Help! Two chameleons acting strange together....

[lostfrost96]

I just purchased two Mellers Chameleons. They are all set up in a 7 foot tall 24x24 inch screened habitat. All seemed well, until one approached the other, and began flapping/quivering the flaps of skin on either side of his neck...(veil?) Do these guys have teeth? Can they injure each other? Could it be a mating ritual??? Should they be separated? Any information would be appreciated!

 

[bimac6]

How old are they..? Full grown? Any adult chameleon should not be housed with another. Of course they have teeth, and of course they can hurt eachother!

 

[jamncristian]

idk about that behavior but that cage you have seems too small i think the cage size should 4'Long 2'Wide 7'High or bigger because you have 2. I think they are getting a little uncomfortable with each other. yes they have teeth and can really hurt wach other. post some pics

 

[jamncristian]

melleri chameleon can be an exception when housing chameleons together but they should be give more room to roam around and seperate basking perches should be provided. watch closely on how they react to each other

 

[lostfrost96]

Hi.

Thank you for the quick reply...I just separated them...They both look very unhappy...black dots all over them...I just took pics, Ill post them....maybe 'before' and 'after' to show their colour-change....

 

[lostfrost96]

These guys are young, from a breeder...One seems to have a much calmer personality, while the other is a little more 'up-tight'....and the aggressive one...

 

[panthercham]

Welcome to the forum

Many experienced keepers here have Mellers so I am sure they will give you more good advice very soon...in the mean time here is a link the you may find useful. Good luck with your new chams!

http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

 

[Julirs]

Black dots certainly means stress. Separating them and introducing them at a later time may work, but I have two Mellers that refuse to cohabitate.

 

[lostfrost96]

Pictures....

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18050&stc=1&d=1261623914

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18051&stc=1&d=1261623914

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18052&stc=1&d=1261623914

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18053&stc=1&d=1261623914

Hope I did this right!

 

[draetish]

This was my experience with housing two chams in the same cage. I had a male panther and bought what I thought was a female panther. They seemed to get along just fine so I didn't worry. Well, here is the bad news. It appears that the female I bought was actually a young male and more dominent than the older one. Needless to say, the older one died. After researching and being on this forum I believe if was because they were in the same cage, I didn't notice that the older one wasn't pooping, eating or drinking. I work all day so I didn't know what was happening during the day. I know these are melleris and I have one too. The point I am trying to make is how do you know that one is being submissive to the other and not eating, pooping, drinking etc. In my personal opinion, I will never house two together again. If you want to breed, that is a different issue.

 

[lostfrost96]

Now that I think about it....the one I feel is more agressive/stressful was eating up a storm...and the passive one was quietly laying on a lower branch. I removed the 'aggressor' just after learning they could hurt each other...the passive one came right up to the top of the cage, turned bright lime green and began to eat. I brought the aggressive one to the exterior of the cage and just the sight of him through the cage, made the passive one get black dots and retreat to the lower part of the cage again....interesting how their personalities can be so different!

 

[dodolah]

as mentioned before, melleris indeed can cohabitate and form groups. I have seen couple of people did so successfully. But, depending on the personality of your chams, they might refuse to share a habitat. In that case, separating them is the best choice.

 

[kinyonga]

Those meller's should have full head pads and the pictures indicate that they don't. It could be that they haven't been getting enough food or enough water....both of which seem to affect the fullness of headpads in chameleons like meller's and panthers.

Are they CB or WC?

What temperature are you keeping them at?

BTW...the flaps are called occipital lobes (not veils)!

 

[Julirs]

I would have to say those Mellers look WC and agree with Kinyonga that they look thin in the headpads. LostFrost-where are you located and have you kept chameleons before? Mellers are definitley not a starter species. Do you have UVB on them as well as a heat lamp in the low to mid 80's? Do you know about supplementing and gutloading? I would be misting those guys really well a few times daily and getting them some Horn or Silkworms to help hydrate. I would also get a fecal ASAP. THe behavior you described is exactly how mine reacted when introduced-so it is either too early to cohabitate them or it may never happen as with mine. Stress seems to be an even bigger factor with Mellers (and their demise) than in other chams.

 

[Slyfox22]

That is very interesting, I like the Melleri. Good luck with them