bearded pygmy

Some time ago I kept one of the smallest chameleon species available in captivity; the bearded pygmy chameleon (Rieppeleon brevicaudatus).

Small in size, rich in activity - while it is only 6-9cm in length, it does all the things, which it's big brothers are also doing: Watching their surroundings with their excellent and movable eyes, climbing and navigating in bushes and foliage easily and shooting their food with a incredibly long tounge!
The only thing which is missing is the curled, long prehensile tail - they only have a short one.
But because of that, they resemble dead leaves so much, that they are hard to distinguish from it - so hard that's their survival tactic! When bothered, they just stand still and are hard to detect between the foliage, but when they are attackt, they let themselves fall onto the ground, do not move, close the eyes and play dead - between the dead leaves on the ground an exceptionel camouflage.

It gave me a shock one and then, I had also leaves on the ground of my terrariums and when they were walking on the ground or sitting very near it, it almost seems, like the terrarium was empty and the chameleon gone... oO