Senegal Chameleon got New Friend and now wont eat

[Steventomas]

Hi,

So i bought my first chameleon on Saturday and bought all of the cage accessory's and everything. When i bought my first senegal.

So yesterday i went to the same store and bought another senegal this one is more like the runt of all their chameleons at the store. But once i brought the new one home my previous chamelelon became not so happy.

My first chameleon turned a browner color and has not eaten since i put the second chameleon in yesterday. I am not sure if I should just give them time or what I need to do.

The only good thing is that the the new chameleon drinks water from the dripper while the first chameleon i could never see drinking water.

I feel succesfull for being able to keep one healthy chameleon for my first time keeping chameleons..

Another thing is the first chameleon i bought seems to keep her chin poofed out more now than she did before, is that normal or some sort of dominance related thing?

Thanks
Steven.

 

[thacarter]

Are they in the same enclosure?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Well, you've made a beginner's mistake already. You should never keep two chameleons in the same cage - your chameleons are very stressed by each other's presence and this will not get better with time. They are not social animals and you will end up with a sick chameleon very soon unless they are separated. Under stress they won't eat as much, or bask normally, or do anything like normal (as you're seeing already) which weakens them and their immune systems. It's not something that they get used to over time, it will always be a problem and may even progress to aggression and attacking each other.

Solution: Get a whole other complete setup for your second chameleon if you want to keep them both. Or get rid of one - maybe take the other one back for a refund if you can't keep them separate. You can't keep them together.

 

[carol5208]

Ferrit gave you correct and good advice. You have to do one or the other as she said, take one back or get two cages.

 

[Steventomas]

Thanks to everyone for the speedy replies. I had to talked to the owner of the pet shop i bought the senegals at and he had told me they were okay together, as they were from the same "litter" from a breeder in southern california. The chameleons were together in the store before i had purchased either of them in fact they have like 7 in the same enclosure their. So if knowing that they were bred in captivity and have been together most likely all their lives please let me know.
Thanks.

 

[bimac6]

It doesn't matter if they're from the same clutch. They are very solitary and territorial animals. They can be held in the same cage at very young ages but usually pet stores keep them together until they are sold. They are definitely claiming territory and stressed.

While were on the subject of enclosures, may I ask what kind of cage and lighting are you using? Pet stores often give wrong advice and/or have you buy unnecessary things.

 

[Lingling]

Even if they were from the same clutch, that doesn't mean they can be kept together. Babies can be kept together until they reach a few months old, and then they need to be separated. Everything changes as they start to mature. It sounds like yours are already showing signs of stress, so they should not be kept together, even if they still look like "babies". I work at a pet store, and let me tell you... just because we sell it, doesn't mean we all know how to properly care for it. I've had to step in over and over when I hear my coworkers selling animals they know nothing about, and just making things up as far as the care goes. The majority of pet stores that sell chameleons will give you incorrect info on their husbandry. They just don't know... or worse, they do know, but they want to make a little more money off you.

Like ferret said, it's a beginner's mistake. As long as you get on it right away and separate them, you can still get them off to a good start.

 

[carol5208]

When babies are first born and for a short period of time, yes people do house them together, but as they get older (as in your case) they should be seperated. I can only imagine how stressed out those poor chams must be in the pet shop. Sometimes it does not always show on the outside, but its what is happening to them on the inside. As with humans...stress kills! Once again, same old story of a pet store out to make money and not caring(or lack of education) and the animals will eventually suffer. If you want to have two healthy chameleons and keep them that way, then put them in seperate enclosures. Even viewing each other in seperate enclosures can cause them to become stressed out, so it would be wise to put up some type of barrier between them if you choose to keep both of them. And if the owner knew anything about chameleon's if he would have told you they were from the same clutch, not litter!!!

 

[Steventomas]

Okay i will be sure to take them apart.

Bimac6:
I did not listen to pet store guy i bought all the things i found neccesary that were on this forum and others on the internet. I spent about $300 for everything.

I have a reptibreeze enclosure, i have the matching hood with a 60watt heat bulb and a reptisun 5.0 UVB fluorescent bulb in it. I also have the "big dripper" for water, and exo terra small waterfall. A lot of sticks for climbing on, the humidity and temp gauges, i also have another heat lamp that is 100 watts that i occasionally turn on if it gets to cool during the day. I felt that the fake plants and sticks werent "enough" so i bought a live ficus plant that i read about on a safe plants list from another member of this forum. His UVB and heat lamp are on a timer from 6:30 AM till 6:30PM and i feed him four to five meal worms coated in calcium withought D3 and ocassionally i dust with calcium with D3.