Ever seen a female ambilobe look like this?

[Seiryu]

So here is Aura my female bluebar ambilobe. She's around 16 months old, from Chamalot Chameleons' Little Clown.

She has been an oddball girl and never really turned pink at all until now. She did for a brief moment around 8 months old. But quickly changed.

So here she is around 5 months after I first got her.


8 Months. You can see the pink and a not so happy chameleon seeing the camera .


12 months. Starting to turn brown/orange color.


14 months. Now has a white background with orange bars. Really odd!


Another showing how white she was.


And here she is the other day. Finally starting to show some pink at 16 months! She's a big girl, around 80g.


And check out the greens, blues and pinks she's throwing. Looks even better in person! Yes there is a small bite wound from one of my males. He absolutely HATES her. He's bred with another female, but hates Aura. She just sits there and doesn't gape/sway or turn black.


Another. Even her tail has aquas going on!


Sadly both of my males, for whatever reason do not like her. They both puff up, gape and will lunge at her if she's close enough. I'm just excited she's finally "maturing" after 16 months.

 

[carol5208]

No never seen one quite like her, atleast not on here anyways!!!! She is beautiful!!!

 

[werecat]

She is turning out very lovely! Love the green and aqua against the peach.

 

[sharlaxle]

Wow I would love to see those colors passed on to other females!

 

[Seiryu]

Thanks guys! She is very friendly too now. Used to hate the camera, but couldn't care a less now.

She was literally that white background/orange bar coloration a few days ago. Changed a lot in just a few days. Now to possibly get a non-pansy male to see if she'll breed or not .

 

[Kath44]

She's very pretty. Kath.

 

[Zephalia]

Absolutely gorgeous girl!

 

[RangoStar]

Woah, that's a beautiful chameleon!

 

[sandrachameleon]

she's very nice.
maybe the males think she's not female?

 

[Seiryu]

she's very nice.
maybe the males think she's not female?

That is what I'm thinking! All the colors making them think she's male.

 

[Chameleon Company]

That is what I'm thinking! All the colors making them think she's male.

Yes and no. I believe "she" is a "shemale". Little bit of both. Happens 1-2% of the time, but shemales are larger than normal females, show some minor male characteristics and odd color. And won't breed. They occur in the wild, and in captivity.

We've had some threads on it in years past.

 

[Seiryu]

Yes and no. I believe "she" is a "shemale". Little bit of both. Happens 1-2% of the time, but shemales are larger than normal females, show some minor male characteristics and odd color. And won't breed. They occur in the wild, and in captivity.

We've had some threads on it in years past.

I was thinking this was a possibility. Is there anything a vet can do to prove or disprove this?

She's never thrown these colors though, so I will keep trying and see what happens. Although won't be putting them together if they show any kind of aggression towards her.

 

[Chameleon Company]

I was thinking this was a possibility. Is there anything a vet can do to prove or disprove this?

She's never thrown these colors though, so I will keep trying and see what happens. Although won't be putting them together if they show any kind of aggression towards her.

I doubt that there is anything that a vet can do as far as testing. Even most chameleon vets would be unfamiliar with this phenomenon. It ends up being the sum of observations, to include that males will not treat her as a female, and she won't breed. I have also never had necropsies done of the couple dozen shemales that I have had as adults, most raised here from offspring, but a few imported that way. It was an expense that I could not justify, as I already knew what I had.

I hope that I am wrong, but from your input, and the images, I am afraid that I may be correct. Nature works in mysterious ways. Not the only species that she occasionally mis-wires.

 

[Dr O]

II have also never had necropsies done of the couple dozen shemales that I have had as adults, most raised here from offspring, but a few imported that way. It was an expense that I could not justify, as I already knew what I had.

hi jim,

fwiw a necropsy would take literally seconds to just look and see if there are testicles or oviducts—very easy to distinguish.

to the OP, whether or not she’s “shemale”, like Jim said there are plenty of females out there that don’t reproduce well for a multitude of reasons. i have 2 2-3 year old females that have never given me gravid colors or bred, just nature being nature.

 

[Chameleon Company]

hi jim,

fwiw a necropsy would take literally seconds to just look and see if there are testicles or oviducts—very easy to distinguish.

to the OP, whether or not she’s “shemale”, like Jim said there are plenty of females out there that don’t reproduce well for a multitude of reasons. i have 2 2-3 year old females that have never given me gravid colors or bred, just nature being nature.

LOL ... easy for you ! If I do come across any more that I believe fit that profile, I will ship them to you for free if you are willing to put them down and document their innerds. There is certainly a class of "shemales" that clearly have these mixed morphological appearances, being a larger size than normal females, having a more pronounced, but not fully male, snout, and having coloration and pattern not specific to either sex. These are "females" that are clearly separated, by physical features, above and beyond just being non-reproductive. I have no problem with these animals being put down if you would like to document what is going on inside, as I don't know that anyone ever has with chameleons.

I don't have any that I know of right now, but would expect to have a few develop that way this year. LMK if interested.

 

[Dr O]

LOL ... easy for you ! If I do come across any more that I believe fit that profile, I will ship them to you for free if you are willing to put them down and document their innerds. There is certainly a class of "shemales" that clearly have these mixed morphological appearances, being a larger size than normal females, having a more pronounced, but not fully male, snout, and having coloration and pattern not specific to either sex. These are "females" that are clearly separated, by physical features, above and beyond just being non-reproductive. I have no problem with these animals being put down if you would like to document what is going on inside, as I don't know that anyone ever has with chameleons.

I don't have any that I know of right now, but would expect to have a few develop that way this year. LMK if interested.

of course! we’re pretty close so it’s easy shipping. if it’s already dead, just remember to always refrigerate and not freeze! freezing destroys the cells and everything turns to mush when thawed.

 

[Chameleon Company]

of course! we’re pretty close so it’s easy shipping. if it’s already dead, just remember to always refrigerate and not freeze! freezing destroys the cells and everything turns to mush when thawed.

It is probably going to happen then, although I doubt I will be sending expired animals. In times past when I have had girls like this, it does take longer to make that determination, as we would allow that they were oddballs, slow developing, etc. In any case, we let them become full adults, and then some, before we put the "shemale" tag on them. At that point, they are of no use to me, and we don't sell them so that they can be someone else's problem. I am also pretty confident that we have inadvertently sold many young females who ended up as shemales, as we move so many when young, and before we would suspect such.

One time, about 4 years ago, I produced two from the same clutch. But otherwise, it has been very random and infrequent.

I honestly have no idea what you will find inside. I think that the degree of being shemale can vary. I have had a couple of shemales attempt to mount normal females. That would be all of 2 in 12 years. I do not recall a male ever trying to mount a shemale, the assumption being that they react instinctively, and do not respond to it as a viable mate. That may be the first best confirmation that something is wrong with the girl, that being that males ignore her.

It is a fascinating quirk. Gimme some time. I am sure I will come up with a few. Shipping them to you very live and viable may also give you time to observe the social interactions as well, before you put them down. Call it the ugly side of the business, but early in the business I have shipped off a dozen healthy female chameleons at a time, to such as Dr. Scott Stahl, with directions to put them down, cut them open, and tell me how it looks. It was part of the process to gain information, and get better.

 

[craig90]

I have no problem with these animals being put down if you would like to document what is going on inside, as I don't know that anyone ever has with chameleons.

Why would you put them down instead of letting them live their lives and dying of natural causes then performing the necropsy afterwords? I'm curious to see what's going on inside too, but putting down a healthy animal doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Why would you put them down instead of letting them live their lives and dying of natural causes then performing the necropsy afterwords? I'm curious to see what's going on inside too, but putting down a healthy animal doesn't seem right to me.

I am sure that it doesn't seem right to many. But many animals are put down in the name of valid research. What you suggest is to take the time and space and money to have it live out its natural life, and then dissect it. I have no problem if you choose to do that with animals that you are paying to upkeep.

There are times when the business of animals, and all forms of research involving animals, requires decisions that a hobbyist would never confront, much less endorse. It is never easy to do, but as Spock would say: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

 

[Oliviabryant]

Of course she's amazing because she is from little clown!