What are the Largest Chameleons?

July 6, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Ever wondered what species of chameleon are the largest in the world? There are many types of chameleons and each kind has unique traits and quirks associated with it. We’ve talked about pygmy chameleons in a previous post, which are some of the smallest chameleons, but this entry is all about the behemoths – specifically the four largest species of chameleon.

4. Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

Veiled Chameleons, also known as Yemen Chameleons, are becoming popular pet chameleons due to captive breeding efforts. Wild-caught animals have a reputation for having a hard time adjusting to captivity, but ones produced by breeders like us are hardier than ever and thrive in the proper captive conditions. They are number four on our list of the largest chameleons.

A full-grown male Veiled Chameleon, one of our breeders, and one of the largest chameleons in the world. This species can be somewhat defensive and aggressive, but generally thrive in captivity. We have bred thousands of them over the years.

Male veiled chameleons can reach lengths of up to two feet with females being slightly smaller (approximately 18 inches in length). Hatchlings start off life at about three inches long, and do quite well right off the bat.

The life span of the veiled chameleon varies. Generally, males that are well cared for will live anywhere from five to eight years, whereas females will live shorter lives ranging from four to six years. This is because the process of reproducing takes a toll on the female, even if she just lays infertile egg clutches (much like a chicken).

large chamaeleo calyptratus — Some veiled chameleons can have attitude like this guy. He got stressed out when we tried to help him with those little pieces of shed skin behind his head.

3. Oustalet’s Chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti)

Number three on our list of the largest chameleons is the Oustalet’s. Also called the Malagasy Giant Chameleon, Oustalet’s chameleons (pronounced as “Ooh-stuh-lay”) can reach up to 27 inches long! Females are smaller and generally won’t surpass two feet in length. It’s interesting to note that although not the largest chameleon in terms of body mass, these guys are only surpassed by Parson’s chameleons in terms of length.

large oustalets chameleon — This female Oustalet’s Chameleon is slightly smaller than most males, but are still large as a species.

While they tend to stay in the brown color spectrum range, like all chameleons, Oustalet’s chameleons can adapt their coloration based upon moods and can exhibit blacks, rusty oranges, and sometimes even blues. Females tend to be brighter and more colorful than males. Males also have more pronounced head crests and ridge spines than the females.

furcifer oustaleti — This female Oustalet’s is currently our best eater–she’s always ravenous.

Probably due to their large size, these chameleons have voracious appetites. They will eat normal chameleon fare such as insects, but are adept hunters and will consume smaller lizards (including smaller chameleons) and even birds in the wild. The Backwater Reptiles Oustalet’s chameleons are fun to feed because they will snatch mealworms, crickets, and other large invertebrates from your hand. You’d be surprised how long their tongues are! The most aggressive feeding chameleon we have is our adult female Oustalet’s breeder (we crossed her with a Panther cham too).

2. Meller’s Chameleon (Chamaeleo melleri)

Meller’s Chameleon (AKA the “Bird-Eating Chameleon” and the “Giant One-Horned Chameleon”) is known to reach approximately two feet in length.

These chameleons are recognizable by their brilliant green, yellow, and black coloring, large occipital lobes (crest behind the ears), and single rostral horn (nose horn).

large mellers chameleon — Notice the nose horn and large occipital lobes on this light-colored Meller’s Chameleon.

One thing to watch out for with melleri chameleons is dehydration, so watch for sunken eyes or wrinkly, saggy skin and be sure to maintain proper humidity in their environment.

Meller's bird eating chameleon — When Meller’s Chameleons are threatened or stressed, they tend to exhibit bright green and black dots. They are large chameleons sometimes called “Bird-eaters.”

A fun fact about Meller’s chameleons is that their tongue can extend the length of their body and sometimes even longer! As far as feeding is concerned, Meller’s will eat large insects such as super worms, horn worms, large crickets, and roaches.

The melleri species is number two on our list of the largest chameleons in the world. They are wonderful animals that are full of spunk and have tremendous grip-strength.

huge mellers chameleon — This is one of our massive Meller’s chameleons. This large species is rarely captive bred.

And the largest chameleon in the world is…

1. Parson’s Chameleon (Calumma parsonii)

Parson’s Chameleons are true giants. The largest and heftiest of all chameleons, they can attain lengths of up to 28 inches and weigh anywhere from a pound to two pounds – basically they can be the size of a small house cat! It’s not just their impressive length, but their solid mass as well.

parsons chameleon - world's largest — The world’s largest chameleon is the Parson’s. Here is one of our female Yellow-lipped Parson’s chams.

Variable in color, males have ridges running from the side of their eyes down to their noses which form two blunt horns. Females don’t have horns, but do have small head crests and often times nose “bumps” on the tips of their noses.

parsons chameleon eggs — A collage of our female Yellow-Lipped Parson’s Chameleon and the 68 eggs she laid for us!

Parson’s are much less common within the pet reptile market, due to more strict regulations regarding their export, and the small number of captive breedings. Captive-bred animals are particularly valuable due to their rarity and lack of parasites. That’s why we were super excited to have our very own clutch of 68 Yellow-Lipped Parson’s eggs laid this year at Backwater Reptiles! If all goes well, we should have some babies born in 14-16 months. Fingers crossed.

If any of these chameleons interests you, we currently have all of these large chameleon species for sale.

Most Popular Pet Monitor Lizards

June 29, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Which monitor lizards make the best pets? We ship out a lot of monitor lizards here at Backwater Reptiles – they’re popular reptile pets! Because monitor lizards can grow to a large size quite quickly, we wanted to make sure potential new owners get as much info as possible and know exactly what they are in for long term. That’s why this blog entry is all about our most popular monitor lizards.

Black Throat Monitors (Varanus albigularis ionidesi)

Overall, Black Throat Monitors are docile lizards. With proper handling and care, they will overcome most aggressive behaviors and make excellent pet lizards. In fact, many people enjoy taking their Black Throat out for a stroll on a leash (always do so responsibly and securely). It’s healthy for the lizard to get exercise and natural sunshine, plus we guarantee people will stop and ask you questions! Remember, you’re a representative of the reptile community, so propagating a positive view of our hobby is hugely important.

Like most pet monitors, when full-grown, these guys will require a very large, spacious enclosure. In addition to invertebrates, they will eat whole rodents and other small mammals, including thawed mice and chicks (rodents are always better–their bones contain more calcium than bird bones), so make sure you don’t have a queasy stomach if you want a monitor of any kind.

Black Throats are not avid climbers nor particularly good at swimming, so it’s not necessary to give them climbing or swimming equipment like some monitors would require. However, a clean water dish is still a must.

All monitor species are very intelligent as far as lizards are concerned. However, Black Throats have been known to be able to internally count to seven! They can also recognize their keepers/owners, and can solve fairly involved food tests.

At our facility, we have a nearly five-foot long Blackthroat that is not only tame, but will walk to us when we slap the ground with our hand. We raised him from a baby that fit on our index finger, to a four-footer, inside one year. This should give you an idea of how quickly they can grow if provided with quality foods and heat.

Currently, Backwater Reptiles has hatchling and 14 to 18 inch long Black Throat Monitors ready to go. We get them in regularly, and cannot recommend them more highly if you are prepared for a large reptile pet.

White Throat Monitors (Varanus albigularis)

Also known as Cape Monitors, White Throats have larger, more bulbous noses than most other monitor species, particularly when they are mature. They have raised, almost cone-shaped neck scales and can be accented with yellowish-colored stripes, bands, or splotches. As suggested by their common name, their throats tend to be lighter in color than the rest of their body.

white throat monitor lizard — White throats can become very tame, albeit very large, pet monitor lizards.

White Throats grow anywhere from three to six feet long and will live around 12 to 20 years. Males are longer and heavier than females.

Although they are mostly diurnal, grund-dwelling lizards, it is not unheard of for White Throats to climb trees. This means that in addition to supplying a very large, spacious enclosure to keep your adult monitor, you should also provide some type of branch or safely secured climbing apparatus.

varanus albigularis pet — All monitors flick their tongues in and out to retrieve sensory data. They then place their tongue against something called a “Jacobsen’s organ” to interpret the data.

White Throats love to drink water, so be sure there is always a fresh supply in their enclosure. Keep the dish clean and remove any feces or food that might collect inside of it. Also be aware of how often your White Throat soaks in his/her water dish as this could be an indicator that there is not enough humidity present in his/her environment (this is true for most lizard species).

Backwater Reptiles currently has hatchling White Throat Monitors available. This species is not available nearly as often as the Black throat monitors. These little guys won’t need a gigantic enclosure for a while yet, although they do grow quickly!

Savannah Monitors (Varanus exanthematicus)

The highly intelligent Savannah Monitor requires stimulation and activity outside of its enclosure. Like all adult monitors, they will require a large habitat to live in, but they should also be given time outside their enclosure to exercise. They will thrive if their lifestyle is “exciting” – at least for a lizard.

Savannahs are probably the most manageable of the monitor lizards as far as size and enclosure size is concerned. Savannahs will grow to be an average of two and a half to three and a half feet in length and will live around twenty years if properly cared for.

If there is enough space, food, hiding space, and all other requirements are met, Savannah Monitors can even be kept communally, although it is not advisable to keep multiple males together.

Because Savannahs are avid burrowers, it is absolutely essential that their enclosure have a substrate that fosters this natural behavior. Cage decor should be minimal because burrowing will topple things and you don’t want anything to fall and harm the lizard.

The Savannah Monitor’s diet is very similar to that of all other monitor lizard species. Whole rodents and large insects should be the staples of a Savannah’s diet and fresh water should always be available.

Backwater Reptiles has hatchling and juvenile Savannah Monitors in stock and ready to ship. We’ve even got an anerythristic morph!

Nile Monitors (Varanus niloticus)

Of all the monitor lizards, Nile Monitors are probably the toughest to keep. They often times have aggressive temperaments (for the most part) and unless you’re an experienced herper, it’s best if they’re not handled. They tend to hiss, bite, and whip their tails at their keepers, even when handled consistently from a young age. They’re are always exceptions to every rule, but they generally make better display pets.

As their name suggests, Nile Monitors are excellent swimmers and even have flattened out rudder-like tails to assist them while in the water. This means that in order to keep a healthy, happy Nile Monitor, it should have an enclosure large enough to hold the six foot long adult lizard complete with an area for soaking and swimming. Make sure to keep the water container clean as these monitors will often defecate in the water.

Like all other monitors, the Nile Monitor’s diet should be as varied as possible, but include lots of large insects and whole rodents. These guys sure do have appetites!

Backwater Reptiles has very affordable hatchling Nile Monitors nearly year round.

pet nile monitor — Nile monitors can become tame, but generally they are a little more skittish. Starting with a baby is your best option for a pet monitor.

We hope we’ve taught you a thing or two about the most popular pet monitor lizards. What do you think the best pet monitor lizard is?

Ten Pygmy Chameleon Facts

June 24, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Unique in many ways, and we’re going to list the top ten Pygmy chameleon facts. When most people think of a chameleon, the animal that comes to their mind is a bright, color-changing lizard with a curlicue tail and eyes that can move in opposite directions. However, at Backwater Reptiles, we have some pygmy chameleons that don’t adhere to the chameleon “stereotype.” This blog entry is dedicated to shedding light on these unique little chameleons by providing readers with ten quick facts about them.

1. Unlike their more colorful, larger cousins, pygmy chameleons tend to be shades of brown with various blotches, spots, and stripes. While they can still adjust their color depending on their surroundings, they do not turn shades of bright green, blue, or orange.

2. Pygmy chameleons are also known as Stump-tail chameleons because they have short, truncated tails. Because they live on leaf litter on the ground, they don’t require curly, long tails that allow them to grasp tree branches like their arboreal cousins.

rhampholean brevicaudatus — Pygmy Chameleons don’t generally exceed three inches long, making them the smallest species of chameleon in the world.

3. As their name suggests, pygmies get no larger than three and a half inches and some species will stay as small as an inch long. They also have relatively short lifespans averaging from one to three years.

4. Pygmy chameleons can be housed communally. Provided they live in an enclosure with enough space, food, and humidity, they will coexist happily.

5. When keeping pygmies in captivity, horizontal space is more important than vertical space. These little guys are not big on climbing like most arboreal chameleons. It’s also a great idea to have lots of floor roaming space if you have more than one male in a single enclosure because it gives them territory to “claim” and less chance to encounter each other and engage in aggressive behavior.

6. Pygmies are avid breeders and because they can be housed together, you’ll need to watch out for gravid females. You can tell when a female is gravid because, like a pregnant human, she will swell up really large in the tummy region. Make sure you watch gravid females closely as it’s not necessary to move pygmies to a separate laying bin when it’s time to lay eggs. The substrate kept year-round in a pygmies’ enclosure should be moist enough and provide enough digging depth for a female to deposit her eggs.

7. Juvenile and baby pygmy chameleons should be fed as many pinhead crickets a they can consume daily. Adults should be consuming approximately four to six small crickets every other day.

bearded pygmy cham — The tiniest chameleon we bet you’ll ever see! They require tiny food items such as 1/8″ crickets and hydei fruit flies.

8. When frightened, pygmies can vibrate or buzz in order to attempt to intimidate other chameleons or predators. They definitely aren’t lacking in the personality department.

9. Because they live in leaf litter, pygmies do everything they can to camouflage in with the leaves. Interestingly enough, they can compress their bodies and flatten out to resemble a dead leaf and believe us when we say that if they don’t want to be found, sometimes it’s hard to see them even when they’re right in front of your face!

10. Pygmy chameleons make great pets! Pygmies are usually pretty docile and don’t mind being handled by people. Just be aware of the animal’s posture and behavior while handling because like most chameleons, stress is dangerous to their health.

Pygmy Chameleon - Rhampholeon sp. — This pygmy chameleon thinks he’s a jewel thief! :)

If you are interested in owning a tiny, unique, and quirky animal, Backwater Reptiles has pygmy chameleons for sale. We bet you’re going to want multiples. ;-)

What to Feed Your Bearded Dragon

June 17, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

What should you feed your pet Beardie? Bearded Dragons (AKA “Beardies”) are extremely popular pet lizards for several reasons. They are extremely hardy making them easy to care for, healthy lizards. They are also medium-sized animals which means that they don’t require a very large enclosure to keep them happy. They come in a variety of attractive color morphs, are very docile, tame creatures, and they also enjoy being handled and develop individual personalities.

So now on to the million dollar question – what do these guys eat?

Bearded dragons are omnivorous opportunists and eat both veggies and meat. They have very large appetites and will often eat when they are not hungry, just like some people, so make sure you are aware of what your Beardie eats on a daily basis so that he/she doesn’t get fat.

Here are some basic rules to follow when feeding your bearded dragon.

1) Because baby Beardies are growing, they will need to consume more food in general than an adult would. They will need to eat protein (i.e. insects) three times per day, whereas adults will eat once per day. An insect is of an appropriate size for your dragon if it is not longer than the space between the dragon’s eyes.

2) Each insect feeding session should last about fifteen minutes. Dust your gut-loaded insects appropriately with vitamin supplements and allow the Beardie to consume as many as possible within that fifteen minute time frame. After feeding is finished, remove leftover insects from the enclosure.

3) It’s always a good idea to have fresh vegetable and/or fruit matter available to your Beardie. Cut the veggies or fruits into small, manageable pieces and make sure to replace daily as you don’t want your Beardie to eat wilted, rotted, or otherwise harmful food.

4) Some plants, fruits, and veggies are not safe for Beardies to eat, while others are just plain not nutritious. Don’t feed your Beardie avocados as they are toxic to their systems. Avoid lettuce because its mostly water (particularly iceberg lettuce). Also don’t use wild-caught insects as food because they can carry parasites or diseases that could harm your lizard.

5) Variety is important. Make sure your dragon is getting a varied and balanced diet of both protein and vegetative matter. They will develop favorite foods, but like a human being, they need to eat different things on a regular basis to keep them healthy. In other words, switch up the type of protein and veggies weekly.

Backwater Reptiles offers multiple ages and color morphs of bearded dragons for sale as well as lots of types of feeder insects.

How to Care for Baby Chameleons

June 1, 2015December 9, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

There’s no question that caring for baby chameleons is a fragile process that requires planning and careful attention.

Breeding chameleons is part art, part science. First, you have to find a compatible adult breeding pair and wait for them to hit it off, which is an entire article in and of itself.

Next, feed the female well and wait for her to dig a hole and bury her eggs–this typically happens around 30-40 days after copulation (called the “gestation” period). It can be much longer for certain species, but generally, this is a safe timeframe.

Digging is a very secretive process and the female should not be disturbed or bothered while it’s occurring. It usually takes 3-5 hours, but can easily be longer. The reason is, sometimes females will dig a test hole, then abandon it and start over if it’s too damp, not damp enough, etc.

Baby chameleon care — Here are a few of our Yellow-lipped Parson’s chameleon eggs! Our big female laid 68 in all.

After the eggs have been buried, they need to be very carefully dug up and placed into a container with damp vermiculite or perlite. This is a tedious process because the eggs need to remain in the same orientation in which they were uncovered. Switching them around, flipping them, or turning them could mean the babies won’t be born. Mark the top of each egg with a pencil, so you always know which way is “up.”

And then…you wait. And wait. The incubation period of the eggs depends upon the species, but generally, it takes around six to twelve months. For instance, the Flapneck eggs in this clutch were laid on May 21st, 2014 and began hatching on May 25th, 2015, around one year later. Some species hatch in as little as 90 days, such as the Johnston’s chameleon (Trioceros johnstoni). Parson’s chameleons can take up to two years!

The babies in this post are Flapneck Chameleons (Chamaeleo dilepis) and Veiled Chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus). The clutch size for the Veiled was approximately 60 babies, while 44 Flapnecks were born.

Baby Chameleons – After the hatch

After hatching, the babies need to be transferred to proper enclosures. Multiple babies can be housed in the same cage for a period of time (usually around 1-2 months), but be sure that when they reach a few months old, they get moved into their own homes.

It’s a good idea to size-sort the babies after a few weeks. This means, take all the biggest ones, and put them together, and leave the smaller ones together. This is because there can be dominance issues and the small ones can lose-out during feeding time if they’re getting bullied by the larger ones.

Caring for the babies is similar to caring for the adults, but the babies need to have an abundance of water and should be fed very small prey items at least twice a day, such as hydei fruit flies and pinhead crickets. Make sure you dust the crickets frequently with a quality calcium supplement (RepCal or Repashy is what we use) as the baby chameleons have high growth rates.

As previously mentioned, it is of utmost importance that the baby chameleons remain in a high humidity environment. Automatic misting, or at a very minimum hand-misting, should occur several times per day. We recommend using a smaller cage too, making the insects easier for the chameleons to find. Unlike adult chameleons, we raise our babies in glass-sided enclosures to help maintain adequate humidity.

How to care for baby chameleons – conclusion

Backwater Reptiles’ captive-bred baby Veiled Chameleons and baby Flapneck Chameleons are not yet ready to be shipped to new homes. They need month or two to grow and develop before they are prepared to face the great big world and meet their new owners.

However, Backwater Reptiles does have Veiled Chameleons for sale as well as Flapneck Chameleons for sale that have reached a size and age that is appropriate for shipping. These are wonderful creatures that can make absolutely excellent pet chameleons.

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