Pygmies Shedding?

[Cherron]

Here are a few pictures that I took of my pygmies yesterday when I took them out of their enclosure for the first time to remove a dying plant and catch leftover crickets. I haven't had them long. About 6 weeks. I also have a question, if anyone knows. I have searched and searched but have seen no info about pygmies shedding. Do they shed? My male (well.. I am assuming he is the male!) has a few spots on his leg and side that looks like they may be a shed beginning. If this is not the case, any clue as to what it could be? It can be seen in the last picture.

 

[roo_71]

Pic one is a gravid female and the other pics which look like same cham is a male. His nostrils also look a little puffy which could be normal for him but I suggest carefully opening his mouth and looking at his hard palette and verify that he doesn’t have some sort of infection/abscess there. Mouth infections are relatively common and may be caused by cricket parts getting jammed in there.

Now for shedding, I am not entirely sure about this but I am really thinking that once brevs stop growing they also stop shedding … not even a partial maintenance shed – and yours look fully grown. Of course I could be not witnessing these sheds with my groups and they may be eating the dead skin but I expected at some point I would catch them shedding and/or see a bit of skin somewhere in the tank and I haven’t. I am almost sure at this point that they don’t shed once they hit their maximum size.

The white spots on your male could be the beginning of a shed, some supplement, mineral deposits, anything really. Rub a wet Q-tip on the areas to see if it comes off. I personally wouldn’t be too concerned about it at this time.

-roo

 

[jleahl]

Roo, that's interesting about brevs maybe not shedding after they're full grown. I was thinking the other day that mine haven't shed in a couple of months, at least not that I've seen; I when they have before, it was pretty noticeable!

Those are some healthy-looking, plump brevs, Cherron !

 

[Cherron]

You are right of course, Roo, the last three pics are all of my male. I rubbed at the spots with a q-tip and they rubbed right off. Now I feel quite silly, heh.

I also pulled his mouth open and looked. I am not entirely sure what I should be looking for, but I did not see any swelling, redness.. nothing that looked inflamed or out of place, though I was shocked because for a moment I forgot that the inside of brev's mouths were black! Hopefully the swollen nostrils are nothing to worry about. He is still eating and drinking well and is active. Is this something I should worrry about right now? Or just keep a careful eye on?

 

[roo_71]

Don’t feel silly, you were just being observant and that’s very important with this hobby. Speaking of that just pay attention to their eyes, lip area for swelling … stuff like that. It doesn’t hurt to check the insides of the mouth if you are suspicious about something, what you want to look for is swelling and discoloration and sometimes discharge of puss … things one side of the mouth that don’t match what’s on the other side - usually. My fair share of brevs issues included eye problems and abscesses in the mouth and a lot of the times the lip will be swollen a bit to give you an indication something is up. If it’s caught early before it spreads into the bone then it’s possible that it can rectified.

As for the nostrils, I just haven’t really seen that with my crew except for a male that was having some mouth problems. I did see a brev from another keeper that looked to be having a sinus infection and it made the nostrils swell. It may be nothing though but just keep an eye on it. Both look very healthy looking and expect that female to drop some eggs sooner then later.

I forgot that the inside of brev's mouths were black!

My theory … camouflage … so when striking at a prey item they don’t disclose their location in the darker undergrowth. Brevs are brazen little critters and don’t care for hiding that much and are many times just hanging out in the open unlike my brookesia – so I think the black mouth helps with their tactics of hiding in plain site – which works well – to this day when looking for them in the tanks and cant find them they are usually right in front of me. Others species that I’ve worked with like R. temporalis and the thieli I have red mouths and the theory behind that is a warning to sign to others when they are gaping to stay away.

Ok, a little bit of a ramble there but I cant help it when chatting pygmies .


-roo