Feedback of the Bradypodion thamnobates keepers in the US

[eisentrauti]

Hi,

this is a thread for the guys here who get Bradypodion thamnobates from Jared and me. I want to ask if everything is still fine, or if you have any suggestions how we can import/export them in the future better etc., I will be happy if the new keepers can give me a short feedback

Best regards
Benny

 

[Paul R]

Benny now find a way to export some chams to S.A. for me please..

 

[eisentrauti]

The only problem is your quarantine ...

 

[Jono]

I had to go to George (Western Cape, South Africa) for a family emergency yesterday, 4,5 hours drive up the coast from Cape Town.

Having refined my cham spotting eye since I was last there I went into the garden hoping I would find a few.

I managed to find 20+ thamnobates of various sizes in about half an hour
and these were just what i could see in the lower branches. There seemed to have been a few recent births from different females so I didn't even want to pull any branches back in case I crushed any of the tiny newborns (smaller than the crickets I feed my veiled!) so I'm sure there must be hundreds in this one small back garden.

Absolute bliss I tell you! I did manage to get a few rushed photos, I'll put them up in a day or so, when I get my energy back (been a long 2 days of driving and hospitals bleh!)

 

[eisentrauti]

Wow, very impressive ! Please post pics ! I can't get enough of Bradypodion shots

 

[Damaranum]

To bad Jono you needed to go over there for an emergency.

I think you're wrong about the species. As far as I know the only species occuring in george is damaranum and for certain nog thamnobates (living at the east cost near nothingham road.

But still I'd like to see pictures as the population in George should be more pinish. Where in George did you search them? It seems there is a big difference in the population there.

Steven

 

[Klemins]

My pair are still doing very well. The male (hoping he really turns out to be male) is a bit more bold and will hunt a little more actively than the female. He is also noticeably larger than when I received them. They've been housed outdoors for the majority of their time with me and it seems to be doing them well. As I've mentioned in other posts, they enjoy a variety of insects and are fed houseflies, blue bottle flies, silkworms, hornworms and crickets on a regular basis in addition to many species when I can get my hands on them (spiders, "camel" crickets, etc).

I'm unsure as to how the importation process went, so can't really comment on making it better. From what I've heard, and the quality of the animals, it seemed to have gone well, though! Starting with such healthy animals was a huge privilege and will hopefully pay off down the road. I would be very interested in taking part in it again depending on what is available. Thanks again to both you and Jared!

 

[Jono]

Food is the 2nd best medicine!
And finally a subject that loves the macro lens

A male and female i think around 3 or 4 months. The male was about 1/4 bigger and very tame (or oblivious to the fact that I was not a tree.)

I could be wrong at the species, have a look and let me know what you think.

 

[Damaranum]

This is damaranum 1000% sure (look at other previous post of me).
I think the male is much older then 4 months. I think both animals are born before the winter and then logical it is around march/april. And I think the male from one litter before so end of 2008.

I love this species and working with them.

Do you have more pictures so I can see the colors of the male.

 

[Jono]

Here is one with more color.

I put them on the same table to take photos and that seemed to get a bit of a color change from the male. Do they become sexual active so young?

 

[Montium]

Mine are still growing and shedding. They are being fed fruit and house flies, small silkworms and the odd small phoenix worm. The male seems to be putting on the most growth but all are growing well.

 

[Cainschams]

Hey Benny,

Personally I think every thing went rather smoothly. Besides taking a bit of time to get it all sorted out. Hopefully the next one does not take as long to get interested parties and an animal count. Speaking of which. We should see about another shipment before winter I will get a hold of you about that though.

I do think the shipment was heavy with females. Which is not a bad thing at all and everyone knows I will make it right if that is the case. The group as a whole could not have been better.

As far as I know they are all doing well except for a small male that died. Im not sure exactly what happened to him. He seemed fine at my house before I packed him up. When he got to Chuck his eye was a little swollen and then the next day it was real bad. Chuck tried to work his magic on him and all though it seemed promising that he would pull through at first he quickly declined. Im not sure if it was due to shipping or if something had happened (cricket bite, etc) before hand and the stress of shipping brought it out. I guess its really hard to tell but everything was set straight with Chuck and he hopes to get something from the next shipment.

I have one female who just doesnt seem to stop growing!! She is very shy but will hand feed. Ive been feeding her along with the rest of the troop crickets, dubia nymphs, blue bottle flies, WC moths, spiders and occasional small hoppers. Hopefully I can get her a male or eventually have one from this group shipped for breeding.

I really have nothing to complain about Hopefully everyone is as happy with my services as I am with yours.

Talk to you later.

 

[Montium]

Here are a few shots, he was not happy at all on the branch lol

 

[Cainschams]

The young ones are definitely growing, Mike!!! Glad they ended up at a good home just like the rest of them They look great!

 

[Chris Anderson]

Benny,

As you've seen from my recent pics, mine are doing great. The only thing I can ask is to try and find even more bloodlines to send us. That is just a wish, not a complaint though. Four bloodlines is a great start and with species like this, obviously there aren't unlimited numbers of bloodlines to send.

Chris

 

[eisentrauti]

I can promise minimum one more, maybe two. Unfortunately it's sometimes hard to get to know where the parental generations came from

 

[Damaranum]

Hi Chirs,

If wanted I can help getting unrelated animal, I'm sure to have 4 unrelated lines (not all with babies right now ofcourse). I know most people breeding thamnobates and other bradypodion species. And I've been busy with tracking down all bloodlines since 2002. The last year a big explosion of animals took place in Europe so I don't know all bloodlines anymore. But for sure I know the people who started breeding them where all bloodlines came from. Now you see some of the breeders cutted down in numbers.

The same counts for damaranum, and with Mooi rivier I'm the only one breeding them right now. The number of bloodlines is vert scarce unfortunatly but I try to preserve as many different bloodlines as possible.

@Jono, they can get far more beatiful colors but still it's a very nice specimen!

 

[Klemins]

I didn't think of the bloodline issue when I was posting but have in the past, and it is a good idea. I haven't focused on it completely since I'm trying to figure out what sexes I definitely have in order to see what I'd like/need down the line. Sounds good that there are more available.

And Chris, I wish you didn't live so far as I'd gladly take that cage rack off of your hands!

 

[Jono]

More pics soon but I'll stop hijacking this thread Great work guys, makes me proud that our locals are as loved over seas as they are at home.