DesertChameleon
Member
I give my chameleon, Aquaman, open-cage time. This involves 3 activities at the warmest part of the day.
1.) Time on the window plants.
2.) Climbing up the curtain until he wants to come down back to the plants to bask (sheer curtains so he doesn’t get direct sunlight.
3.) To get direct sunlight, he uses the swinging door of his cage.
I only lend a finger to help him traverse between the diffenbachia, the rubber plants, and going back to his enclosure.
Aquaman is captive bred, eats from my hand, uses me like a tree branch.
Is this stressful for them? I’m mindful of the idea that interaction with us can be stressful for them, but he communicates to me when he wants to get out of his cage when the sun starts peering through our south facing window. He’ll start scratching at the swinging door, I open it and he literally bolts to his branch above the heat lamp. This is when I turn off the heat lamp, air out the room, and allow the sunlight to come in.
He will then bask at the edge of the swinging door to eventually start reaching for the plants while holding on to the swinging door. This tells me he wants to go to the window so I give him a hand. He then proceeds to bask in the light gleaming through the sheer curtains and looks out the window for some time. When he wants he’ll climb up the curtain and be super bright. He’ll pace the top a few times before coming down on his own. This is my signal to offer him a helping hand to go back to his still open cage where he catches the last few minutes of sunlight before eventually retreating back into his cage.
In my eyes this is enrichment for the chameleon but I could be wrong and be stressing him out.
1.) Time on the window plants.
2.) Climbing up the curtain until he wants to come down back to the plants to bask (sheer curtains so he doesn’t get direct sunlight.
3.) To get direct sunlight, he uses the swinging door of his cage.
I only lend a finger to help him traverse between the diffenbachia, the rubber plants, and going back to his enclosure.
Aquaman is captive bred, eats from my hand, uses me like a tree branch.
Is this stressful for them? I’m mindful of the idea that interaction with us can be stressful for them, but he communicates to me when he wants to get out of his cage when the sun starts peering through our south facing window. He’ll start scratching at the swinging door, I open it and he literally bolts to his branch above the heat lamp. This is when I turn off the heat lamp, air out the room, and allow the sunlight to come in.
He will then bask at the edge of the swinging door to eventually start reaching for the plants while holding on to the swinging door. This tells me he wants to go to the window so I give him a hand. He then proceeds to bask in the light gleaming through the sheer curtains and looks out the window for some time. When he wants he’ll climb up the curtain and be super bright. He’ll pace the top a few times before coming down on his own. This is my signal to offer him a helping hand to go back to his still open cage where he catches the last few minutes of sunlight before eventually retreating back into his cage.
In my eyes this is enrichment for the chameleon but I could be wrong and be stressing him out.
Letting him free range is great, but…. Safety is always a concern. Make sure there is nothing hat he can get hurt on, like a ceiling fan being on, his basking light, another loose pet, etc. Also, you need to make sure that he is getting adequate uvb. Uvb doesn’t pass thru glass, so the only thing he’s getting from the sunny window is heat and a view. If this is a regular enough routine for him and he’s spending most of his day out of his enclosure, you may want to get a uvb light to hang over his preferred basking spot. There are some forum members who don’t keep their chameleons in enclosures, but they live on their own free ranges and it’s wonderful!
