Chameleon Q

[Jordan B]

Hey, do you guys know a type of leaf, pygmy, or other small chameleon that could do well on a diet of mainlyt fruit flys but crickets occasionaly? Thanks,

Jordan

[Jordan B]

And the flys would be dusted with a calcium/ mineral powder.

Jordan

[CarlC]

Hi,

The only species that comes to mind is one of the Brookesia species. B. minima or B. tuberculata or if you are lucky B. vandoni. These are all very small species that would do good primarily on a fly diet. When using crickets you could use nothing bigger than 14 day old.
I don't think you would have a chance on finding any of these species until the next imports come in from Madagascar.

Carl

[Brock]

The only Brookesia speices I've ever seen, and wish I took the opportunity when I was offered them, was B. perarmata, the armored leaf chameleon. Brookesia spp. are small enough for fruit flies, but the more common leaf species, the Rhampholean, would need more crickets.

-Brock

[CarlC]

I think that you will find that most of the Brookesia species are comparable in size to Rhampholian. The few exceptions would be the ones I listed above and a few others that are very seldom if ever imported. It is just a matter of time until small species of Rhampholian are discovered. Alot of work is being done with Rhampholian lately. Alot of area still needs to be explored.

Perarmata is an amazing species! I really hope it is not put into the trade agian. It has been raised to CITES 1 because the locale it is found is extremely small. The huge numbers that were collected had to put a huge toll on the population. Very little captive breeding was acheived and most of the hatchings came from females that came in gravid or used retained sperm. The other species found close by B. exermata is also very nice.

Carl

[Jordan B]

Where could I find these species? Thanks,

Jordan

[CarlC]

Hi Jordan,

Which species did you want to know the locales for?

Carl

[Jordan B]

Hi, not the locales, but where to possibly purchase a brookesia. Thanks.

Jordan

[CarlC]

Hi Jordan,

Once the imports start coming back in you should have no problem finding one of the species at any of the shows in California. I am not really sure who is still in business in California when it comes to Chams. There used to be some really great importers.
Just check at the shows after January.

Carl