Terrance the Melleri

[toddmkeller]

My little captive hatched melleri (5 months old from Mike at FL Chams) was pigging down on some fruit flys this morning (Thanks Juli!) and I took some pics, so here is Terrance

Thanks for Looking

Todd

 

[Julirs]

I can't see the pics at work(will check them out tonight!), but I love the name Terrance! Glad he loves those flies!

 

[summoner12]

haha he looks great!

 

[toddmkeller]

Update

Here are a few of Terrence today, He is nearing the 100 gram mark. I got him when he was 5g or so.

Enjoy!

See Ya,

Todd

 

[laurie]

She just gets better and better. Anything that good has to be female. You got it at 5 grams, what was it a new born, I just assume mellers are bigger that panthers or veileds. That is one beautiful chameleon, you must be doing something right.

 

[sarah777]

Gorgeous!!

 

[toddmkeller]

She just gets better and better. Anything that good has to be female. You got it at 5 grams, what was it a new born, I just assume mellers are bigger that panthers or veileds. That is one beautiful chameleon, you must be doing something right.

Thank You for the compliments: He/she was 4 months old or so when I got him. They are larger than panthers and veileds but only when they reach full size as they tend to grow slower.

See Ya,

Todd

 

[chambabysitter1]

Todd M Keller and Terrance the Meller.
That has a nice ring to it.

The horn is so fierce, it demands respect.

 

[Kent67]

Whew! I kinda panicked at the first pics until I saw the date. Terrance has grown up great! I've got a couple of CH Meller's from Mike and I just love 'em. They're growing so fast now it's astonishing. Both are more than willing to handfeed and eat everything in sight! How's Terrance's temperament?

 

[sageghost]

Awesome Meller's Todd !!!!

 

[toddmkeller]

Whew! I kinda panicked at the first pics until I saw the date. Terrance has grown up great! I've got a couple of CH Meller's from Mike and I just love 'em. They're growing so fast now it's astonishing. Both are more than willing to handfeed and eat everything in sight! How's Terrance's temperament?

He is really quite personable... he actually walks out to the front of the cage like he wants out, then will shy away after contemplating whether he should come out on my hand.... But he is very laid back. He also hand feeds anything in sight!

Thanks for the compliments

See Ya,

Todd

 

[Eric Adrignola]

See? They CAN be kept in captivity!!! How long was I arguing this with you people from California?!??!? (you know who they are)

And they're friendly. And they can be kept in groups. But nooo... the "experts" said I was insane - 12 years ago. Crazy, they said!

"Melleri are too stressed to keep in captivity. They hate/are terrified of people. They carry a deadly retrovirus* that is airborne and will kill all your animals. Oh, yeah, and it passes through to their CB offspring, so even C.B.'s are a threat to your entire collection!!!!"

* I knew it was BS when I heard the "retro" prefix. No way some scientist is going to study a lizard virus so thoroughly, in so short a time frame, to determine what form of nucleic acid is present in the viral capsule. Virus: DNA---> host cell's DNA ----> replication of viral DNA

Retrovirus: RNA----> turned into DNA upon entering of host cell---->host's cell's DNA-----> replication of Viral DNA-----> into viral RNA-----> packaged into virus capsule to infect new host cells.

Too much detail, just to make it sound "scary".

so many myths abound wiht melleri - sure, they're unique, but they're just lizards, not harbingers of lizard death...

 

[gregdabender]

I love that last picture off him.....


BTW you guys and your Meller's need to stop posting pics....cause now I want one >.<

 

[Kent67]

Yeah, yeah... I know. In all fairness, these are my first Meller's because of those stories. Granted, it didn't make much sense back then, but it was never worth risking my other animals if it were true. Back then I had an even more diverse collection of species than I do now and my biggest fear would have been losing them all to one mistake. Plus, I was also keeping Oustalet's back then so the bigger cages, and the space for them, were already taken.

A former importer (author) told me recently that some of the exporters use rotten meat to attract flies, to feed the Meller's in their holding pens prior to export. Poor nutrition and poor husbandry for weeks or months on adult chameleons often takes an irreversible toll, especially the larger species imo. Hence, wild caught specimens of this species are now known as rental chams, because all you get is a couple months. I'm well aware of the success stories about wild-caughts but the mortality overall is still very high. Due to their caging requirements, I never really considered them until now. Really, I don't even know what I'm going to do with them once they get full grown now. But the babies hatching out with a communicable retrovirus? Nah.

 

[Kent67]

No way some scientist is going to study a lizard virus so thoroughly, in so short a time frame...

When I heard that I asked who did it. The answer was something like, "I think it was a vet...." Still, it wasn't worth risking a collection for one species until more work was done.

 

[jannb]

Beautiful animal!!!!!

 

[summoner12]

My rented WC's are on a long term lease........ Both going strong.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Caging varies. My CB was in a 2'x2'x3' for the first 1.5-2 years. I had an extra cage, so I pulled the sides off, and stuck them together. He was perfectly happy in it - 2'x4'x3' high. Never climbed on the sides, never a worn toenail.

They seem to get "roamy" if left isolated, I think. When they're in that "seach" mode(males especially), it seems no cage can contain them*. I never had problems, but mine were all within visual range of other chameleons. Judging by the way melleri will travel (if given the chance) to be near people, I would say there's evidence to support the idea. Bigger is better, and fool-proof, but a 260 gallon reptarium should be perfectly fine.

WC adults have a lot of parasites - they're potentially old animals, probably, older than any other WC chameleons imported nowadays. They need lots of water. If the animals come in to the US and quickly get into a good hydration/feeding treatment, they do so much better. Let them sit for weeks at a dealer's place, and you'll be lucky if you get the 90 days out of them! It's not that melleri are so hard to care for, or delicate - their biology doesnt' agree with the stresses of importation very well.

and then you have the potential "filiarial worm insta-death" problem... which is a huge reason that WC melleri are best used for breeding purposes, not pets.

*My male deremensis was like this at 2 years - climbed EVERYWHERE, his feet were bloody from the hardware cloth. As soon as I stuck a female in the room - it stopped. Never happened again with all my males. Always had females in sight.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Awestruck...

I'm awestruck with the changes since the original pictures and the beauty of Terrance's coloration.....Awestruck and drooling. I can't believe that I have been so blind for so long (not getting any until now). That's one incredible chameleon!

My WC juvie pair arrive tomorrow afternoon. I went out today to get some new big plants and tomorrow morning I'm going to set up the cages. I've decided to put them in separate cages until I get rid of any parasites and get them adjusted to me and the room they will be in. They will be kitty-corner to each other on different walls. It's a pretty big room so they won't be real close. They will be able to see each other from part of the cage but the distance should make it stress free. If all goes well they will move into together into their permanent cage in the same room. It will be a bigger different cage but they will be seeing the same stuff as before. Before that happens I will let them meet out in the room to see how they like each other. I was thinking that it was time to sell off half my roach colony because I've got more than I feed out, but now I will have something else to feed them out too

 

[grantman40]

wow what a beautiful and healthy meller u got there, amazing!