New Pygmy Arrival

[kilofey]

i would ask her:

how long she has had it
why she is getting rid of it
if it has EVER had any medical issues
ask what she feeds and when she dusts
what humidity she keeps the viv at and how many times a day she sprays
how often does he eat and how much
how often does he poo and what does it look like (should look somewhat like raisins and a white urine sack)

give him a very close visual inspection, especially the eyes
listen to his breathing
does he have a pretty firm grip
make sure its colors are vibrant
check cage temps

please listen to me on this one... ask any and ALL questions you can possibly think of, write a list if you have to and bring it with you... observe EVERYTHING you can before buying. im not going to tell you to not get it because they are absolutely stunning and wonderful creatures. i wouldnt trade mine for the world, sick or not, just make sure you know what you are buying. i didnt, and now im out almost 1000 in vet bills. also, you may want to search out a good reptile vet, and ask if they know much about chameleons before you buy him... if not, you may end up on a wild goose chase, going to different vets who assure they know reptiles, then you set up an appointment and its like "eeehhh, well, i mean... i dont really see reptiles that often, but if i had to guess, id say he has xxxxx problem" yea, ive gotten that response

DONT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS!!!!! also, ask for their email so you can email them if any questions come up. i emailed picasso's previous owner for a little while when a feeding schedule question or a light timer question ect. would come up

[JoseDepacos]

Wasnt my intent to mislead. I'm not in the market for this guy. I want some pygmys first. Lol. It just made me curious. Thats all good info though. I will keep those all in mind in the future.

[Rusty]

jose

cant quite remember when. it was awhile back though( at least three years) Kilo thats a great list for most rep purchases.

[jus85411]

i think im one of the next ones jumping on the chameleon bandwagon. i have always liked the veiled and jacksons, now those pygmy are just ridiculous! lol. the pet shop i used to work at there was crickets loose all over the store. they would make their ways up the cardboard on fish tanks sitting on the ground, but couldnt get out because its all glass from the inside. so i would go collect some and go to the veiled cage we had, open the mesh side and stick some crickets in there. eventually one day i sat there with a cricket in my fingers for like 10 mins lol as he eyed it up and started inching closer, then he shot out his tongue and grabbed the cricket from me! it was amazing and i have always really really wanted one ever since.

[pufferpuggirl]

Well I've just fed my pygmies tonight and this time I decided to hang out to see if I could watch them eat. It didn't take long for Kitty to make her way towards the substrate, but she didn't need to get very close to the cricket, her tongue shot out, like twice the size of her body, and it recoiled with the cricket stuck to it. And the little piglet went on to eat 2 more right after that one. I hope she leaves some for Burt, he looks like he needs the food more than Kitty does. I'm just so happy to know that they are eating, and to have seen her actually eating. Everything is working out really well. The heat mat is doing the trick, my humidity has been going between 87% and 91% today and that's the range I need. I think I might invest in a digital thermometer too, although I am now wishing I had bought the combined digital hygrometer/thermometer as I was going to, but then I had a stick on thermometer, so I only got the digital hygrometer. But thing is, I have to get right up to the terrarium to see the stick-on thermometer and even then I have to squint to read what it says .... so I think I might be getting one of the Exo-Terra digital thermometers to go with the hygrometer. Thing is, if you've got an Exo-Terra light hood, the digital thermometer and hygrometer both fit in the slot on top of the light. I didn't realise it was even there for that purpose until the hygrometer came and it was mentioned on the directions.
Got to say, the Exo-Terra equipment is very user-friendly (even if it can be a bit expensive).

I have a feeling I may be getting a 3rd pygmy ..... making it a menage-a-trois!

[JoseDepacos]

Very cool. Glad they are eating and getting along well. Also glad to hear the heat mat is working out. What kinda temp is it keeping in there? I am watching one of the hygro/thermo combo units on ebay. $23 with shipping for a new one. All the ones I've seen show them reading in celsius though. I wonder if it will display both like my digital thermo on my F8 tank? I suppose I can figure it out if not. I dont want those guages stuck to my glass. The way the Exo Terrra digitals slot on to the light is sweet. Think thats the way to go.

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm not sure if they go between Fahrenheit and Celsius .... but even if they don't, it's not that hard to remember the ranges that are safe in Celsius. I am American and at first it was very difficult for me with everything being in metric, but you learn to know which numbers to look for.
I can't really tell you what the temps been like in the terrarium because I only have one of those analog stick-on thermometers right now and it's very difficult to read, that's why I want a digital one. And not only that, but I had a leftover analog hygrometer from when I first got my mudskippers, so I put that in there, and according to that, I'm still not in the humid range that I need to be -- even though the digital hygrometer is saying I'm at 87% humidity. So now I'm wondering if the analog thermometer isn't very accurate either. I should have put out the money for the combination digital one in the first place. That's what I get for trying to be cheap. Now I've got two stick-ons inside the terrarium and I can only hope they fall off with the humidity (that's what happened in my mudskippers terrarium).
And I agree, Exo-Terra really thought things out when they made some of their products. I'm definitely glad I went for all Exo-Terra accessories, they're just meant to work together.

I'm going to try to get out tomorrow and see about getting some other foods for my pygmies. I'm sure they'd like something other than just crickets all the time.

Question for Kilofey: Do you have any what they call "tank custodians" in with your Picasso? I read that it's beneficial to have some insects in the tank that aren't meant as food for the chameleons, but that will help with cleaning up the terrarium. Some of those mentioned for the pygmy enclosure are: "springtails" (I haven't a clue what these are), wood lice and pill bugs. We've got pill bugs outside behind my plant pots, although I've read that you should not bring anything in from outside to put in your tank for fear of them having something contagious that will hurt your chameleons.
I was just wondering kilofey if you've got anything in your vivarium like that, or have you heard about anyone using "clean up bugs" ?

[JoseDepacos]

Did you see the remote controlled vibrating food dish to make them eat canned crickets and such? Too cool. Lol. I was seriously considering a small Exo terra waterfall. And before you freak out, you can fill the base with aquarium gravel or stone so its not possible for them to drown in it. Then you would have constant humidity and flowing water, which of course is easily removed, cleaned and refilled with fresh. Also too cool.

If you havent run across this yet, its an excellent read. I highly recommend it for keepers of pygmies. http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=46

[kilofey]

Kilo thats a great list for most rep purchases.

thanks, but ive learned the hard way which questions to ask... i didnt ask those questions, bought a trainwreck of a chameleon, now im currently out almost 1000 bucks in vet bills... i will either do my reasearch next time and ask those questions, or i will never buy a freaking reptile EVER AGAIN! lol

[kilofey]

ARG! stupid computer, i replied to pretty much everyone on here and my computer decided to get confused ugh! lets try this again

Wasnt my intent to mislead. I'm not in the market for this guy. I want some pygmys first. Lol. It just made me curious. Thats all good info though. I will keep those all in mind in the future.

whoops, sorry guess i read it wrong, anyway, yes keep the questions in mind... log them away because believe me, chameons are like potato chips, you cant have just one im already having to put myself on a chameleon diet or my whole house could end up filled with them haha, im only allowed to have one chameleon at a time lol

i think im one of the next ones jumping on the chameleon bandwagon. i have always liked the veiled and jacksons.

DO IT!!!!!! my goal is to turn this forum into thepuffer-and-chameleonforum.com hahaha anway, if you like those, you should check out the panther cham, google it. they are by far (in my opinion) the most beautifully stunning of all the chams... colors are insaine!

I have a feeling I may be getting a 3rd pygmy ..... making it a menage-a-trois!

see jose? like i said, they are like potato chips, ya cant have just one lol, prime example

All the ones [thermometers/hydrometers] I've seen show them reading in celsius though.

all the ones ive seen read both

Question for Kilofey: Do you have any what they call "tank custodians" in with your Picasso? I read that it's beneficial to have some insects in the tank that aren't meant as food for the chameleons, but that will help with cleaning up the terrarium. Some of those mentioned for the pygmy enclosure are: "springtails" (I haven't a clue what these are), wood lice and pill bugs. We've got pill bugs outside behind my plant pots, although I've read that you should not bring anything in from outside to put in your tank for fear of them having something contagious that will hurt your chameleons.
I was just wondering kilofey if you've got anything in your vivarium like that, or have you heard about anyone using "clean up bugs" ?

i dont know how practical it would be for a large chameleon because it would eat them... so, no i dont have any... but in such a big cage, i would need so many bugs it would be a hassel trying to get them to stay in the cage when i open it lol

[jus85411]

wow those panther chameleons are amazing! see what you have done! lol. im going to have to wait for a while though, going to ireland next month for two weeks and then going to california to see my friend vinny that moved out there a few months ago from pennsylvania. but after that its fair game!

wow i just found this link with some amazing looking veiled chams! the panthers are really nice looking too! check out the one they call a psycho(name is Milkman i think)! hes crazy looking, it says its an orange sunburst wild caught one.

http://www.lostlakechameleons.com/breeders.html

[pufferpuggirl]

I went out to try and find some other foods for my pygmies and wasn't able to get anything but smaller crickets. I also bought some moss to hang around in the terrarium. The place that I went to said they can order the pygmy chams for me, but that they are probably wild caught and they are only £10 less than the ones I got originally. I think I'd prefer to have the captive bred ones, because I think they will do better in captivity than the ones that are wild caught. And I think you also have to consider that the wild caught ones could hypothetically bring some sort of disease or virus into the terrarium to infect my other two. So even though I could save a little bit of money, I'd rather get the ones that come from this guy with an excellent reputation.
So I will try the small crickets tomorrow, as I don't want to feed them every day, and as I fed them last night, I want to give them time to digest, after eating so much last night. But they should be able to get these crickets easier with the size that they are.

[kilofey]

wow those panther chameleons are amazing! see what you have done! lol. im going to have to wait for a while though, going to ireland next month for two weeks and then going to california to see my friend vinny that moved out there a few months ago from pennsylvania. but after that its fair game!

wow i just found this link with some amazing looking veiled chams! the panthers are really nice looking too! check out the one they call a psycho(name is Milkman i think)! hes crazy looking, it says its an orange sunburst wild caught one.

http://www.lostlakechameleons.com/breeders.html

lol, milk man doesnt look like a happy camper XD he is flaring his body and hissing haha... if they arent socialized they can get cage sour and they will hiss and flare up like that some times, they flare up to look like leaves to "blend in" with trees, but im not sure how much blending in they can do with those colors haha, wonder if they realize it... wild caught chams dont typically live as long, and they typically have parasites or diseases, so you would definatly want to take a poo and urine sample to the vet when (and if) you get one to have it looked at under a microscope for ickies.... anyway, hope you decide to get one!

*evil laugh* bwah-ha-ha-ha look what i have started. this is great

[JoseDepacos]

Ok, I think I'm ready. I only need my digital thermo-hygro combo meter. Hoping to get one at the show. If not I will order one right after. I put in two medium size pothos and a mini ficus today. I did end up using the plantation soil because as it turns out it IS coconut husk. I didnt realize that till I read the fine print. Plus its good for the live plants. Then I layered some rough shredded coco husk on top. Everything is in order, hope I find some pygmies tomorrow.


Edit: Fixed the link above. Not sure what happened.

[Rusty]

Looks sweeeeeeet