Information on Trioceros Montium

[Hoven]

I just saw a few pictures of Montium chameleons (with the fin on the back and two horns).

They look really amazing and I was wondering if anyone could suggest some good resources for information on how to care for them, and since I noticed that they are not for sale at any of the major sponsors what the normal way to acquire on is.

I recently got a chameleon so I am at least a year or so away from actually getting one but I would like to know what is involved. I only have experience with Panthers at this point so any major differences are important.

 

[kinyonga]

Here's a bit of information...
http://web.archive.org/web/20060221133030/www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chmontium.html

 

[Hoven]

How do you set up an enclosure for these guys. 100% relative humidity without getting mold ect?

 

[DGray]

they didn't really mean 100, but a lot

How do you set up an enclosure for these guys. 100% relative humidity without getting mold ect?

While that AdCham article is pretty much right-on about their needs, the "100%" humidity is a little bit of an exaggeration. Montane chameleons do need high humidity, at least 60% rh, I would say, and at times its over 80%. You accomplish this with misting, plants, and in my case, ultrasonic fog generators piping fog into the cages. Even with these measures a person won't be able to achieve 100%, nor should you. Here's a cool build story on one system.

Mold can be a concern. Its likely to appear on cold walls and surfaces. A fan in the room can help to prevent it.

A number of keepers here use glass enclosures and have great success. I have not used them, so I will not comment further. Here's one maker.

To learn more about Tr. montium, use the search function on this site.

And here are a few external sites:
Great article from the e-zine Chameleon News:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/05JunAndersonEtAlMontium.html
scientific paper:
http://www.hofercraft.ch/pdf/Hofer et al. 2003.pdf
and this site, which is in Spanish, but has some nice pictures
http://www.camaleones.es/fechamaeleotmontium.htm

 

[Monties1982]

As far as aquiring one, you just have to keep watching for one to be available. They're virtually always wild caught, so they're only available whenever there is a shipment from Cameroon. I got mine from LLL Reptile back in May. You can also keep an eye on Kingsnake.com chameleon classifieds. I've seen ads for them there before. I've been looking for a female myself to breed with my male.