Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here for Dragon Serpents
Click for ZooMed

Pygmy Cham couple--size difference

AshleyJ Mar 29, 2008 07:51 PM

Today I got a male bearded pygmy to keep my female (who I've had for about a month) company. Although I tried to pick one of the shop's smaller males, he's considerably larger than she is and I was wondering if this is going to present a problem. I know this species is supposed to be pretty mellow about co-habitation, but I want to be sure that his clear physical dominance isn't going to translate into any aggression toward his petite roomie.
I would estimate her at about 1.5 inches and he's probably around 3 in. Age is unknown for both (the guy who sold me the female sad she was 10 months old but he turned out to be kind of shady...so who knows).
They're in the same enclosure now, but seem disinterested or unaware of eachother so far. Should I keep watching to make sure the introduction goes ok? Any suggestions on the safest way to introduce them? Am I just plain worryng too much??
Thanks!

Replies (1)

gretchenellie Mar 30, 2008 02:14 PM

first off, i would not be housing a newly aquired (sp?) animal in with an established one.. the chances of the new one spreading disease to your female, or vis versa, is too much of a risk... 30 days minimum separation followed by de-worming and a vet check before placing them together....

the males of the R. Brev. species are slightly smaller then the females. however, it sounds like your female is still a juvie so she is considerably smaller then the male.. this may pose a problem with intimidation and bullying....another reason to wait to put them together until they are nearly the same size...

unless you are planning on breeding them, i wouldn't house her with him.... he is going to try to breed her, and because she is still a juvie, this could pose potential health problem for her if she does become gravid...egg binding, stress, etc.

i would start by removing the male into his own enclosure, monitoring him for weight loss/gain, parasites, respiratory illness, etc.
Image" alt="Image">
-----
http://cherisse44.webs.com/

Site Tools