Communal Chamaeleo lateralis

[Jmeyer]

hey everyone, so today at the narbc show in orange county i bought a used screen cage that is 36 long, 36 tall and 16 deep. I really love carpet chameleons and i waas originally thinking of somehow splitting the cage in half and put a chameleon on each side. I know carpet chameleons are very territorial like most chameleons are. But if i were to make this cage extremely planted and add multiple backing and watering and feeding areas could i possibly keep 1.1 together. I know that is large free range setups people successfully keep male and female melleri together so maybe the same can be said for Chamaeleo lateralis. All comments welcome. Thanks!

 

[Syn]

If you don't have a lot of experience with a species prior to doing something new, like housing chameleons communally, I just would not suggest it.

Too much can go wrong, and unless you know what you are doing (this doesn't include successfully keeping a chameleon alive for 6 months, think years!) something bad could go wrong.

 

[chameleonneeds]

I think it would depend on the chameleons themselves.
I have seen an adult pair of carpets kept in 38 gallon flexarium, they were fine with eachother, but I think they were kept together from a young age and they did not ever breed.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

The only way i could see this working long term is by putting up a divider that is opaque. My pair are kept in seperate cages. They are in their own 16X16x30. They like heavily planted cages and love the water. They drink at every misting.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

No you cannot. When they breed the female will reject the male. The female will attack the male if he continues to advance. .2 maybe 1.1 you are asking for a dead male.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

The only way i could see this working long term is by putting up a divider that is opaque. My pair are kept in seperate cages. They are in their own 16X16x30. They like heavily planted cages and love the water. They drink at every misting.

I agree , it is best to keep them seperated.


and its Furcifer lateralis lateralis

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I know Ryan. I was just lazy typing.

 

[Chris Anderson]

and its Furcifer lateralis lateralis

Actually it technically isn't. Technically what we refer to as "Fucifer lateralis major" has never been officially described so it is in invalid name, referred to as a nomen nudum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomen_nudum). As a result, there is no official subspecies of Furcifer lateralis and thus, no "Furcifer lateralis lateralis", just Furcifer lateralis. What we have referred to as "Fucifer lateralis major" is probably more accurately referred to as Furcifer cf. lateralis var. "major" (a taxa likely closely related to Furcifer lateralis of the variant designation "major").

Chris

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

I know Ryan. I was just lazy typing.

LOL, I was refering to the OP's chamaeleo name, looks like I don't know what I am talking about anyway.

Actually it technically isn't. Technically what we refer to as "Fucifer lateralis major" has never been officially described so it is in invalid name, referred to as a nomen nudum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomen_nudum). As a result, there is no official subspecies of Furcifer lateralis and thus, no "Furcifer lateralis lateralis", just Furcifer lateralis. What we have referred to as "Fucifer lateralis major" is probably more accurately referred to as Furcifer cf. lateralis var. "major" (a taxa likely closely related to Furcifer lateralis of the variant designation "major").



Chris

Still not Chamaeleo LOL Thanks Chris for the lesson.

 

[Jmeyer]

hey guys thanks for all the replies! brain fart on the chamaeleo lol. Ill see what i can do about putting up some sort of barrier in the cage and make sort of two different cages. Thanks guys!

 

[Elizadolots]

You can do that. Just make sure you remember to orient the divider so you have access to both sides when you open the door (this is the sort of thing my husband and I usually fail at) and that there are no gaps either chameleon can get through to visit the other side. Pay particular attention to the bottom of the cage, your efforts to encourage drainage might well provide an opening for an adventuresome chameleon to go exploring (just trust me on this one!).

 

[chameleonneeds]

Yeah you want to make sure there are no gaps between the barrier. A guy here in S.A bought a baby veiled from a someone and put it in a split cage with an adult flap neck chameleon on the other side, that same day the veiled climed over to the other side and got eaten that was a very expensive meal.... And the next day he went and bought a new baby veiled....