Timeline...growth of a parsonii

[Zerah Morris]

Hello all,
been a little while since I posted. Thought I would show the growth time line of one of my parsonii Wasabi, for reference to other keepers. Of course the big question is always male or female? I am placing my money on male but you be the judge. Wasabi has stayed ahead 20-25% in weight and physical size compared to his sibling Je-uel. Je-uel is doing fantastic as well and I will try to put something similar together following "her" growth. Enjoy!

Day three 6/8/2006

Size reference 6/13/2006

7/10/2006

7/15/2006

7/23/2006

8/13/2006

9/17/2006

Today 9/21/2006

About two day from his next shed and hating on the camera!

 

[Heika]

Wasabi is looking fantastic, Zerah!

Heika

 

[Jordan]

Wasabi looks like he has human skin not reptile. Especially when he gets straight tan.

 

[voxxom]

yea, their skin looks like an old persons.

they have a lot of character :]

he looks great btw

 

[Zerah Morris]

Thanks all,
Wasabi has really changed and the grey color you see in the last few photos is his stress colors, he normally displays the light fleshy color seen in other pics. The yellow turrets have just started to show in the last weeks.

Their skin is much softer than human skin, softer than any other cham I have worked with. It feels like velvet, and is bruised very easily. Even a hard rub on a branch will often leave a blackish mark that will go away with the next shed.

Je-uel has also begun to develop the yellow eye turret color. Je-uel seems to have very different body proportions to Wasabi. The head and casque are not as pronounced, and the body is more streamline, the base of the tail not as thick and massive in appearance. That said I make no bets on this specimen but I could be out looking for a verified female soon. Being that the two specimens are siblings I have always thought that either two males or two females would be the best I could hope for, as far as future breeding potential goes.

 

[voxxom]

wow. they sure a beautiful little guys :]

how much do babies run for?

 

[Zerah Morris]

As predicted Wasabi started his shed today. Interesting to note he recently began exhibiting a tendency to eat his skin. Here he shot his skin after it had fallen 10" or so and then consumed it. This is often noted as normal for parsonii but I find it fascinating to watch!

Je-uel only looks to be a few days behind and should break shed in 2-3 days. Like Wasabi body condition improves rapidly from the skinny juvenile look to the start of real mass in body proportion. She has put on several grams just in the last 5 days.

 

[podenbeck]

Wasabi does have a lot of character. Great pics Zerah! May I ask what kind of camera you are using.

 

[Zerah Morris]

Thanks podenbeck,
I use several different cameras. Most frequently I reach for a Canon S1IS or S2IS that both stay charged and hanging in the cham room, but I also have a Canon 1D MarkII for DSLR work. The smaller point and shoots need to be babied to keep them in the sweet spot but they seems to bother the chams less. Hope that helps.

 

[podenbeck]

I figured you were shooting with a high caliber just didn't know what. I really like the water and light interations you get as well.

 

[Zerah Morris]

The camera does not a photog make, or so they say, but equipment does help. I think the key to good chameleon photography is the eye, I try to always get catch light, either natural or not, it the eye much like you would if doing portrait work. At the very least capture the cornea and white of the eye whenever possible, it breathes life into the chameleon in my opinion.

I do also try and work with the water as you mentioned, I find it a constant in their environment and think it necessary to include when portraying their lives. The prismatic effect of the drops can really add to your composition.

I try and use available light, low aperture, and fast lenses as much as possible but sometimes a moment only last long enough to get a snap shot!

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[Dave Weldon]

... Canon 1D MarkII for DSLR work...

Howdy Zerah,
If you ever have that "shot-of-shots", full of great color and sharpness and want the best possible print and maybe even have it mounted on an aluminum backing, check out my brother at www.weldoncolorlab.com He is the best you'll find. People and companies send enlargement work to him from all over the world. He does regular film enlargements and also direct from digital using a Lightjet (lasers) system making images all the way up to 50" x 120" ! He also does Inkjet work up to 72" wide by any length. He recently mounted a print that was 40" x 252" (21 feet long!) Hey, 8" x 10" enlargements are great too! It's the Ilfochrome paper and development process that really pulls the colors up to fantastic and that's why the photo-art world loves it.