Help with pygmy chameleon identification and sex please

[RockingBlondie]

Hi,

I wonder if you could help please. We picked up 2 pygmy chameleons today. They were sold as Kenyan Pygmy Chameleons but I am pretty sure they are not, they are R.Brevs. Can anyone confirm that from the pics please? It desn't matter to me either way really but if ever they have babies, I would want to make sure I can sell them on as the right kind of pygmy. I though Kenyan Pygmies has more elongated bodies?

Also, does anyone have any ideas on the sex. We are pretty sure it is a little boy (Douglas) and a little girl (Virginia). The reason we think this is that one, Douglas, is not as round and has a thick tail base. Also, his back is more bumpy (not sure of the technical term ) We would love someone with a bit more knowledge to confirm for us.

Male (the one in front):

Female (the one in front):

Both together:

In new home:

Many thanks,
Abbie and Nik

 

[RockingBlondie]

Having done a bit more looking, are they R.Temporalis? They seem to have more elongated snouts than R.Brevs?

 

[qdude46]

They do seem like temporalis as they don't have the little beard like brevs. The male I'm not completely sure but the female is for sure she seems pretty chubby to

 

[RockingBlondie]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, we are def thinking temporalis now. Glad that at least one is a little girl as we didn't want to end up with two boys

 

[pssh]

Yes, they are temporalis and the one you believe is male, is a male. They basically require the same care as brevs, but like the temperature a few degrees cooler (F) than brevs. They also dont seem to climb as much, so make sure you have plenty of lower branches/twigs and foliage.

Edit: here is an article with care/breeding info in it.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/07FebHildenhagen.html

Edit2: here is another article that shows how you can check to see if she is gravid using a lamp:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/06MayDeckers.html

 

[qdude46]

Did the girl look braved to you in the 2nd pic pssh?

 

[pssh]

She could be. Or she could just be chunky. I had a female that looked like that and she had one giant egg in her (but didnt really look gravid.) for whatever reason she couldnt lay the egg after a few months and she died. I cut it out of her and it only developed partially before it died. Its easy enough to check with the method in the article. Then you know for sure and can look around for eggs periodically/adjust feeding appropriately.

 

[RockingBlondie]

Thank you both for your help. That is really useful. I have read caresheets for all the different species of pygmy chameleon in prep as they always seem to be labelled up wrong or just generically called 'pygmy chameleons' in shops! I'll take a read through the one you have posted here and do the lamp check if you think she is looking gravid. Bless her

They both are settling in well. We have loads of very small twigs and they have been having an explore.

Thanks again x