Proximity of Cages Question

[jajeanpierre]

I am new to chameleons (all of one month experience), and have two Veileds, a 4 to 5-month old female and an older male, not sure age, but I think still young based on his size (just over 70 grams) and casque size when I compare him to pictures of mature males.

I hadn't realized that they needed to be visually separate. Forgive me, I'm learning.

How far apart do they need to be to not be stressed?

I am in the process of setting up two 24"x24"x48" screen enclosures. I had intended them to be side by side once their quarantine is over. I guess I need to put a solid wall between the cages. Does that wall need to extend the full width or could I just wall off 1/2 or 2/3 of the shared side?

Right now, I have the two cages about 6 or 7 feet apart. Is that far enough?

Neither chameleon shows signs of stress but I realize they could be stressed and I might not recognize it. I don't know that they are even aware of each other's presence. Both are eating very well and have what I think are relaxed colors unless I handle them (rarely).

I have two big hibiscus bushes on stools so the top is a bit higher than 6' that they can free range on. The bushes are more visually separate, each in its own window, with a bookcase blocking the view.

How close do people keep their "free ranging" bushes? I thought that each would have their own tree separated by enough distance that they can't move from bush to bush without getting down on the floor.

 

[frikitiki]

You can have one cage next to another. Just place something between the cages. Anything will work like cardboard or plastic.

 

[fluxlizard]

For mine, I just used white garbage bags between the cages. I cut the bags into sheets of plastic, and taped the plastic to the outside of the cage frames with clear packing tape. The plastic has lasted a year now, even with spending all summer outdoors.

 

[Olimpia]

Like the others have said, you can have the two cages totally side by side but they must be 100% out of view.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Like the others have said, you can have the two cages totally side by side but they must be 100% out of view.

For reasons unrelated to the Chameleons, I don't want to block off the walls. The one cage (where I would like to put both cages) is in a location where blocking one side would block a lot of natural light from the windows that helps light a long, dark interior hall.

Because they were recently bought from two different stores, I have the cages physically separated to try to quarantine them from each other. If they are outside their cages, they each have their own window and their own trees to roam on. I'm sure they are both healthy, but better safe than sorry.

Maybe I'll just have to move furniture around so the cages don't block any light to the hall.

I don't see them responding to each other's presence. They just bask in their respective cages. Is having them in cages separated by six feet too close? How would I know they are seeing each other other than the obvious signs?

Obviously, I want to avoid chronic, low grade stress. I also don't want to be moving fully loaded 6 foot bookcases around with all the other things I need to do to get ready for Christmas.