A room with a view.. or not?

[Rufi0]

Hey Guys,

I've recently relocated to Vienna from London and taken my little Nosy with me. He has more than settled down now. I have a question regarding his view.
There is a beautiful ginkgo tree outside our apartment and we thought placing Nosy's enclosure by the window would be nice for him to have something to look at when he is inside his vivarium. I've noticed that he is content to sit on his branch and look at the tree in his vivarium for prolonged periods of time and not be really concerned with coming out.

This was highlighted today as we have recently purchased window veils which lets light in but you can't see in or out. Nosy couldn't see the tree this morning and seemed more of his marauding self wanting to come out onto his free range and explore, but as soon as I opened the veil he went back to his enclosure and is sitting there looking at the tree again.

This lead me to contemplating if this is a good or bad thing? Seeing a beautiful tree and never being allowed to climb it could be torture if I look at it from a human perspective, but at the same time not having a view at all could also be just as torturous.

What are your experiences with your chameleon's enclosure views, have you noticed an effect on their behaviour if they can or can't see a tree etc ?

Thanks in advance

Pete

 

[MissMaisie]

My free range area is in front of my window and my veiled Lulu likes to climb the hibiscus closest to the window and look out on my garden for a while. She does move along after a bit though and she can't really see the garden from her cage. I'd be worried that it's seeing a lot of birds in the tree and getting stressed out? But if it doesn't seem stressed maybe it's just entertaining

 

[Lathis]

I agree that it very much is entertainment - and for animals that don't "play", this type of entertainment is important.

Having had both birds and a chameleon, I have found that having a window view is an important "enrichment" activity for them. My birds would get actively angry if I closed the curtains during the day, and I found that my chameleon also really enjoyed looking out the window. Don't think of it as teasing him with trees he can't climb - think of it more as an opportunity for mental stimulation for a caged animal. I think this is very important for animals with good eyesight particularly. Mentally isolated and repressed animals can become stressed and ill, although it's probably not nearly as dramatic for chameleons as it is for more intellectually complex animals.

I also think that allowing your chameleon to safely free-range is good enrichment. Remember that in the wild their territory would be so much larger than any enclosure we can make for them. It stimulates critical thinking activities and situational awareness that might not get exercised in the cage: wayfinding, hunting, hiding, etc.

My vote: yes, for a window view.

 

[GrimCamel]

I also believe its a good thing. Out in the wild they're able to look around all they want. I think it comes more natural for them than just looking around the room they're in which is more like a big cave. (That's just a theory tho)
My panther do love to climb around the window. He'll be walking to a certain spot in his terrarium, trying to get out until I open up and he climbs away straight to the window if there's daylight. I'm planning to set up some kind of free ranging around the window instead of curtains so he can climb around all he want and still have a good view of the outside while he is out exploring outside his enclosure

 

[ulamachula]

Our panther spends hours looking out of the window and watching trees, people and cars on the street and birds fly by. He has a large leafy potted plant on the windowsill, so he sits there hidden in the leaves and watches. We live on the 4th floor, so I guess he likes it that he's viewing things from above. I call it his TV. "What's Ambroz doing? Oh as usual, he's watching his TV"

 

[Rufi0]

Thanks guys, much appreciated, I think i'll treat it as a lot of you suggested as an extra enrichment. I love the concept of "watching his tv." As far as I see there are no birds that fly into that tree which would be scaring him into sitting there. I guess he just likes to sit there and watch the world go by.

He has a huge java tree free range which i connect to the cage in the mornings with a sort of vine drawbridge. He usually likes to go back and forth climb across the drawbridge explore then go back chill out then come back out for a couple of hours before I have to take off the draw bridge and close the door.

Perhaps i'll keep the veil closed while he does his exploration in the morning and then when it's time for him to stay in his enclosure i open up the veil and let him look out at the tree while i'm at work. A nice balance of the two

Again thanks guys