Any Oustalet's Lovers?

[Wibus]

I have hear ALOT about Vieled's, a bunch about leopards, some about jacksons, and very little about carpets, but NOTHING about Ousties! I feel kind of alone out here with mine.

I got mine at the Sacramento Reptile show and wanted a chameleon for a long time. I found one booth with one cage at the whole show and knew instantly I was going home with one. Walked around a bit to see what else was available but had to come back for mine. Was a gamble not knowing wether my little dude was going to be a male or a female but I am still in love with him.

I have had mine for about a month and he is the coolest thing! I feed him one cricket from my hand a day and let him chase the rest for exercise. He turns very light colored when he sleeps but when he gets nervous or scared all his colors start showing. They aren't much because of his breed but what he has got is amazing!

Is there certain lingo i should know about these guys? I have read that they are from madagascar and like it fairly dryer than other chameleons but i dont know any temperature or humidity numbers. Do they love any certain type of food? I have been feeding crickets but he seems to LOVE flying bugs from outside. They catch his attention immediately. I think I am ready to start feeding worms soon just havent gotten there yet.

If anyone has a story about their Oustie I would love to hear it or get any answers to my questions. Pics always make a post more interesting also I will post some as soon as I get home to my computer. (posting this from my gf's house)

 

[SarahcoadunatioZac]

I originally wanted a Oustalet chameleon, very very bad. Was going to settle for a Orchid Mantid or poison dart frog.

We went to the local pet store here in town, Sarah picked out one of the Veileds in the shop, recent hatchlings just to hold a bit. She happened to pick a male, we put him on hold that day. Brought home "Melon" about a month later

After our Melon passes (in a very long time hopefully) I'm looking at Oustalets.

 

[Psychobunny]

I think no one owns a Oustie because so few places sell them!!??
Besides LLL Reptile, who else??

 

[nightanole]

backwaterreptiles sells them too. LLL just got in some babies. No one sells them because they breed slow,and you only get 50 bucks a head for babies. Alot are wild caught from Florida.

You raise them like veileds, other than no veggies. They say they eat berries in the wild, mine looks at me like im nutts. Not big on drinking/humidity. Girls can turn green.

 

[snookmasterone]

i breed oustalets and just recently hatched out over 100 babies--they are very hsrdy and easy to care for-

 

[fluxlizard]

I don't have ousties now, but have bred them in the past.
I love them- I think the males look awesome. Beautiful textured skin and spines and the texture on their face is really cool. Look like something from a fantasy world and brave personalities and big size to go along with the look.

 

[Mmcbain1]

I have 5 3 ladies and 2 guys I love them. They are monsters! So much personality maybe more than any of my other chams. All of mine are wild caught by me . one of the percs of living in Florida. Now they are adults and breeding.

 

[Mmcbain1]

backwaterreptiles sells them too. LLL just got in some babies. No one sells them because they breed slow,and you only get 50 bucks a head for babies. Alot are wild caught from Florida.

You raise them like veileds, other than no veggies. They say they eat berries in the wild, mine looks at me like im nutts. Not big on drinking/humidity. Girls can turn green.

There are very few wild oustelets in Florida much more vields. I was told that the estimated wild population is in the hundreds in florida however vieldes are supposivly in the tens of thousands. All I know for sure is that Oustelets are awsome!

 

[nightanole]

must... goto... florda... thousands of chams...

I loved Florida visting the grandparents once a year. All you need is a cup of meal worms and go out side, hours of fun.

PS: I vote to change the name from Oustalet's, its too hard to spell. Cant we call them Bark chameleons or something. i mean they look like various shades of bark/dirt/rocks.

 

[tadeusz]

I love my ousties. I think the problem with them and why they are not popular is because they are very "dull" compared to most other breeds as far as color. If you can get past the fact that they don't have crazy yellows, reds, blues, etc... They are very easy going and great chams. I've had my guys for about 2 years now and love them. I also think that it is hard to find captive bred ousties. I had to wait almost 2 years for some good quality cbb ousties. I know there are tons of wild caught Florida ones available now with those populations being discovered, so that also brings down the market for anyone cb them. I actually thought about breeding my two males seeing as they Re 2nd generation cbb which I think is rare for ousties, but I just can't find a quality female that isn't from the same clutch as mine!!!

 

[Mmcbain1]

But there isnt a giant population of wild oustelets in florida or should I.say bark chameleons! I like bark sounds good to me!

 

[lisagr07]

I would love to see some pics if y'all have them to share!! Lisa

 

[Mmcbain1]

Here is one of my guys sr. veni! We are on our way home from the plantation

 

[rsepiphyte]

I love the big Chameleons! I just purchased a pair of CB ones. The male is green and the female a beige color. Really interesting guys. I will post some pictures later today. Ruth

 

[Mmcbain1]

The male is green? I think thats backwards

 

[Wibus]

These are the pics I promised. The Second one is after I just got him and set up his home. So he is a little bigger in the first one.

His name is Tomo. named him after the guitarist from my favorite band, 30 seconds to Mars.

 

[rsepiphyte]

LOL, i did get that "backwards". Ruth

 

[tadeusz]

I just got home from work, but wanted to follow up on your initial Q's. For my ousties, I keep their humidity in the 30%-50% and ambient temps during the day (low to mid 80s) and basking temps during the day (low to mid 90s). Night time temps in my place get pretty chilly (about 67-70 on average). My guys have done just fine with these conditions. My guys go through different phases for food so I try to mix it up. Right now, they won't touch dubia, crickets or supers... Only Silkworms! Usually every few months they switch and want something else so its not too big of an issue, just offer variety. Here are some pics of my guys...

This is "Rhino" - Usually shows these colors when he is extremely calm/relaxed or too hot (in this case, he was relaxed)

This is a few months old, but this is "Fatty" - Son got to name my chams

Some more:

Here they are about 1 month after I picked them up from the breeder in California:

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Furcifer oustaleti are a great large chameleon. They could be said to be a larger version of a Panther Chameleon. However they require larger cages, more food, higher temperatures, and drier conditions to thrive compared to Panther Chameleons. If you want a large chameleon and you are a fan of a chameleon that is mostly brown, bronze to black in color they are an epic choice.

For food mine went nuts for Dubia Roaches. Conan my best male ate them as if they were popcorn.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

This is "Rhino" - Usually shows these colors when he is extremely calm/relaxed or too hot (in this case, he was relaxed)

Great name I have got a male Parsoni named Rhino too. Except it is because he has got one large horn instead of two.