WC Pygmy Chameleon Died after arrival

[purplesally]

I just got 3 wild caught pygmy chameleons 2 days ago.

They were purchased locally, so shipping was not an issue.

I got 2 females and 1 male.

I noticed one of the females was not moving on the vines like the other 2.

Last night I got to thinking why haven't the other female moved since being put in the new terrarium.

Then today I noticed that the non moving pygmy is dead.

How common is this?

Any information would be appreciated.

 

[kinyonga]

WC's can be iffy. With what they go through to get here, their health can be compromised. Also, with a WC you don't know how old the chameleon is. One thing more...these tiny chameleons are capable of faking death so well that people have disposed of them when they were still really alive.

 

[allencg101]

i'd keep the rest seperated take a sample of poop to the vets to get it checked out to see if they have any parasites and if they are good to go put them back together again.

 

[purplesally]

So will the female lay there and let the fruit flies crawl on them??

 

[kinyonga]

I don't really know.

 

[purplesally]

The seller has offered to replace it. Should I replace or get a refund?

 

[DavidBuchan]

i'd keep the rest seperated take a sample of poop to the vets to get it checked out to see if they have any parasites and if they are good to go put them back together again.

This is the best way really - the only way to be sure (and you're still not guaranteed to be sure)

So will the female lay there and let the fruit flies crawl on them??

If she's stressed out (from the move, or something you did, or the male tried to force her into something she wasn't ready for.......)
She would just freeze and appear to have rigor mortis - very good at playing dead, so obviously you need to be sure

The seller has offered to replace it. Should I replace or get a refund?

Get a refund to pay for the fecal sample? Depends how many Chams you want to keep, and how risky you want to be.