Someone help end the argument ...

[TiffanyMariexo]

3 Month Veiled vs. 10 Month Spiny ... We know not to put their cages next to each other.. They are on two completly different tables about 3 feet away ... They can still see each other though .. Is this okay ? Someone told me they shouldn't know each other exist

 

[carol5208]

it depends on how they react to one another. Some chameleons don't care about others in the room and others get very upset. I have two 4 foot cages in each corner of a room and they were able to see each other but they never were fired up or agitate if they did see each other. You can always just put something on one side of of one of the cages to solve the problem. I have my new ambanja in the same room as my cockatiel so I drape a towel over the one side so he cannot see the bird. He is small now and could feel threatened. My other two chams could care less about the bird as she is the same size as them.

 

[laurie]

I would put something in between so they can't see each other. If the cages face each other, turn one cage.

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

They don't seem to care, the baby veiled gets jealous when I'm around the other and sits at the highest point in his cage and stares me down lol.. Besides that they don't even care .. Plus we got lots of plants in between the open area as well

 

[lancaster0861]

Just observe them and make sure there are no signs of stress. I personally wouldn't let them see and stare at each other all day, because though they may not look like it bothers them there really is no way to be sure they aren't stressed. Im sure you have heard this thousands of times "they are solitary animals in the wild", so it may not be the best idea to make them live and see each other with no say in the matter. In the wild they have the choice to move and get away from each other(for the most part thats exactly what they do) here they don't have that choice if you don't allow it. They may not be fired up or anything but who knows if they are just a lil nervous and i wouldn't want them to have to live on the alert 24/7. I would imagine they would like to be able to put their guard down in their own home lol. that being said there seems to be enough folks out there with healthy chams who are able to see each other. That was just my thoughts but some people can make it work ok.

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

Thanks for the tips ill watch them and see how they do.. Like I said we got lots of plants in between so I'm surprised they can see each other at all.. But ill watch for stress

 

[lancaster0861]

They don't seem to care, the baby veiled gets jealous when I'm around the other and sits at the highest point in his cage and stares me down lol.. Besides that they don't even care .. Plus we got lots of plants in between the open area as well

That is him going to the place he feels is the safest because he may not be very comfortable with the big one. Safety is up high for them. Him being "jealous" and starring you down is him not taking his eyes off the situation cause he feels danger in the area. The bigger guy probably doesn't "fire" up because he doesn't see the little guy as a threat or even on his radar. The little guy may not "fire" up because he is just that. a baby. He may not have territorial or dominant side yet.

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

That is him going to the place he feels is the safest because he may not be very comfortable with the big one. Safety is up high for them. Him being "jealous" and starring you down is him not taking his eyes off the situation cause he feels danger in the area. The bigger guy probably doesn't "fire" up because he doesn't see the little guy as a threat or even on his radar. The little guy may not "fire" up because he is just that. a baby. He may not have territorial or dominant side yet.

That's a very good point , ill get some extra distance between them

 

[lancaster0861]

I mean no one knows their chameleon better than their owner! Im sure you will be able to tell. Like i said plenty of people do it and their chams are fine. You seem to have a good handle on it though!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

While they may not mind being in the same room as each other they should not be in the same room yet. You adopted an unhealthy cham with an unknown background and don't know what he may be exposed to or harboring and you know his immune system is compromised by what's going on already. He needs to be quarantined in a separate room while he's being nursed back to health to protect your baby veiled from anything he might be carrying! I recommend at least 45 day quarantine before putting them in the same room where it is easier to transmit disease (direct contact is not needed for some diseases). Here is more information on quarantine: https://www.chameleonforums.com/quarantine-36078/

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

Omg wow, I'm upset I didn't think of that !!!! Bringing the baby over immediatly into our bedroom . We will nurse Rex in the room he is already in.. Thanks for the tip

 

[dom1959]

how smart for a shoe ferret!

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

We moved the rescue into our bedroom, we left the baby in his spot in his space where he has been healthy and content as of far

 

[absolutbill]

If I may chime into the discussion. My first cham was an ambanja who I had for nearly 4 years. When he was 3 1/2 I bought a baby male veiled (he was 6 weeks old when I got him and was quite the tiny little guy). Their cages were next to each other and they could see each other. I felt that since the veiled was so small, and not sexually mature in the least that it wouldn't present any problems at all.

Within 2 1/2 months, my ambanja was dead. There was nothing at all changed in his care, and he had always been perfectly healthy. He had been spending more time towards the back of his cage, but by the time I realized that there might be a problem he was too far gone with stress. He NEVER fired up, he just got to the point where he was extremely dehydrated - I showered him for an hour at a time in the shower, but it didn't help. We went to the vet and he died that night. It crushed me, but it taught me a valuable lesson - chams may not demonstrate they are upset/stressed, but I will never allow 2 chams to see each other on a constant basis such as that. I hope this helps at least one chameleon because then Kibi won't have died in vain.

 

[lancaster0861]

Man im sorry to hear that, sad story! That is why I personally would not want to risk it. Just like you said he didn't looked stressed at all, but we are only humans and have no way of truly reading them. Sometimes I have a hard enough time reading other people let alone members of other species lol! Who'd of thought the big guy would have went also, thats interesting, but hey just shows how sensitive they can be.

 

[ChuWuti]

I've also heard that some herp diseases can take awhile to show up.

With my snakes, I always quarantine for a minimum of three months (90 days), usually longer when I adopt a snake that is in poor condition or that I don't know enough about. I even quarantined a corn snake that came from a veterinarian and was in fabulous condition, because I don't know what diseases it might have carried that could impact my other snakes.

I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Sandy