite healthy too. When I worked with this species, the Trioceros perreti seemed to bask more than my Trioceros serratus (we called them T. w. wiedersheimi at the time) but both would bask. Both were quite shy, however, and were difficult to see for much of the day.

Chad - Do you have any pics of that male from the side so I can try to help confirm the ID?

Chris
 
Maybe you will run with your head against the next wall Chad, but this male looks like a typical one of the recently new described species Trioceros serratus :p

@Steve: As long as they stop the basking on their own I wont change anything. As you probably know, many of the submontane and montane species are completely unable to notice when they bask too long. My johnstonis or merumontanus would probably never stop it if the spots wont go on/off every other hour.

Yes, that did look like a very uncommon male in Chad's photos.

Thanks for the advise Benny. I think one with the shed going on, used the heat to bust out of his old skin. And other might be holding eggs. Putting heat lamp on a timer with on/off cycles is great idea for this situation.

Thanks for the correction on the classification Chris.
 
Yes, that did look like a very uncommon male in Chad's photos.

Thanks for the advise Benny. I think one with the shed going on, used the heat to bust out of his old skin. And other might be holding eggs. Putting heat lamp on a timer with on/off cycles is great idea for this situation.

Thanks for the correction on the classification Chris.

One more advise: If your temps on the ground are relative low, install there an additional spot. The laying process is very problematic for many small species, the spot helps them not to "cool down". I lost several females of smaller Kinyongia species before I used this method, since I install a little spot, eg 25watt, I didnt have those problems. If you use this spot method you only have to put some more focus on the humidity of the ground, but if you spray regularly, the spot wont dry it out too fast
 
I'd have to disagree. The female is without a question Trioceros perreti and I believe the male is also, albeit with a very well developed dorsal crest. When you read the article Benny linked to as well as Klaver & Boehme (1992), there is nothing to indicate that the size of the scallops of the dorsal crest are indicative of the species (a larger photo where I could zoom in and count the scales on each scallop could help figure it out). Looking at the parietal crest of the male, it appears to be more anterior, not connecting posteriorly, which would also indicate T. perreti (a larger copy of the photo would help confirm that). A photo from the side would help eliminate the possibility of T. wiedersheimi or T. serratus, however, based on the shape of the orbital and lateral crests as well as general coloration and patterning. Ultimately either a larger copy of that photo or a good side shot would make it clear, but I tend to lean toward T. perreti for Chad's male.

Also, Benny, while T. serratus is the newly resurrected species, they are actually the specimens we had previously been referring to as T. w. wiedersheimi. Much as was the case with K. fischeri and K. matschiei, we actually have had less information about and exposure to true T. wiedersheimi than T. serratus.

Chris
 
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