Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone out there help me distinguish between R.nchesiensis and R.uluguruensis? I bought several Rhampholean at a show. I do not know their species, but believe they are one of these two. Their heads are similar to R. spectrum, they are about the size of R. brevicaudatus, and have blue eye turrets.

Also, are male and female clearly distinguishable for these species? At the show, the vendor had about 15 individuals, and based on my experience with R. brevicaudatus and R. spectrum, I would say they were all female. I saw no apparent hemipene bulge at the base of their tails.

Thanks,
Mike

http://adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/ruluguruensis.html
"Both males and females exhibit blue eye turrets."

According to one site I read they are the only ones with the blue eye turrets....but the second site says they can both have blue eye turrets...
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-21110.html
http://www.livefoodshop.co.uk/forum/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=9&t=32032

Sorry I can't find anything definite.

Both species have blue eye turrets. I believe that the ulus have the axial pits which are basically a pocket/indentation under their front arm pits – nichis don’t have it. Males of both species should have some sort of bulge at the tail base and I recall some time ago having a male (not sure which species) that had a very defined bulge. I want to say that male nichis have very arched backs too.

I’ve had the worst luck with these two species and I think not too many other keepers have had success with them either. They really prefer super cool temps I believe, are very touchy/easy to stress; don’t like to be directly misted – just a pain in the ass to acclimate to captivity. I currently have 1 female nichi and 2 female ulus and I don’t plan on getting any more. I really believe that these 2 species should just be kept in the wild for the most part. Good luck with them though.

-roo

Thanks for the information. Based on your information, I believe that I have 3 female ulus. Strange that the vendor at the show had all females.

I have had them for three weeks and so far they are thriving. They immediately started zapping bugs when I brought them home from the show and put them in the vivarium. I have had R. brevicaudatus and R. spectrum, and generally found them to be hardy. I once purchased a pair of R. temporalis that quickly died. So far, these ulus are doing well. I like these little guys. Fingers-crossed.