Newbie "freeroaming" question

[reptileszz]

Hi all, this may be the stupidest question ever. I am not new to herps at all but have never had a chameleon. I have thought about getting one numerous times but the upkeep scared me away. Well, this past weekend I obtained a juvenile male Fischer's cham. I have him in a too small screen cage right now with a dripper, a live shefflera and lots of fake leaf/vines for security.

What I WANT to do but am unsure if it is wise, is have him "freeroam" inside a floor to ceiling "cage" that is basically a walled off area of my home that houses a redfoot tortoise on the floor. There is a huge shelf in there that I want to put a big cement mixing tub on with several big tropical plants (purchased a big shefflera and corn plant from home depot so far). There is an existing misting system for the tort that I can extend to the cham area. Hanging lighting would not be a problem.

The question of the day is, provided with big plants and fake vines to climb on will he exit the area and go down where the tortoise is? We can't have that. If chances are he will go down there then I will have to rethink this and just get a huge screen cage. I just thought it would be nice and I could give him a bit more space this way.

So is this just a stupid idea or could it work?

Thank you very much,
Carole

 

[jannb]

This old thread had some info on free ranging that you might like:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/who-else-keeping-their-13878/

 

[reptileszz]

Thank you for the link. Now I am unsure what to do. I am inclined to maybe build a screened area in there for him as I really dont want him traveling to visit the tortoise for a variety of reasons.

Thanks again!
Carole

 

[Titan]

Of all the Chameleons I free range, My Fischers do well in this setup. Problem for you being the Tortoise. Fischers seem to be the most motivated to moving about allot. And would probubly venture down near the Tortoise. I do not think that if It saw the Tortoise move it would go anywhere near it.
Fischers are smart Chameleons and can actually figure out ways around, over or through, barriors you construct to keep them. They are the best at problem solving I have witnessed from all the Chams I have. So free ranging one is fine but you would need some good thinking on how to screen off the Tortoise and keep them separate from and within the setup you would like to try.