Need help! 1st time Leaf Cham Owner!

[ariel elf]

Hi all! first time posting here, and first time Cham owner! My husband and I purchased a little Pygmy Leaf Chameleon this past weekend, and we were wondering if it was a male or a female? We've been looking all over the net and can't seem to figure it out! But we were hoping to get him/her a tank mate and we would like to be pretty sure on it's sex so we would know what kind of friend to look for! We took some pictures of her/him the other day, I hope someone will be able to help us out! (We've been calling her Frida, because I think she might be female...but if not, then his name would be Deigo...)

Also, this is the tank we've assembled for her.
It's a 10gal, with a topsoil & shredded coconut substrate and lots of dead leaves on the bottom. She also has one of my husband's baby bonsais to climb on and a mini waterfall, with an aquarium plant light on 12hrs a day... Would this be a good set up for her? And could we possibly add one or two more pygmy leaf chams in with her? Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks sooo much for any advice!
Lauren

 

[lele]

Hi lauren - welcome to the addiction...uh, uh, I mean...world of chameleons!

little brevi's (Rhampholeon brevicaudatus) are cute, huh? My first chams were a 1:2 trio. As for sexing it may be a male, but go to this linkHusbandry Techniques for R. brevicaudatus.html and if you go about half way down you will see the section on sexing. It is not easy to tell. I also suggest you read that entire article for just about everything you need to knwo about them. ALso read roo's other one on their setup - though your's looks quite nice!

Did you get these at a show or pet store or from a breeder? I ask b/c if they are wild caught (likely if from show or store and depending on breeder) and may have parasites. B/c they are so tiny they can be hard to treat, but I would not worry about that just yet.

I miss mine and have been thinking of getting another pair or trio.

 

[Brad]

Hello ariel-elf, welcome to the Chameleon Forums

Those are some very nice pictures, thanks for sharing! The link lele posted should be very helpful.

 

[JonathanF]

I dont know a thing about leaf chams but you have a really nice setup there, Im sure he/she will do good.

 

[ariel elf]

Hi,
Thanks for the link! I took the waterfall out after finding out that they breed bacteria. I have been having a little trouble keeping the humidity up. I mist heavily two to three times a day but it seems to be dropping to as low as 10% between mistings. I have heard that some people cover a third or half of the screen to keep the humidity up, but would this be bad for his air circualtion. I know that he is a ground dweller and doesn;t need the same air circulation as the regular arboreal chams. Any ideas ? Also, I was worried about him not being able to find the crickets in the leaf litter. Can I keep 10-15 small 1/4 inch crickets in with him so that he has a better cahnce of seeing them? I know that crickets can injure him, but he seems to stay on the branches where the crickets don;t go.
He is so much fun to watch.
Thanks again for everyones help!