Translucent calyptratus, your opinions.

I just saw this add on kingsnake and wondered what other people thought about this. I dont realy know what to think yet....

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=52&de=378795

Theres the ad.

I do not know what chamleons look like as hatchlings. If they were older, then I would really be impressed. To me I am reminded of a mouse pinky, you can easily see through them to their veins. So I would not be surprised if they stay skin pink on the translucent part of the body.

So, I say they are pretty cool looking. It will be interesting if this is a new trait that breeds out on the entire body.

Hi
If you need some more information about this new morph please feel free to ask.
We have found a strange looking male in a shipment with wc calyptratus and we have breed him with normal calyptratus in this clutch are also 2 strange looking females .Now we have breed this females with the father and have had this new trait of "translucent" calyptratus.
Regards
Michael Spellbrink

Michael, is there any way that you can provide a pic of an adult? Keep up the good work man, it's amazing to see a morph out there for Calyptratuses.

Michael,
It certainly is interesting, and I hope that all works out for you. Whether a genetic variation, or a genatic defect, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As we have seen with many of the ball-python variations, some degree of initial in-breeding is necessary to establish the morph, and you mention that you have bred sire with daughters. It is our experience, working primarily with pardalis, that chameleon bloodlines weaken enormously with in-breeding, often to the point of non-viability with even the first generaton. I hope that you are able to manifest this variation, by out-breeding, in-breeding, or any mechanism that yields results, if for no other reason than just to prove that it can be done.

It looks to me that the scales are missing in the fleshy areas. Not something I would want.

This just says genetic defect to me and I dont see how breading it would be beneficial to the species. I would never buy one especially for that price...

if im not mistaking, then this is the same guy how sell calyptratus albinos in germany. I hate the albino thing, because chams are not like other albinos, chams need lot of uvb light and how can that be healthy for a albino cham?

Photos of the juveniles can be seen here: http://www.chamaeleo.com/calyptratus/
Photos of adults can be seen here: http://reptilienzuechter.de/index.php?id=35&L=1

My concern with these animals is how they are going to take and react to UVB radiation in the areas void of pigmentation. This pieball like morph is one thing in snakes that do not require UVB radiation for calcium pathways but I feel this could potentially be a highly deleterious genetic defect. I'm all for maintaining a select few of these bloodlines around, outbreeding them and over time, determining exactly how prone to problems they are but I fear that if this new morph jumps into the spot of the new "in" mutation, the future metabolic and/or skin conditions in these animals could be serious and result in high loses unless they are seriously worked with prior to being mass produced. To me, the price tag seems to indicate more of an attempt to start a breeding frenzy and get rich then to set up a situation where it is determined just how to deal with the potential conditions these chams may face BEFORE they are mass produced. Just my opinion...

Chris

Hey Chris,
I didn't want to be quite as blunt, but I am also exceedingly pessimistic of the viability of these animals, both genetically, functionally, and from a marketing standpoint. One can look at the money in ball pythons and just drool. But just for laughs, imagine a cinnamon pastel panther chameleon ! Heck, I can cross an Ambanja with a Sambava and get a new color morph any time I want !! Essentially, while I have no problem with anyone tagging a high price on their "new locale" or morph, or translucent, etc, and hope that they get every penny (I benefit from high chameleon prices too !), there just isn't IMO a market to sustain something like this beyond a few extra shekels. And then, as fragile as chameleons can be with any multi-generational breeding, the chance of this offering becoming common widespread is beyond a long shot. This variation is absolutely not a hardier animal, and is by all logic more fragile, as you point out. But if they pull it off over on the continent ........ kudos!