Male and female being kept together

[xcirelly]

I was wondering if I could keep a male and female ambilobe together. I am planning on breeding, but could they stay together all the time? The cage is HUGE and about four feet long by seven feet tall.
If not, what is the normal stud fee?

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

As a rule of thumb, chameleons should not be housed together except pigmies. Some people freerange chams together but imho no matter how big the enclosure is, it will still cause unneeded stress. best just to house separately.

In regards to stud fees, I have no idea.

 

[qdude46]

I wouldn't do it, four by seven is pretty big but big enough for a pair would probably be a green house.

 

[sandrachameleon]

cage size is fine for one, but not anywhere near big enough to house them together. He would harass her.

stud "fee" varies. In my experience, since the female plays a bigger role (in terms of time, feeding and health), the owner of the male gets a smaller than 50% portion of the eggs than the owner of the female. Or a small percent of the live hatched offspring. But it depends - some males are of special demand.

 

[Akronic]

Would it be ok if you had them in separate cages but they were close together, I've heard that if they can see each other it may cause stress, or does that only apply to mature males?

 

[NHenn]

Would it be ok if you had them in separate cages but they were close together, I've heard that if they can see each other it may cause stress, or does that only apply to mature males?

I keep all of mine in separate cages with visual barriers between them so they can't see each other. It will cause unnecessary stress if they are housed together or if they can see each other when housed separately.

 

[mattj]

I get that they get stressed. But in the wild they have be close sometimes. They can't all be a greenhouse apart.

 

[Seiryu]

I get that they get stressed. But in the wild they have be close sometimes. They can't all be a greenhouse apart.

Except in the wild they have unlimited space to get away.

 

[mattj]

Except in the wild they have unlimited space to get away.

Until they hit the territory of another.

 

[ChamLady]

And in the wild, shorter lifespans due to parasites, disease, predation, stress, and other factors. I think, what we're saying is to provide the maximum in a healthy environment, we separate, and provide visual barriers.

 

[pssh]

Until they hit the territory of another.

Every single area they could possibly go is not already a part of a territory of another. They can in fact get away from other chameleons if they need to. In a cage, the chameleons do not have the option of leaving. They are forced to stay within a certain area which can very well cause a great deal of stress.

OP, in general, it is best not to house chameleons together. Some very experienced keepers can and have done it, however they know their chameleons very well and can see the very, very subtle stress signs in their animals. They have observed the animals and know their individual behaviors very well. It sounds like you want to get a female to put immediately in the male's cage. This is a bad idea. Any new chameleons should be quarantined. If you were to put two chameleons into the same very large cage(bigger than your current cage) or free range then you would need to know the individual animal's behaviors very well before doing so in order to try to prevent any unneeded stress. If you do not know the animal very well (or at all) then you could very well miss some serious stress signs that could eventually lead to the demise of the animal.

If, after several years of experience, you still want to try keeping two chameleons together, come back here and other experienced keepers can help you figure it all out.

 

[ChamAllen]

Really? Look, chams are all drama queens. If they don't get an adequate amount of drama in their lives they die of boredom. If my adult mail veiled doesn't at least try to kill something or someone by noon he gets depressed.

Come on. Be reasonable. All organisms, (humans included) need some distractions from basic survival and occasional interaction with other chams I believe is essential.

See the attached pic of my three dominant males interacting about a year ago. No harmful side effects. All are well and happy.

Remember, they're all little dinosaurs!

Think T-Rex (only smaller).

 

[pssh]

While it can be done, it's really not a good idea for new or inexperienced keepers to attempt. Chamallen, I feel like your post might be misconstrued by new keepers so that they think it's is necessary or easy to keep several chameleons together. I don't think that is what you meant, but I don't want anyone to take it as a green light to just throw all their chameleons together for some "bonding" time, you know?

 

[leedragon]

Really? Look, chams are all drama queens. If they don't get an adequate amount of drama in their lives they die of boredom. If my adult mail veiled doesn't at least try to kill something or someone by noon he gets depressed.

Come on. Be reasonable. All organisms, (humans included) need some distractions from basic survival and occasional interaction with other chams I believe is essential.

See the attached pic of my three dominant males interacting about a year ago. No harmful side effects. All are well and happy.

Remember, they're all little dinosaurs!

Think T-Rex (only smaller).

both the jemen and the panther are fire up, the melleri is starting to show dots, no offence what so ever but, a chameleon doesn´t need interaction with an other to have a good life, physical violence is no necessary for a chameleon to demonstrate that it doesn't want to be around the an other