Which chams are best for me?

Greenstar

New Member
Hello,

I have really been thinking about getting some chameleons again but, I have recently moved and am trying to figure out which species will do best outdoor for most of the year. I have previously kept Rudis and have bred R. Temporalis and R. Brevicaudatus so I do have some expierence with chams as well as with many other types of reptiles. I am currently living in Arcata, Ca.


Average day time temps here in the spring and summer are on average in the low to upper 60's with the occasional day up into the mid 70's. The night time drops are into the upper 50s. In fall the day time temps are in the low 60s to upper 50s with a night drop to lower 50s upper 40s. In winter the daytime temps are in the 50s with a night drop into the 40s. We do get the occasional freeze so I will have temporary encolsures availible inside.

The humidity is usually in the 60-80% and most days are partially cloudy for most of the year, except in winter when it rains almost every day.

The cages that will be outdoor that I am setting up will be roughly 6'x3'x6' and I have room for up to 8 but will probably do less cages with more room. The indoor cages will be significantly smaller, around 2'x2'x2'.


I am looking for species that can be semi-communal, live bearing and able to tolerate outside tempatures for at least 3 seasons. The only chameleon that I am positive will do excellently, probably year round is hoenelli. The remaining species I am considering are; Bitan, ellioti, rudis, Mt. Meru dwarfs, goetzi, tempeli, fuellborni (I reallly want to try these), and potentially some speices of brachypodium. If anyone, *cough*trace*cough*, could help me narrow down the list or even add a few good canidaites I would love to know.

Thanks
Danny
 
i dont know much but with the temps that low i would say a mountain
cham would be better.
i really like the quadricorns, and well all the mountain.

kent i believe sticks his mountain outside when the temps reach
60.
i think they can take 45-50 degree nights fine as long as they can warm
up at night, but dont just go on what i think.

also you might need something larger then 2' tall if you get most medium
chams. but when you keep them outside they will love all the space.
 
Jacksons tolerate weather changes better than most. But I would advise an evening heat source I run a "moon" light so to speak...black heat light when temps dip low. I like my Jacksons...always have so I am biased. Many say they are difficult to keep but I beg to differ, they like temps changes and thrive in outdoor settings.
 
Danny, long time no see! :D Hope life is treating you well.

Things really haven't changed with me. I still tout the bitaeniatus and related type creatures. Really; all the cool kids have them. :cool: Pfft! Parsonii :rolleyes: Who needs 'em.

Seriously though, with those temperatures and humidity you really can't go wrong with any montanes. I'm a little behind on what has newly arrived and what is due to arrive stateside so I can't offer specifics. New CITES quotas have been issued for 2008 and it looks like no three horned critters are going to be exported. (I'm pleased with this!) See here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/cites-2008-no-three-11504/ So may want to snatch up any meru's if you are serious about working with them. The tempeli are another seriously underrated chameleon so they might offer you the challenge you are looking for - sadly you might not see any of those until the fall. I call dibs on the goetzei! :p

Cheers,
t
 
Nick Mole has tempeli and I think goetzei right now, I was think ing of snatching them up but I am going to get werners and deremensis in my first batch of chams, since I really want to get these guys before the ban. If I get the oppurtunity, i.e. enough money, I may devote this entire area to various tanzanian 3 horns. We'll see though. How are the animals doing for you trace? Any babies getting up to size?
 
Hey Danny.

No babies right now, but breeding season is just wrapping up for me. I've got some neat projects in the works and I'll see how the summer progresses with them.

I know Nick has got some goetzei - in fact I struggled over taking the lot of them (there were 4 at the time) when they were imported a few months back. Ultimately they were all females and I didn't need any more of them. Breeding projects just don't work without males funny enough. That said, I'm still considering taking those girls off his hands. I just LOVE the goetzei. Anyone up for a road trip stateside so I can pick them up?

Cheers,
t
 
Well, I am getting some montanes though not the original species I was looking for. I am getting 0.1 montium and 1.1 weirdishiemi, both are WC and coming from a wholesaler my business swears by but we have never gotten chams from him so we'll see how it goes. I added a drip system set for 3 minute cycle every 4 hours so there will definitely be water availible on plant leaves for most of the day. I plan on spraying them probably three times a day for about 10 minutes to get the hydrated for the first few weeks.

As far as parasite load is there anything I should be looking for? When should I begin treatment and how difficult is it to preform your own fecal? Also what do you guys normally do to acclimate our chams as far as food?


Thanks
 
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