Free range question

[sedecatur]

With a properly setup free range area, (enough plants vines water lighting humidity, ect) Will most chameleons stay in the designated area (so to speak) or will they tend to leave the area to further explore the outlying areas. I know they usually stay high and dont go to the floors so to speak, so will the lack of vines and plants keep them put.

 

[ijmccollum]

Don't know what kind of cham you have but I know when I let my Jackson female out -- she's all over the place. Gotta keep an eye on her because she likes to criuse.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

My experience with panthers in my greenhouse (one panther for my entire green house for a number of years) is they normally have a territory, however, they ocassionally find themselves in odd places. To prevent finding your chameleon in odd places you should block off areas that could harm your chameleon.

 

[jannb]

I free range both my veileds and sometimes they do like to roam the house. The male more than my female.

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

I have a free range set up downstairs with a few 7or8' apple trees and plenty of vine hanging from the ceiling, about 8ft off the ground. It has heat lamps, two 48 inch fixtures with a reptisun 10.0 in each to reach farther incase the cham decides to go low, and two hanging drippers that drip into the trees. On the ground I have a three foot tall sanded wooden barrier so that the chameleon cannot leave the area by way of the floor and that keeps them in. Also I have 4 dark green sheets hanging from the ceiling cutting off their view of everyone else so the cannot get huffy and puffy. Once I get my camera working again I will post a picture in this thread so you can see it. The chams love it. It's about 10'x10' in total and heavily planted with the aforementioned trees, plenty of excess schefflera and ficus that are being rotated in and out of cages on a monthly basis, it's like an indoor jungle basically. The best part about it is I didn't have to buy anything for it besides the two UVB bulbs, it's just all my excess plants and supplies. I set it up because my chams did seem to roam without barriers and always ended up going up a whole flight of stairs and sitting by the wood burning stove in the family room or by the window in the kitchen. That gove me quite a scare when I wasn't paying total attention and was feeding my two little males and the big guy disappeared. Everyone of my chams love free range day so I'd say try something out and just keep an eye on them if you let them free range. Good luck.


Justin

 

[sedecatur]

Thanks for all the answers everyone This site is great, Such a wealth of info on here. As for what type of cham, I think a veiled, Im new to this right now and trying to learn and set up before i start, I love them all so when i win the lottery ill have a few of each but for now i think the veild is a good way to start. My experience so far is limited to my 10 year old iguana that ive had since she was about 18 weeks old that has free rein of the house now ( at 5+ feet nothing bothers with her) and other than that its bearded dragon, so Im trying to learn first. I do have a small room (11x9.5) that will be home for the reps (excluding the iggy) Im just waiting to combine a couple of my saltwater tanks into one then the rooms empty. Hence the interest in freerange, so once again Thanks to all keep the info comming Im like a sponge. LOL