Impulsive hubby at it again!!! A Fisher...

[Mel]

Okay, we were lucky to be successful with the Senegal Chameleon, our first. Hubby and son came home with a Fisher. Does anyone have any advice on Fishers that would be different than raising a Senegal?

The lady at the pet store told them it could probably be successfully housed with the Senegal as long as the space was big enough and they were of the same size. Sounds "fishy" to me. Thanks for advice!

 

[Julirs]

Don't house together. I wish pet store people would not say things like that. I have never had Fishers, but am sure someone else will have some advice.

 

[Ren]

Some folks are successful with keeping two chams together, male and female, or female female, however I would NEVER think it would be ok to house any 2 different species of chameleons together... rule #1 pet stores are trying to sell you something, if it dies they will sell you something else.... they may know about chinchillas or hamsters, but you never know.... always get a second opinion.

 

[zackrepko]

Housing two different species of animals is almost never a good idea. I would def. not recogmend housing them together.

 

[angus310]

I would never but why does it work with dogs, cats, fish, and birds?

 

[zackrepko]

I assume because they are much more domesticated and do not really have any knowledge/instincts of when they were wild.

 

[kinyonga]

Most fish live in schools. Most dogs are pack animals and even in your own household there is an alpha (you, hopefully) who leads the pack. Cats that were domesticated but become feral often live in groups in the wild and many birds live in flocks.

Chameleons are loners and although they run across others from time to time, they generally get together to mate and then go their separate ways.

Keeping two animals together that would rather be by themselves can stress both of them out...not to mention the fact that they each come from different areas and bring their own germs, etc. with them. They may be able to handle their own germs but the ones brought to them may make them could cause problems.

Just my 2 cents worth..

As for the care of fischer's...they are no harder than Senegals to keep. Generally they can be kept about the same as Jackson's. They do have higher hydration requirements than veileds as a rule....but not higher than a Senegal.

 

[pohchunyee]

Your husband is infected with a disease called "chameleon fever" (all of us too). Give your husband 1 year... he will definately make your home a Zoo...

I would never advice to house any chameleon together unless it is a pygmies. Fishers need humid warm weather.... some life plants...UVA/UVB in a 2X2X3 feet high or 4 ft high cage should be fine

 

[angus310]

My statement wasn't on why certain animals can live together. It was simply to illustrate the point that different species/subspecies can live together. In the case of chams, chams shouldn't live together (pygmies excluded) whether they are the same species or not.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey ... I certainly have REPTILE FEVER as well as MTS ( Multiple Tank Syndrome ) LOL I've accumulated all of the animals in my signature within approximately one year! I think I'm safe now however because I don't have any more room in my 2 bedroom ZOO!! ( Well ... I'm planning on getting a male Crested Gecko to house with my 2 females.)

Just a note on housing together. I currently house 2 female veiled chams approx. 8 months old in a 75 gal. tank set vertically with a large hibiscus plant that reaches the top. They occasionally have little squabbles but have room to move away from each other and generally aren't a problem together. I would house them separately but I'm really running out of room for any more decent sized enclosures in my apartment. If it ever became a serious problem between the two of them I would find a way to house them separately but they seem to be okay for the moment.

But from what I've read about chameleons most of them should be housed separately ... unless of course you have a large area like a sunroom with several trees / bushes that is converted into a chameleon room. Now that would be cool.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Mel]

Thanks for all the responses. Well he has them together since yesterday. They SEEM to be fine. They are even haning out fairly close. The Senegal crawled right over the Fisher. I just checked on them but I'm going to speak to my husband this evening about their housing situation. I am even wondering IF the potential problem might be sexual maturity or mating season which might kick in aggresive behavior. How does the mating season or maturity work with Chams? Is it by age or particular season? Both? We had the Fisher treated for parasites by the vet. We used to have the Senegal in a cage with fake and live plants. The drainage from plants and mistings went to a bucket beneath the cage. We misted once or twice daily and used a dripper and day/night lighting. Now we have a reptarium that includes everything. What about live plants? Are they a neccessity even with proper set ups? My husband's "fever" is worse than just Chams. We have a Toy Poodle, Yorkie, Macaw, Cockatiel, 3 Sugar Gliders, 2 Hedge Hogs, 2 four foot Iguanas, Boa, Corn snake, Beardie, a few arachnids and these 2 Chams. The set ups are nice but I am the one stressed because I am constantly concerned of their needs. My husband is a procrtastinator and I'm a doer so a lot of the work falls on me. UGH! THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE! I just hope I can get my hubby to take it into consideration. I warned him he would probably need another reptaium. I warn him of impulse and pet store owner's advice all the time. He hears what he wants to hear! Ugh!

 

[Julirs]

I would certainly separate them unless you have the world's largest cage. They will be fine for the moment because they are both adjusting to something new, however they are stressed even though you don't know it. Even if you just had one treated for parasites, they could still infect the other cham. You should always quarantine new animals for this reason.

 

[kinyonga]

Dyesub Dave...they may "appear" to be okay together but it will likely be that in a few months or even a year...eventually, one of them will go down hill...or maybe even both of them. The "silent" stress will eventually put their immune systems down...unless the cage is huge, they don't have enough room to move far enough away from each other, IMHO.

MEL...as Julirs said...they should have been quarantined for at least 6 or 8 weeks before they were even close to each other. One may carry a virus or bacteria that the other can't handle. As I said above in my reply to Dyesub Dave, the "silent" stress will likely get to one or both of them eventually if a virus or bacteria doesn't.

Just my 2 cents worth...from my own experience and from what I have heard/read as well.

 

[angus310]

Dave,
Did you say 75 gallon tank? like aquarium? sounds like 2 problems

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Why would an aquarium be a problem? It's set vertically and has a screen door on it. It's 4ft high by about 16" or so wide and deep. I'll have to measure later for an exact measurement.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[dodolah]

Thanks for all the responses. Well he has them together since yesterday. They SEEM to be fine. They are even haning out fairly close. The Senegal crawled right over the Fisher. I just checked on them but I'm going to speak to my husband this evening about their housing situation. I am even wondering IF the potential problem might be sexual maturity or mating season which might kick in aggresive behavior. How does the mating season or maturity work with Chams? Is it by age or particular season? Both? We had the Fisher treated for parasites by the vet. We used to have the Senegal in a cage with fake and live plants. The drainage from plants and mistings went to a bucket beneath the cage. We misted once or twice daily and used a dripper and day/night lighting. Now we have a reptarium that includes everything. What about live plants? Are they a neccessity even with proper set ups? My husband's "fever" is worse than just Chams. We have a Toy Poodle, Yorkie, Macaw, Cockatiel, 3 Sugar Gliders, 2 Hedge Hogs, 2 four foot Iguanas, Boa, Corn snake, Beardie, a few arachnids and these 2 Chams. The set ups are nice but I am the one stressed because I am constantly concerned of their needs. My husband is a procrtastinator and I'm a doer so a lot of the work falls on me. UGH! THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE! I just hope I can get my hubby to take it into consideration. I warned him he would probably need another reptaium. I warn him of impulse and pet store owner's advice all the time. He hears what he wants to hear! Ugh!

lol.. i know exactly what you mean..
I live with my cousin and he's also impulsive like your husband.
and i am the one who usually have to take care of the pet's food and poop,
While he's basking in the glory of how his pet is healthy and beautiful.

I think you should let your husband takes care if this one for a change.
and see how he likes the dirty job of cleaning the cage and picking up poop.