Help chosing cham

[Delmarr]

Hello all:

I have been keeping dart frogs for a while and have been wondering if there was a colorful pygmy species of chameleon that would thrive on a diet of Fruitflies and work well in an 18x18x24 terrarium set up.

I am not looking to keep them with my darts, it just that I allready culture fruitflies and happen to have another ExoTerra terarrium thats empty. I havn't kept chameleons for many years mostly due to not wanting to deal with crickets.

Any sugestions would be very helpful.

Thanks all

Delmarr

 

[hallenhe]

Welcome! The classic "starter" pygmy is the bearded pygmy or brev (Rieppeleon brevicaudatus; adults are about three inches long and want something a little bigger than fruitflies (small crickets or roach nymphs), though the fruitflies are definitely handy for babies, and they breed readily in captivity. The other main starter species is the spectral pygmy; it's care is similar to brevs'. I find the very small species (e.g. Brookesia miniata) to be rarely available and expensive. Pygmies are cuter than photos can convey, but their colors are relatively subdued.
At the top right of the Forums' homepage is a link to "See our sponsors". Check out FL Chams; they carry a good range of pygmies throughout the year and have some good pictures and descriptions of several species, whether or not they're currently available. They also have a good pygmy care pdf linked through their bearded pygmy page.