Some new meller's pics

[Eric Adrignola]

I had the whole group together for a while. The one little guy is a pain, and in his own cage now, unless I'm there to supervise. His antics add a good bit of fun to the hobby, so I let him socialize every now and then.

In the picture are:

Ardi, my 4.5 year old CB (burned dorsal crest)

Big LTC female

CH year old from Mike

CH year old from Mike, offspring of big WC female (upper left in group photo)

There's a bit more (including another big ficus) to the left, behind the reptarium.

 

[eisentrauti]

Amazing pics, Eric ! Thanks for posting. How many of these guys to do keep complete ?
Do you have breed them ?

 

[Eric Adrignola]

I've got these 4 right now, and my brother has two other CH melleri. One is a sibling to one of these guys (from the big female above) the other is from an unrelated WC female.

I will be breeding them, in time. I just got the female in March. And, to be honest, I am not 100% certain Ardi is NOT a female. Never developed eggs, but still. I'll be sure when I see him mating.

The CH in the 5th picture is definitely a male - I saw it yesterday when he defecated.

 

[reptimom]

Eric, the difference in their coloration is amazing!! They look GREAT!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

There is a big difference - however, the main color differences are a result of territorial behavior. Ardi is relaxed, the others seem to be less so. Especially the little ones. Not sure if it's submissive or just simple warning colors.

The fact that Ardi, the dominate one of the group, is relaxed is very interesting. Either he's content, or he's a receptive female.

 

[AJA]

Eric

If you ever want to get rid of the pesky yearling, I'm here.

 

[Myerz77]

They are beautiful, i love the free range, and i can't wait to see mine grow into an adult like yours have, I know it'll be a great experience. Thanks for the great pics,
Chris

 

[summoner12]

Pretty cool Eric!

 

[bigcappa]

Awesome Free Range Eric, I'm sure those guys love it, making me want to hurry up and get my free range going...

 

[Kent67]

Very nice! Having my girlfriend's cat around has all but squashed my ideas of having a free-range so those pics make me really jealous. I sure hope you get some successful pairings sooner than later, too.

 

[Pure]

Seriously, nice group there Mr. Eric.

 

[jannb]

Eric; They are all beautiful. I am so glad to see that you free range them.

 

[dodolah]

Very nice! Having my girlfriend's cat around has all but squashed my ideas of having a free-range so those pics make me really jealous. I sure hope you get some successful pairings sooner than later, too.

how bout free ranging the chameleon and put the cat in a screen cage, instead just kidding...
As you can tell, i am not exactly a cat person
We have one big fat cat always sleeping in our back yard (she's the neighbor's).
and, unfortunately, she is the alpha in the neighborhood.
My roommate's sharpei is afraid of her.

Eric, I am speechless.. that room fills me with envy
They looked so happy and healthy.
I hope you'll successfully breed them. Sign me up for the baby

 

[Eric Adrignola]

cats ruin everything.

Thanks.

They're fun. I have had a terrible time as of late - the worst month in my entire life. My wife and I separated, after being together for 9 years. We have two little girls. I'm still unemployed. It's horrible. I feel useless and depressed and lonely and miserable.

The sole positive thing going on was the ability to free-range my melleri in my new condo. I have a sunroom/office on the end of my living room. It's nice to sit in my desk, on my PC, and just look forward and see my melleri. Really, it is helping me keep sane. They move around a lot, and I can keep an eye on them.

It does get anoying to be typing away on the computer, and see one of them wander between my legs and under my chair. They know I'm here, but they dont' care...

I am going to build a barrier, to keep them penned in.

Anyone in the NC area that has some unsexed melleri are welcome to bring them over to play. I know I've got males and females here. My one CH is 100% definitley male, and I was pretty sure by his behavior that he was. I expect another male to act the same at this age.

 

[bigcappa]

Eric, I am sorry to hear about your situation, that really sucks my friend. All of our chams def brighten are day, and let all of us know if there is anything that we can do to help you out.

-Dave

 

[ciafardo 4]

Hey Eric hang in there buddy i was there 6 months ago things will change trust me it gets better . Nice melleri too!!

 

[summoner12]

your 5th picture, the melleri looks like Pat (from mike as well) when it comes to the horn. Pat's sticks up just like that... but little Chris... also from mike, sticks straight out.

 

[summoner12]

It does get anoying to be typing away on the computer, and see one of them wander between my legs and under my chair. They know I'm here, but they dont' care...

I am going to build a barrier, to keep them penned in.

They will settle in I think... My two adults wandered off when first put in their ranges.... now, it hardly happens. Lenny wandered off a LOT when she was gravid... but now that shes laid her eggs she only wanders when my GF does HW in the living room all day... she doesn't like to share the room so she heads for the closet LOL

Henry almost NEVER leaves his range but I think he has become very lazy. His big thing was to find a nice warm ballast to sit on... it won't burn him... but he likes to lay out on his UVB fixture and he gets a nice calm color. Who said chams don't like heat rocks? JK!

Once I made some barriers he stopped wandering up there. oh then he figured out that there are OTHER fixtures to sit on... so he shimmied across the hose/power cords to the other rack of cages... again... hes gotten lazy so I don't find him over there anymore.. but it was funny to finally catch him in the act.

I can tell you that I have seen Melleri drop to the ground in order to gain access to an area... so if you put up a little wall or barrier they can't grip BUT has branches hanging over... if determined enough I think they might drop from a branch to the ground. Lenny did it a couple of times when I first got her and was trying to keep her in one area of the room.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Keep positive.....

Sorry about your present situation.....just keep the positive thoughts going on and focus on anything good you can find in each day. I went through the divorce thing a decade ago. It's very very stressful without anything else added on top. You can always come here for support

Great free range setup! What is on the floor underneath? I'm a cat person. We have a number of them. I nixed the free range thing because of that. I'm rethinking it though. I've got several rooms dedicated to chameleons. I leave the solid core or sliding pocket doors open for ventilation. The cats go in and out. The chams get used to it. They know they are safe in their cages. I'm thinking of swapping the solid door in one room for a screen one. I've got cages on all four walls of the room. Was thinking of doing the free range thing in the middle.

I've got to solve two issues though. What to put underneath to protect the wall to wall carpet and the containment of feeder insects. What do you all have on the bottom to protect flooring? Does cup feeding keep things pretty contained? I don't cup feed anything now. They eat free range crickets in cages. I have some stray crickets in the house here and there that the cats get (see there is a good reason for cats to exist!) but I don't want to add to that population. My husband's family freaks out a bit finding them. I do a cricket patrol sweep before guests come over. It's really great having an overnight guest freak out because they found a cricket sitting on their bed at night. I'd like to avoid that. How does this aspect of things work for you?

Thanks for the pictures. I love your plants and set up. I'd be sitting and watching them for interaction all day long

 

[Narnia]

Eric, you have been a part of my

Chameleon world for the better. Your knowledge that you shared with me on my colony of Deremensis have not only kept them alive and healthy, but now they have given me 14 eggs. I normally do not post, but when I read about your current situation, I had to come up and tell you that I hope this time in your life is short lived, and that you will be happy again soon! I always read your posts, as I know it will always contain something I want to know. Keep the faith, and thank you, again, for being there when I needed your help.

Tom