CB Ch. melleri availabilty?

[Dave Legacy]

Hey everyone,

I've been considering trying to work with Ch. melleri for a while now, but haven't had the necessary indoor room to work with. I just recently expanded my living space and now have plenty of room for a melleri to live indoors full time as an adult if necessary. I was planning to use the extra space to expand F. pardalis breeding colony, but I think I'd rather try something new.

Finding captive bred melleri has been said to be a very difficult task, but I've seen more and more random threads on forums of eggs being hatched out, but very little talk of the baby's being sold. I'd imagine that this is due to a very selective adoption process. I'm interested in possibly getting a CB or CH juvenille, but probably not for at least a couple months.

Does it look like CB/CH Ch. melleri will become more readily available in the near future or would I be better off purchasing an approximately 4mo WC specimen and starting my own breeding project?

Best regards,
Dave Legacy

 

[Chase]

Depends on how much of a hassle you want. I would say maybe going for the WC since you might have eggs before the CH are even available. Then you could buy a CB and breed it too your CH and have CBH or CHB however it is?

 

[Dave Weldon]

...Does it look like CB/CH Ch. melleri will become more readily available in the near future or would I be better off purchasing an approximately 4mo WC specimen and starting my own breeding project?

Howdy,

As far as availability is concerned, there is a good chance that a melleri keeper with hatchlings will read your postings and find you . By now you may have already posted on the http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/mellerichams/ site asking the same question. I'd think that you'll have the best chance of being discovered there.

As far as a WC, everything could go pretty smoothly or you could end-up with a disaster of an animal loaded with health problems . Either way, some of us keepers thrive on challenges . When it comes to melleri, don't forget the trickiness of gender identification. At least you might have a 50/50 chance .

 

[pohchunyee]

Last time I talk to Mike from FLCham, he have some CH Meller.....contact Mike, he might still have some!

 

[Dave Legacy]

Howdy,

As far as availability is concerned, there is a good chance that a melleri keeper with hatchlings will read your postings and find you . By now you may have already posted on the http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/mellerichams/ site asking the same question. I'd think that you'll have the best chance of being discovered there.

As far as a WC, everything could go pretty smoothly or you could end-up with a disaster of an animal loaded with health problems . Either way, some of us keepers thrive on challenges . When it comes to melleri, don't forget the trickiness of gender identification. At least you might have a 50/50 chance .

Hey Dave,

I actually sent in my request to join both of the yahoo! melleri boards last night, so I'm not quite in the door yet.

I'm actually more concerned with taking a specimen from the wild vs. health concerns. I've been deeply involved with the aquarium hobby for many years, where almost everything was WC until just recently, and collecting is taking a tremendous toll on the enviornment/wild populations. As long as there are strict regulations regarding collecting melleri in Tanzania I'd feel better about taking them. Additionally, I realize that specimens need to be WC in order to make captive breeding a more common practice.

I am willing to start with a WC specimen as long as I'm confident I can hatch out at least one clutch. Don't get me wrong as I'm not a super green environmental activist or anything; I drive a 10MPG Land Rover, but I always lean towards CH/CB to take pressure off the wild populations.

See ya on the melleri groups!
Dave Legacy

 

[Dave Legacy]

Last time I talk to Mike from FLCham, he have some CH Meller.....contact Mike, he might still have some!

I actually spoke with Mike a couple months back and he didn't have any, nor did he think he'd be seeing any anytime in the upcoming future. Thanks for the referal though!

 

[chamlover]

Question for you. You have obviously done your homework as far as research for the melleri. How do you plan on sexing them? I have a beautiful melleri w/c and have spoken to many breeders and no one has ever been able to tell the difference, short of seeing them do it. Do you know a secret? I would love to be able to breed mine as well, but even the vet couldn't tell me what it was. He has never seen a melleri before. For the same reason you would, adn that would be to take the pressure of wild caught.Good luck.

 

[Dave Legacy]

Question for you. You have obviously done your homework as far as research for the melleri. How do you plan on sexing them? I have a beautiful melleri w/c and have spoken to many breeders and no one has ever been able to tell the difference, short of seeing them do it. Do you know a secret? I would love to be able to breed mine as well, but even the vet couldn't tell me what it was. He has never seen a melleri before. For the same reason you would, adn that would be to take the pressure of wild caught.Good luck.

Unfortuntely I haven't gotten that far ahead, but it sounds like a medical procedure is the most accurate method versus the gamble of physical markings. If one couldn't do it physically I'm pretty sure sexing could be done with a DNA test. DNA testing is how a lot of birds are sexed.

Best regards,

Dave

 

[Fidel]

I think you have to be in the right place in the right time to get a CB Melleri. I got lucky. I'll sell you mine for a million dollars, and your first born child.