Rhampholeon spinosus

[merumontanus]

I was cleaning the lone male's enclosure this morning and snapped a couple of photos. I know a few of you are already working with the species, so, let's see more of yours...

Cheers,

Fabián

 

[ScottChoc]

That is a cool looking cham. I bet he is hard to find in his enclosure sometimes

 

[Trace]

Outstanding!

 

[chamelisa]

So cute!

Nice weight on that little thing. Gorgeous photo. I've posted a few of mine recently but I guess I can take a few more.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Fabian

Do you just have the male or does he have a female or two?
I believe you keep this species separate (per hildenhagen's article) ... do you have any eggs incubating?
He is a beautiful specimen.

-Brad

 

[merumontanus]

Oh, he is always difficult to find, Scott. I can't even imagine seeing one in the wild. One day...

Brad, unforunately, the female I had perished, despite having lived 9 months under my care, during which she also laid (at least) one egg somewhere in the enclosure-- the neonate was discovered shortly after her death and only lived for about a week.

I have had this male since June 2008 and, although I have not had the fortune of keeping two specimens at one time, I would, indeed, keep them separately.

Elisa, I just saw your recent photos of the successful copulation-- congratulations! There's no such thing as too many photographs... I look forward to seeing them!

Happy new year, all.

Fabián

P.S. Hi Trace...

 

[merumontanus]

Update

Well, it appears as though the "male" pictured above may, in fact, be a female. I had originally thought it was a male when I first acquired it as it was still relatively young and appeared to have quite a thick tail base (not to mention the fact that males are much more common in captivity), but having allowed for plenty of growth since its acquisition, as well as confirmation from other spinosus keepers, it all points to the contrary.

Here she is from photos this morning.

Cheers,

Fabián

All images © 2009 Fabián Aguirre

 

[Howdyco]

Gorgeous little gal.

 

[Miss Lily]

She's beatiful! I love her little bobbly 'nose'! She reminds me of a Furcifer Antimena with that rostral thingy!

 

[Damaranum]

Very very nice pictures Fabian.

 

[merumontanus]

Thanks, all...

damaranum... I've really enjoyed your recent Bradypodion photographs-- I look forward to seeing more of them soon, as well as your male deremensis!

 

[chamelisa]

I love your photos. All of them.

From my observation, the rosette in this species is either angled upward in a male or slightly downward in the female. Have you noticed anything like this? Also, on the males, casque is higher and the female's is flatter. I commented when you first posted the thread and just couldn't bring myself to call it a male. But I hate making an error like that. I'm glad you hung onto her. Can you get a male?

 

[laurie]

Fabian can you take a picture that shows a size comparison of your little girl

These guys facinate me but I know very little about them. Wonderful pictures.

 

[eisentrauti]

Gorgeous work, as always, Fabian !

 

[Damaranum]

Thanks,

I will post more pics later.
The deremensis I don't have anymore is quite some years ago. It was very silly I had 6 of them and when I moved almost all died within 2 weeks that was really a shame.

 

[Grantman]

u got ssome nice pics there, what camera r u using?

 

[ciafardo 4]

Very cool nice to see such rare chams nice work!

 

[merumontanus]

I love your photos. All of them.

From my observation, the rosette in this species is either angled upward in a male or slightly downward in the female. Have you noticed anything like this? Also, on the males, casque is higher and the female's is flatter. I commented when you first posted the thread and just couldn't bring myself to call it a male. But I hate making an error like that. I'm glad you hung onto her. Can you get a male?

Thanks! I haven't had the opportunity to compare the two sexes in person as the only two animals I've kept have been females, but I can tell you that none ever even began to look like some of the males I've see in photographs. I can also tell you that this latest female does have a thicker base of the tail than my previous one, but everything else is like the first, which I know for sure was a female as it produced an egg which then hatched, as I have mentioned before.

I don't know that I will be able to obtain a male, and if I don't I'm considering loaning her out for breeding.

Laurie, I will shoot a few more photos this coming weekend for size comparison, but they are no bigger than an index finger.

Benny, ciafardo, thanks for the notes...

Grantman, I'm using a Nikon D40 with a VR Nikkor 18-200mm lens. A little too soft for my taste, but it's a temporary solution for me.