A couple bad pics of a cool animal I had

[Kent67]

This is a little girl I had for a few years. Although I only had one pair of them, of the 16 or so species I've had, these were the most aggressive towards their keeper, haha. I've never had a veiled, though and I've heard they can be too. Anyway, she bred with my male but never showed any color changes once gravid. Unfortunately she decided to drop the eggs on the bottom of the cage instead of using the nestbox. Only one of the eggs survived for 4 months and then went moldy

 

[Tygerr]

What species is it?

 

[Kent67]

Bradypodion xenorhinum

 

[Laragail]

aw, I think she's cute.

Funny, because chameleons are the only reptiles I can say that about.

There are plenty of pretty reptiles, but cute.... only chameleons.

 

[Trace]

How long ago did you have the xenorhinum? Any pics of the male?

How were they to keep? Where they like other montanes? Did you cycle them at all to get the eggs? Fussy eaters?

Those guys, the oxyrhinum and tenue are all on my "want, but probably never have" list.

Cheers,
Trace

 

[Kent67]

They were both fully adult when I acquired the pair. I had the female for 2 years. Her health deteriorated quickly after she dropped the eggs. The male I had for around 3 years.

I live 4 blocks from the Pacific in San Diego so I was able to keep them outside year-round, only bringing them in on nights that dipped into the low 40's. They were very aggressive, both to me and towards food so I would not say they were fussy eaters. As for breeding, I never saw them mate. Over the years I would put them together for a couple weeks at a time in a largish enclosure to see if they would.

I don't have very good pics of the male because anytime I brought out a camera he would turn black and run away. So that's what I have pictures of, a black chameleon running away I could've tried to hold him, but then the pics would just be a small black chameleon with its jaws firmly gripping a finger. They were like little land sharks, they would bite and then try to shake it from side to side!

 

[Trace]

I don't have very good pics of the male because anytime I brought out a camera he would turn black and run away. So that's what I have pictures of, a black chameleon running away

HAHA! I have the same problem with one of my female goetzei! I have some fabulous tail shots if you want to see them.

Anyways, thanks for the info! Always good to hear some personal insights with some of the rarer species and they certainly lived a good long time in captivity. After seeing your pictures, what is interesting to me is their seemingly small size. My field guides say they can reach 30cm in length and while pictures can be deceiving, they don't look that big. When I first saw the B. spinosum in person I was shocked at how little those guys are too! The tail of the male looks quite long like say the fischeri - did you find that with the xenorhinum?

Cheers and thanks!
Trace

 

[Jordan]

Well that description of behavior sounded just like a couple chameleons I own.

They both look great by the way.

 

[Kent67]

@ Trace
That seems a little large. I didn't measure them, but I would say 9 inches/25 centimeters was about the max of the male I had. They are small bodied with a relatively long tail for a chameleon....I think similar to johnstonii? Must be windy there.