Question

[Oliver]

If a male and a female Veiled Chameleon are housed together, will they mate for sure? Or does it take a lot of work to actually get them to mate?
I am asking this because i have a cage that is definately big enough to house two chameleons happily, but i don't want them to breed 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[Julirs]

How big do you think big enough is?

 

[kinyonga]

Its almost certain that they would mate as long as they are old enough. They will mate every time that the female is receptive after that too.

If you put two younger ones together they will likely mate as soon as they are sexually mature...which I don't think is good for the female. You are making her put nutrients into the eggs that she likely needs for her own body.

Also, keeping two together past the age of about 3 months will put a lot of stress on them. In the wild, if one chameleon is in close proximity to another either can move away if its bothered by it. In captivity there is not usually enough room for them to get away from each other. The signs of stress are often subtle...but sooner or later is almost certain that one or both of them will start to have health issues.

Once the female becomes gravid, she will repel the male. If he is there constantly, she constantly has the stress of repelling him to cope with.

 

[Lancecham]

I'm sure they would mate. But then you would have to deal with a stressed out female being gravid and trying to stay away from the male. It is best to keep them separated and only introduce for mating purposes.

 

[summoner12]

How big do you think big enough is?

Probably not big enough....

Don't try keeping a male and female together. Even if the male can see her from across the room in his own cage, he will be pretty excited most of the time... where as she will not be. These are solitary animals. Even being able to see one another will stress one or both out, regardless of physical interaction.