prettykttkat
Established Member
I recently got an Oustalet's cham that I decided to breed. I noticed that he looked a little different than most other males I've seen in the pet trade and in photos on the internet. When I first got him I did quite a bit of research on the computer and found a website stating this species has color locales/morphs. I was trying to figure out which one my male was so that I could find a suitible female for him from the same locale giving me better odds of reproducing babies that looked like him. I thought I had a good idea he might be an Ambanja based solely on his color so to be sure I contacted the author of the site who studies these chams in Madagascar. He looked at the pic I sent him and told me he was not from Ambanja and the reason was not just because of color, it was because of his casque. He said Ambanja locales have a more rounded casque than all other oustalet's chams and that the area around the eye is always black and right around the tip of the eye lids are yellow. He sent me a pic high lighting the differences. He also said that if a splitting taxonomist were to really study them that they would prob be declared a separate species. He also said that because of this the color locales should not be mixed. The other locales also have physical differences to them besides just color. Oustalet's from the south west are much larger than other locales especially ones from Morondava which he said would be worth keeping a captive colony of. He said he thinks my male is prob from the Tulear region because the shape of it's casque. My male has a more pointed casque than some of the other locales. Then he explained my chances of finding a female from there are very slim and why. His quote: "I would estimate that there is about 90% chance that oustaleti imported are from the Antananarivo/Ambatolampy region
and less than 10% that the animals originate from the Tulear region. Very few animals come from Ambositra and even fewer from Ambanja. This is for commercial reasons. There are specialised oustaleti "hunters" in the Antananarivo/Ambatolampy region
where the species is common, even in the town center and in people's yards. Oustaleti from Antananarivo are the cheapest oustaleti an exporter can get and because importers overseas generally do not care what local of oustaleti they get and pay the same
price no matter what locality, almost every oustaleti exporter is from the Antananarivo/Ambatolampy region. Exporters are also all based in Antananarivo so it is convenient to get animals from not to far away." Then he told me what I should do about breeding, his quote: " If I would live in a country other than Madagascar, I would buy several young animals from a single shipment as chances that there are more than one locality oustaleti in a single shipment are slim. In your case, I would either pair your male with an Antananarivo/Ambatolampy
or Ambositra female (I think they are , although slightly different, the same phenotype). In the meanwhile , please spread the word that oustaleti "morphs" should not be mixed. If enough people ask, may be one day exporters here will care."
Since talking to him through email and learning all of this I thought it was important that I share this info with everyone else who is interested in this species. The website for color locales/morhps is:
http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/oustaletimorphs.html
If you want to see my male (Rex) go to this thread:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/hi-rex-28126/
I recently found a female I think would be the best/closest match for him and will post pics of her soon. Thanks for selling her to me Jared! The little male is not too bad either, lol
and less than 10% that the animals originate from the Tulear region. Very few animals come from Ambositra and even fewer from Ambanja. This is for commercial reasons. There are specialised oustaleti "hunters" in the Antananarivo/Ambatolampy region
where the species is common, even in the town center and in people's yards. Oustaleti from Antananarivo are the cheapest oustaleti an exporter can get and because importers overseas generally do not care what local of oustaleti they get and pay the same
price no matter what locality, almost every oustaleti exporter is from the Antananarivo/Ambatolampy region. Exporters are also all based in Antananarivo so it is convenient to get animals from not to far away." Then he told me what I should do about breeding, his quote: " If I would live in a country other than Madagascar, I would buy several young animals from a single shipment as chances that there are more than one locality oustaleti in a single shipment are slim. In your case, I would either pair your male with an Antananarivo/Ambatolampy
or Ambositra female (I think they are , although slightly different, the same phenotype). In the meanwhile , please spread the word that oustaleti "morphs" should not be mixed. If enough people ask, may be one day exporters here will care."
Since talking to him through email and learning all of this I thought it was important that I share this info with everyone else who is interested in this species. The website for color locales/morhps is:
http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/oustaletimorphs.html
If you want to see my male (Rex) go to this thread:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/hi-rex-28126/
I recently found a female I think would be the best/closest match for him and will post pics of her soon. Thanks for selling her to me Jared! The little male is not too bad either, lol
