do you believe free ranging helps with temperament?

[Carlton]

I think ones that's always been caged initially get a bit excited about the open freedom and feel the need to check it out. Once they've looked at everything, they just hang out in their favorite spot. It's similar to if we were to buy a new house. We initially explore the house, check out every room and nook and cranny. But, once we're settled in, we always hang out in the kitchen or couch in front of the TV.

Exactly! Chams are very devoted to the mental map of "safe routes" they have used before. Their love of routine and their spatial memory is very strong...I suppose it would have to be given their 3 dimensional territories in the wild. Once they create this territorial map they stick to it! One of my melleri would do a daily house patrol that always included the same stops along the way. If there was something blocking her route she sort of dithered and hesitated (doing the back and forth rocking paw thing and ear flapping) before going around it. She always stopped to threaten the cham in the glass stereo cabinet door. Then she headed back to her free range room, climbed to her day hang out spot and stayed put.

 

[FlChamMom]

It’s the anthropomorphising and blanket statements that I think we need to watch, particularly when it comes to people entering the hobby that are reading threads like this.

Cheers,
Trace

I definitely get what you are saying and yes I have been guilty of such a blanket statement. My chameleons live in their own humidity controlled room and are in their cages most of the time. I look at free ranging like taking my kid to the park- giving them some extra space for a few hours a few nights a week and allowing me to interact with them on neutral ground. I do not think I would be able to recreate their cage environment on a free range 24/7 as I work outside the home, so I do not attempt to. My chameleons are neither breeding projects or rare specimens- they are pets, so for me I feel like free ranging adds to my enjoyment of the hobby.