Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a pet store manager... bearded dragon breeder... I have very good general knowledge of other reptiles. BUT am no expert at chameleons. We have 3 veileds that are doing great and striving. My husband has shown some interest in Rhampholeon brevicaudatus. I have done some research, but have found litte informaiton on housing and terrarium set up. Does anyone have any experience with these little guys?? Any suggestions?? We are also into breeding... so any breeding info would be great too!! From what I have read they are pretty prolific but was wondering about clutch vitality and pairing ratios.

Hi,

We have been keeping/breeding pygmy chameleons for almost 4 years. We have had more than one kind, but here is a picture of the typical set-up for them:

/photopost/data/500/1817pigmytank3-med.jpg] pygmy tank

This plexiglass/wood tank is 4ft long, 20" high and 18" front to back. The soil is in layers (much like a dart frog set-up), using charcoal on the bottom, soil, cypress mulch and orchid bark. Planted fairly heavily, and lots of small twigs for highways (crooked willow works great).

These tanks have screen windows cut into the sides, some have 3 sides with windows - in addition to the screen tops. Ventilation is important. This size of tank will house several pygmies - but no more than 2 males, usually.

Hope this helps,
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I see that Kingsnake won't allow that word...
Let's see if this will work

Darn, not fair.....
Kingsnake will not allow the competition (another forum) to be referenced in anyway. Hmmmmm...

If you drop me an email, I will send you the pictures (reptayls@yahoo.com). Sorry for the hassel...
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Thank you so much for the info. Never could get the pic though. I was wondering about humidity and drinking water. We actually have dart frogs too. We have them and the veileds on a misting system that keeps the humidity relatively high. Less so for the veileds since they are in completely screen enclosures. We also have a terrarium for salamanders but I feel that type set up would be to cool and wet for any lizard. AND... do you incubate at room temp?? Any idea if incubation temp has anything to do with sex determination?? I have read 65 days for hatching, food consisting of pin head crickets and fruit flies with calcium supplementation.

I would have to send you the picture via email - just drop me a note if you want the pic.

Humidity, I mist 3 times a day. The last misting is right before "lights out". Room temperature is good... ambient temps in their room is about mid 70's F.

Their vivarium should be able to dry out between mistings - not like the salamaders and frogs.

Yes, we incubate at room temp - 68 - 74F - they should hatch between 65-73 days on average. We usually get a mix with the clutches (normally 4-5 eggs), and have never experimented with temperatures for sex ratios.

Food for adults includes crickets; termites; hydei; small flour moths. Food for hatchlings includes springtails; aphids; pinhead crickets, hydei.

Hope this helps,
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Thanks so much. I got the pics and they are great. Beautiful setups!! I think I am going to give it a try at home first... before I dare set any up at the store. I am sure I will be tracking you down for some more Q & A when I fianally get them. Thanks again!!