I know its taboo, but..

[Onogodzilla666]

I know everyone says to not mix anything with chameleons, but i was wondering if anyone has ever kept a beta fish tank in the bottom of their enclosure. My small tank has a vetilated lid, theres no chance of my cham getting in there or being able to fall in. I cant find any info online tho.. thoughts?

 

[Onogodzilla666]

Also, my wife had the idea of keeping a couple hermit crabs in the bottom. The internet brings mixed answers on that. Im sort of leaning towards trying it. Any opinions or information would be appreciated.

 

[ChamLB]

How do you feel about cham poop in your beta tank? We keep ventilated containers in some of our cages to collect drips from the misters. The tops get pooped on and the water can get gross between changes.

 

[GrimCamel]

The water will probably be contaminated form your chameleons droppings

 

[Onogodzilla666]

The water is changed often, and its on the side of the cage the cham doesnt use as often. There have never been droppings in that area of the cage before, but if its a large enough risk i can remove it..

 

[Onogodzilla666]

Here is a picture of my full enclosure. It may help the answers. Its 4ft tall, 3ft wide, 1.5ft deep. The umbrella and pothos are both live plants.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Contrary to popular custom, of you research betta care in places that actually care about the fish, they are not suitable for the unheated, less than 3 gallon containers, people like to force them to live in.

If there is no benifit to either animals with this arrangement, I would not do it.
As for hermit crabs, I have kept hermit crabs in greenhouse-sized enclosures. They need their own food and salt water pools to be healthy and they like things warmer, substrate to burrow in, and other elements that aren't really suitable in an average chameleon set-up. Hermit crabs are omnivores and nocturnal. They will climb about at night, at the minimum disturbing your chameleons and at the worst, possible injuring or consuming the sleeping chameleon.

Do I think cohabitation of species is impossible? No, I do not. I think it's often frowned upon, because people fail to account for the risk of transfer of disease, conflicts between the species, inadequate space to provide for the needs of both animals, and they fail to throughly consider the needs of each animal and compare them.
Amongst things that might do well with chameleons and pose no risk to them are day geckos and anoles, but the risk of parasites is still there and the geckos and anoles are likely to fall prey to the chameleon at some point. Geckos and anoles are also much faster at consuming prey and could rob the chameleon of food, if not monitored closely. There are always risk with these arrangements and without a greenhouse-sized cage, or at the least a Dragon Strand Atrium cage and accepting the risk of the smaller lizards becoming prey, this is not really a viable scenario. I have large enclosures and I've wanted to introduce day geckos, but I'm not willing to have them consumed by my chameleons, so I haven't done so.

 

[GrimCamel]

Im with Extension here. That is not a proper way to keep a betta. It is kind of a fashion trend to keep betta in small aquariums for the aesthetic but that is as bad as keeping animals in tubs if not worse. I recommend looking up some info and house your animals for a life worth living

 

[Onogodzilla666]

To be completely honest, im avid about the chameleon and always have been but the beta was a different story. My 3 year old daughter wanted it really bad and it seemed harmless so i made a lot of assumptions and bought it on a whim. The second i got it home i realized i made a mistake. My daughter wanted to carry it around everywhere like a teddy bear. The second and third night i woke up in the middle of the night to her putting trash in the water for some reason. I couldnt find a place i could keep it safe so i came up with the chameleon cage. I'v had the chameleon since she was born and she knows not to touch it, lol. Im doing research now though, and im not sure what im going to do.

 

[Onogodzilla666]

Also, could one of yall recommend an information site to trust on betas? There are A LOT and they all seem to differ quite a bit on stuff.

 

[Andee]

I do not keep bettas in anything smaller than 5 gallons. Always heated and always have a low level sponge filter. All my tanks have been naturalistic. And have been filled with live plants and mopani wood. My bettas were also spoiled with really healthy and top quality fish food, pre thawed blood worms or brine shrimp and black worms on occasion. I was also an avid keeper of indian dwarf puffers and breeder ornamental shrimp. I had a large tank with three puffers at once, five oto cats, and tons of various types of breeding ornamental shrimp. I was constantly told it was bad. But it was easily 50 gallons I never lost any fish other than crustaceans occasionally and was so overly planted I had crystal shrimp breeding. Obviously I ignored the people who told me I was doing it wrong because crystal shrimp are pretty much impossible to breed unless the conditions are perfect. Sadly I am no longer doing fishtanks. I would love (when I have more space of course) to get maybe a 25 gallon again and just do a purely ornamental shrimp tank.

 

[alphakenc]

I used to breed my betta fish ,even though they can be kept in a small container,they still need lots water change to keep their fins pefect looking instead of the torn or tiny holes on it.
And that require lots water change so they wont be getting the slimy fungal diease or secondary bacteria diease,so if u can be sure all the safety n water cleaning quality on daily basis without risking any safety of the cham and the betta,which both required lots cleaning n maintenance on daily basis,personally I will keep them separately so I have no extra worry on either ones safety,since I like everything in their own space,these are just my thoughts n opinions.