Looking for info on Ellioti

[Greenstar]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and fairly new to chameleons. I have been working with dartfrogs since 2000, geckos since 03 and most recently chameleons for the last 2 months or so. Right now I have 1.3 R. Brevicaudatus and 1.2 temporalis, all are doing great, eating and drinking regularily. Because I am I perfer to not keep large animals I.E. anything over 6" , I am thinking of getting 1.2 or possibly 2.4 Ellioti. Information I have found about them is scarce and conflicting even from personal accounts. From what I have gathered the like mild tempatures, low to mid 70's nothing over 85, enjoy large night time drops in tempature. They need high humidity, good ventaltion and are vivaporous. I don't know about there diet, lighting needs i.e. UVA/UVB requirement, frequency of breeding, hardiness, or general day to day care. Also does anyone know if they are aggressive towards conspecifics, because one person told me he was keeping 1.2 WC together happy and breeding for about 2 years before he sold the project but Adcham says they are highly aggresive towards each other?

Any help is appreciated,
Danny

 

[Trace]

Whoa! How did I miss a post about Elliots?

Sounds like you've done a bit of reading on the species and I'd have to agree with most things you said. I try not to let my ambient temps in my chameleon room go over 80F. My nightime is usually 65-70F. Humidity is 70% during the day and 100% overnights. My ellioti are doing well in those conditions. Anything over 80F and they start looking pale and unhappy.

Food wise, I have yet to get any of my WC's or F1's to eat soft bodied bugs like silks or hornworms. They just don't seem to understand them. However, my ellioti will eat anything crunchy like crix, roaches, mantids and flies. They loooooooove flies.

As for breeding, well they don't seem to stop! They are almost as bad as the brevicaudatus in that respect. A lot of my notes are packed away and my memory is fading but the females can give birth up to four times a year and gestation is about 4 months. (Can be shorter, can be longer). I keep my ellioti separately but I think small groups (one male, several females) can be kept together with supervision on behalf of the owner. Signs of stress in chameleons can be very subtle to a new keeper so I always suggest separate caging. Two males will fight and be territorial so visual barricades are a must between them. It doesn't matter so much for the ladies. All my males are quite active and patrol their cages constantly, the ladies are content to sit in one spot.

Most of the ellioti I'm seeing for sale are WC's so I hestitate to say they are hardy critters. They certainly aren't like a CB pardalis. There are folks around with young CB babies so maybe wait until they become available over a fresh WC one.

Cheers!
Trace

Here's a newborn blue phase baby:

 

[Greenstar]

Thanks for the info, just one more question how big of cages do you house them in. I have three cages ready to go right that are 12x18x30, so I have seperate housing for quaritine and if they begin to fight, but I am going to try and house the females together. How hard are the babies to raise, what size food?

Thanks
Danny

 

[Heika]

Hi Danny,

I purchased a WC trio from Trace in early March, and have very little experience with this species, so please take this into consideration.. Trace is way more experienced with the Elliots and the bitaeniatus groups overall.

Initially, I housed all three seperately. Then, I read the Elliot section in the Necas book that said that they cohabitate well. So, I placed the two females together and watched them closely. They did fine. They interact very well. Most recently, I moved the little male in with the females. All three continue to cohabitate very nicely in a 24X24X36 cage. The most "aggression" I have seen from them is that they will shoot food from each other's mouths. It is actually quite comical, and since none of them are scrawny, I have to think the score is pretty even. All three of them do it, especially with moths. But.. I really think that chameleons have distinct personalities, and what works for this trio may not work for another trio. Also, I am prepared for a time when this is no longer a happy living arrangement.

My trio have all learned that the feed cup is a happy place to hang out.. all three will also hand feed now, including the wayyyy shy little male, as of this morning. He isn't as shy as he used to be. They all very happily eat flies, crix, roaches, stick bugs, silkworms, wax worms, and moths, but they won't eat appropriately sized superworms.

One of the females gave birth recently and the thirteen little ones are all doing well, including a deformed little fellow named Willy who has only one functional eye. They are only about a week old, and they are eating small firebrats, fruit flies, newly hatched walking sticks, and very small silkworms.

I have become very fond of this species.. I can completely understand why Trace is so hung up with them.. they are engaging, comical, gentle little chameleons. Eventually, I will purchase another trio.

 

[Trace]

Oh yes! I think anything bitaeniatus is dang sexy!

I keep/kept my bitaeniatus complex chameleons (this includes the ellioti) in densely planted 22gal reptariums. This size seems to be fine for them as they are a smaller sized chameleon and most of the bitaeniatus type chameleons are not what I consider very active either. I would not keep more than one ellioti chameleon in that small an enclosure unless for short intravals for breeding purposes. I think the cage that Heika is using for her trio is certainly big enough. I also find the bitaeniatus group to be fairly social and can live together in small groups. However, I will clarify that communal chameleon housing should not be done by inexperienced keepers! Separate is always better.

The babies aren't too hard to deal with if you can give them the proper environment. Not too hot with lots of humidity. The ellioti can be raised in small groups but again, individually is better I think. They are born eating and readily accept FF's, appropriate sized crickets, fresh hatched mantids. Unlike Heika, I can't get them to eat soft bodied bugs, but that's just me. They grow very quickly (particularly is housed separately) and reach sexual maturity in about 6 months.

Cheers!
Trace