Need to sex Chameleon.....

[lcopperthwaite]

Hi everyone, I am new to the forums and new to chameleons, although not with reptiles... so my issue is that i got a chameleon in dec at the expo in woodbine ontario, it was sold to me as a veiled, pretty sure its not veiled or not fully. was also told that it was female, and that it was 4-5 months old.... not to sure about that either. so any help would be great about they type of chameleon, sex and age...
I included several pics....

 

[lcopperthwaite]

more pics of Karma

i added some more pics to get better views of whats showing... hopefully i can get some more pics when Karma is out climbing around

 

[AngieL]

Hi! How big is your chameleon? Can you get a picture of it on your hand so we can see the size? It could be a baby veiled but if it's bigger than that a veiled would have more of a casque. You can't cross breed chameleons (as far as I know) So if not a veiled it could maybe be a graceful or senegal? I'm also thimking female because I don't see a bulge at the thail base, or tarsal spurs (if veiled)

 

[ReptileLove18]

it looks like a flapneck to me but i am not expert! ive just been following other identifying cham threads and thats what it looks like to me im sure much more experienced owners will see this and tell us what it is!

 

[lcopperthwaite]

After doing some more research again, looks maybe like eithe graceful or senegal but again not sure lol. Here's some pics of her on my hand for size and the patterens she shows when she out.

 

[camimom]

It appears you have a senegal chameleon based on the shape of the casque and the body.

As for sex I believe you have a female.

Age wise- Id say she is about 6-8 months old.

Females can lay eggs even when not bred, so an egg laying bin must be provided at all times for them.

I hope this helps.

 

[ReptileLove18]

thanks for the reply camimom!! i love how much i learn from all of you amazing people!

 

[lcopperthwaite]

It appears you have a senegal chameleon based on the shape of the casque and the body.

As for sex I believe you have a female.

Age wise- Id say she is about 6-8 months old.

Females can lay eggs even when not bred, so an egg laying bin must be provided at all times for them.

I hope this helps.

Thank you, that does help alot. I have just come to conclusion that she was a senegal through compairing photos.
Ya i'm a bit worried about the egg laying, i'v read that using playsand would work for her but, cant find it anywhere. i have also read that terrarium sand is not good either. so what would be the best thing to use?

 

[Trace]

I need to emphasize that this particular forum is not for guessing. Solid reasons need to be given to justify your answers. Improper identification of species does not help the owner and the animal. I am a stickler about these rules.

Just for argument sake, the Senegal Chameleon usually (but is not the absolute rule) does not have such a pronounced white lateral stripe. However both the Flapneck (Chamaeleo dilepis) and Graceful (Chamaeleo gracilis) do. The Graceful do not always have occipital lobes and is absent in some populations. The dorsal crest on the Graceful is slightly more pronounced whereas on the Senegal it is almost smooth. In all three of the species I have mentioned, the males have a distinct hemipenal bulge. Veiled Chameleons are not the only species with a tarsal spur, the Graceful and some Sub-species of Flaps have them as well.

You have a female Senegal Chameleon. I don’t want to tell you that Senegal’s never lay eggs because that wouldn’t be true either. However it doesn’t happen as often as with Veiled Chameleons. Do have a lay bin ready just in case. I can not estimate an age. She is not a baby nor does she look particularly old either.

Lcopperthwaite. I will answer your PM shortly. It’s our annual Mudpuppy count weekend so I’m a little mired in that right now. In the meantime I can link you to some interesting blogs and articles to get you started. She is a wild caught animal and you can tell by the scrapes and scars on a few pictures. That said, she looks pretty good but I would consider getting a fecal done to rule out anything nasty going on inside. The Senegals are a nice calm species but do keep handling to a minimum. They don’t tend to gorge themselves but don’t overfeed either. They relish crunchy insects over soft bodied ones in my experience.

http://chameleonnews.com/08FebFrancis.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/trace/776-dealing-wild-caught-chameleon.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/senegal/