Trioceros cristatus

[Brad Ramsey]

Here are a couple of pictures of my male cristatus.
He has been here for 2 months now and acclimation is going well.
He is hand feeding and seems to be quite comfortable in his enclosure.
He does have a bit of gular edema that has just showed up in the last couple of days.
I don't dust his food at all. He is eating mostly adult crickets and has been eating one or two (sometimes 3) every day.
He is getting enough water ... urates are nice and white.
Am I over feeding him?
It has to be the gut load?
Montane keepers advise.
I am going to keep a group of crickets separate with a fresh greens gut load for him and see if that clears up the edema.
Otherwise ... doing quite well!

-Brad

 

[Syn]

Brad, sorry about not being able to give advice but WOW that guy is AMAZING!!

I love the colors, it's too bad I don't know much about montanes (not to mention I doubt that these are "easy" to keep), but these are very interesting!

Thanks for sharing! I hope he gets well soon.

P.S. Is there a quick read I could do on these? They are fascinating and I wouldn't mind printing off some papers to read before I go to bed. (Yes, I do that.. LOL.)

 

[Brad Ramsey]

P.S. Is there a quick read I could do on these? They are fascinating and I wouldn't mind printing off some papers to read before I go to bed. (Yes, I do that.. LOL.)

There is a good article on the e-zine.
I don't find the adcham information on this species to be very helpful (or accurate)

-Brad

 

[Syn]

Is this the article?
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=51

Thanks Brad!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Yup.
Happy reading

-Brad

 

[merumontanus]

Wow, Brad. He looks fantastic!

Have you considered fasting him once or twice a week? This might help reduce the edema but, most importantly, maintain his healthy appetite. If he is drinking well (definitely looks very well hydrated!) and you are not supplementing, then it might very well be the gutload. Can you describe the contents?

Thanks for posting the photos.

Cheers,

Fabián

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I cannot describe the ingredients, as I have been using a prepared formula from Top Hat and don't know what is in there.
Most likely a ground grain mix with some bonus ingredients.
I keep the insects hydrated with apple or orange pieces and every few days toss in some fresh dark greens.
What I am thinking of trying is to just remove the dry gut load.
It has only been two weeks since his appetite really started to increase ... this is why I suspect either too much food (in general) or too much *whatever* in the gut load.

-Brad

 

[merumontanus]

What I am thinking of trying is to just remove the dry gut load.

Good idea. Keep us posted.

Fabián

 

[luevelvet]

Also consider the water you're providing. It may be a moot point in Denver, but we had to switch to RO water since our tap water isn't that great here. Our Meller's had a bit of gular edema until we switched to RO water. Went away in a bout a week.

That's a gorgeous male you have.

Luis

 

[ciafardo 4]

Yes water can be a factor depending on the mineral content. Cain had a batch of bitaeniatus that were born soon after he sent me two and he kept the rest . I used regular tap water and very light supplementation, he used well water all of his developed edemas and perished mine thrived and are doing well. He has come to the conclusion that the mineral content in the well water could be the reason.

 

[ciafardo 4]

By the way that's a handsome cristatus

 

[Cainschams]

Phil is right. I do believe that is what caused mine to perish. Thankfully I sent a few to Phil who is doing very well with them It didnt seem to affect the tavetana or any of my other egg bearing species but this is the only conclusion I can come to

Beautiful male Brad. He looks 100X better!!! Great job

 

[AJA]

Oh Brad, he is gorgeous. Great luck with him.