Ruwenzori Chameleon

[piperjorge4dogs]

I just recently purchase a yellow sided Ruwenzori Chameleon and I was told by seller not to provide heat that room temperature was enough and only to prove the 5.0 watt for UVA/UVB and also to use moss on the bottom of the container and keep it moist at all times. I have had veils and panthers for over 10 years and with this new little guy, which is an adult, I provided the above light but also provided a 50 watt basking light which he is under all day. Any chameleon keeper out there that has experience with this type of Chameleon and can give me some feed back. Thanks.

 

[Warrix642]

I think that is the "Rudis" chameleon. I do not know about them but many people here keep them.

 

[jack29]

If you bought a Rudis chameleon (or maybe a sternfeldi) you don't have to use spot lights.. they tend to stay under the spot all the day and it will bad for him self.. you need just the 5% uvb lamp!! which temperatures do you have in the room anyway??

 

[Trace]

I disagree. I would use a low wattage basking light on the cage. It's important to give your animals options as to where they want to bask, hunt, rest and sleep. Only supplying one temperature (room tempurature) does not provide any of these necessary choices.

The current taxonomy is Trioceros sternfeldi. Trioceros rudis are a different species have not been exported in many, many years. The sternfeldi do best with a basking area of 80F with ambient cage temperatures into the low 70's. Cool to cold temperatures are tolerated overnight. High humidity is a must and strive for at least 80%. They are not fussy eaters and most insects are accepted. Females will overeat if given the opportunity.

Good luck!

 

[Warrix642]

I disagree. I would use a low wattage basking light on the cage. It's important to give your animals options as to where they want to bask, hunt, rest and sleep. Only supplying one temperature (room tempurature) does not provide any of these necessary choices.

The current taxonomy is Trioceros sternfeldi. Trioceros rudis are a different species have not been exported in many, many years. The sternfeldi do best with a basking area of 80F with ambient cage temperatures into the low 70's. Cool to cold temperatures are tolerated overnight. High humidity is a must and strive for at least 80%. They are not fussy eaters and most insects are accepted. Females will overeat if given the opportunity.

Good luck!

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Lovereps]

Maybe not..

A few pictures of your cham would help us to help you by properly ID'ing your cham, in case it isn't a Rudis.

 

[piperjorge4dogs]

Thanks guys for your input. Will take picture tomorrow and will post of Chameleon.

 

[piperjorge4dogs]

Picture

Hopefully this works. Picture of Ruwenzori Chameleon also referred to as yellow sided. Still looking for any information that people have on husbandary and should this type of chameleon be kept with a 5.0UVB/UVA light and with no basking light as I was told. Room temperature is supposed to be adequate and also told to have his substrate consist of moss that is kept wet at all times. Any opinions on the foregoing.

 

[piperjorge4dogs]

picture

Please note that the water dragon is just a background picture and the picture submitted is the best we can do with 3 different cell phone cameras. Will keep trying.

 

[piperjorge4dogs]

better picture

New picture of yellow sided chameleon.

 

[Seeco]

If your house is really hot, here is what to do. If your house is cool then you need at least a 40 watt basking bulb:

You need a basking light, at least in the morning. The exception depends on the temperature of the whole room where the chameleon is kept. If your room gets above 74 degrees by 3 or 4 PM then here's what you should do:

Go to Home Depot and find the following (or ask for help): Clamp Lamp, 40 watt bulb, plug-in light timer WITH HOUR OR SMALLER INTERVALS (will probably be a ring of little tabs). Total cost should be under $20.

Set the lamp up above chameleons highest branch. Set the timer to the current hour. Program the timer to come on from approx 6:30 to 11:00 am with maybe a half hour break in the middle somewhere.

This will save you electricity and keep your animal healthy. As things get colder make the light stay on longer or all day.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

I disagree. I would use a low wattage basking light on the cage. It's important to give your animals options as to where they want to bask, hunt, rest and sleep. Only supplying one temperature (room tempurature) does not provide any of these necessary choices.

The current taxonomy is Trioceros sternfeldi. Trioceros rudis are a different species have not been exported in many, many years. The sternfeldi do best with a basking area of 80F with ambient cage temperatures into the low 70's. Cool to cold temperatures are tolerated overnight. High humidity is a must and strive for at least 80%. They are not fussy eaters and most insects are accepted. Females will overeat if given the opportunity.

Good luck!

not to try and start a debate, but i tend to disagree with this just a tad bit. for folks who live where they have constant hot days, or a few hot days here and there, an ambient temperature can easily rise over 80. im just skeptical about providing another heat source for animals who need lower temperatures. why would you want to risk over heating your chameleon? also, i will make this statement (please correct me if im wrong) but from what i know, heard and read, this sidestripe species is not so much aboreal, they like shrubs, places closer to the ground (of course not on the ground), they dont get that big, and could imo be kept easily in a glass terrarium. anyways, you said it is important to give your animals the option to bask. i agree with you here, but the option to bask under the uvb light source would give them a small heat source to use.

just my opinion,

Please note that the water dragon is just a background picture and the picture submitted is the best we can do with 3 different cell phone cameras. Will keep trying.

just for safe measures, that dragon looks gigantic, and very real.. at first i was like "what..on..earth.. are you trying to do?" lol, i would honestly remove that background and replace it with something else. i would be afraid of the "dragon" stressing it out.

here is a nice background i used for my veileds old cage, one side is dessert and the other is tropical, the pic obviously is split in two showing them.
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=1169

 

[Trace]

I'm not offended! If a keepers ambient household temperatures are above the 80F that I stated then they will need to find a cooler area of the house to keep the sternfeldi or provide A/C to lower those temperatures. While a sternfeldi can certainly tolerate temperature spikes, they will not do well long term if their temperatures are 80F+ constantly. On the whole I don't recommend cooler loving montane species to casual keepers that live in the more southerly, warmer areas.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

I'm not offended! If a keepers ambient household temperatures are above the 80F that I stated then they will need to find a cooler area of the house to keep the sternfeldi or provide A/C to lower those temperatures. While a sternfeldi can certainly tolerate temperature spikes, they will not do well long term if their temperatures are 80F+ constantly. On the whole I don't recommend cooler loving montane species to casual keepers that live in the more southerly, warmer areas.

of course, i totaly agree about placement changes and a/c, i keep my crested geckos and brevs in glass in the same room as my veiled and fischers. when it is super hot i provide them with a ceiling fan and iscolating fan, as well, i keep my brevs and cresties next to the window and near the a/c vent. the vent is always closed or opened just a tad to let in a little bit of cool air. what i was getting at though, is for species who require lowing temperatures, you stated it is important for them to have a heat source. dont you think the uvb in cases of warmer whether should do the trick with slight heat? some keepers dont have the privillage of having cages in different rooms, and some dont have the privillage of a/c. but a fan is always an option and a useful tool on a hot day.
thanks Trace.

 

[eisentrauti]

Hi Phil,

I can't recommend fans for the use to keep enclosures cool. They have one big problem: The air coming out of them is very very dry. They are good if they suct (does this word exist ?) air from the terrarium to avoid places with no airflow. But for cooling they are not adequate. If you don't have cool enough rooms, you can help your chameleon with plenty of water and high (very high) terrariums which provide different temperature zones inside. Plants help too. They transpirate water which cools the surroundings a bit.

Benny

 

[VeiledOwner87]

Hi Phil,

I can't recommend fans for the use to keep enclosures cool. They have one big problem: The air coming out of them is very very dry. They are good if they suct (does this word exist ?) air from the terrarium to avoid places with no airflow. But for cooling they are not adequate. If you don't have cool enough rooms, you can help your chameleon with plenty of water and high (very high) terrariums which provide different temperature zones inside. Plants help too. They transpirate water which cools the surroundings a bit.

Benny

thanks for the tip Benny, but by what kind of fans are you refering too? i dont quite like the idea of ac because i do know that that does dry the atmosphere out/ that is why i stated that i keep my vent closed or open just a very small bit. my isolating fan however is on a low setting with the window open to circulate the humidity from the outside heat, and the ceiling fan to keep the room cool. seems to work good enough because my temps and humidity usually stay the same most days. on others, i just cant help it but to crank it all up (which is seldom) winter is approaching and this will be an differents story.

 

[ange loves chams]

Ya ur cham deffinatly looks like a rudis side stripped to me. I was very intrested in getting one a few months ago before i got my fisher's. I have a great care website for them. As it so happen i JUST deleted it out of my favorites right before i came on here hahahaha! So ironic, i was looking at it and was like huh.... well i dont need this anymore lol. But im going to try and find it for ya, it's got perfect husbandry and care for them.

 

[ange loves chams]

ok here. im not too sure if it's the exact same one that i had in my book marks as before. BUUT however it does have the right info as far as temps and humidity go. I remeber they need veery high humidty for a small cham and a very large temperature gradient for thermoregulation and for natural behaviour such as hunting, basking, and adventuring around. Which to me it was a lot of the same things i had to do for a fishers so i decided on the fishers instead. But as far as heat goes they need spots in the cage in the upper 60's all the way up to a veryy low basking light 80 deg MAX.

Also these little guys are from the mountains of Tanzania just like my fisher's is so that means they are BIGGG drinkers, their life depends on drinking A LOT! You should mist them between 3 and 4 times a day. Obviously a long mist in the morning a shorter one during the day to boost levels and another loong one a few hours before lights out for him. I would suggest investing in a repti fogger for them as well if ur having trouble keeping in humidity or live in a dryer area like myself. And the dripper... along with multiple mistings you need to have a dripper on for them between 3-4 times a day as well, basically after everytime u mist put on the dripper for him.

 

[ange loves chams]

OUH! i almost forgot! If your cham is infact a rudis side striped. (which i am almost certain it is... please provide bigger more clear pictures for us) The exciting thing is that if it was housed with other chameleons at the pet store or where ever u got it from, and if its a girl it is most likely gravid. They are very frisky little chams. But the point that i am trying to make here is that THIS SPECIES GIVES LIVE BIRTH! It is verrry exciting and amazing to watch. Chameleons that give live birth are one of a kind i tell you. Good luck and let me know if you have anymore questions!

 

[Chris Anderson]

Ya ur cham deffinatly looks like a rudis side stripped to me. I was very intrested in getting one a few months ago before i got my fisher's.

This animal actually is not a Ruwenzori Side-striped Chameleon (Trioceros rudis), but rather a Sternfeld’s Side-striped Chameleon (Trioceros sternfeldi), and your "fisher's" is not actually a Fischer's Two-horned Chameleon (Kinyongia fischeri) but rather a Western Usambara Two-horned Chameleon (Kinyongia multituberculata). These two species are always misidentified in captivity and unfortunately the inertia of this mislabeling has made it difficult to get people to make the switch because so many people think of these animals as rudis or fischer's chameleons, even though they are not.

Chris