New Pygmy Arrival

[pufferpuggirl]

Well I did my first cleaning yesterday on the Pygmy Palace. I didn't remove them because I thought it would be more stressful to find them and yank them out than to leave them where they were. Two were already up in the plant, but I thought they were all in the plant and when I went to rake the substrate, I knocked over Kitty2 who was hiding behind the plant. Thankfully I didn't hurt her. I got her out and put her in my hand just to make sure, and when I was satisfied that I hadn't hurt her, I put her back up into the plant. Then I removed all of the top layer of substrate, replaced it with fresh clean stuff and then soaked it all thoroughly with water. I put everything back in and then fed them. My little piglet Kitty2 ate about 5 crickets quickly before the other 2 got their share, so I had to put more crickets in. They are the very small crickets, so eating a few is like having 2 or 3 bigger ones. There are some bigger ones still in the Cricket Keeper and I watched Josie, who is much smaller than Burt & Kitty2, eat a cricket that was nearly half the size of her body. But she didn't have any problems, she crunched it right down, chewing it as it went and seemed fine after -- and still looking for more to eat!! Those girls are piglets, and I feel a bit sorry for Burt.
Speaking of Burt, he's had a "stripey" look lately and I think this might be his courting colours. He's got the prettiest green colour around his eyes too. I didn't find any eggs with the cleaning yesterday, but that's okay too. I'm not in any hurry for eggs.

[pufferpuggirl]

Thought I'd share something I just observed in the Pygmy Palace. I put some crickets in, as today is feeding day, and I always stand around to watch who eats, I find it interesting watching them. Well Josie was already on the ground, and the other was coming down the wall after the crickets. At first I thought it was Burt the male coming down, it's hard to tell who I'm looking at sometimes with the bushy plant in the way. So anyway, Josie is standing there and all the sudden Kitty2 fell on top of her! Now I thought she fell, but then I wasn't sure and wondered if maybe she jumped on purpose onto Josie. They sort of did this little wrestle thing, and then Josie, the smaller one, sort of fell over, looking a bit "bent" and Kitty2 walked off. Josie laid there for about a minute, not moving and I was concerned at first, but then I remember Karen at the Exotic Pets place saying that they do play dead. So I think that's what Josie was doing. Then Josie got up and climbed into the plant. And that was that.
I didn't think there was any aggression issues with the females, and I'm sure they are female, no doubt about that. The only thing I can think of is maybe they get a bit funny over food. It might have been that Kitty2 didn't want Josie getting the crickets, and that's why she wrestled with her. I don't know, but I do know that Kitty2 is a real piglet and will eat and eat and eat. I have to make sure to add plenty of crickets just so the other 2 actually get some.
They sure are funny, that's for certain!

[pufferpuggirl]

I haven't posted anything about my little pygmy trio for a while, so thought I would give an update.

With the arrival of Ziggy, my baby Yemen chameleon, I've been giving him a lot of attention and not so much to my pygmy trio. When I went to feed my pygmies yesterday I thought it would be nice if I could see them as easily as I can see Ziggy in his vivarium. So I've decided to buy a bigger terrarium for my pygmies. I found a nice one on eBay and sent the guy an offer, which he accepted. I was hoping to get it today, but my husband had to go into work early, so we weren't able to get it today.
We are going to get it tomorrow though. The Exo-Terra terrarium they are in now is a 12" w x 12" d x 18" h, and according to all the information I've found, I can have 3 pygmies in a terrarium that size, which of course I do. But when I look at the set-up it just looks too small to me. I think my pygmies would appreciate being able to move about a little more than what they can now. So, the new tank I will be getting tomorrow is 24" w x 18" d x 24" h -- almost double the size they are in now. I'm not going to get anymore pygmies right this moment, I just wanted to give my trio a bit more space. I am looking forward to moving everything into the new terrarium and giving them more area to roam around in. I am also hoping that I will be able to observe them easier than I can now. I know that they seem to move around quite a bit in their small terrarium they are in now, so I can only imagine that they will love having a new bigger home. I can't wait to get it all set up. I will be doing that tomorrow afternoon. We're going to go and get more substrate first because I don't have enough (had to use what I had left for the Vampire crabs).
I will take some photos so you can see their upgrade. I think it will make cleaning it easier too, as right now it's just difficult getting my hands in there to do anything.

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm so excited, I got my large Exo-Terra today and it looks huge compared with the one they were in. I now have 2 plants in there, and I found some eggs while I was removing stuff. I found 6 eggs altogether. I've taken them and put them into a container and have them some place warm. I don't know if they will hatch or not, remains to be seen, but at least they are doing their thing.

So here's some photos of the new place, and some updated photos of the trio.
Here's the new viv

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Here's what it looks like inside

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This is Josie, the smallest one

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And here's all three of them together, they did not like being in that container

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I'm going to get some sticks and things for them to climb on, so they can have other places to cimb other than just in the plants. I'd like to see them a bit more and I think if I gave them "vines" to climb on, they probably would use them.

[pufferpuggirl]

I got another new pygmy yesterday. A Kenyan pygmy male. I've named him 'Jerome' (not Jerry, I do not like that name -- no offense to any person's named 'Jerry'). He's just a wee thing, so I suspect he must be very young. He's most interesting looking, he's got like little horns on top his head. Anyway, they didn't have any females, but Karen told me that she would be getting some in the next month and that she would do me a deal on a couple of girlfriends for Jerome. For now, he seems to be settling in, pretending to be part of the styrofoam background on the Exo-Terra enclosure. I got a large stick that they can climb on and I should have one of those fake vines by end of the week, so they can climb up into the upper regions of the terrarium a bit more.

I also received 500 crickets yesterday, along with the large Kricket Keeper, so now I have enough space to keep lots of crickets instead of having to make frequent trips to replenish my stock. I also thought it would be good to have another Kricket Keeper for when Ziggy (my Veiled) grows up and is needing bigger crickets. They will be kept upstairs with him for easier access.

And the menagerie grows .....

[Brent]

Wow Suzanne. =D

I always love seeing your pygmies!

You have the new guy in the smaller terra, right? I don't think mixing species is a good idea.

PS: I've got $600 in my possession and something is telling me exactly what I need to spend it on...

[pufferpuggirl]

Thanks Brent.

Well actually poor Jerome died earlier in the week. He never did eat and I think that's what caused him to die. But good news, this past Friday some of my eggs hatched out, and I had 2 baby pygmies out of 7 eggs. One of the babies died yesterday, but the remaining one is very active and seems fine. There's another emerging from an egg, but he's been doing it for days so I don't think he's going to make it either. So that was 3 eggs hatched. Only 5 of the eggs were mature, the other 2 were laid later and will need more time before they are ready to hatch out. I suspect I will be seeing more eggs because both of my females look very fat.

I'm also going to get a replacement for Jerome tomorrow. The woman said she can't give me a free pygmy but she is knocking money off and giving me a very good discount, so I'm happy for that.

I thought I had a thread started about the babies on here somewhere with photos.

[Lil' Swimz$]

THEY ARE SO CUTE! I wanna squeeze it!

[Brent]

Awh, I'm sorry. :\
Better luck with the next little guy.

Yes, I just saw that thread after I posted on this one. I think I posted something there too, haha. (:

[kilofey]

Hey ppg I haven't been on in like forever I was just wondering how your pygmys were doing and if you've had any luck with babies... hope u reply!

PS: picasso is doing well and recently got some new cage improvements =]

[J-P]

Hey ppg I haven't been on in like forever I was just wondering how your pygmys were doing and if you've had any luck with babies... hope u reply!

PS: picasso is doing well and recently got some new cage improvements =]

yea, where have you been???

[kilofey]

I was working 75 hrs a week... moved into a new place... got a new boyfriend... ext. Jus been super busy lately. I haven't forgot about TPF I swear! anyway I sold all my tanks and poofers except kukah... my fahaka. Considering upgrading his tank soon to wit he SHOULD be in... a 125 instead of his 100 gal he has now. I miss my other puffs but with work being so hectic it was better if they went to ppl with more time... but kukah is my bud I can't part with him

[pufferpuggirl]

Hey there Kilofey! Long time no see/hear. Well actually both pygmy babies died months ago. To be honest, I don't think I was feeding them enough, but I will know better next time.
Then more tragedy struck. I had 4 pygmy chams (adults) and first I found Kitty, the biggest female dead. Then a couple weeks later the other female died, and then several weeks after that, the other male, a Kenyan, died. So now all I have is Burt, the original male that I got first (with the original Kitty that died within a few weeks of having her). I don't know why they died, they only live a few years and it's hard to know how old they are when you get them.

And unfortunately, I'm having to sell my Veiled Chameleon, Ziggy. He's just starting to get his colouring and he's quite a character, but our financial situation is very bad and we need the money. I hate to see him go as I love watching his antics.

But I'm going to be getting 2 more female pygmy chams soon, so Burt will have company and girlfriends to keep him busy. Then maybe I will see more eggs and this time I think I will know better how to take care of those babies.

I'm sorry you had to rehome your other puffers, but I do understand that all too well. Glad that Picasso is doing well though, so that's good.

Merry Christmas!

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

So sorry to get in the middle of this but those Pygmys were really neat. Sorry for the losses. I also had Chams that I lost in the past. Veileds mainly, but had Jackson female, and a Sailfin female. I have a large male veiled now at my friends house that I had him to hold for me over a year now but for some reason he dont want to turn him lose..lol. Seen some awesome healthy Panther Cham juvies in acouple of petshops here lately, never seen in any lfs's until this year. Ever thought of another species of cham? Breeding Pygmys must had been awesome cause far as I remember they where pretty rare years ago and have such a short life spam compare to the larger species. But it's been about about 9 yrs ago since I have talked to other cham breeders, experts, and hobbyist. Acouple of chameleon forums that I never could find anymore and alot of good friends that I made during that time. I might try to find some of my old friends from those forums sometime

[pufferpuggirl]

Hey Chris, no need to be sorry, anyone is welcome to join in on this conversation, that's what we're here for.
I've talked to the supplier and she's got the pygmies in stock, but due to our weather over here, I might not get to pick them up until after Christmas, or possibly after the New Year. I think I will stick with the pygmies, even as you pointed out, they do have a very short life span. They are just too cool, and although I love the prehensile tail my Veiled has, the little guys are much easier to house and don't really need much. So I'm going to give it another go and hopefully have more success with getting eggs laid and having babies survive.
I never thought I'd be interested in reptiles in all my life, but they are so adorable!