Anybody can advice me how to take care properly of oustaleti chameleons please

Antikecalka

New Member
Hi, please I have a male and female in a huge cage , they have UVA and UVB, the temerature is around 25-28 Celsius, they drink water every day. They eat crickets and locusts. They were ok but now they are having problems. Seems to be more tired, and thinner. The doctor checked their pooph and it was ok.
 
They really need large cages and more food then panthers that's really the only difference. And like everyone else said need to be in different cages.
 
I somewhat disagree on keeping Oustalet pairs together. They've never seemed as aggressive and territorial as the other Furcifer species to me. Based on the only source of printed information on chameleons when I started keeping (de Vosjoli) talking about keeping pairs together, I also tried it in a very large cage and can't say it caused any problems other than the male being disinterested in breeding.

What are the dimensions of the "huge" cage? Do they have their own basking areas?

Are they somewhat recent wild-caught imports? How long have you had them?

Can you post any pictures of them? Close ups of the animals and the cage would help.

Edit: Tracy makes another good point; are they getting as much as they want to eat? Even taking their size into account, I think they eat more, proportionally, than any other species.
 
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Kent I wonder if your situation is a rare case. I mean every so often you come across a member whose panthers actually get along. I was just wondering if you mean this as a generalization for this species or just your personal experience
 
Answer

Yes they do they use to eat more now not like before,especially the male. I am sending you their photo.this is theiťr cage, now they are going outside.
 

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Kent I wonder if your situation is a rare case. I mean every so often you come across a member whose panthers actually get along. I was just wondering if you mean this as a generalization for this species or just your personal experience

I meant it as a generalization for the species. I did it because others had reported doing it without problem, too. I would separate gravid females from males and monitor for any aggression or subordinate behavior, but in general I think Oustalets are a species that doesn't necessarily have to be kept separately. I don't have any now (although I have around 100 eggs) but have had Oustalets around for much of the last 20 years and never seen more aggression than a female head-bobbing at me!
 
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Antikecalka, that's not quite what I would think of as huge. I was thinking more like 8 cubic meters or larger. They both look very healthy but I would separate them in a cage that size. A cage where they can fully get away from and ignore one another if desired would be necessary long-term. And, as I mentioned before, they may not breed as readily if kept together anyway.
 
HOWEVER...the first thing to do if the chams are declining is reduce stress! Regardless what others have done, this means separate them and block their view of each other. If these are wildcaught your female could already be gravid and constantly stressed by the male. Or, in her attempts to defend herself she's stressing HIM. If wc they are probably loaded with parasites, and stress will increase that problem too. They may keep going down hill. Separate them, get them eating again on a good varied diet, watch the female in case she's gravid. They may turn around.

The cage isn't large enough to hold two chams this size IMHO. There isn't enough cover to provide them visual separation either.
 
Multiple questions can be asked about this situation: what type of bulbs and wattages are you using? How many times do you mist them per day? How many bugs per day are thy eating? What supplements are you using?

Then I would also recommend housing them separately. :)
 
HOWEVER...

Hopefully you saw that I also agreed with separating them after seeing the cage. While she is quite plump I assume the female is not gravid as she is being housed with a male and not showing gravid colors at all. The cage is too small for the pair, and I could be wrong, but I suspect any decline is probably not due to cohabitation after looking closer at the cage pic.

How is water being delivered and how much/often? Is the floor of the cage also the floor of the house? Is there a heat bulb at all? It's hard to tell from the pics but are all the sides of the cage solid or is there screen on the sides? Avoiding stagnant air is vital. These guys live in trees and like to perch horizontally, too. The vertical branch, bird ladder, and hanging Pothos are not enough for one or two animals. Please take a look at the cage setup page here for some more ideas to add to the cage(s). https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/enclosures/
 
Hi, thanks a lot for all advices, I will separate them and put them to new cage, can you just advice me brand of bulbs you are using? I have Reptiglo 5UVB and heating bulp , they drink 3 times a day.
 
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