Is it bad for chameleons to be able to see each other?

[DartFrogKeeper]

I have my Jackson's and Veiled cages on opposite sides of my room about 12' apart. Just a couple days ago, my Jacksons apparently took notice of the veiled and now he spends a lot of time staring at the Veiled's cage. It's really strange how he stares really intensely and ignores me when I'm right in front of him. They must have pretty good eyesight because the cage is heavy with foliage and they're a pretty good distance apart.

Anyway, is this a bad or stressful thing for them to be aware of each other?

 

[Lennoncham]

I really can’t speak on this to much but the short answer is yes it stresses them out. They would never see each other in the wild since there from 2 different parts of the world.

I noticed with my chams I have there cages beside each other and Lennon (male panther) kept looking at something and wanting out of his cage to the other side of the room. Then I realized he could see the reflection of melons (female veild) cage in the picture I had hanging on the wall. Took that down and he no longer wants over there.

I have heard of breeders that have chams that can all see each other but there all the same species and are comfortable in there own space. And they also have heavy foliage and watch the chams for signs of stress.

Chams have amazing eye sight. They can see a bug move from 5-10 meters. So better then us.

 

[stugotz13]

I just had my two month old Panthers see each other....holy crap they got pissed. Twas actually kinda cool though. lol but no more...

 

[KobaOregonherper]

I have my Jackson's and Veiled cages on opposite sides of my room about 12' apart. Just a couple days ago, my Jacksons apparently took notice of the veiled and now he spends a lot of time staring at the Veiled's cage. It's really strange how he stares really intensely and ignores me when I'm right in front of him. They must have pretty good eyesight because the cage is heavy with foliage and they're a pretty good distance apart.

Anyway, is this a bad or stressful thing for them to be aware of each other?

Simply put, yes.

 

[Syreptyon]

You know, Petr Necas wrote an interesting article on this topic and I believe he would disagree with this sentiment. I'm pretty sure I saw him post it on facebook, so I cannot for the life of me find it unfortunately... If I recall correctly, however, he actually advocates for some amount of visual access between chameleons. According to him, there is a sort of "threshold distance" past which it is healthy and natural for chameleons to see each other. It stimulates natural behavior. However, that threshold should not be crossed and bringing two chameleons closer together than that distance is inadvisable.

So, I would say there's more nuance to this than "yes" or "no". I don't know how cross-species interactions would be affected by this. My chameleons are all different species though, albeit all Malagasy in origin, so I keep visual divides up at all times. They only have a chance to peak at one another on the rare occasion that I'm handling one and transporting it from one place to another

 

[KobaOregonherper]

You know, Petr Necas wrote an interesting article on this topic and I believe he would disagree with this sentiment. I'm pretty sure I saw him post it on facebook, so I cannot for the life of me find it unfortunately... If I recall correctly, however, he actually advocates for some amount of visual access between chameleons. According to him, there is a sort of "threshold distance" past which it is healthy and natural for chameleons to see each other. It stimulates natural behavior. However, that threshold should not be crossed and bringing two chameleons closer together than that distance is inadvisable.

So, I would say there's more nuance to this than "yes" or "no". I don't know how cross-species interactions would be affected by this. My chameleons are all different species though, albeit all Malagasy in origin, so I keep visual divides up at all times. They only have a chance to peak at one another on the rare occasion that I'm handling one and transporting it from one place to another

I was actually just listening to an interview he did where he actually mentioned this.

 

[Beman]

You know, Petr Necas wrote an interesting article on this topic and I believe he would disagree with this sentiment. I'm pretty sure I saw him post it on facebook, so I cannot for the life of me find it unfortunately... If I recall correctly, however, he actually advocates for some amount of visual access between chameleons. According to him, there is a sort of "threshold distance" past which it is healthy and natural for chameleons to see each other. It stimulates natural behavior. However, that threshold should not be crossed and bringing two chameleons closer together than that distance is inadvisable.

So, I would say there's more nuance to this than "yes" or "no". I don't know how cross-species interactions would be affected by this. My chameleons are all different species though, albeit all Malagasy in origin, so I keep visual divides up at all times. They only have a chance to peak at one another on the rare occasion that I'm handling one and transporting it from one place to another

I read this one as well but could not find it. I wish he would post his stuff within the forum.

 

[DartFrogKeeper]

Both of mine are displaying bright colors, especially the Jacksons.

 

[Kaizen]

You know, Petr Necas wrote an interesting article on this topic and I believe he would disagree with this sentiment. I'm pretty sure I saw him post it on facebook, so I cannot for the life of me find it unfortunately... If I recall correctly, however, he actually advocates for some amount of visual access between chameleons. According to him, there is a sort of "threshold distance" past which it is healthy and natural for chameleons to see each other. It stimulates natural behavior. However, that threshold should not be crossed and bringing two chameleons closer together than that distance is inadvisable.

So, I would say there's more nuance to this than "yes" or "no". I don't know how cross-species interactions would be affected by this. My chameleons are all different species though, albeit all Malagasy in origin, so I keep visual divides up at all times. They only have a chance to peak at one another on the rare occasion that I'm handling one and transporting it from one place to another

I’m just some guy, but this answer strikes me as very intelligent and well delivered! Serious props here!