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Hello my dear Reptil.TV friends. Today we've reached episode no. 55.
Here we have a nice 'intro' animal. We thought it would be great to show a new animal in every episode.
You probably saw the TV show: 'Ein Platz für Tiere' [a place for animals] von Grzimek.
In my childhood that was the absolute monthly highlight.
We wanted to do the same thing. Therefore we are going to show an intro animal.
Today I want to introduce you to Lenny, our Albino Alligator.
Of course it is really difficult to keep an albino alligator at home. It's already difficult with a normal alligator.
Not because they are very expensive, rather because they will become very large!
How has a large enough living room to accommodate an alligator that is between 3 to 5 meters long?
Nonetheless, I want to show him to you. It is an absolutely beautiful animal!
They are or will become tame. Even when they are fully grown.
They are really intelligent animals. Because they are intelligent, they realize that we don't want to harm them in any way. Therefore, they are tame.
I wanted to show him to you in our intro. Here you can see him with his full glory and length.
Now he's about 2 years old. And I really wanted to show him to you.
Our Albinogator was only our introduction animal.
On my hand you can see the animal that we are going to talk about today.
It's a Yemen Chameleon. Since the start of our show we've received lots of replies that we should do an episode on Chameleons.
So today, we're going to adhere to your requests. We are doing an episode on Chameleons.
In my opinion, the Yemen Chameleon - maybe together with the Panther Chameleon - is the only Chameleon that can be kept in a good way by herps.
You can breed it. It's been farmed in the Xth generation.
As I said, even beginners can easily keep them in a terrarium. For these reasons, this is the only Chameleon that I can or would suggest for people to buy.
For a pro, I would maybe even suggest a Panther Chameleon. In my opinion, the Carpet Chameleons or Jacksonii Chameleons, or what have you, are almost impossible to keep.
They are only something if you have loads of experience and are a real pro.
In my opinion, even with them things can go down south.
If you want to keep a Chameleon, buy a Yemen Chameleon that was bred. Don't buy anything that was caught in the wild.
If we want to keep a Yemen Chameleon in a proper way, we have to spend some thoughts on where they are from.
As stated by its scientific name, it is of course from Yemen. Yemen is a country that is located in the Arabian desert.
It's located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. There are also mountains in that area of the desert.
The mountain peaks can reach up to and over 3.000m. The living environment of the Yemen Chameleons is between 450 and 2.500m.
You could say that they live on the slopes of these mountains. That area is dry but it is woodland.
The precipitation can be very high. There is a short and a long rain period - however there is also a dry period.
So, in general you wouldn't say that it is a tropical animal. It is rather a tree dweller - where it rains in regular intervals
As with each and every terrarium animal, the climatical conditions have to be spot on.
With a Yemen Chameleon, I would say that the most important thing to get right is the lighting. Of course, you need UV lighting. More on that in a few seconds.
The light has to be extremely bright, because they are active during the day and the sun is very intense in their natural habitat.
And you need an appropriate temperature. It doesn't have to bee that hot. 30°C under the light source will do.
The considerable night setback. You have to turn of all the lighting. It is within limits if the temperature drops to 15°C, during winter even 10°C.
These are the important facts: large drop in temperature and a very bright, intense light source and an UV light source.
Here you can compare the body sizes very well. On the right we have a baby, it hatched a week ago in our breeding area.
On the left, we have a male. He is almost one year old now. He isn't fully grown, but he is sexually mature.
It is very impressive how quick they grow! Only about a year until from a small baby to this stately size - with a weight of about 100 gram.
The question is, how to you raise such a tiny ***. How does it reach the size of the male we just saw?
Upfront some advice. If you want to start keeping Chameleons, I wouldn't get an animal that small. With that size, raising them can be a delicate matter.
If your temperature or humidity is a bit of, such a small animal can dehydrate rather quick.
It would then cause quite some worries. Rather buy an animal that is 3-4 months old. It should be about this size, and much easier to keep.
The trick with these babies is to keep them in a narrow terrarium with about 20x20x20 cm. Or as we do in these block terrariums, where there are multiple terrariums next to each other.
You can keep them their rather easily. You have to keep them in narrow environments.
It is interesting to know that in Germany you are allowed to keep them that way. The authorities now recognize that you have to keep them that way, if you want to raise them in a good way.
That's the trick you need to know.
You have to keep them that way because they need to find vast amounts of food in their vicinity. They can grow that quickly only if you arrange for these conditions.
If you don't follow my advice and buy a baby, you really need a small cubical 20x20x20cm terrarium, if you want to raise them.
If you buy an animal with the size, I suggested - that would be a body length of 5-7 cm...
... then such a mid-sized terrarium is perfect!
I put in some pine-tree mulch. You could also use coccus mulch. Some people even put in moss 55 00:07:20,511 --> 00:07:24,010 In my company, we use newspapers, because we clean it each and every day.
You can use various forms of mulch. I believe it isn't that important because the Chameleon spends most of its time in the tree. You need something that you can clean easily.
Of course, you need some branches. They have to be thick enough for the animal to hold onto.
Put in some green. On one hand, it always looks nicer for us. And on the other hand, the animal feels safer. It can hide there.
Natural or artificial? That isn't that important. If you have natural materials I don't really have to mention that they shouldn't be treated with pesticides.
And they should endure the climate that is inside. Otherwise you have to replace your plants every 4 weeks or so. That would be a pity.
The crucial thing is the lighting. I already said that UV lighting is of utmost importance with Chameleons.
There are some really great lamps from SolarRaptor or X-Reptile
They are HQI based. You get the intensity you need. Also these lamps emit the UV light you need and they also provide the heat you want to have.
For such a terrarium here - it is 40x40 and 60cm high - I would install 35 W.
You then install it under the top lid - here I've got a lamp with a swan-necked socket - I think that's very convenient.
You can install it on the ventilation grill and it will shine down diagonally into the terrarium. Everything is nicely lit.
Beneath the light you'll have about 35°C. The coldest area will probably be around 25°C. Those conditions are almost optimal.
It doesn't really matter if you buy X-Reptile or SolarRaptor. What you really need is a bulb that emits UV rays.
A lamp will cost about 30€. What you also need is an external power supply - that will cost around 50€.
In total, you have to invest 100€. There are some cheep lamps in the market. They are advertised with words like 'sunlight'.
These are definitely not ok! You can't use them with Chameleons, because they don't emit UV-B light.
Most important is to buy a lamp with an UV percentage. Therefore, you have to invest some money.
Some people will probably ask if you need a protective casing. I wouldn't use one with such a small lamp.
I would install it in a way that the branch or the Chameleon can't be directly beneath it. It should be far enough away, so that the animal can't grasp the quite hot socket.
If you have small gap, everything is ok and that installment is justifiable.
Some words on the wiring. Because the lamp can get quite hot and they are turned on for a rather long time. Therefore, you have to use a silicon covered cable. 79 00:10:20,711 --> 00:10:26,410 This isn't an ordinary cable. It is heat resistant.
To make it perfect, you would install a small lock in your door.
You just clip it onto here. Chameleons are always fumbling about with the doors.
They can manage to open the door and then they would beat loose. Put a lock onto the door, then you can be sure that nothing will happen.
In addition no one from the outside - maybe you have children - could accidently open the door, and then your Chameleon could be gone too.
We now have a perfect fitted terrarium. You could cover the sides with cork or you can use a photographic wallpaper - that way it will look nicer.
That's all you need. The lamp emits enough heat - there is no need for an extra heating device.
Leave the light turned on for about 12 hours. At night, turn everything off. As I said before, it's ok to be at room temperature at night.
Even if the room is cooler than 20°C. That would even be rather great conditions.
Turn off everything at night. What I just showed you are the perfect conditions for a medium sized Chameleon.
Because the animals grow rather quick, this terrarium can only be a temporary housing.
Fully grown, you would need a larger terrarium with a size of 60x60 and 100cm in height.
Another great size would be 120x60 and 100cm.
Because they are tree dwellers, you need a rather high terrarium.
For a couple I really would suggest the terrarium with 120x60x100cm. That one is great for keeping a couple.
For such a terrarium, all the facts I just mentioned apply. Of course, you need to install a much larger lamp.
The lamp has to provide enough light intensity for the big terrarium. The same applies for heat and UV light.
What is really great with terrariums and what I want to show you, are these Gaze terrariums.
You put in your animal and then you can put the terrarium outside, directly under the sun.
Pay attention to not only put it in the blazing sun. That way it can't avoid the sun and can overheat.
Put a part in the shade or install a shady spot in the Gaze terrarium. These terrariums are perfect for Chameleons.
We talked about the temperature. They can cope with high and low temperatures.
With our German summers, you can even keep your animal outside if you have really mild days.
If it's a sunny day, put it in a Gaze terrarium and hang it in a tree or put it on your balcony.
And, as already stated, there has to be some shade so that the animal can't overheat.
Talking about the size, this one is for a pup. Of course there are Gaze terrariums for all different sizes.
It's a great thing for the health of your animal.
Now we have to talk about handling the animals. You could observe it the whole time with our animal here - we didn't pick a very well-behaved animal, we just took one of our animals.
They are trusting and calm animals. It can happen that a Chameleon growls at you, when you try to take it out of the terrarium.
Don't really bother with it, just take it out. Even if an animal of this size would bite you, which is very unlikely to happen, that wouldn't really hurt.
But if you hold them on your hand, they are nice and peaceful animals. They are easy to handle if you have to.
Of course, they are no animals for cuddling and carrying around the whole day. They are calm and tame animals that are a lot of fun.
I have a customer that uses her Yemen Chameleon to catch flies. She takes her Chameleon into her hand and goes around and holds it near the fly.
Then it shoots down the fly with its tongue. That's how tame and trusting they can become.
They are really fun for those reasons.
Having both animals here, let's have a look at the gender dimorphism.
The different color hue of the sexes.
I'm holding a male here in my hand. In general, they have clearer and more precise markings. This one has these strip markings.
Females also have nice markings, but not quite as intense as the males.
A significant difference with healthy animals are the helms on the animals. A male's one is quite larger than with the females.
A nice, high and grand helm.
With a full-grown adult male, the helm can be twice as large.
The best way to distinguish the sexes from an early age is ...
... males have between their hind legs, at the place where their toes separate, they have an ancantha.
You can see it clearly here. They have it from birth onwards.
Females lack this acantha. If you have a pup, just use a magnifying lens and check for this feature.
An other important topic is to talk about feeding your animals and how to water them.
Chameleons rarely drink from a water bowl. For that reason it is very important to spray water.
An adult might drink from a water bowl, but the pups drink the dewdrops.
Therefore, we spray twice a day. In the morning and in the evening.
We spray the water on the leaves or on the ventilation mesh.
Then the animals come and lick of the dew drops.
Talking about food, Chameleons typically eat insects.
Larger animals sometime also eat fruits. You can try mangos, strawberries and different fruits. They sometimes like to eat grapes.
However, with pups and adult animals you have feed insects. Crickets, grilles and cockroaches.
If it has legs and can jump, then it is great chow for your animal. Don't feed worms of flour worms, they are too fat and phosphor rich.
Feed them something with legs, that can jump or crawl. That's the advice I always give.
It is important that you use a mineral supplement when you feed your Chameleon. Herpetal, Herpamed and Nekton are the supplements that we sell.
It is important that they have a large amount of vitamin D3. Don't use a supplement that's only multi mineral.
Get some counseling from your dealer and only buy good supplements. Because Chameleons grow quickly, this is very important to adhere to.
If they don't have enough Vitamin D3, they can develop a rachitis. That's a skin problem that Chameleons often have.
If you powder your insects each and every day before you feed your animal, your Chameleon will do just fine.
I would feed a pup once a day. With an older animal you can also have one day of fast between them.
I would feed an animal of this s00ize about 3 to 4 times a week.
If your Chameleon is fully grown, then 2 - 3 times a week will do.
However if you have a female that just layed a batch of eggs, then you can feed it on a daily routine, at least in the beginning.
The question is: What do we need this bucket for?
It is one of the most important tools needed for breeding.
It is easy to breed Yemen Chameleons. If you bring a female and a male together. That is the combination you want to have.
Sometimes you can also have two females and one male. If you keep them together, it is almost inevitable that they breed.
That is the easy part. The hard part is that they lay their eggs in the right way, I recall those problems when I started breeding them way back in the beginning.
At the beginning, I had problems with being egg-bound. They simply didn't lay their eggs and I had to go and see the veterinarian
The trick is to have a bucket. The PET plastic bottles with the narrow neck are also quite useful.
The thing is that the female needs to be in a rather high container and she has to be able to dig in really deep.
Then she can lay her eggs there. When I started, I thought it would do, if I put enough mulch into the terrarium for the female to dig into.
All she would do is dig away everything. She needs a container where she can dig deep into the ground.
She then lays her eggs further down. Then the egg lying is of no problem at all.
If you notice that your female is getting fat and round and has some point or freckle markings that develop, those are typical signs of her being pregnant.
However, this is a male. But the females then have these dots and you know she is pregnant. Really, do put her into a bucket like this.
Fill it up to three quarters with moist mulch. Then she has the best conditions for laying her eggs.
Of course, we want our terrarium animals to be healthy and happy.
The biggest mistake you can make, especially with Yemen Chameleons, is that you choose some inappropriate lighting.
It is necessary to have great lighting with enough UV-B.
This UV light, in combination with them having enough vitamin D3 helps to prevent them getting a rachitis.
That's a common mistake with the Yemen Chameleons. If you see one, pay attention to that detail.
You can also see signs on their helm. It isn't as straight and upright, it is rather flat.
If they have rachitis they often have twisted legs or get twisted legs.
Then the legs would be curved and not as nicely straight as with our animal here.
In extreme cases they can't walk anymore and have to crawl on their forelegs, just like this.
A typical case of an animal with rachitis. That is a really bad situation. Sooner or later they can't even shoot their tongue anymore.
So remember, good lighting and minerals and your animal we'll feel fine.
A second factor can be stress. Chameleons, especially Yemen Chameleons cannot really cope with stress in a good way.
You shouldn't keep them in a terrarium that is used for showing off your animal to loads of people.
You should place it in a location where there aren't that many walk-in customers.
You can take them out and handle them. But that stress is something they really have to deal with.
Therefore pay attention that they aren't stressed out all the time and there aren't people around them that often.
Before the show is over, I want to show you a fantastic experiment.
Let me hold the Chameleon in front of my dark t-shirt.
And what is going to happen?
Nothing will happen!
The old joke that a Chameleon will adapt to the color of the background is total ***.
There is almost no foundation to back that up.
This urban legend is based on the fact that they can and do change their color, but they can't adopt to the color of the background that they are standing in front of.
They won't turn black in front of a black background and blue in front of a blue one. That is total nonsense.
They change their color, which is mostly related to stress.
Maybe you noticed it in the beginning with that baby. It was dark, a bit dark brown. That is a stress related color.
This one is used to being handled. Therefore it won't show that stress related reaction.
With young animals or an animal that isn't used to be handled, you will see this stress reaction. Brown and dark when stressed. Green when they are feeling well.
If they want to store heat energy, they turn dark. If they are feeling too warm, they turn to a brighter green.
By changing their color, they can control their body temperature. If males fight against each other they can forewarn their adversary with these colors.
As said before, females have a certain color when they are pregnant. They can express some things through their body color.
But the background isn't the reason.
So, that's all for today. As always, I want to refer you to some great literature on the topic.
There are some fantastic monographs about Yemen Chameleons.
I can recommend all three books. Get some books and buy the books!
I only have 20 minutes to cover a topic here on Reptil.TV. I just can't cover everything as deep as a book. Therefore, get and read a good book.
Until next time.
Check my Chameleons!
Stop trying to bite me. You know we are at the dentists'. He lost a tooth there - can you see it?
Stefan: If you have an adult animal, I think we'll have to cut here. Camera: That's easy to do.
You probably know Grzimek, I grew up with it. What was the show called again? Was it 'In the wild animals kingdom'? What was it again?
What was it? ***...
From the beginning we received lots of replies.
Yemen is located in the southern tip of the Arabian ... hemisphere ... *** ... southern tip ... of the ... Arabian ...
It is important the when you keep to .... I have to reduce my use of 'It is important'
I think you can see it on the animal ... they are from a moist green area.
green ... moist ... I'm talking crap.
I had such a good start!
Have a look how blessed we are to work on Reptil.TV. Isn't that something? Working just got a lot better.
hello and welcome [mumbles with his mouth stuffed].
Great!
For a terrarium animal it is important that it ... is healthy and ... enjoys its health.
At the end I lost my *** a bit.
You are allowed to turn of the camera.