My pygmy enclosure

[roocat71]

3 or 4 adult pygmies should fit comfortably in that size enclosure. Breeding pygmies is not difficult IMO. As long as they are happy with their environment; then they will most likely breed. Finding the eggs can be difficult especially if you don’t recognize a gravid female. I have cleaned out enclosures and found eggs on a couple occasions. Obviously catching a female making a nest is your best bet but sometimes a female will show signs that she has laid. If she is covered with substrate, looks thinner then she did, or looks really tired then she may have laid some eggs. Usually after noticing these signs, looking around in the general area may show signs of a nest. Sometimes the substrate where she laid the eggs will be a different color then the surrounding substrate. If the eggs do manage to hatch in the enclosure, I really doubt that they would get eaten by another chameleon. I would be more worried about loose feeders attacking it then cannibalism.

-roo

[vipervenom]

It depends on the size of the pygmies, whether you are talking about b. minia (1.2" I beleive) or rh. spinosum (5.?"), but rh. brevicaudatus and most other pygmies, you may fit 2-3 in there as roo said. But just make sure there is one male per cage, and one species per cage.

Sometimes pygmies need a pronounced dry season, or a hibernation of sorts to trigger breeding behaviour, which is why many of the brookesia haven't been bred yet. However rh. brevicaudatus are being bred more and more commonly and is getting easier with all of the new information put out.

[newticus]

Yeah i want to get some brevicaudatus. 2-3 in a 33 gal when a guy earlier said he was keeping 3 in a 10 gal?
I've seen them, their pretty tiny, is there any problem with them finding their food in such a big tank?
another question, there's a forest near my house an i always see these neat looking snails. I keep snails in my planted aquarium, do u think it would be possible to keep forest snails with chems? oh and they are way too big to eat

[roocat71]

They find their food, but some feeders do tend to hide. They usually will get eaten during dusk or sunrise when the feeders are still out and the chams are active. Sometimes the feeders grow too big to be eaten then they need to be removed. I don’t suggest snails b/c they tend to carry parasites (being so close to the ground where they can pick them up). Even though the cham can’t eat them they can still possibly leave parasites for the chams to pickup. Snails will also leave trails of slime on the glass.

-roo

[vipervenom]

If you want something to eat decomposing leaves etc. go collect some sow bugs or pill bugs, wrinse them under water for a few minutes and then put then in the tank. Some may get eaten, the others will hide during the day, and help clean the tank at night, without harming your cham.

If you feed your chams a few twice daily, it will give your chams a chance to eat them easier, and find them easier. No matter what, it is safe to say crickets often roam for a few minutes before trying to hide, and so that is when the chams will go to eat them.

I often find that crickets are out and about right after I mist the terrarium and so the chams are on the ground drinking from the dead leaves, and may grab an insect or two.

Also as roo said, crickets (I'm not sure exactly if they are nocturnal) but may be crepuscular, and are out when there is still light ,which gives the chams yet more time to eat. Often chams are most hungry in the morning and so any leftovers may be eaten then.

[newticus]

sow bugs,, sounds good. I also have a Q about leave and twigs. It has been suggested to bake all branches and stuff, but what about leaves? If their all dried out, is it possible for them to catch on fire in the oven? And then what about moss? If it's taken from outside might it not have gross stuff in it?

[newticus]

oh and my other question is, should i dust the crickets? If they are loose in the tank too long all the dust will come off. would this mean i should dust more often, like twice a week as apposed to once.

[roocat71]

Well if you feed them when they are active then they will get consumed when they are dusted. As vipervenom said, they run around the enclosure a bit before hiding. I probably dust twice a week with Calcium/D3 and once every two weeks with a vitamin.

-roo

[vipervenom]

It is advisable to 'cook' all branches before placing them in your cage to ensure there is nothing harmful on them.

For the leaves, what I did, although it smells a little, is boil the leaves in a pot for around 10-20 mins, and then immediately wrinse them under cold cold water after. This should eliminate most bacteria and other creatures.

[roocat71]

I bake the leaves along with sticks (350F for 30-45 minutes). I havent had anything catch on fire - they do get pretty toasty though. I just rinse moss off really well with tap water.

-roo

[newticus]

awsome thanks, you have been very helpful.

[vipervenom]

Hey roo, is it possible to sterilise moss without killing it?

[roocat71]

Not that I'm aware of.

-roo

[striko_69]

I think if moss spores are mixed with yoghurt, it would work but theres a fair chance of mould growing. You shouldnt need much yoghurt though, the spores should grom with minimal nutrients (this is all the moss is getting from the yoghurt). I guess you could use lots of different nutrient mediums. But dont grow the moss inside the enclosure, grow it by all means and in a dry area to lessen the chance of mould. I'm gonna experiment on this now though. I'm pretty sure it'll work but dont take this as fact.

[vipervenom]

The dry area doesn't sound correct to me. If it is too dry, the moss it'self will die off.