New additions - Elliot's chameleons

[Heika]

After doing cage rounds today, I discovered that the chameleon population had increased by 13. It was a very exciting moment! Nothing like opening a cage door to see 13 little faces peaking at you. Mom is doing very well.. she is a beautiful chameleon, and her little ones are fiesty. One was born with a defect.. it appears that his/her eye is recessed into his head. I doubt he/she will live long, but it appears to be doing well so far.

Anyhow.. pics!

Here are a couple pics of the little fellow with the recessed eye:

 

[MdngtRain]

Congrats on the new little ones!! They are SO CUTE! That little guy's eye is really weird. I hope all is well with them, and that even that little guy makes it.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

SHUT UP!
Heika you are culturing quite a little population in that shed of yours.
I am so jealous and they are beautiful!
Even the little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree one
You're probably right about his chances but 12 out of 13 healthy
is pretty damn good!
Congrats.

-Brad

 

[alan23]

wow very nice chams.hope later in life i cn breed and get nice chams alan

 

[Trace]

So would these be my stripey grandkids?

So to further my research on the bitaeniatus complex, I noticed some of the babies pictured had the black gular spot and mom does not. Once they've settled in a bit, shoot me an email with how many do vs. how many don't. I'd also like to know colours and patterns as they mature for locality data.

The little cyclops is wierd for sure, and beyond the eye problem, his body doesn't look quite right somehow. Not surprising since this is a retained sperm litter. I guess I'd cull him off sooner than later myself.

Looks like you've got a lot of females in the litter too. You know my penchant for the lady chams!

Good luck with them!
Cheers,
Trace

 

[Jewel]

Wow Heika, they are so precious, congratulations and I hope it goes well.

 

[Marc10edora]

I wish I could afford to keep more than one chameleon. I'm hella jealous. How do you guys do it?

 

[Brandy]

Congrats they look Great. poor one eyed willy.

 

[roo_71]

Sweet Heika! Congrats!

That defective one reminds me of that mulligan R. spectrum I hatched a ways back …

 

[jbfromsc80]

congratulations heika, SOoo exciting. I am in the jealous boat too, I can't wait to get a small population of chams!!

 

[SeanCJ]

Very nice! Congratulations! I am very jealous!
I hope they all do very well for you. Can you share pics of the adults? They are a beautiful chameleon for sure.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Heika,

Good thing you do such a great job raising hydei fruit flies . They'll get a good start on life munching on those little buggers .

 

[Jordan]

Well hopefully since he/she was born with it as aposed to losing it he/she can make due. Good looking chameleons as always, Heika.

 

[Heika]

Thanks for all the nice comments and well wishes, everyone! They all seem to be doing well so far. Can't wait until they are a bit chubbier.. they are such thin little babies...

So would these be my stripey grandkids?

So to further my research on the bitaeniatus complex, I noticed some of the babies pictured had the black gular spot and mom does not. Once they've settled in a bit, shoot me an email with how many do vs. how many don't. I'd also like to know colours and patterns as they mature for locality data.

Looks like you've got a lot of females in the litter too. You know my penchant for the lady chams!

Yup, these are your grandbabies, Trace. I will let you know about the gular spots. Mom's doesn't have any coloring at all, as you are aware. It looks like more of the youngsters have black gular spots than not.. it will be a while before I am sure about that. Ok, so.. how are you sexing them at this age, oh, bitaeniatus queen?

Congrats they look Great. poor one eyed willy.

Ahh, such a good name. Thanks Brandy, Willy he is.

That defective one reminds me of that mulligan R. spectrum I hatched a ways back …

Hey roo.. did that spectrum have either of its eyes? How long did it live? This little guy has one eye.. not sure if it actually has an eye opening or not though. If it does.. then I suppose it is possible it will survive. I have decided to see what happens with him for a while. If it looks like he is starving, I will cull him, as Trace suggested. If he can eat.. well..

Can you share pics of the adults? They are a beautiful chameleon for sure.

Let me apologize for the pictures in advance.. I have a new camera, and I am still learning how to use it. Here are some adult pics:

This is not the mom of this clutch.. her gular spot is black:

Here is mom.. not the best picture, she is normally an orangish tan with blue/gray eye turrets. Very pretty chameleon. Her gular spot is there.. there is a "slash" at her throat where the skin folds for a gular spot, but it is not black. It is the same color as the rest of her skin.

And, here is the little male. He is not the father of this clutch.. the female that gave birth had a retained sperm clutch. He is always hard to take a picture of. He heads for the hills as soon as he sees the camera. A second before this picture, he was resting peacefully on that stick, glowing blue. As soon as the cage door swung open, he was moving.. and turning gray. Pretty boy anyhow.

Here he is staring at the evil camera just moments later:

Good thing you do such a great job raising hydei fruit flies . They'll get a good start on life munching on those little buggers .

Bahh, I let my cultures run down because the veileds are too big to eat them. I only have four going right now for leaf chameleon variety and "just in case." I think I am going to have to buy a few more.

Heika

 

[Trace]

... Ok, so.. how are you sexing them at this age, oh, bitaeniatus queen?

Well, that would be my X-Ray vision of course!

Here's a few more pics of the ellioti:

Gravid female: Not doing a good job of hiding that fat belly!

And the shy male:

Cheers,
Trace

 

[Chamgirl]

Beautiful chameleons, I hope they do well. Fingers crossed little Willy finds a way round his problems to lead a good life.

 

[Cherron]

I have never really seen any Elliot's before. Is the "slash" in the throat normal?

 

[Heika]

Well, that would be my X-Ray vision of course!

Hmm.. X-ray vision.. the glasses I ordered from the back of my Wonder Woman comic book didn't work?

Beautiful chameleons, I hope they do well. Fingers crossed little Willy finds a way round his problems to lead a good life.

Little Willy is doing alright so far. It looks like he has eye openings on both eyes.. not sure how much he is able to see though.

I have never really seen any Elliot's before. Is the "slash" in the throat normal?

Yes, it is normal. The slash is a black spot when they fully extend their throats. Some of them don't have black spots, though. Hopefully, that doesn't mean they are another locale...

 

[Heika]

Update on Elliot babies...

After taking a slew of pics, one turned out well. I will try and take more soon. Anyhow, this little male is a beauty!

They are a little over 2 months old now, eating and growing very well. Nice looking babies.

Little one eyed Willie died a while back.

Heika

 

[Trace]

HELLO SAILOR! He is very sexy. Very sexy. Hose me down.

It's funny, earlier today I was thinking about you and the ellioti and was wondering how you were getting along with all of them. By the looks of things, quite well. Any mating or any new litters from either of the females?

Pop a pair or trio of the babies in the mail for me. I need to get back into the bitans. Big time.

Cheers,
T