The Puffer Forum

Sounds like a good plan, cold hard cash is always better than credit.

how much do they sell for ? are they easy to get a breading pair/ trio lol

Price depends on where you get them. Wharf Aquatics had them for 39.95 GBP, but most online shops will sell for 29.99 GBP, however, because I go directly to the source and pay cash, I get an even better discount. The problem with these little guys is that most are wild caught, which is stressful on them. Also, they only live 2-3 years, and it's difficult to know how old one is unless it's very small, then you might have any idea that it's a big younger. If I can actually start breeding captive bred babies, they are the most sought after because it's better for them in the long run and less stress than catching them in the wild and transporting them, etc. These little ones aren't like regular chameleons, they must be kept at certain temps, with a rather high humidity, quite different from my Yemen chameleon which requires a different set of conditions.

Here's some updated photos of my baby pygmy chameleons.

How cute! I'm enjoying this thread so much.

Funny story: I once had baby chameleons, too. I was walking upstairs one evening and thought I saw ants on the stairs. Turned out to be a long procession of baby veileds! I had no idea the female was breeding nor that we had eggs. After collecting as many as I could find, I did what you did, ran around nuts trying to find suitable food, but I was not able to save any of them. We tried to start a fruit fly culture but I think it was too little, too late. I love chameleons and miss mine.

those are so cute

Every time I see this thread I have to tell myself that I dont have the money or time to do this

You just keep making me want them even more, Suzanne.

I might try an easier desert dwelling species of reptile (maybe plated lizards) first though, to get used to herp keeping. I think it would be wise on my part. Especially seeing as it gets so darned hot in my room because of the fish tanks.

It must be a real cool experience to be a reptile breeder, eh?

pufferpuggirl wrote:I've even considered possibly getting rid of some of my puffers so I can concentrate more on the chameleons, especially seeing as I will probably end up with loads of eggs and potentially more babies.

"rid of"
broke my heart when the little girl next door, after being asked what happened to her little dog, responded; "we got "rid of" her............"

I know, bad choice of words on my part. Thing is, I'm so attached to all my puffers that it's hard to even contemplate parting with any of them. Besides that, even if I did decide to rehome some of my puffers, I would only be willing to part with them if I was satisfied that the buyer was able to care for them properly -- and that's where the problems arise. I've noticed in the past when I've advertised a puffer that I get alot of novices replying, and I will not sell to someone that doesn't know how to take care of a puffer.

In regards to my pygmy chameleons .... I certainly don't consider myself a "reptile breeder", it's only that my females are laying eggs and I cannot stand back and do nothing, or they would die. I can't allow that to happen, so looks like I will be taking care of babies for a few months, or possibly indefinitely as they keep laying eggs.

xray -- they really aren't that much trouble to keep. The only thing you have to worry about is extreme in temperatures, otherwise I think they are fairly easy to keep. I'd never had a reptile before the pygmies, and now I've got a Veiled chameleon, 3 Bearded pygmies, 1 Kenyan pygmy and 2 Bearded pygmy babies. Almost as addictive as puffers.

Hey eieio -- what happened to all of your puffs? (just seen all the RIP's )

pufferpuggirl wrote:Hey eieio -- what happened to all of your puffs? (just seen all the RIP's )

From April
Re: DP constipated?
by eieio on Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:44 pm
i lost her
she became sluggish and disoriented, color darkened, died
i got these five DPs last August
first 2 i lost was to IPs (classic symptoms)
first one died Feb 13th when Jungle Parasite Clear food soak didn't work
second one died Mar 11 after trying Parasite Clear food soak again, and when that didn't seem to be working, tried API General Cure as a food soak, and then in the tank water after the affected fish stopped eating
by the time i lost the second one, there had been a total in all of four IP treatments
third one died from what ever caused what appeared to be bloating (didn't get thin like the others, poop appeared normal, none of the same symptoms of the other two)
after all the prior IP treatments, i doubt the third loss was from IPs, but?
two left now in 18 gallon tall
sure looks "empty" in there
how discouraging..................
though i'd like to get some more, i'm hesitant
since these fish all did so well for so many months (6), i'm not so sure that quarantine of new ones will show me anything
since IP treatment has been administered so many times by the time i lost the 2nd, i'm not confident (at least in the two products that i tried), that "de-worming" any new additions would be beneficial
then there's always the possibility of hostility and aggression towards new additions
this sure rips the fun & satisfaction factors out of this endeavor
then lost the fourth

Cream Puff is still going strong & "Ollie" is doing great
for me, right now, less is better...........
...........less maintenance, less expense, less anguish, less death

Awww... I'm so sorry. I must have missed when you posted about that.

Trust me, I can relate to losing puffers and too much death, I've had more than my share in the past month.
Unfortunately it's like I've been saying all along, for as much as we know about puffers, there's still so much more that we don't know.

I know I'm late, but please accept my condolences on your losses.
I always did love the names you gave them.

pufferpuggirl wrote:Awww... I'm so sorry. I must have missed when you posted about that.

Trust me, I can relate to losing puffers and too much death, I've had more than my share in the past month.
Unfortunately it's like I've been saying all along, for as much as we know about puffers, there's still so much more that we don't know.

I know I'm late, but please accept my condolences on your losses.
I always did love the names you gave them.

Thanks ppg!

I checked on the babies today, and I misted the container with water to give them a drink and then I added some more micro crickets. I stood there a few minutes and watched as the original baby (the first one that hatched out) was definitely hungry and actively looking for the crickets, and he ate 3 right quickly.

The other baby was sitting on a small stick and he seemed interested that the crickets were in there, but he kept doing what looked like "yawning". I haven't seen that one eat at all yet, and I'm feeling a bit concerned.

A few people who have had experiences with the pygmies have told me about a problem where the pygmy can't quite flick out his tongue. And obviously if they can't flick out their tongue, they cannot get any food. I'm wondering if that's the situation with this 2nd baby. and just thinking, this 2nd baby has been out of his shell about a week, and if he's not eaten in all that time, would he still be as active as he is, or would he be alive at all? I don't want to think there's any problems with one of my babies, but if there is, unfortunately there's not alot I will be able to do for him. I suppose only time will tell.

At least I know that one is doing very well and seems absolutely fine.

Babies Birthday -- I just thought I'd mention that one of my babies is one month old, and the other one is 3-weeks old. Both are doing very well, and are about the same size (they both came from the same batch of eggs, but emerged a week apart).
I mist them and feed them every morning and check on them. They are active and seem to be in good health. I think I've got one male and one female, but I am unsure. I am positive at least one is a female, just not too certain about the other.

The other 2 eggs that were in the hatching container aren't doing so well. I thought I'd check on them and they appear to have dried up, which I don't understand seeing as it's plenty humid in there. So I don't think anything will come of those eggs. I'm going to feel around in the vivarium and see if I can locate more eggs. I'm almost certain that one or both of my females laid more eggs, and if I take them out, I can keep a better eye on their development. At least I know what to do now and feel more confident that my success rate next time will be better. I thought I could leave them alone and all would be fine, but sometimes you need to intervene and help them out of the egg.

Well, I checked the viv and I did find some eggs, but not nearly as many as I thought had been laid, although I suppose it's possible that I might have missed some. Anyway, I found 3 eggs, already swollen, so that's a good sign. I've taken them and put them into my egg hatching container and sat them on my Congo tank, it's always nice and warm up there and the warmer it is, the quicker the eggs will hatch.

I'm also thinking that because I'm almost certain there's more eggs in that viv that I can't get to, I think I might start putting some of the micro crickets in there just in case little ones are in there. As small as they come out of the egg, and with all the plants and dead leaves, sticks and such, it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But if I provide them with some food, then at least they've got a bit of a chance. If I do notice any babies roaming around, I will swiftly remove them because I do not want inbreeding going on. I want to keep the offspring away from the parental units.