Are Pygmy's difficult to take care of?

[AndrewWelch]

I was looking at all the species and I think that a pygmy would be best for me to have due to the lack of space I have for my chams, so I was wondering if they are more or less difficult to take care of then others?

 

[Aminah Undone]

Difficulty is relative to a person's individual experience, I think.

I keep two R. brevicaudatus girls in a 24x24 Exo Terra, fully planted. They do very well with minimal care. Telma even laid some eggs, today. (She's probably laid a few infertile clutches in the months I've had her and Louise, but I've never seen her doing the deed before today.)

I'm sure others will chime in, but if you can maintain proper husbandry and refrain from handling them, they are relatively easy compared to Panthers or Veileds ....and definitely easier than Melleri.

 

[kinyonga]

One thing to be aware of if you keep pygmy chameleons is that they are remarkable at playing dead when scared or startled...so don't dispose of the bodies until you are absolutely positive they are dead.

 

[Carlton]

I was looking at all the species and I think that a pygmy would be best for me to have due to the lack of space I have for my chams, so I was wondering if they are more or less difficult to take care of then others?

I think I would say their care is "different" than the arboreal species; in some ways more difficult and not in others. Tiny chams are delicate and when something goes wrong it is hard to treat or diagnose them in time. If you don't want to mess with lots of tiny feeder insects not a good choice. Getting their terrarium set up correctly takes more attention (you know, balancing the high humidity without drowning or baking them), as you are dealing with a smaller space that won't develop microclimates as easily.

While I may feel comfortable keeping all sorts of arboreal chams it is because I've done it a lot. I haven't kept any of the pygmies so they would worry me more. The danged fruit flies bother me too! I sort of dread the possibility that my aviary birds decide to hatch young...they will insist on getting fruit flies to feed them. So far no one's tried very hard yet.

 

[Aminah Undone]

My girls eat 2 wk size crickets and baby mantids. I just discovered they really like flies and maggots, as well. I've never fed them fruit flies.