Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had my heart set on getting a pair of elliots from an upcomming show when i read an article that reads, -(This species is prone to mouth and sinus infections so great care should be taken in watching for symptoms. Long term success in maintaining this species has yet to be achieved. For this reason, C. ellioti should be kept only by expert keepers.)- Exactly how true is this? I have a good knowledge of herps in general, and i keep and breed a few chams, but would not consider myself an expert. Do you know of any other reading about elliots. What causes mouth and sinus infections?

Thanks a bunch in advance

Actually, these warnings could apply to most less commonly kept cham species. Any species that is wc is traumatized by capture, handling, stress, dehydration, injury and mouth sores and nasal problems could easily be secondary to all the accumulative stress they've been through. A little nick on a cham's gum that would normally be no problem could bloom into stomatitis with stress. If the person writing about this species has bred them and worked with multiple generations of ellioti, I don't know if this is unique to them.

I meant to add that probably the only keeping info you might find would be in one of Petr Necas' chameleon books (check with Kammerflage Kreations...I know they have them), or possibly a species profile on www.adcham.com

Mouth sores can be from direct injury or secondary from poor overall health due to stress, diet, dehydration, other infections, parasite blooms. Some chams have a small gland in the corner of their lips called the temporal gland. These can develop abscesses and be very difficult to treat. Obviously a sore mouth will be very painful and keep a cham from eating or even drinking, so they just go downhill. I have heard that raising the vit. C content in feeders can help prevent it either by strengthening the cham's immune system or changing the pH of the saliva (?). I bet many nasal infections started in the mouth and were not detected.

As far as I know ellioti are like many less known species. Their perfect climate and setup requirements are simply not known, the few animals people did get were not in perfect condition, and by the time they got into the right hands they were already in trouble. Many cham keepers don't want to support trade in species that so little is known about (both wild population status and putting animals in the hands of inexperienced hobbyists). If someone feels that a particular species is the one they want to work with above all others that might be justification for buying them, but it might be a very tough battle to establish them.

the info i questioned was a passage from www.adcham.com. i just cannot believe that out of tons of sp. profiles they make elliots out to be the toughest to keep. i think i have great knowledge of reptiles and a good knowledge of chams, (having 7 right now) i feel like i can care for the elliots. i guess what i am looking for is someone that has kept one to compare it with something else. Thanks

There are so few people who have kept ellioti that the profile may be based on one or two animals, and may be the first set of individual chams to be kept recently. The folks who compile adcham's profiles are certainly worth listening to, but the number of ellioti referred to is most likely very small. Petr Necas' book does have more information on their native habitat which would give a good starting point for setting up a captive habitat (humidity, temps, cover, prey, light level). The biggest problem will be getting healthy animals that can tolerate treatment for parasites and all the stress of change.