Kinyongia boehmei 2018 Import

[Ekona]

Here are some photos newly acquired pair of K. boehmei. These are farm bred/raised in Africa and imported April 2018. Sold as K. tavetana, but clearly K. boehmei. My first experience with these, but I can already tell these are going to be one of my favorites. Right now they are in 16x16x30 ZooMed led enclosure with front plexiglass door and three sides enclosed to help retain high humidity. Feeding on hydei fruit flies and half-inch crickets.

Male

Female showing interesting colors.

(Either she swallowed a ping-pong ball or she's gravid) Since the female looks gravid, is there anyone on this forum who could guide me in setting up her enclosure to allow her to lay her eggs and me to collect and incubate them? Any help in this process is greatly appreciated! PM me or share here.

 

[laurie]

Wow they are just beautiful! Lucky you!

Contact Nick Henn. He can explain how to handle setting up for eggs. He is very, very good and always helpful.

 

[Ekona]

Hi Laurie - thank you for your reply and the recommendation. I'll send Nick a message. May I say you suggested I contact him?

 

[Ekona]

An update: for about two weeks my female K. boehmei altered her normal routine of going to the top of her enclosure to bask as soon as lights come on. She began going down to the bottom and hanging around there. So I figured she was nearing time to lay eggs. Her enclosure did not have any soil as a substrate, so I created a laying bin in a 5 gal.bucket with about 10" of sand/soil mixture and placed her in there. For three days she did not do any digging and seemed unhappy. So yesterday I placed her in a smaller bioacitve enclosure with plants and soil mixture. Today she dug her first tunnel! However, the soil depth is only about 5". Is this deep enough for her? Please advise if it needs to be deeper.

Here is the female a couple of months ago:

Also I got a new male from a different source and boy is he cool looking:

Love these more cryptic color patterns:

 

[andrearamirezo91]

I can't really help with the egg situation, but I just wanted to say that your chameleons are stunning!

 

[Ekona]

I can't really help with the egg situation, but I just wanted to say that your chameleons are stunning!

Thank you! I have to agree

 

[Ty R]

Here are some photos newly acquired pair of K. boehmei. These are farm bred/raised in Africa and imported April 2018. Sold as K. tavetana, but clearly K. boehmei. My first experience with these, but I can already tell these are going to be one of my favorites. Right now they are in 16x16x30 ZooMed led enclosure with front plexiglass door and three sides enclosed to help retain high humidity. Feeding on hydei fruit flies and half-inch crickets.

Male

Female showing interesting colors.

(Either she swallowed a ping-pong ball or she's gravid) Since the female looks gravid, is there anyone on this forum who could guide me in setting up her enclosure to allow her to lay her eggs and me to collect and incubate them? Any help in this process is greatly appreciated! PM me or share here.

Stunning

 

[Kat_72]

Awesome!

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Great species! Thanks for posting pictures and good luck propagating this species.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Ekona]

Stunning

Thanks, Ty R. And welcome to the forum!

 

[Ekona]

Great species! Thanks for posting pictures and good luck propagating this species.

Thanks for you encouragement, Jeremy. These are the coolest species I've kept so far (out of 4). Gentle, active and able to do some very neat color changes.

 

[Ekona]

I decided to give the female a good amount soil in her normal keeping enclosure and that seemed to do the trick. I observed her digging a tunnel and the next time I checked it was all covered up. She looked thinner and went right back to her normal routine of basking up top. So it seems she has laid eggs and, thankfully, is still alive.
I have not dug them up. I want to give her a chance to recover and make sure she's OK before disturbing the enclosure.

Here is what she looked like right after laying. Definitely has a much darker color than normal.

 

[Ekona]

Today I dug up the clutch laid by my female - 8 eggs that appear to be healthy - but these are the first chameleon eggs I've ever seen so I'm just speculating. All are firm - some slightly brownish on one side - any comments here appreciated. I've put them in a tupperware container with a mix of moistened calcined clay and vermiculite. There are a few small air holes on lid and sides for air exchange. Does the positioning look OK?

Honestly I was tempted to just leave them buried in the soil which was moist and cool, but have opted for the prescribed method of incubation I've gleaned from internet sources. I can see how the environment in the tupperware could fluctuate more so than buried 8" deep in cool, moist soil, so I think I'll place the eggs/tupperware in a small cooler for better temp regulation. I've looked into various reptile incubators such as the Exo Terra "mini-fridge' kind yet I'm not sure it's worth the investment just yet.

Thanks for any tips or advice,
Dave

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Spectacular news! Keep everyone posted.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Ekona]

Thanks, Jeremy, I hope to have something good to report..

 

[Ekona]

Most of the videos of K. boehmei out there (that I could see) are either only a few seconds long or not so clear. I put together this video of my male and female feeding on various food items. Hopefully it shows this excellent species a little better.
Check it out.

[video link invalid]

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Woww that was a great video. Kind of surreal for being in a terrarium. Thanks for posting.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Ekona]

Once again, thank you Jeremy for your reply. The male's viv is fully bioactive and planted, the female's is not as decked out with natural stuff, just potted plants and branches, but that will change soon.

 

[Ekona]

Just over one month after this female laid a clutch of eggs, I introduced this beautiful male to her enclosure and within 5 minutes they were mating. Here is a video documentation of this successful pairing. I noticed that the female showed light, almost white colors, possibly indicating receptivity, just prior to and during the mating. The male took on his colorful orange phase. After the pairing appeared complete, the female became much darker in coloration. I'm hoping for a clutch of eggs/young from this pairing as the male is such a fantastic specimen.

[video link invalid]

 

[JimO]

Great videos and gorgeous chameleons. Thanks for sharing.

I'd love to get in line if you offer any juveniles for sale.