introducing melleri to a free rage

[Jimturner]

as I started to set up the free rage I thought about my experiences with breeding other chams and wondered about "neutral ground". would it be best if I didn't reuse anything, like plants or bendy branches from their previous cages, so no-one has any territorial attachment to specific items? or do you think that cleaning and rearranging would be enough that it would all seem new to them? thanks, any input on introducing them would be much appreciated

 

[Carlton]

I suspect that the complete re-arrangement of the plants, vines, basking areas, refuges, etc will be enough to disrupt any territoriality. Chams have very good spatial memory, but it may not be persistent enough to cause real issues in a very "new" arrangement. Chams also have poor sense of smell even though some do scent mark branches as they defecate. Cleaning your travel perches should fix that.

My main concern would be that a cham who's been displaced from a known territory into the new space will wander a lot as it learns its way around. Make sure the cham can't get into a dangerous spot, get trapped, injured by other pets, or lost in the house. Once it learns where all the necessities are in the free range it will tend to stay there.

 

[Jimturner]

sorry about bumping my post but....anyone else have any input?

 

[draetish]

Carlton has a great theory and I would only add that you may want to have a way for them to have their own "me space" to retreat to that has everything they need like water and lights. It may be as simple as making a barrier with thick plants.

 

[Jimturner]

thanks for your thoughts... I'll post photos as the build progresses

 

[draetish]

thanks for your thoughts... I'll post photos as the build progresses

You better, LOL.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

You can use squares of fabric for barriers. We use woven patio-shade fabric sold at Home Depot in the garden department. It's made for outdoors and is machine washable, and stands up to the lighting and water. They sell it by the yard. We cut it in large rectangles and hang it strategically in the free range. We leave it there for about a year. Until we see that the Meller's have figured out their heirarchy and are comfortable with each other and that they are all sleeping and perching where ever they want to and disregarding the visual barriers. Also, by then the plants have filled in a lot more, creating natural barriers.

The cloth doesn't actually have to provide complete cover. It is more of an illusion. Believe me, the Meller's want to know exactly what is going on on the other side, they just want to pretend they can't be observed.

Here is a photo of a split barrier (the white fabric) draped across perching poles in one of our free ranges. Initially, the 2 females slept and perched on the right side, and the male on the left. Then they shifted, and the smaller female took the left side while the male and the larger female took the right. You will also see that we use the same cloth, in green, to visually separate the free range from the rest of the room: