Kinyongia boehmei question

[tucc185]

Hey all,

Picked up a pair of K. boehmei last weekend. Not a species I'm too familiar with but I couldn't resist the chance to get a new montane species to work with and they just looked great.
They seem to be settling in to their respective enclosures well (2x 38g reptariums, insulated with plastic on 3 sides to better hold humidity). I have them on a 3x daily mist, I'll manually kick on the ultrasonic humidifier once a day or so, and their temps fluctuate between 68-75 throughout the day.

The one thing that concerns me is they don't seem to want to eat much. They drink just fine but I've only seen them take a few crickets. Anyone else have experience with this species? Dietary preferences? I would really appreciate any care or husbandry tips for this fascinating species, thanks!

 

[Cainschams]

Do they have a basking site? Id suggest around 85 give or take. They are considered a "sub-montane" species. They like humidity but in their natural environment it can get low in the warmer months so you dont necessarily have to keep it constant all the time like you would for bitaneatus, ellioti etc.

I havent fed worm type feeders since forever because none of my animals recognized them as food after I got out of panthers. Anything quick moving. If you have access to moths, hoppers, spiders etc they will go for them. Blue bottle flies!!! If you choose to use those you can dust them with dried honey, bee pollen, wheat grass powder and or spirulina to make them more nutritious. They will eat the dried honey/pollen mix you can buy wherever they sell the flies and also fruits and fruit juices like watermelon.

Montanes dont seem to be as voracious as low land species so I wouldnt worry to much. Mine didnt eat a ton nor did my other montane species.

How much are they eating and how often?

Congrats!! They are an awesome species!

 

[jojothefirst]

Congrats, as said they are a really great species.
Mine don't bask a lot and bask site is in low 80s
Mine eat loads so im suprised yours don't. Maybe just settling in?
They go nuts for fruit flies.
IV given them dubias, crix, and they ate a wax worm yesterday as well

 

[tucc185]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try upping their basking area temps a bit- I'm used to montiums so I was thinking these guys would be similar. I had read somewhere that they prefer flies, I'll have to give that a shot too. Anyone have a good source for blue bottles? It's been ages since I've used those.

Thanks again for all the help, here's a few pics I got from when I first got them home:

 

[Cainschams]

They look decent. That female should be a looker after you plump her up a bit. Id definitely try to get a little weight on them but they dont look terrible. Hopefully raising the basking temp will help their appetite. It could be they are just settling in too. As for being like montium they are similar but montiums do like it a little cooler and more humid than the boehmei.

I hope they do well for you!

 

[Carlton]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try upping their basking area temps a bit- I'm used to montiums so I was thinking these guys would be similar. I had read somewhere that they prefer flies, I'll have to give that a shot too. Anyone have a good source for blue bottles? It's been ages since I've used those.

Thanks again for all the help, here's a few pics I got from when I first got them home:

The few Kinyongias I've kept all loved flies and moths...active things yes. Once in a while a very active Zophoba would attract them. I found that putting the Zophobas in a larger plastic bin encouraged them to move around a lot more which helped.

One little wc K. multi was such a glutton that he would run towards me when he saw me coming with a bowl of bugs. He'd start shooting at them even before I set the bowl or box in the cage. Once he knocked the bowl out of my hand, it fell on top of him, both dropped to the cage floor, and when I picked up the bowl there he was underneath happily chewing on a feeder. I still miss that little guy. He actually shared a 5'x5'x4' screen cage with a male deremensis very peacefully and somewhere I have a photo of the two of them asleep on a branch feet touching.

 

[Lovereps]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try upping their basking area temps a bit- I'm used to montiums so I was thinking these guys would be similar. I had read somewhere that they prefer flies, I'll have to give that a shot too. Anyone have a good source for blue bottles? It's been ages since I've used those.

Thanks again for all the help, here's a few pics I got from when I first got them home:

Recently ordered BB spikes and BB pupae from here;
http://www.mantisplace.com/


Congrats on getting such a lovely couple. They are adorable, tucc185.

I don't know if it's the camera angle but it looks like one of the outer front left toes on the female is a little infected, perhaps?
Just thought I'd give you a heads up, in case it is.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

If you have any more questions I would send a PM to Cainschams he's the one that gave me almost all of info on my boehmei. Coldbloodedal has these too, he gave me advice too

 

[tucc185]

Photo Update

Well it's about 2 weeks since I got the pair and they're doing really well. I think they just needed more of a 'settling in' period than I'm used to but now that they're used to their enclosures and have their own little routines they're eating much better. Here's a quick step-by-step of their setups:

For caging I used 2x Zilla Flex cages. They're relatively new and are basically just a standard zoomed/exo-terra glass terrarium but with a screen door and top. I thought that was a cool design for montane cham species so I decided to give them a try. I siliconed in coconut fiber backgrounds I had lying around.


Substrate in.


Plants and vines added. I used aquarium backing for a visual barrier between them.


Finished enclosures, chams in. Male on the left. I like these cages so far, if the chams do too I might pick up a few more. They would make great setups for baby montanes and with a clutch of montiums in the incubator and this boehmei female most likely gravid I might need them.


Female. Tubby little thing, isn't she?

 

[tucc185]

The male. Still a bit skinny but quickly putting on weight.

 

[jojothefirst]

View attachment 73288
The male. Still a bit skinny but quickly putting on weight.

she def looks gravid and ready to lay!
I find that although my male eats like a pig he still stays slim proberly because there so active so your male might not be skinny and may just be as he should.

 

[Ferdy Timmerman]

The one thing that concerns me is they don't seem to want to eat much.
Dietary preferences? I would really appreciate any care or husbandry tips for this fascinating species, thanks!

I created a topic and shared most of my experience with this species, it's in the Kinyongia section. As for dietary preferences, try small beetles. Good chance they'll go crazy for them

 

[tucc185]

Update on my pair:
These have quickly become my favorite chams in my collection. They just exude personality and are the most cooperative captives. After a brief period of settling in they are now really taking to their enclosure, they eat extremely well, drink as soon as they get misted, and just generally act like healthy chameleons should .
I notice the male is much more active than the female, even to the extent that he seems to be 'cooped up' in his enclosure, so he spends a lot of time outside the cage. Unlike most of my other chameleons he doesn't seem to have a problem venturing onto the ground and I often find him hanging out there.
The female continues to grow bigger and gain weight but I do not see visible bulges indicating eggs. This species apparently has a long gestation so that is not overly surprising. She shows nonreceptive colors when the male approaches within her field of vision.
Very, very cool species and I hope to be able to get them out to the larger hobby community. They deserve to be a popular species, especially given how hardy and tame these two appear to be.

 

[Cainschams]

Update on my pair:
These have quickly become my favorite chams in my collection. They just exude personality and are the most cooperative captives. After a brief period of settling in they are now really taking to their enclosure, they eat extremely well, drink as soon as they get misted, and just generally act like healthy chameleons should .
I notice the male is much more active than the female, even to the extent that he seems to be 'cooped up' in his enclosure, so he spends a lot of time outside the cage. Unlike most of my other chameleons he doesn't seem to have a problem venturing onto the ground and I often find him hanging out there.
The female continues to grow bigger and gain weight but I do not see visible bulges indicating eggs. This species apparently has a long gestation so that is not overly surprising. She shows nonreceptive colors when the male approaches within her field of vision.
Very, very cool species and I hope to be able to get them out to the larger hobby community. They deserve to be a popular species, especially given how hardy and tame these two appear to be.

Glad they are settling in nicely and you like them that much!! The male I had was more active then the two females. Just make sure to keep a bin in for the female, of course. I have to agree, they seem to be much hardier then K. tavetana at least! Now post some pics

 

[tucc185]

Glad they are settling in nicely and you like them that much!! The male I had was more active then the two females. Just make sure to keep a bin in for the female, of course. I have to agree, they seem to be much hardier then K. tavetana at least! Now post some pics

Another update and pics:
female is showing very noticeable egg bumps and I imagine it won't be long before she starts digging. Anyone know average clutch size for these guys? I'm guessing 9-12.

 

[tucc185]

Pic of the male

 

[Cainschams]

She looks really good! 8 to 12 is probably an average clutch size. I think I got 9 to 11 in the 4 clutches of tavetana I have hatched which are very similar.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

I have 11 eggs but 2 went bad.

 

[coldbloodedAL]

They look great!

I have yet to get any eggs from my group, but one female is noticeably gravid so I'm hoping soon!

 

[Cainschams]

The male looks great too!!!

What you waitin on, Al?