Elliots Chameleon (C.T.Ellioti)

[Tazjunky]

Hi all, I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some light on the basics for keeping Elliots Chameleon?

I have read various bits on line and temps seem to vary!

First off - I have an exo 60x45x60cm enclosure
2.0 and 5.0 UVB lights
basking lamps - 2x low voltage halogen (max temp 91f) at 3" from the roof of the enclosure.

i'll run you through what i have gathered so far and if anyone knows any different id be real grateful for the info as I will be picking 2 babies up over this weekend.

Ambient temp - low 70's
Basking temp - 80f (90f if pregnant)
night temp - low 60s
humidity - 60-70% (Mist 2xdaily)

will be fed on fruit flies/ size 1 crickets
when older to be fed on flies from gut loaded maggots and relevant sized crickets/ small locusts.

right so there you go! please let me know if you see anything I need to change!

 

[Tazjunky]

bump - any info from experienced keepers greatly appreciated

 

[Cainschams]

http://replay.web.archive.org/20090...cham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chellioti.html

I have kept them before. Neat little chams but rather sedentary.

Here is a post from another member, Trace.

"I kept both sexes individually in cages 16x16x30 or so. The females are relatively sedentary, moving from hiding lower in the foliage to the basking spot and back over the course of a day so they don’t need a huge cage. Yeah the males are a little more active but not like a fischeri that does not stop pacing around.

Do you have a spare room you could turn into a higher humidity, cooler temperature montane area? Having a constant ambient of 74 with a basking of 78 doesn’t really provide much of a choice for your animals, even the Veileds, although the calyptratus certainly aren’t as fussy about the varying temperatures as the ellioti and even your multis and melleri would be. I’d put all three of those species in the montane room if you can swing such a thing that way you are monitoring a room and not individual cages.

I’m sure you’ve seen me post this before – in fact I copy/pasted from some old threads - but here is my brief and simple annual schedule for my East Africa montanes. I now have to alter this a bit for those contemptuous rain loving Cameroon nationals of mine. (Horrible things!). Being as I live in a northerly area with marked seasonal changes I can use those changes to my advantage.

June - August: One 15 minute misting session after true sun rise and before lights on. 0745-0800hrs. This simulates the morning dew. Humidifier on only at night (12 hours). Daily to every other day feedings.
September - December: One 15 minute misting session after true sun rise and before lights on. 0745-0800hrs. This simulates the morning dew. Add a mist session in afternoon to simulate late day thunder/rain showers. 1645-1700hrs. Increase humidifier length to 18 hours. Every other day feedings. Most keepers notice a natural decrease in appetite in the late fall.
January - May: One 15 minute misting session after true sun rise and before lights on. 0745-0800hrs. This simulates the morning dew. A mist session at midday 1200-1205. A mist session in afternoon to simulate late day thunder/rain showers. 1645-1700hrs. Humidifier on 24/7. Daily feedings. Most keepers notice a natural increase in appetite come spring and this is when my animals breed.
My lights, which are on timers, get adjusted to the seasonal light changes as they occur; so my on/off times change almost monthly. Maybe bi-monthly? I also make slight adjustments to humidifier and mist system times so the changes I said above aren't quite so jarring to my animals"

I am not sure I would have the basking so high for your animals especially youngsters. I give my montane species a basking site between 80 and 85. I would also try to keep humidity 70% at least and higher at night. I found mine not to be picky eaters. I fed them crix, flies, spiders, moths, hoppers etc.

This is about all I can give. I hope you get well started babies and they do well for you!
__________________

 

[Tazjunky]

Thanks for the link!
I had read the other bits in info here on the forum, but no one seems to say for definate what temps are the best?

Its funny, I have just put some crickets in for the little guys this morning, and what I believe to be the female, is hanging by the feeder cup and dancing! the other one isnt impressed though!

This is what is believed to be the male

and this is the larger female

and i think this video should work.........
http://youtu.be/08bZSSVo22k?hd=1

 

[Tazjunky]

some better pics of them both

 

[pssh]

I dont know much about ellioti, but from the tail bases the larger one looks male to me with the smaller one looking female. Also, from what I can see, your viv looks a bit sparse.

 

[Tazjunky]

thanks for the reply, and yes it is a bit bare! i should have put at the beginning of the thread, that the enclosure still needed the live plants to go in! these are just soaking as i type this!

 

[laurie]

thanks for the reply, and yes it is a bit bare! i should have put at the beginning of the thread, that the enclosure still needed the live plants to go in! these are just soaking as i type this!

Julirus is also working wilt ellotti, send her a pm and she may have some answers for you.

 

[Tazjunky]

Thanks Laurie,
I have already sent a message to a few people, just waiting on some replies. Iv been laughing watching them, they are such characters already!

 

[Julirs]

Hey Taz-you can look at my pictures for the difference between male and female. My female (from Cain)is pretty sedentary, but my male is quite active. I keep them in 16X16X30 cages with ambient temps from 68-75 (room temp) and basking low 80's. I am beefing up the plants in both cages now that they are parasite free and have covered some of the cage sides with plastic to help keep the humidity a little higher.

 

[Tazjunky]

thanks Julirs. i think the small one is still too small to tell for certain. but the bigger one is definately displaying alot more colouration and patterns.

So I finally finished putting in the rest of the plants......just gotta wait for them to fill out a bit now, but apart from that the chams seem happy exploring and eating...

 

[Julirs]

Wow-Mine look extremely different from yours. Yours could be much youngser-but mine do not show that pronounced striping and mine are not that green. Where did you get them?

Can one of the more advanced keepers of these guys explain the difference I am seeing?

 

[Tazjunky]

Mine are from a breeder over here in the UK, they are roughly 12 weeks old now and from unrelated parents. one is a bit bigger than the other and is always displaying patterns and what looks like dancing at times to the other one. the smaller one is alot more active now that the umbrella plants have been added he/she is currently doing a lap of the enclosure having a good look around. the larger one has gone into stealth mode hiding somewhere!

 

[Tazjunky]

a few more pics, I couldnt resist, these guys are so cute! and keep me entertained while im doing Uni work. really pleased, I moved the little one to where the food tub is, and before I put him/her down the tongue fired out!

 

[Tazjunky]

from your experience with these guys Julirs, what sex would say each was?
the larger of the 2 looks like he/she is growing day by day in comparison to the other one. he/she keeps getting right under the basking spot and putting its belly in the heat. the little one just keeps wandering round and sitting on the tops of plants happy to do nothing, but has started to display patterns this past few days similar to the other. The breeder I got them from said she thought the smaller one was the male due to the fact it keeps throwing blue colouring and he tends to stay alot greener like in the pictures. the other stays quite dull but with the diamond patterns.

 

[Tazjunky]

Wow-Mine look extremely different from yours. Yours could be much youngser-but mine do not show that pronounced striping and mine are not that green. Where did you get them?

Can one of the more advanced keepers of these guys explain the difference I am seeing?

you know, I have been looking about since you mentioned that these guys looked different from yours Julirs, and I am wondering if they are Ellioti and not Trioceros goetzei instead? the larger one is showing near enough the same patterns as in some of Cainschams posts. is it possible?

 

[Julirs]

you know, I have been looking about since you mentioned that these guys looked different from yours Julirs, and I am wondering if they are Ellioti and not Trioceros goetzei instead? the larger one is showing near enough the same patterns as in some of Cainschams posts. is it possible?

Exactly what I was thinking-we need to get Cain to chime in since he has kept both.

 

[Cainschams]

Those are indeed ellioti. Very similar to goetzei but definitely ellioti. There are a few different locales. The four I had all had very different coloration. One was more gray, one was more orangish/brown and one was green (the one Juli has).

 

[Trace]

The lack of occipital lobes, the slightly elevated casque, the broken side-stripes and the irregular dorsal spines all indicate ellioti.

 

[Tazjunky]

tried to get some other pics of the patterned one.

sleeping last night