How to introduce breeding partners

[starter]

I have a new Yemen chameleon male - an experienced two year old who has successfully produced offspring - and I tried to introduce him to my female, but all she does is putting a lot of effort into hissing and puffing up and getting black & unfriendly colours, and she keeps this behaviour up for like up to an hour, until I remove the new male from her sight. I have tried every day for a week with the same result. Once I let him walk into her vivarium and she attacked him, tried to bite, so I took him out again immediately. She only needs to see him from far to get into this aggressive mode. What shall I do? - I want to try breeding and have already bought all the equipment. With my previous male (now deceased) who was very sick and never mated her (she laid 84 unfertilized eggs which soon started rotting) she was friendly. They shared a viv and slept side by side and crawled over each other, without any aggression. How can I make my girl "Lizzie" to like my new boy "Sherlock"? They are about the same size, around 200g in weight and both strong and healthy.

 

[Johnnyjames572]

Those colors she's displaying means she absolutely has no interest in mating at this point in time. And with those colors it doesnt matter what Male veiled it is. She just not ready. She will let you know when she is. But as long as she turns those colors you keep them separate. To play it safe you can do what I do. Hold the Male to the females cage or vice versa and see how she acts. If she starts get all huffy with those colors then it's a no go. When mine is ready to mate she stays a nice vibrant green with some pretty blue spots and she would stay calm and show no signs of aggression. But when mine wasnt ready she would do exactly what yours is doing and putting them together when she is like that is dangerous for them cause she will start fighting.

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

That is such cool coloring though. And is it just me or are Chameleons even cuter when they get angry?!

 

[starter]

Yes, I find it cute and funny, too. It is amazing how quickly my Lizzie changed her colour and her whole appearance as soon as she sees Sherlock! However, in the last two days she hasn't behaved that extremely any more, so perhaps her receptive days are getting closer. Thank you for your replies!

 

[Syreptyon]

Is there a reason you want to breed her? Are you an experienced chameleon keeper? If not, you are more than likely only going to cause her extreme stress and shorten her lifespan.

The world's veiled market does not need any more babies and you will not be making any money off them. I'm just asking, to make sure you are prepared to care for dozens of babies and have the funds to feed, water, house, and light them appropriately. This is a big undertaking, but what will you do with all the offspring?

 

[starter]

Dear Syreptyon, I think in every animal-related forum there is at least one person wo keeps screaming out to the whole word: "Don't breed! Don't do it!" You are aware that you wouldn't have your chameleon(s) if there were no breeders, arent you?

Anyway, I will answer your questions.
1. I enjoy breeding. I enjoy caring for pregnant mamas and raise (or help raising) their babies and give them a good start in life. I probably have a strong mother instinct myself, and as my own four children are adults now and haven't produced any offspring yet, I put all my love into animal babies. Further, my family has a long tradition in animal breeding; I "learned the trade" so-to-say from my baby shoes on.
2. I have raised my girl cham from baby, so I have had her for more than a year. I just recently bought another 4 month old baby girl and am practicing on her now, while I keep learning from websites and online forums like this one. Nevertheless, I guess I am still a "starter" when it comes to chameleons, but I have owned and bred other reptiles successfully - pythons, blue-tongue lizzards and bearded dragons - for more than a decade.
3. I don't think that I will "cause her extreme stress and shorten her lifespan". She will produce and lay eggs anyway, no matter whether I mate her or not. But without mating, all her efforts will be in vain. And as she is a chameleon and tried to eat a baby cham I showed her through the glassof her viv, she will not participate in raising her young once they hatch anyway. So, it indeed won't make any difference to her quality of life whether she lays fertilized or unfertilized eggs. And having sex - is that extreme stress or rather extreme pleasure?
4. How do you come to judge that "the world's veiled market does not need any more babies"? What do you know about the chameleon market in my area? Do you even know where I live? I for my part had to drive quite a distance to get each of my four veilded chameleons.
5. "you will not be making any money off them" - I am aware of that. Looking at the costs of equipment, feeding, vet visits, pet insurance, holiday care, etc. and comparing it with the low price of a baby cham, I must say that with this statement you are absolutely right. Chameleon breeding (as ethical breeding of most other animal species, too) can be indeed considered a hobby only.
6. And yes, I am " prepared to care for dozens of babies and have the funds to feed, water, house, and light them appropriately", as "this is a big undertaking". True!
7. "What will you do with all the offspring?" Raise them lovingly and sell them when they are the right age and in good health. You can find a good home for any animal if you advertise and put the right effort into it. Also the local pet shops might take some off me. We have a specialised reptile pet shop not too far away and also my local generalised one occasionally sells reptiles. I will of course make sure that every buyer - be it a shop or a private buyer - will get sufficient instructions regarding the set-up of their vivarium and the care of their animal. Always have, always will.
Are you satisfied with my answers?

 

[starter]

Just one little addition. Often radical animal lovers are opposed to breeding and say or write things such as "The world's market does not need any more (pet animal) babies", because their heart bleeds for the many abandoned pets in animal shelters, many of which are put on the death row. My heart does, too, and that's why I have worked in animal rescue, donated to the RSPCA and even run my own cat shelter for many years, which is, financially, a bottom-less pit and can send any animal lover with a "Mother Theresa syndrome" broke. So, I say don't do that! To lighten your heart and alleviate your worries I would like to add that I have actually called all local animal rescue centers and shelters whether they have any chameleons before I bought mine - and my first male was a rescue case from private. However, no animal shelter, not even the RSSPCA reptile rescue center, had any chameleons who needed a home. So, I hope to have answered this unasked, assumed question sufficiently, too.