mixed sex viv's

[markk]

hi
i have a friend who keeps a male and female veileds together in the same viv
the viv is 6ft tall by about 3ft by 2ft and has lots of branches and plants
is this o.k. they have been together for at least a year now, and is what got me interested in keeping one for myself after reaing alot of books and web pages there seems to be alot of conflicting views on this subject does anyone else do this?

 

[boothy]

well your buddies chameleons are not gona last long in there they will stress each other out untill one dies from being stressed to the max

 

[SeanCJ]

well your buddies chameleons are not gona last long in there they will stress each other out untill one dies from being stressed to the max

It seems that they have been together for a year now, which is plenty of time for one of them to have stressed the other "to the max". So, either he has a male and female that cohabitate well, or he has two females
I believe that it is very possible for a pair of chameleons, maybe more, to be successfully housed together IF the enclosure is big enough, very well planted, offers both chameleons proper temp and humidity parameters and access to food and water where ever they choose to hang out. This is often difficult to achieve in the typical size enclosure most hobbyists use.
Typically, however, veiled chameleons don't tolerate the presence of their peers in anything smaller than a room size enclosure, i.e. something at least 6 feet cubed.
There are a few species of chameleons that are more sociable and seem to fair well in small harems, ie one male with two, possibly more, females. This can be seen with the high altitude, forest, or montaine species such as those from cameroon where populations are very tightly packed (quadricornis, weiderschiemi, montium, fischeri ect.) and the smaller floor dwelling leaf chameleons. Not saying they will always tolerate each other, but it has been seen and done successfully many times. I have had good experiences with these.
I kept a trio of adult parsonii parsonii for many years together in a large free range set up with them often times sleeping next to each other every night. Never any signs of aggression or stress.
So, it can be done and done successfully IF the keeper makes sure all animals are fairing well and all animals are offered the same ideal parameters.
I'm not advocating keeping chams together, but it CAN be done with certain species with the right keeper
I would not recommend it for a beginner though as you may miss the signs of stress or aggression and not react quick enough.
I would recommend getting a 4 month old or older juvenile or young adult single male of the species you are most interested in, provide him with ideal parameters, and make sure you can keep him successfully for many months before attempting a pair.
Good luck.
Hope this helps.