Trioceros Cristatus Questions

[stevenelvin]

Hello everyone. I have the opportunity to pick up a T.Cristatus. But I would just like to know a few things before I make my decision.

What are the mininum housing requirements? (L x W x H)
What temperature should the enclosure be kept at? (Basking site, Ambient & Night)
How humid should the enclosure be? (%)
Is there anything interesting or different about this species that I would benefit from knowing?

If anyone could direct me to a caresheet or something then that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[Trace]

The first thing I need to warn you about is that most cristatus are wild caughts and they have an absolutely abysmal survival rate in captivity. If you insist on a wild cristatus make sure the specimens are in top notch condition so there is a chance for success. Every now and again there are some captive bred animals for sale and these are guys worth every penny. The captive bred cristatus are incredibly easy to care for compared to their wild caught brethren. It's like night and day; I’m amazed.

The other thing I need to mention is that these guys are incredibly shy. They do not like to see their owners and hide immediately. They need a very well planted enclosure and handling is not recommended. They are also intolerant of conspecifics. You can not keep a pair (or sisters or brothers) together and even sight lines should be blocked between them as it causes undue stress and aggravation. Definitely a look (if you can even find them in their cages) but do not touch animal.

I recently moved my CB babies into their adult cages. These cages themselves are 18x18x30ish and heavy planted (as mentioned above). They are somewhat active, at least for parts of the day, so a medium sized cage should be used. I have a basking spot of about 80F but I rarely see them use it. I like to give them the option of basking though. Room temperatures at night are tolerated. They are a considered a lowland species do like a high humidity level and I keep them at 80% or more. They do like to drink, so lots of water should be offered daily. This coincides with the fact that they come from areas of Africa that gets a lot of rain during parts of the year. These rainy seasons may trigger mating behaviours? I’ll get back to you about that next year if I bother to breed my pair.

I have not noticed them to be fussy eaters but I have not tried silks and horns with my specimens. The rest of my group of chameleons do not recognize soft bodied worms as prey so I don't even bother to buy insects like that anymore. I stick with the hard bodied crunchy bugs for my collection and those are readily accepted. The cristatus have healthy appetites but I have not noticed them overeating or gorging like some species can. (Veileds, Panthers).

They are a beautiful species but this is all I ever see of them. I'm told they resemble a delicate green seashell.

I hope this answers some of your questions.
Cheers,
Trace

 

[stevenelvin]

The first thing I need to warn you about is that most cristatus are wild caughts and they have an absolutely abysmal survival rate in captivity. If you insist on a wild cristatus make sure the specimens are in top notch condition so there is a chance for success. Every now and again there are some captive bred animals for sale and these are guys worth every penny. The captive bred cristatus are incredibly easy to care for compared to their wild caught brethren. It's like night and day; I’m amazed.

The other thing I need to mention is that these guys are incredibly shy. They do not like to see their owners and hide immediately. They need a very well planted enclosure and handling is not recommended. They are also intolerant of conspecifics. You can not keep a pair (or sisters or brothers) together and even sight lines should be blocked between them as it causes undue stress and aggravation. Definitely a look (if you can even find them in their cages) but do not touch animal.

I recently moved my CB babies into their adult cages. These cages themselves are 18x18x30ish and heavy planted (as mentioned above). They are somewhat active, at least for parts of the day, so a medium sized cage should be used. I have a basking spot of about 80F but I rarely see them use it. I like to give them the option of basking though. Room temperatures at night are tolerated. They are a considered a lowland species do like a high humidity level and I keep them at 80% or more. They do like to drink, so lots of water should be offered daily. This coincides with the fact that they come from areas of Africa that gets a lot of rain during parts of the year. These rainy seasons may trigger mating behaviours? I’ll get back to you about that next year if I bother to breed my pair.

I have not noticed them to be fussy eaters but I have not tried silks and horns with my specimens. The rest of my group of chameleons do not recognize soft bodied worms as prey so I don't even bother to buy insects like that anymore. I stick with the hard bodied crunchy bugs for my collection and those are readily accepted. The cristatus have healthy appetites but I have not noticed them overeating or gorging like some species can. (Veileds, Panthers).

They are a beautiful species but this is all I ever see of them. I'm told they resemble a delicate green seashell.

I hope this answers some of your questions.
Cheers,
Trace

The animals I'm looking at getting are captive bred.

This is great info, thank you so much for the input!

 

[Zajlol]

So they dont like being held even if there CB?