is it too soon to bring in a new cham?

[Trippy]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to get your opinions on timing between introducing chameleons? I have the opportunity to purchase a female Jackson and while very interested in her I am concerned for Trippy as he is still not what I would consider 100% back to health (little meat on his bones and he will be great). I know I could place her in another room, but the end goal will be to house them together, many Jackson’s I know really seem to do best when allowed to live communally, this is not the norm for other Chams!!! I am just feeling VERY hesitant about introducing another Cham while he may become stressed?
The vet gave Trippy a clean bill of health on Friday. His URI is cleared and the small area we had concern may be the start of mouth rot has gone. No parasites were detected and the burns he had suffered are almost gone (just a little discoloration left). The vet said her best guess is that Trippy was housed in an enclosure that was too hot and too small, leading to his feet being burned and the URI; we will never really know as the owner left him without proving any contact info! The vet also said I was being overly concerned regarding his weight as she said he is looking fantastic compared to when I first brought him to her. While she did say he will put on a little more “fill out” he should not be allowed to get too much bigger or obesity will be his new issue, LOL!!
The vet did not have any advice pro or con of introducing a new Cham, her words of wisdom were “just be sure you know what you are getting into by introducing a female, such as babies and how to care for them properly”. She was more concerned about ensuring the babies that may one day come from it are able to be cared for and placed. I respect her for this!!!!!!

 

[Carlton]

Hi everyone,

many Jackson’s I know really seem to do best when allowed to live communally, I am just feeling VERY hesitant about introducing another Cham while he may become stressed?

What jackson's do you know being housed together? Were they in a greenhouse? This will be the key here. If you are talking about a cage indoors, a pair will need serious space to do well at all. And I'm not talking about anything smaller than something about 4'x4'x5'. Remember that both chams will end up getting stressed....Trippy could turn out to be fine, but he may pester the female to breed constantly and she may have to constantly refuse him. The female could end up dominating Trippy too. One or the other usually does. They will compete for basking spots, drinking spots, feeding perches, hiding retreats, etc so even if they don't physically injure each other they will still be affected by each other. You could also consider building a divided cage and removing the divider when you want to give them the chance to breed.