Is it safe to let my chameleon hang out in a small tree outside during nice days?

[Tryptameme]

Hey everyone, so I have an approximately 1 year old female oustalet's chameleon, and she's just started to hit adulthood. Recently she's just seemed to want to get out of the cage and explore. I've tried changing up different things in the enclosure like 10 times over the last month, thinking maybe something was wrong, but no matter what she seems restless for a lot of the day. Maybe trying to find a mate? I have a large cage (4x2x4) with plenty of branches of live plants, and I have a basking spot at 85F and the UVB basking spot is 80F, with the coolest parts of the cage being room temp (67-72).

So my question is, is it a bad idea to put her in the small tree outside of my apartment to give her some enrichment? I'm mostly just worried about birds I guess. Living in Pennsylvania, my thought is that none of the local birds would try to mess with her since they don't know what a chameleon is. Is this true or should I be worried? If there's any reason why this would be a bad idea, please let me know. I will of course check on her every 30 minutes or so, and only let her out on days where the temp is 75-80 and the sun is out (like today.) The tree has plenty of branches and places to bask in the sun, or hide under the leaves to cool off.

 

[Tkrd69]

The birds will think food. You will need constant supervision if they know your not watching, they can move really fast. A lot of people use a enclosure outside for safety. There are plenty of stories on here about chams running off. Luckily most have gotten them back. @Sonny13 can give you more advise.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I would not do it unless you can sit within arms length of her at all times while she’s out there. Another thing, how tall is this tree? Can you reach the top of it if she climbs up there? Birds and other animals will eat her no matter if they’ve ever seen a chameleon before or not. Make sure this tree is not pine or anything sap producing as this is irritating to a chams skin.

 

[Tryptameme]

Ok thank you guys, I just went out and got her. I have been sitting here on my porch with my blue tongue skink the whole time, but the tree is like 50 feet away so it would be too far for me to save her if a bird attacked. Plus the tree is like 14ft and she was at the top loving life. I grabbed a step stool and 2 hockey sticks to get her down. I gently nudged her with one on to the other until she grabbed it fully, and now she's back inside. Not worth the risk of having her get eaten. If she was a male maybe it would be a different story, because he'd be big enough to eat an attacker lol.

Thank you for the information. I'll have to think of some other way to let her outside. Maybe I'll make an outdoor enclosure for her.

 

[Beman]

So if your not sitting right there then she is at risk. Birds of prey are fast when they attack. Even you being there may not deter them. And if she can get that high and your on the ground a bird is not going to care about you at all. It is just going to see a meal. I recommend building an outdoor enclosure.

 

[Multivitamins]

I often times free range my panther in a 4-5 ft tall ficus alii tree with good shade and branch network maybe something smaller or even "ornamental" would work better so you your skink and the chameleon can enjoy some natural uvb together.

I used to have a yard with good space with shade and sun available and even a planter box enclosure similar to the one @DonKeesh has I. His outdoor keeping enclosure. That might be a perfect option for you if you haven't seen it check is posts out

When I moved I downsized to an apartment with small patio so our outdoor options are very limited but I still use the ficus alii. You can get a cheap umbrella trees at big box stores and use it at a closer proximity to get the chameleon used to outside time

San Diego summer sun is not forgiving to shade loving plants so I've tested a few.

 

[Sonny13]

First reaction to her being “unhappy” with her enclosure, this typical mating behavior! My males and females do this, all different species and most of them living free range. They got massive space, free range and stay in it, until mating season starts, then nothing is large enough. Probably, this is the first phase, searching for a male. Then she will slow down a bit and then start over again in her second phase, searching for the best laying spot.

For the outside time it’s tricky! First of course predators and second loosing her. It takes them only 30 seconds of our eyes not paying attention, to get away into another tree. However, not all chams are the same. My veiled is a no-go, she takes every opportunity to get away. My jackson stays, until he gets bored and then walks back inside to his free range (true fact). The Boehmei, well too small to supervise. The parsons stays all day in her tree. I’m living in the Netherlands where we don’t have much predators or large birds near our homes. I do agree with everyone about building something for her outside. I bought a large potted tree and enclosed it with a large butterfly cage. And others like @crosscutts build beautiful large mobile enclosures. It‘s true enrichment for them, however I get that feeling that the Jackson doesn’t like that endless blue sky and that’s the reason he goes after 30’ back inside.

 

[jannb]

Ok thank you guys, I just went out and got her. I have been sitting here on my porch with my blue tongue skink the whole time, but the tree is like 50 feet away so it would be too far for me to save her if a bird attacked. Plus the tree is like 14ft and she was at the top loving life. I grabbed a step stool and 2 hockey sticks to get her down. I gently nudged her with one on to the other until she grabbed it fully, and now she's back inside. Not worth the risk of having her get eaten. If she was a male maybe it would be a different story, because he'd be big enough to eat an attacker lol.

Thank you for the information. I'll have to think of some other way to let her outside. Maybe I'll make an outdoor enclosure for her.

I was outside with my big male Parsonii and a Hawk was watch him.