Chaeleon Habitat

[element]

Hello all,

I want to build a Chameleon room that is climate controlled.

My goal is to breed numerous species and I am curious about how much space I should keep each chameleon in.

From what I have read you should keep the males and females separate because the females are not always receptive.

Should I keep them visible.

Has anyone seen or used the LED lights they are now using for growing plants and corals?

Can someone steer me to a link that might show some fabulous habitats and designs built for chameleons?

Thank you in advance.

 

[HerbsForMyChameleon]

dont let them see eachother and you cant use an Led

 

[HerbsForMyChameleon]

i suggest getting 1 chameleon and see if it works out before you try to take care of a whole room... that would consume almost all of your time if they were being taken care of properley

 

[Bizzle90]

Hello all,

I want to build a Chameleon room that is climate controlled.

My goal is to breed numerous species and I am curious about how much space I should keep each chameleon in.

From what I have read you should keep the males and females separate because the females are not always receptive.

Should I keep them visible.

Has anyone seen or used the LED lights they are now using for growing plants and corals?

Can someone steer me to a link that might show some fabulous habitats and designs built for chameleons?

Thank you in advance.

Are you talking about a free-range habitat or are you going to put your chameleons in enclosures?

What kind of chameleons are you planning on keeping?

Chameleons shouldn't be housed together at all, unless they are babies. Although, some species of chameleons are perfectly fine housed together. But the common chameleons, such as veiled and panther chameleons cannot be housed together.

A free-range habitat would be next to impossible because you'd risk having the chameleons come into contact with one another. Also, the temperatures of different chameleons can be very different from one another.

 

[element]

All will be varieties of Panther Chameleons.

Currently I have an Ambilobe Panther Chameleon.

I should have probably given you a little of my history before asking the question. For twenty years I worked for a company that imported exotic tropical fish, corals, and reptiles. My specialty was and is with fish and corals. Other then handling the animals I never worked directly with the reptiles. Over the years I have handles and observed thousands of chameleons of various types.

I decided to acquire a chameleon and have enjoyed it so much I have decided to breed them.

Because we were a supplier I never learned anything about the breeding habitats and other.

Trying to get all my info lined up.

 

[Bizzle90]

Okay, so yes you can keep chameleons in the same room. Many forum members do it, but they make sure to NOT keep them together in the same enclosure. Also, if you are going to have chameleons in enclosures next to each other, make sure you put a piece of cardboard or whatever so that the chameleons cannot see each other.

You can house a male/female together only for a short period for breeding purposes, but you will have to separate them after that.

Each chameleon is recommended to live in an enclosure at least 2'x2'x4' tall. Females can be housed in enclosures slightly smaller.

Mesh/aluminum screening is recommended for beginner chameleon owners, but glass enclosures with a lot of ventilation may also work.

Hopefully I answered your questions!

 

[element]

Yes. Thank you.

It does bring me to further questions.

Also, if you are going to have chameleons in enclosures next to each other, make sure you put a piece of cardboard or whatever so that the chameleons cannot see each other.

OK. Since cross ventilation is so important. Wont cardboard or other stop that.

Are females also an issue with seeing each other?

but glass enclosures with a lot of ventilation may also work.

I was going to do mess top, back and and side with glass in front so they can be best viewed.

....

Can one male breed with more than one female each year. If yes, how any females is practical?

 

[brooklynelizabeth]

The Best would be all screen enclosures, and i know alot of people whom use dividers in the setups, without much of a issue in regards to cross ventilation. The Breeders i got my cham from are actually a herp center in my area, and they definitely use dividers, i believe its a white cardboard or maybe plastic. But i also know that they never house any chameleon male or females, together, unless of course for breeding purposes temporarily. Your adventure sounds exciting, if i had the time and money i would love to pursue something like that, but good luck to you either way, this is a excellent forum for information, everyone is awesome

 

[element]

Thank you.

It seems the only thing I am confused about is the cross ventilation.

Because the room is going to be constructed from scratch I want to make sure I have all my ducks lined up before construction. It just seems like I wont have any choice but to leave some separation between chams. It will increase the cost but how MUCH separation.

I mean if you are trying to completely eliminate the line of sight. There is no way to do it with cross ventilation. Even if you fill the cage with vegetation they are bound to see each other.

How about a very fine mesh. Say something like no-see-em Mesh?

http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabrics-Kits/Mesh-Fabrics/No-See-Um-Mesh-Fabric-White

The mesh could be so fine that you could barely see through it but would allow air to pass? You could put a layer of the mesh between the two cages.

 

[rockndiver]

I think your are putting way too much thought into something that has a very easy solution If I am following you correctly on your concern over ventilation in the enclosures, then you might want to consider this...... you are thinking about having several screen enclosures right? What I would do (you can find pics of this on here) is line them up next to each other and simply attach a piece of waterproof material.... trash bag, PVC board, ect. ect. in between the enclosures. The chams can't see each other, there is still plenty of ventilation, problem solved. You could line up cages on opposite sides of a fairly large room and imo not have to worry about the chams seeing each other. Or come up with some kind of divider that splits the room.

 

[Olimpia]

Or, I've even used fabric between the cages with success. Something like linen, which is cheap, easily breathable, and traslucent but not trasparent will work well. They can't make out each other across the fabric so it serves it's purpose.

You certainly can breed one male with as many females as you want. I think people like to do breeding groups of 1-4 or so of males to females.

However, I really recommend you get your feet a little wet first and then get into a larger breeding project. Caring for a female is very different than caring for a male, and caring for babies even more so. Maybe get 1 or 2 females right now, experience breeding and raising the babies, and then get into a larger project if you think you can handle it.

 

[element]

Thank you that is exactly what I wanted hear. The fabric idea seems perfect and gets the results that I want.

I am going to go small scale at first as far as the number of chams but building a room from scratch makes no sense to make it small only to add to it later.

Worst case scenerio part of the room is used as storage till I expand the number of chams.