pigmy leaf cham enclosure

[barnaby]

Hi everyone!

Sorry if I sound stupid (I'm a newbie) but I have a 2 and a half months old pigmy cham (bought him today!!) and he's about 3/4 cms long. He lives in a 60cmx40cmx60cm enclosure.

I released a few small fruit flies sprayed with calcium on his enclosure... willl he eventually see them? It's a very big enclosure for him and even I almost can't see the little buggers! How do I know he eats them?

Thanks!

 

[Julirs]

I would get him a girlfriend or two! I rarely see my pygmy chams eat, but I do feed them pinhead crickets. Mine were about the same age if not a bit younger when I got them. For the four of them I would put in about 20-30 pinheads a day, and they mostly disappeared.

 

[joeintokyo]

but if you put in a male with 3 females how do you keep them from outbreeding all the available space in your house?

 

[Tygerr]

but if you put in a male with 3 females how do you keep them from outbreeding all the available space in your house?

From what I understand, although they breed easily and regularly, they don't breed as prolifically as other species. Their clutches of eggs are much smaller (about 1-3 eggs). However, they do breed throughout the year, and the eggs take less time to hatch than some of the bigger chams. So if you're not paying attention, you could indeed have a population explosion. But I think if you're inspecting the enclosure regularly, you should be able to remove unwanted eggs and control the population.

The other option is simply to keep all females.

 

[alfiealbino]

I dont mean to steal your thread but i thought it would save me starting a whole new one. I heard from my local pet shop owner that pygmys don't live past 3 months??? and he also said they are very hard to look after.

Thanks, Ben

 

[Vegas Chad]

Pfssssh... Not so. Get an easy to care for type and you are good to go. I believe that they live 2-3 years, not months. I have had mine for a few months now and I love them! Infact I have 4 more that came FedEx this morning that I will set up when I get home.

 

[Tygerr]

I dont mean to steal your thread but i thought it would save me starting a whole new one. I heard from my local pet shop owner that pygmys don't live past 3 months??? and he also said they are very hard to look after.
Thanks, Ben

From Martin Spicer's caresheet (http://www.martinsreptiles.co.uk/ukchams/stumptailcare.htm):
"R. Brevicaudatus are fantastic little chameleons, which are very hardy and if well looked after may live for 3-4 years or more. "

As for how difficult they are to look after, Roo says:
"Both species [of African pygmy/leaf chameleons] make a good “first time” choice in respect to false chameleons, but neither should be a first chameleon for the hobbyist."
and
"[They] are fascinating little chameleons that make an excellent addition to any keeper’s collection and a good choice for a first time/inexpensive breeding project."
(see http://www.chameleonnews.com/brevcare.html)
So they are not exceptionally difficult to care for as far as chameleons go, but probably shouldn't be kept by novices.

But if your pet store owner knows as little about chameleon husbandry as he does about their life-spans, I am not surprised his pygmies aren't living past 3 months...

 

[alfiealbino]

Thanks for clearing that up, he said that he knows a few people that have had them and that they are extremely difficult and only live a few months.....i have no idea why they have said that.

Thanks, Ben

 

[Ash]

Shame I can't seem to get any over here in the UK, havent seen them anywhere!

Ash

 

[alfiealbino]

Try theese two places. http://www.thechameleonhouse.co.uk/livestock.htm

http://www.thelivingjungle.com/

they both have pygmys on there.

Ben

 

[Tygerr]

Here's another one:
http://www.exotic-pets.co.uk/bearded-pygmy-chameleon.html

 

[Ash]

Oh wicked, cheers

Ash