Cham stresses by birds?

[Gianfranco]

Hello everyone! I would like to know your opinion, please.
Would you believe that a baby panther chameleon, 5 months old, could be so stressed that it doesn't want to eat, if in the same room as its cage there are a cage with finches and another one with a small parrot?
I am looking forward for your ideas, thanks.
GF

 

[Julirs]

It certainly could be-birds are predators in their eyes. The simple fact that birds are usually all over the place and rapid movement could scare the cham.

 

[weezyboi94]

whenever i take my cham out into the garden, she continuously watches a bird, as if staying alert and ready to take action, whenever the birds fly overhead or land near. If its too close, like when sparrows come to drink close by, she immediately shows stress coloration and remains absoutely still to try and avoid detection.
So yes they do get stressed out by birds.

 

[justjumpit621]

I would fillout the health form even though you probably don't think it is the problem, someone may find a possible other reason for your cham to not be eating. The form is found in the health forum, it is a sticky.

 

[boj3434]

I would say they should be in different rooms i would think birds would cause a lot of stress

 

[bongrod269]

My panthers get VERY stressed by birds. I had one of my panthers on my arm and I walked past on of my birds cages and he flared up like crazy. The cage was at least 6 feet away.

 

[laurie]

I guess the question is, do you have another place you can move the little panther to? If not can you move the birds? Or at least cover the side of their cage that allows the chameleon to see them. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Gianfranco]

No, I can't move the cages.......I will try to cover the side of the finches cage which can see by the cham. By the way the cham cannot hear the birds, can it? Can it feel the presence of the birds if it doesn't see them?

 

[bongrod269]

I doubt it. I think you should just cover one side of the cages that way your cham cannot make visual contact with the birds.

 

[dodolah]

Hello everyone! I would like to know your opinion, please.
Would you believe that a baby panther chameleon, 5 months old, could be so stressed that it doesn't want to eat, if in the same room as its cage there are a cage with finches and another one with a small parrot?
I am looking forward for your ideas, thanks.
GF

Absolutely..
There is one member here whose chameleon got snatched by a crow when basking outside; but, fortunately, the chameleon survived.
My chameleons got agitated severely when there are birds flew by one day.
Birds are one of chameleon's natural predator.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Certainly my chameleons look stressed if I forget Ive got a bird on my shoulder when I go in the chameleon room.
Keep them visually separated.

 

[Ross]

I have a baby veiled female in a room with 5 free-ranging parrots(4 budgies and a conure). At first the female seemed rather stressed being in the room with them. She kept up some stress colors and rarely moved from her favorite hiding spot.
So i put a lot more cover around the top of her cage to make her feel like she has more of a buffer between her and the birds and now she will eat regardless of what my birds are doing.

 

[carol5208]

I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the replies here! I have a 8 month old sambava in the same room with my cockatiel. The cages are about 10 feet apart and they look directly at each other. One is on my south wall of the room, and one on the north side. My cham is fine! He does not stress and even comes all the way out on his open door which even brings him closer toward the bird cage. He eats, drinks, and is thriving etc. that is just my situation. i will say however, when I have him on the patio and he is in his hibiscus tree and a bird comes to the feed (which is very near) he does get dark in color i have noticed. If anything my cockatiel is as jealous as hell cause we pay more attention to the cham! She throws a holy fit!

 

[Carlton]

I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the replies here! I have a 8 month old sambava in the same room with my cockatiel. The cages are about 10 feet apart and they look directly at each other. One is on my south wall of the room, and one on the north side. My cham is fine! He does not stress and even comes all the way out on his open door which even brings him closer toward the bird cage. He eats, drinks, and is thriving etc. that is just my situation. i will say however, when I have him on the patio and he is in his hibiscus tree and a bird comes to the feed (which is very near) he does get dark in color i have noticed. If anything my cockatiel is as jealous as hell cause we pay more attention to the cham! She throws a holy fit!

Sounds like you have a very mellow cham! Most of mine would definitely react to birds in a room. If you have to block views from more than one side of the cham's cage and don't want to decrease the general light level, you could also drape some "fake" foliage on the sides of the cage so views of the bird activity is partially blocked. The cham may feel he's under more cover.

 

[jastate09]

When I have my chams outside and they see a bird flying over they duck their heads, like to hide from the bird.

 

[tkilgour]

Yes, birds are predators. I almost lost a baby panther to a bird, but luck was on my side.

I have an Air Force base nearby, and 2 smaller airports and planes fly over constantly. I have watched my large males spot low flying planes as they fly over head like they are birds. The males kind of roll, and hide on the underside of the branch when they fly over. The planes must look like hawks or large birds to the chams. Therefore, I would keep birds and chams separate.

 

[Carlton]

Yes, birds are predators. I almost lost a baby panther to a bird, but luck was on my side.

SOME birds are predators. Chams don't want to guess which...

 

[jannb]

Yes, birds are predators. I almost lost a baby panther to a bird, but luck was on my side.

I have an Air Force base nearby, and 2 smaller airports and planes fly over constantly. I have watched my large males spot low flying planes as they fly over head like they are birds. The males kind of roll, and hide on the underside of the branch when they fly over. The planes must look like hawks or large birds to the chams. Therefore, I would keep birds and chams separate.

Luie does the same thing when birds and airplanes fly over.