Can Rudis live together?

[ScottChoc]

I was wondering if anybody had first hand experience keeping them in the same enclosure. One male and a couple of females?

 

[naich]

i would say no due to agreession and just the male stressing them out with sex and all....but if its possiblt it would be to beHUGE with like 8 diffrent plants. i personally wouldnt say its worth it....each cost 300 flat out then over 1000 with food supplies bills and vet visits plus you become emotinally attacheed....imo its nowhere near worth it.

 

[reptimom]

I have kept 1 male and 2 females together successfully. Females need to be removed when gravid to prevent stress.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Again, (this topic is coming up a lot in the last week) experience is the factor that comes into play.
Until you have developed a real understanding and ability to read these animals, I would not recommend keeping them in groups.

-Brad

 

[ScottChoc]

Again, (this topic is coming up a lot in the last week) experience is the factor that comes into play.
Until you have developed a real understanding and ability to read these animals, I would not recommend keeping them in groups.

-Brad

I agree completely. I understand that I am very green in the cham world and I would not want to get in over my head. The animals well-being is always number one. I'm just hungry for knowledge and I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Trace]

I was wondering if anybody had first hand experience keeping them in the same enclosure. One male and a couple of females?

I have! I have!

I believe the rudis, and their closely related brethren, can be kept in pairs or small groups. They seem to have a much calmer demeanour than some of the larger species of chameleons. That said, during breeding season gravid females can get very aggressive to males and their advances and they need to be separated into individual quarters. Ultimately I ended up keeping everyone individually mostly due to sheer laziness on my part. When one has a large collection, assembling and tearing down cages, adding and subtracting nozzles into my mist system several times a year got to be a bit much. And besides, it’s easier to monitor specific feeding patterns and overall health when keep apart. Certainly though, having visual contact is fine with the bitaeniatus it doesn’t seem to cause them stress. Also, I don't think there is any psychological or physical need for housing in groups with the bitaeniatus family.

My usual disclaimer for everyone reading this: If you do not have extensive experience with chameleons (and I'm not talking a few years with Veileds or Panthers) then keeping one specimen per cage is recommended. The subtleties of underlying stress which affect the health and happiness of the animals can be lost on a new owner.

Cheers,
t

P.S. Thanks for the compliments on my collection Scott

 

[ciafardo 4]

I have kept them in groups as well and have seen a slightly larger gravid female kill a male that made advances to her ! She grabbed him by his side and really bit down i broke it up and removed the gravid female from the group. The next morning the little male was dead he had a large mouth shaped bruise i was shocked and upset i just couldn't beleive that she had that much strength in her little bite lesson learned the hard way about gravid rudis and males together.

 

[telkins08]

yeah i have 2 males and 1 female in an 24" 24" 36" cage with alot of plants and they do great but as the others were sayin you have to move the female when she's gravid. they got an attitude!

 

[dondeb562]

2 males should not be housed together, but yes with this species you can house 2-3 females with one male if the cage is large enough. Things happen though in any type of animal so there is always risks....

 

[Chamaeleoeo]

what about just keeping 2 or 3 females together??