what species is this exactly?

[pwerfulyifu]

Hi, im fairly new to owning a chameleon. ive had this one for about a week and the store that i got was a pretty legitimate reptile store. they told me that it was a female jackson's but from the other pictures that i've seen it looks nothing like one. also i think it might be gravid or pregnant or however you call it. she's eating fine but not alot. maybe like 2-4 crickets a day, and sometimes she will skip a day's meal. also she hangs around the bottom...sometimes but not too often and will sleep around the bottom too. but when i say bottom i dont mean ground floor, but like around the pot of the plant. please help!! thanks.

 

[monstertankman]

I am fairly new and not the most experienced cham person...but it kinda looks like a flap kneck to me.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

I stand corrected.

 

[Ferdy Timmerman]

That's a Trioceros deremensis female. I would go back to the store and make sure you get the right papers with it.
The males have three horns like jacksons, but jacksons lack occipital lobes and the high dorsal crest. Deremensis also has a lot more smooth scalation than jacksonii.
This species comes from the Usambara mountains in Tanzania. I keep them at about 24C during the day and 15-20C at night (depending on the season). I keep the humidity between 60-70% during the day and 80% or higher at night. They love to drink a lot, so it would be wise to put a dripper on top of her cage. Deremensis is a species that normally sits and waits until a prey comes by, so they can get obese if you feed them too much. But in case of a gravid female, make sure she gets enough calcium cause they can produce up to about 40 eggs...

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Wow the pet store apparently wasn't as legitimate as you thought, but she does look like she was named Ducky, like in The Land Before Time. Interesting fact: the voice actress was killed by her father at I believe 10. I hope all goes well with your girl, though she wasn't what you originally thought.

 

[Carlton]

Definitely a female T. deremensis. Very different in terms of care, so you'd better do some serious research!!!! she lurks lower down in the cage because typically they avoid bright light and heat. They don't tend to eat a lot, are fairly inactive and secretive. Cool temps, high humidity, avoid disturbance and be very very careful with any supplements. Use a lot less than for any other species.

 

[James45]

Gonna have to agree that is a female Trioceros Dremensis.

 

[DanSB]

So I think the important question is what store in the Bay is selling T. Dremensis for the price of a female Jackson's and did they have more?

 

[Carlton]

So I think the important question is what store in the Bay is selling T. Dremensis for the price of a female Jackson's and did they have more?

The important question is, why don't they KNOW what they have, who's their wholesaler, and why aren't they doing a better job providing customers with the proper information???? If you treat this poor animal like a jackson's it's going to die shortly especially if it is gravid. Jax are livebearers...deremensis are egg layers.

 

[DanSB]

The important question is, why don't they KNOW what they have, who's their wholesaler, and why aren't they doing a better job providing customers with the proper information???? If you treat this poor animal like a jackson's it's going to die shortly especially if it is gravid. Jax are livebearers...deremensis are egg layers.

Yeah you're right of course.

I was going to go solve the problem by driving down there and buying what they had left which I suppose is no solution at all.

Just looking at the various places importers put up ads for recent imports I have noticed a lot of mis-labelled unhealthy chameleons and the wholesale price between the two species is probably not significantly different so they probably don't care.

I do think that anyone selling pets to the public has an obligation to be able to identify the animal and share correct husbandry practices. This place obviously doesn't do that.

 

[Elizadolots]

Does she look gravid? She seems heavy in the body to me, but maybe that's just how they are?

 

[pwerfulyifu]

wow ok...thanks for the info. and the store's name was called east bay vivarium. it's a small store but its packed with snakes and lizards and tortoises and poison dart frogs and giant moniter lizards...to name a few. so i thought they were pretty reputable. plus they were selling a few juvenile panthers and a baby spiny. but yea when i bought this one they gave me a generic chameleon care sheet which said basking temps from 90-100f degrees blah blah. but now that it's a completely different species im gonna have to start all over again on my research...good thing my room isnt a desert and i only use a 50watt basking lamp. but about it being gravid. is there a way i can tell or you guys might be able to tell from the pictures? or should i provide better pics?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I would put a laying bin in with her just to be on the safe side. She looks really heavy. And she looks like she could have a slight case of gout. Her neck area looks swollen. Which that is a common problem with gravid females. I have a cpl of panther females that get that thick neck look everytime they are gravid. After they lay it tends to go away until they are bred again.

 

[hayleycole]

none the less she is gorgeous!!! :]

 

[Carlton]

wow ok...thanks for the info. and the store's name was called east bay vivarium. it's a small store but its packed with snakes and lizards and tortoises and poison dart frogs and giant moniter lizards...to name a few. so i thought they were pretty reputable. plus they were selling a few juvenile panthers and a baby spiny. but yea when i bought this one they gave me a generic chameleon care sheet which said basking temps from 90-100f degrees blah blah. but now that it's a completely different species im gonna have to start all over again on my research...good thing my room isnt a desert and i only use a 50watt basking lamp. but about it being gravid. is there a way i can tell or you guys might be able to tell from the pictures? or should i provide better pics?

I've heard of East Bay Vivarium...not a terrible place and they've been around a long time, but this isn't sounding good unless they simply hadn't seen deremensis before and their source misidentified it.

The generic caresheet will not work for her. She will avoid the brighter parts of her cage so I'd make sure it is really packed with foliage. You want it cool (upper 60s) with a small basking spot and lots of humidity and misting. Summer temps could be a problem especially at night. You definitely need to be able to provide night time temps into the low 60s. I think I'd call the shop and inform them of the mistake and to be prepared for other worried customers when their chams start going downhill (if anyone else bought one). That's the least thing you can do.

As for being gravid, I'd start right off by weighing her and tracking her weight or taking frequent photos showing her abdomen. If she's gravid she'll eventually look heavier and lumpier near her hips and may start basking more too.

 

[pssh]

If she is already going down to her plant pots and closing her eyes, she may need to lay right now. Set up a laying bin ASAP!

 

[pwerfulyifu]

well she doesnt close her eyes when she's on the lower areas. just chills there. i take her with her enclosure outside 3 times a week. the temperature here gets around 80s, no clouds and light breeze. is that ok? because whenever i take her out she would go on the mesh cage side and bask, which she never does when indoors. and she seems to love the sun. and also if i take her outside 3 times a week should i decrease the amount i dust crickets with d3? and how important is gutloading for her? because im still unfamiliar with gutloading. i have the fluker's cricket quencher orange goo gutload and the reptivite d3 powder.

 

[DanSB]

well she doesnt close her eyes when she's on the lower areas. just chills there. i take her with her enclosure outside 3 times a week. the temperature here gets around 80s, no clouds and light breeze. is that ok? because whenever i take her out she would go on the mesh cage side and bask, which she never does when indoors. and she seems to love the sun. and also if i take her outside 3 times a week should i decrease the amount i dust crickets with d3? and how important is gutloading for her? because im still unfamiliar with gutloading. i have the fluker's cricket quencher orange goo gutload and the reptivite d3 powder.

It can't hurt to get a laying bin set up in her enclosure immediately. It is just a bin with damp sand in it. I'm not sure of the exact size required someone else can chime in on that maybe.

I highly suggest searching the forums for gut loading and nutritional advice. It is very important for a gravid female to get proper nutrition.

East Bay Vivarium is in Berkeley? Same one? I'm going to go check them out next weekend it looks like a neat store.

 

[pwerfulyifu]

yes i use a fairly large sized tupperware with white calcium sand i bought at the petstore. however im wondering if they only lay eggs in sand or she will lay then in the soil in the pot?

 

[Black Panther]

Thats not good enough. Try a 5 gallon bucket with washed playsand