Help! i have 2 chams in the same cage.

rhafe2

New Member
I bought a veiled chameleon 2 months ago, she is now a 6 month old female veiled chameleon, today i went to the pet store and bought a juvenile male chameleon he is about 2 months old or less, looks really skinny and small...

I had explained to the guy at the pet store who claimed he was an expert on chams that i already had a female veiled in my enclosure and i asked if it was ok if i was going to put another veiled in the same cage, he said it would be ok as long as it was a male.

I added the juvenile male to the cage, now my female veiled chameleon keeps trying to bite it, eat it, and attack it every chance she gets. I have no where else to put my male juvenile veiled and i am afraid he wont make it through the night and i just spent 160$ on him. I don't have enough to buy a new cage/lighting ect for him, so i really have no idea what i should do!

He already got bit once, but he appears to be ok. I put a ton of crickets in the cage, but the female at them alll, and left none for him.
 
Hopefully this helps?

Well I'm not expert on Chameleons but everything I have read says that Chameleons are very territorial. They don't like sharing their bedspace. Maybe you can set up some type of screen that keeps them seperate in the same aquarium. If you need to get rid of one you can post it on the forum I'm sure somebody would be happy to take it off your hands. I hope this helps. The only alternative would be to seperate them into two different tanks. You can put one outside in the sunlight in a container and this would provide heat and the UVB it needs. Make sure you don't cook it though depending on how hot it is where your at? A Chameleon can survive for some time without the UVB light. I would call up the pet store owner and be straight with him. I would insist that he take back the Chameleon. He gave you bogus information. Good Luck.
 
Where are you located?

By the way where are you located? Maybe somebody in that area can take the other off your hands for a while?
 
im in canada b.c victoria, if anyone can take it it'd be much appreciated. I don't think its gonna make it through the night, it bit it once on the leg now. I have nothing to put it in, and no money left to even buy a small aquarium for it.. I called the pet store guy, and he said absolutely no returns and he said that he thought they would be fine together. I dont know what to do now,
 
They really are not just fine together, especially since the female has been in "her" cage for as long as she has. You certainly have to have some kind of container, even a cardboard box, better yet some plastic storage box that you can put a few sticks/plants/vines in until you can find him a more suitable enclosure.
 
Chams don't usually live together. Especially if one is bigger than the other. I've seen pics of Bigger chams eating little chams. If there is no alternative for tonight, I would create a divider in the cage like wally said. It could be a simple visual barrier between the two chams. Tommorow maybe you could make one of these cheap cages. It's made out of pvc pipe and netting. It shouldn't take too long and shouldn't cost more than $50.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/outside-cages-3410/

Here is another link explaining how chams live together in the same cage.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/july2003/cohabitation/cohabitation.html
 
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Take it out of there right away...or its never going to make it! Don't you have a large jar or plastic container that you could put it into for tonight? Even a cardboard box would do. If you don't have any of these, put it in the bathtub making sure that there is nothing to climb to get out of the tub.

You have also endangered the health of your female by putting a new chameleon in with her. It should have been quarantined for at least 6 weeks to make sure that it didn't carry any germs or parasites.
 
Oustalet's%20chameleon%20eating%20carpet%20chameleon.jpg
 
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That is an Oustelat's chameleon doing the eating. My little Oustalet is currently the size of the one being eaten! I tell him everyday that he is a big mean scary Giant Madagascar Chameleon-all 4 inches of him! :)
 
Always wondered if that's what happens to the babies that don't get sold...sort of surrogate pinkies?
 
im in canada b.c victoria, if anyone can take it it'd be much appreciated. I don't think its gonna make it through the night, it bit it once on the leg now. I have nothing to put it in, and no money left to even buy a small aquarium for it.. I called the pet store guy, and he said absolutely no returns and he said that he thought they would be fine together. I dont know what to do now,

Here is what you do. You go back to the store and ask to speak to the Store Manager. Explain the situation. You are ultimately at fault for not educating yourself, but they are at fault for leading you astray in order to make a sale. If it is a chain store, they will refund you and take the chameleon back- but you have to go above this persons head to the store Manager- sometimes to a head office rep.

Better yet, Print this page out and IF the store Manager hesitates, hand it to him. Use it if needed, but it shouldn't be.
 
HI Again

Hi I hope everything is working out for you and your Chameleon. I was wondering what happened? Thanks.
 
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