New deremensis arrived!

[ponders]

Thanks for all the compliments. He's a very cool chameleon.

Fabian, speaking of cool, at what temp should I put on a heat lamp for him? In the winter, my cham room can get down into the upper 50's at night and then stay in the upper 60's in the day. Thanks.

 

[merumontanus]

Thanks for all the compliments. He's a very cool chameleon.

Fabian, speaking of cool, at what temp should I put on a heat lamp for him? In the winter, my cham room can get down into the upper 50's at night and then stay in the upper 60's in the day. Thanks.

Fortunately for you, males don't tend to accumulate as much fat reserves as female deremensis, so you don't have to worry too much about providing a terribly cool, fasting, winter for him, though this cycling would probably contribute to his longevity.

You will notice a drastic decrease in appetite during this cooling period. In fact, an adult pair I kept a couple of years back, which I eventually loaned out for breeding, endured a cool winter in the low 50s at night and high 60s or low 70s during the day, eating only once a week, though they continued to drink every day. One very cold morning, I found the female at the base of a large plant as the lights were coming on, in what appeared to be total torpor, so much, in fact, that she appeared dead. By the time the temperature climbed a few degrees in the room and the lights had been on for a little while, she woke up, climbed to the mid section of the plant and began drinking.

This kind of cool cycling is apparently needed for successful reproduction in this species, and as I mentioned, will ultimately contribute to lasting longevity.

If your room fails to get warmer than, say, the low 60s, then you can add a low wattage incandescent bulb to increase the temperature by just a few degrees, but something important to consider with deremensis, at least in my experience, is that they seem to dislike high lux levels, so a very bright incandescent bulb may not be the answer. You could try a small "night bulb" during the day just to bring the temperature up a few degrees, and then turn it off at night in conjunction with all your other lights.

Let me know how he does this winter as it would be very interesting to compare his progress with that of his siblings.

Cheers!

Fabián

 

[Jerm]

These guys look great! I'm glad to see some success with this species. Good job Fabian! I had a pair of them a few years ago, but unfortunately when I downsized my collection they were one of the pairs that i sold. I had too many chams at the time. I remember the vibrating that they would do just before they shot out their tongue to catch a cricket, they were very unique compared to other chams that I have kept. Here are pics of the ones that I had:

This female came in to a local pet store as a flapneck, so I got a real good deal on her but I knew what she was from the moment that I saw her:

 

[ponders]

Fortunately for you, males don't tend to accumulate as much fat reserves as female deremensis, so you don't have to worry too much about providing a terribly cool, fasting, winter for him, though this cycling would probably contribute to his longevity.

You will notice a drastic decrease in appetite during this cooling period. In fact, an adult pair I kept a couple of years back, which I eventually loaned out for breeding, endured a cool winter in the low 50s at night and high 60s or low 70s during the day, eating only once a week, though they continued to drink every day. One very cold morning, I found the female at the base of a large plant as the lights were coming on, in what appeared to be total torpor, so much, in fact, that she appeared dead. By the time the temperature climbed a few degrees in the room and the lights had been on for a little while, she woke up, climbed to the mid section of the plant and began drinking.

This kind of cool cycling is apparently needed for successful reproduction in this species, and as I mentioned, will ultimately contribute to lasting longevity.

If your room fails to get warmer than, say, the low 60s, then you can add a low wattage incandescent bulb to increase the temperature by just a few degrees, but something important to consider with deremensis, at least in my experience, is that they seem to dislike high lux levels, so a very bright incandescent bulb may not be the answer. You could try a small "night bulb" during the day just to bring the temperature up a few degrees, and then turn it off at night in conjunction with all your other lights.

Let me know how he does this winter as it would be very interesting to compare his progress with that of his siblings.

Cheers!

Fabián

Thanks Fabian. I'll keep track of the temps and see how he does.

Tylene

 

[Kent67]

One very cold morning, I found the female at the base of a large plant as the lights were coming on, in what appeared to be total torpor

Any recollection of how cold that was? I'm wanting to leave my pair outside overnight as long as I can but don't want to push it too close to whatever temp that was. This week the temps here have been upper 60s in the daytime to upper 50s at night and they haven't seemed to slow down any. How long of a cooling period would you recommend for them at this age/size?

Btw, there's a very large, very healthy looking pair for sale at my local shop. I hate going in there right now because they're so tempting after having this pair for a while, now. I keep telling myself to hold out for the next captive-hatched ones available to diversify the bloodlines, though.

 

[ponders]

Updated photos of Duke

Here are some new photos for everyone esp Fabian All these deremensis pictures in one day!

The second picture is him getting mad at a hornworm!

What do you think of that crazy horn?