Help sexing new cham

[MA70Snowman]

Hello all,

I recently branched into Pygmy Chameleons, I've been keeping Bearded Dragons, and Dart frogs for some time, but I finally decided to take one of my open vivs and put a pair in.

I ordered a Pair of pygmys from LLL Reptile here in CA.
from the basics of my readings, females have short tails, males have long tails. (along w/ other traits)

when I got them it was pretty evident, they were about the same size. however the male wasn't looking to hot and died about a week later. So i finally ordered a new "male" from LLL reptile and got it in. Honestly "He's" ALOT bigger then my other two were. I'm not even sure if he's the same species/type of chameleon.


There's a pictures of "Him" by himself, and then a picture w/ the two together w/ my previous female.

Also There's a picture w/ my old female on her back, I noticed a "growth" on her underside when getting her out for these pictures, I'm kinda worried about it, can anyone tell me what it is?

Thanks all for the assistance. I really love these guys.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

Hello all,

I recently branched into Pygmy Chameleons, I've been keeping Bearded Dragons, and Dart frogs for some time, but I finally decided to take one of my open vivs and put a pair in.

I ordered a Pair of pygmys from LLL Reptile here in CA.
from the basics of my readings, females have short tails, males have long tails. (along w/ other traits)

when I got them it was pretty evident, they were about the same size. however the male wasn't looking to hot and died about a week later. So i finally ordered a new "male" from LLL reptile and got it in. Honestly "He's" ALOT bigger then my other two were. I'm not even sure if he's the same species/type of chameleon.


There's a pictures of "Him" by himself, and then a picture w/ the two together w/ my previous female.

Also There's a picture w/ my old female on her back, I noticed a "growth" on her underside when getting her out for these pictures, I'm kinda worried about it, can anyone tell me what it is?

Thanks all for the assistance. I really love these guys.

hey buddy, all though i am not quite good at sexing pygs, but i do have to go with LLL and say its a boy, i base on tail length as well as colour pattern. he isnt too vibrant, but certainly in the pic, he's more displayed than the female you have. although in the pics you have, they dont realy alow much of the hemipenal buldge to be visable, i couldnt tell you for sure.

are these WC or CB from LLL? do you free range your crickets in the tank, and do you leave them in throughout the night? little bumbs like this could be cricket bites turned into cysts which can be easily treated with poly or neosporin within a day or two.

 

[Trace]

You are correct, you have two different species there. Your new female is a Rieppeleon brevicaudatus and the other female I'm pretty sure a Rhampholeon nchisiensis. It may be a Rhampholeon spectrum though? With a better, close up, picture of the older female, we could tell for sure.

Both have similar husbandry requirements, but the nchisiensis does like it much cooler than the brevicaudatus so I recommend separate enclosures. As for the bump I'm not sure and being as I'm not a veterinarian, not about to hazard a guess from a picture on the internet.

 

[Meximeleon]

Yea I'm really thinking the female is a Spectrum.

 

[MA70Snowman]

To answer some of the questions.

I don't know if they are WC or CB, I doubt LLL knows either but i could call and ask.

So what I'm summing up from this.

They're both females.

the new/larger one, is a: Rieppeleon brevicaudatus
The old/smaller one is a: Rhampholeon spectrum/nchisiensis

well that sux.... not only do I not have a pair, but I don't even have two females of the same species.

unfortunatly at this time, I don't have another viv, nor do I have space for one. The vivarrium is an uninhabbited PDF viv, so temps around 70-79 through out the day and humidity pretty stead around 76%

which cham would be better situated for this type of viv?

 

[Trace]

Either species would be fine in that enclosure but the brevicaudatus could handle the higher end of that temperature gradient better than the nchisiensis. Until you get more space you could always set-up the nchisiensis in a simple plastic bin enclosure. Basically a small Rubbermaid with some dirt on the bottom for her to lay eggs, a few sticks for climbing and some plants for privacy. It may not be as esthetically pleasing as an ExoTerra cage but it will work. In fact, I raised baby pygmies in this type of simple caging except for paper towel on the bottom instead of dirt.

Some interesting pygmy articles for you with some caging ideas:
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebHildenhagen.html
http://chameleonnews.com/05DecRouthouska.html

Don't be shy about asking questions.
Good luck!
T

 

[MA70Snowman]

Either species would be fine in that enclosure but the brevicaudatus could handle the higher end of that temperature gradient better than the nchisiensis. Until you get more space you could always set-up the nchisiensis in a simple plastic bin enclosure. Basically a small Rubbermaid with some dirt on the bottom for her to lay eggs, a few sticks for climbing and some plants for privacy. It may not be as esthetically pleasing as an ExoTerra cage but it will work. In fact, I raised baby pygmies in this type of simple caging except for paper towel on the bottom instead of dirt.

Some interesting pygmy articles for you with some caging ideas:
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebHildenhagen.html
http://chameleonnews.com/05DecRouthouska.html

Don't be shy about asking questions.
Good luck!
T

sorry it took so long to get back, was stuck out for a few days. It's not a matter of space its an issue having another tank, (spouses only put up w/ so much)

I did get some closer pictures of my older female.

honestly I'm thinking I'm going to see if they'll take one of them back as it was LLL that fudged it and sent me two different species and not even a male. seriously lost faith in them after this incident. I would like to keep the
brevicaudatus as she's pretty cool looking, however the old/small one is kinda neat she's just a plump little girl hanging out lol.

 

[Trace]

No worries, I completely understand your situation and decisions.

In the meantime, until you can get to LLL, keep the nchisiensis in an enclosure (Kritter Keeper, Rubbermaid, again need not be big or fancy) with some clean, fairly hard packed potting soil on the bottom. The girls are almost always gravid and she will need a place to lay those eggs. That will explain her rather Rubenesque appearance and perhaps that odd bump on her underside.

Hopefully you can get a male brevicaudatus soon. The pygmy chameleons are chock full of personality as you are quickly finding out.

Cheers,
T

 

[MA70Snowman]

No worries, I completely understand your situation and decisions.

In the meantime, until you can get to LLL, keep the nchisiensis in an enclosure (Kritter Keeper, Rubbermaid, again need not be big or fancy) with some clean, fairly hard packed potting soil on the bottom. The girls are almost always gravid and she will need a place to lay those eggs. That will explain her rather Rubenesque appearance and perhaps that odd bump on her underside.

Hopefully you can get a male brevicaudatus soon. The pygmy chameleons are chock full of personality as you are quickly finding out.

Cheers,
T

Thanks for the pointer, I relocated her to my Rubbermaid grow out bin, and added some flex vines in there. My grow out bin is just loose soil at the bottom, plus plants that don't have a home yet and some moss, w/ a slab of glass over the top and a 2.0 UVB light over the top.

 

[MA70Snowman]

Thanks for the pointer, I relocated her to my Rubbermaid grow out bin, and added some flex vines in there. My grow out bin is just loose soil at the bottom, plus plants that don't have a home yet and some moss, w/ a slab of glass over the top and a 2.0 UVB light over the top.

Well she took a turn for the worse. she wasn't looking to great yesterday, when I relocated her. and today I found her laying on the bottom of the container, barely able to move, slowly flailing her legs unable to grab anything, eyes were sunken in. not looking good, I'm wondering if she has the same t hing my original male had the brev is looking great though she's just cruising all over the place. guess i'm not going to have to goto LLL.

contemplating sticking her in the freezer, instead of letting her suffer the rest of the way. but I'm still unfamiliar w/ the pygmys i don't want to make that type of decisive decision just yet (hoping for input, if she's done, then yah)