Chams with other animals?

mingeace

New Member
Hello folks -

I am new to this forums thing and to Chams as well. As stated above I am wondering if its possible to mix Chams with other animals. Im not ignorant and have done my research and it seems like if the introduced animal is smaller than the cham it will be eaten and if its the same size it will only stress out the cham.

As of now I dont have a cham and am thinking of getting the senegal for its smaller size and more resilient nature (its going to be my first cham, although I have had an iguana and understand general reptile care). The thing is I really want to do a paludarium with small fish in a small pond, a lower soiled area with live plants and then extending upward the cham habitat.

So to the question, is there any cham species that can comfortably and safely live with another animal (frog, toad, newt, snake, fish et cetera) without the other animal being eaten ha? money is of no issue but safety for the cham is.

thanks, andrew
 
Similar thread was started recently. You should not put other animals in with chameleons, especially the fish pond idea you were talking about unfortunately. There shouldn't be any standing water in their cages as they could fall in and drown. Chams don't see standing water as a drinking source so it wouldn't offer your cham any benefits. Plus chams are sensitive to bacterial and fungal growth, which is going to be present in an environment with standing water, fish, soil, etc. no matter how clean you try to keep it. Not only that but amphibians carry diseases and parasites that can be dangerous to reptiles even if the amphibian is showing no signs of it. When you want to combine animals you have to consider the environmental and husbandry needs of both, which rarely are the same. So to house them together would mean sacraficing the husbandry needs of one, if not both of the animals in almost any case. Chams are easily stressed by other things near them, even other animals they may normally see (and be able to avoid) in their natural environment. And a nocturnal cage mate is a poor solution too because it will disturb a sleeping cham easily and long term stress easily leads to health problems.

So in short, no it's not a good idea for them even though an idea like yours would be a really neat setup! The idea is always tempting, but I've seen it end in disaster. If you really wanted to do something like that maybe dart or tree frogs would work better. I've seen some amazing setups with a fish pond on the bottom and the rest was the frog environment. Then your little cham could be happily cruising in another cage nearby. :)
 
Btw welcome to the forums! There are tons of great resources on here so you should be able to find all the info you need, but feel free to ask questions. :)
 
Not to dissuade you, but I think chameleons do fall on the "harder" end of the spectrum to keep. No its not tricky or hard, but you do have to be meticulous. This is something that I have found is generally not necessary with most (hardier) reptiles or similar...colubrids, tarantulas, scorpions, boas, etc.

chameleons do require a fair little bit of time and money. they are a substantial jump up from iguanas, which you can practically ignore and will be alright.


with all that said, the general rule holds for any mixed enclosure:
DONT DO IT unless you are an absolute professional. Once you have individually raised all the animals you are considering separately and are well familiar with their behavioral patterns, then you MIGHT consider such an enclosure.
 
would be very hard, chams seem to be one of the most solitary animals. Even in a proper setup they dont always adapt easily. If the enclosure was large enough i wonder if a couple of pigmys could co exist with dart frogs or fish. My cham lives above a 130gal pond and ive never seen him "go fishing". I wouldn't doubt if he does though I've seen him eat moss of the waterfall.
 
would be very hard, chams seem to be one of the most solitary animals. Even in a proper setup they dont always adapt easily. If the enclosure was large enough i wonder if a couple of pigmys could co exist with dart frogs or fish. My cham lives above a 130gal pond and ive never seen him "go fishing". I wouldn't doubt if he does though I've seen him eat moss of the waterfall.



130 gallon nice pond, i want to get 120 Reef going soon when I have a more stable living area.
 
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