free range housing

L

leftyaudi

New Member
i have a male red bar ambilobe that lives in a tree in my room. he loves being free ranged. i am getting a female next week and i was wondering if i wud be able to put her in the tree as well. i know youre not supposed to house them together in a cage but i was wondering is it different when free ranging. she will be here tuesdsay. im pumped!
 
You'd need a huge free range. Apparently they are often less stressed when around mates, dont make such big clutches, and lay less often. Of course it depends on personalities and what not, plus you have to be a very experienced keeper to know the (often) very subtle signs of stress.

I would advise against it unless you have several years of experience, know both animals extremely well, and have a very large free range area (I wouldn't try it in less than an 8x8 free range with many basking spots, watering spots, feeding spots, and so many plants that they are extremely hard to find without digging around in the free range. That's my opinion, and what I would do if i ever housed two panthers anyways.)
 
my veileds live together and they dont mind. the panthers i have are young so they may get along hopefully. its worth a try
 
Be careful, if they are young, then they shouldn't be together or the female may become gravid with eggs early. It's best to wait til the females are at least 60 grams.

How long have you kept chameleons?
 
i have kept chameleons for 3 years and to answer the onther question, they are perfectly healthy. They interact with each other without an issue, they eat all the time, and they are never stressed colors. They are always bright and playful.
 
Sometimes bright colration is a sign of stress! Chameleons are solitary animals that do not need a constant companion. They do not "hang out" together in the wild. They come together to breed and go on their way. Ive kept and bred chams since the mid 90's and i wouldnt even consider keeping a pair of my panthers together. Why risk your animals health and happiness by trying to keep them together? Are you short on space? Or are you just stubborn and wanting to try and prove other keepers and breeders wrong at the possible expense of the animals? Either way you need to do more research before you buy any more chameleons and change your husbandry asap.
 
what i meant by bright is that they are normal, not dark and stressed. the male acts as if the female is not even there. he never fires up or anything. never bites. they are perfectly content. they have been together since birth and they just never got to the point that they got territirial. i have done tons of research so dont question that. also i would never do anything do put my animals in danger. i have plenty of space but they really do enjoy being together. every chameleon has their own personality. these two in particular enjoy each other's company. plain and simple.
 
Texas Panther Man said:
Sometimes bright colration is a sign of stress! Chameleons are solitary animals that do not need a constant companion. They do not "hang out" together in the wild. They come together to breed and go on their way. Ive kept and bred chams since the mid 90's and i wouldnt even consider keeping a pair of my panthers together. Why risk your animals health and happiness by trying to keep them together? Are you short on space? Or are you just stubborn and wanting to try and prove other keepers and breeders wrong at the possible expense of the animals? Either way you need to do more research before you buy any more chameleons and change your husbandry asap.
Click to expand...

with all due respect the thing with our hobbys is that ideas and what we know change. in the min 90's a reef tank under 40 gallons was "imposable" i didnt listen and now i have a 3 gal "pico" reef with 10000,s of followers. just cuz something didnt work for you and 1000 other people doesnt mean it wont work for him.
 
Having been together since birth means they are siblings. Are they male and female? How old? And how do you plan on keeping them from breeding?
 
leftyaudi said:
what i meant by bright is that they are normal, not dark and stressed. the male acts as if the female is not even there. he never fires up or anything. never bites. they are perfectly content. they have been together since birth and they just never got to the point that they got territirial. i have done tons of research so dont question that. also i would never do anything do put my animals in danger. i have plenty of space but they really do enjoy being together. every chameleon has their own personality. these two in particular enjoy each other's company. plain and simple.
Click to expand...

What would concern me about your "new" female is that she DIDN'T grow up with your male (like the contented pair you described above). She will be seen as an intruder as well as something to breed. It may not stress your male too much as he's the lord of that tree, but I see major risks for the new female. You don't know her or her tolerances and not only will she be stressed from the move to a new territory, but she'll be facing an aggressor in a pretty small space right off the bat. Just asking for trouble IMHO. At the very least you should consider housing her separately until she's settled, then start letting them see each other (bird keepers call this a "Howdy cage"), before ever putting them together!
 
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