Not so much a room as a balcony. My setup works because I work from home and so I'm always there to shift plants in and out of the sun depending on how hot it is, or back inside if the wind picks up. None of my bonsai plants, potted greens or flowers are in this pic as there is just to much light at this time of day. The natural light and humidity off the ocean mean I encounter far fewer issues than most. A recent bought of mouth rot has been my only vet worthy issue so far.
I usually have the veiled (seen here in the screen cage) free roaming in the area at the end of the balcony which I partition off. The trees are always kept in the middle so as none of the chams climb off onto the railing and there is no way they can climb the painted walls. Seagulls and pigeons are the only birds (besides the occasional humming bird) in the area so predators are not a problem. I've watched the veiled chase pigeons away by hissing. He ignores the dwarfs for the most part but I never give them a chance to interact just in case. I'm lucky in that, when in the cage, he never rubs up against the mesh trying to get at them or the other trees.
There is 1 dwarf on each tree except one which has two juvenile females. I use bonsai techniques to keep my ficus trees very bushy but with such great sun all the time (10hours summer - 7 hours winter) they flourish without much intervention. In the second picture you can see how well they grow and also the scale: a dwarf is a about half the size of one of the leaves so you really get a lot of space from one tree.
High winds have dislodged a chameleon once but otherwise they have no way of getting off their trees. Occasionally I setup fake vines so as they can climb down to my potted leafy greens and bonsais but even then they prefer to stay in their trees.
This setup has worked successfully for over 2,5 years now without any issues. My only light is a basking lamp which I setup for the veiled on the colder winter days. This is the home range for the dwarfs so they just get on with it no matter the weather. The original adults lived through several sub zero nights (that I know of) in the wild but I bring everyone in if it gets chilly.
I know some will take issue with some of the elements shown here but the health and happiness of my chams is testament that it works exceptionally well for me, in these particular circumstances. Another thing with this setup is it is exceptionally clean. I can easily take the chams off the plants for a few minutes and hose the whole place down, plants and all.
I'm a volunteer at the Two Ocean aquarium so I have experience in husbandry of various animals and access to experts in many fields. I'm working with penguins at the moment
are amazing. I love how you keep everything so organized
