Additional animals in chameleon cage

[Romanator]

I have a 1 year old male veiled chameleon, and i was thinking if i could put another animal (for example a gecko or frog) into the same cage with the chameleon. i was talking to a shop owner and chameleon breeder, and he explained to me that that would be no problem, as long as the other animal is night active and would not disturb the chameleon. he was recommending the "dumpy treefrog" as an additional pet. i am not sure if my chameleon would like company, he is always friendy to humans and he always wants to come out of his cage and play, so i think he shouldnt be afraid of the frog, but because the frog is night active, might he harm or disturb the chameleon in any way? or might his presence make the chameleon feel uncompftable?

please, any advice would be very helpful.

 

[eisentrauti]

Chameleons come never out of the cage to play - they want to escape from it. If your pet dealer advise you to keep a calyptratus together with a Litoria caerulea he should stop his business

 

[Vampire.queen]

...to say noting of the fact that one of them would get eaten or wounded

 

[Jonas]

No herptiles should be mixed, simple as that. One or all of the animals will always suffer, nomatter if its due to different habitat recuirement or interaction.

I sometimes see the argument "but these two species come from the same geographical area". That may be, but I will bet you my right arm that you will not find the two species in the same exact proximity as the area of your cage. You just wont.

 

[eisentrauti]

Good example !

 

[chameleonman57]

I wouldn't put anything else with chameleons in the same cage.

 

[Olimpia]

Yes, I don't think chams need company. To pull off a mini ecosystem with different species you would need to have an enclosure that is massive. We're talking several yards in each direction, so that none of the animals are "ontop" of each other. But still... that's better left to zoos.

 

[PetNcs]

I would not be that kind of anxious associating chameleons with other herps, if the cage is OK and the requirements for both species all right.
Of course, especially in the veileds, we should take care concerning the size and activity mode of the associated animal (big enough and hiding in the daytime somewhere, where chams do not have normal access to, or tendency to go to - under bark, in fissures between rocks etc...) I personally have two medium sized cages (100 x 100 x 60), where I keep a pair of veileds together with 4 Rhacodactylus auriculatus and 3 R. ciliatus respectively not only without any problems but all with extreme breeding success. So, an association is possible and if done properly, with no problem at all...

 

[jojackson]

Ben has it nailed! Its a no no. Reptiles and amphibians live an 'eat or be eaten' existance.
Most either prey on, or will be preyed on by another.
Not only are L.cearulea nocturnal and will therefore upset the cham, they grow quite large and could easily eat a small chameleon, and in reverse, a small green frog would be a tasty treat for a larger cham.
Not only this, you need to consider different climatic needs of each species.
In the average space allotted for these animals, despite the last posters success, your experimentation will very likely lead to disaster.
It will be very costly and time/space consuming to provide the needs of both correctly.
I wouldnt do it. Choice is yours and if you do choose to give it a go, I wish you success, but you have been warned.
It may work for a while, but sooner or later natural instincts will kick in.

 

[Jonas]

Who is Ben?

 

[jojackson]

I beleive our freind eisentrauti of post #5's first name is Ben, unless Im mistaken, if so, sorry mate.

 

[Jono]

I think the picture of the Veiled with that massive lizard halfway down his throat pretty much seals the argument

 

[Romanator]

Thanks for all the advice, i decided to leave my cham allone, right now he is really happy in his terrarium and i dont want that to change.

 

[v639dragoon]

Yeah, he'll get stressed out definitly from the other animal, or will just eat it.

 

[kinyonga]

PetNcs...Didn't know you were a member of this forum Petr.