Thoughts on cham in the living room?

[jamest0o0]

Just wondering if any of you have a nice display enclosure in your living room or somewhere similar? Does your cham get used to it? I think it'd be cool, but my cham seems to get so stressed out around people other than me or my gf. What about with other pets. I have 2 cats, he goes into stress mode the second he sees them even though they pay no attention to him(i keep them out of the room he's in for this reason). Do they ever get over this and get used to the animals and people around?

 

[laurie]

It really depends on the chameleon. Some are fine around humans, some hate it. Either way, I would never let the cat be able to get near your chameleon. So many people on here were sure the cat would not hurt their Cham. Sadly a lot of those have later came back to tell of the cat hurting, and often, killing the chameleon. Just the long term stress is enough to kill your Cham. Be careful.

 

[jamest0o0]

Don't worry i'm not taking my cham out of his room. I was just thinking it'd be cool to have a nice display in the living room if your chameleon tolerated it. Wanted to see if anyone kept their chams out in the open without them getting upset over people and/or pets. I don't trust my cats with anything, they're scoundrels.

 

[poison]

Hi, I have a dog that runs around my enclosures all the time (not trying to get the animals just doing his dog stuff) though I definitely see my Chams watching him and or anyone that comes by they don't seem to be bothered but they definitely are aware and alert of their presence. Much different story when you open the enclosures.

 

[AZChamFan]

My Jackson's couldn't care less about my Doberman, but my Verrucosus despises him!!! Therefore the Verrucosus is in a room the dog does not go in, and the Jackson's is in the kitchen where he is not at all bothered by activity (dog or any human). Both enclosures are located high up. Like someone else said, depends on the cham and also the enclosure. I'm pretty sure even the Jackson's would not like the dog if they were both at the same level.

 

[bobbydigital]

I have 3 cats and I never leave them alone in my room. Cats hunt lizards and such. I've seen them hop up on their hind legs and just stare at my cham which I'm sure he doesn't like. I have him in a wooden bookshelf that covers the sides and back with a small lip on the bottom to hold it in place because I'm afraid they will knock the enclosure over. I've actually caught one in between his cage and one side of the bookshelf and he looked very upset! I'm sure the cats would get him any chance they had. I cover his enclosure with a brown tarp then put something in front of it because they used to peek under it and just stare at him. So I've had to cat proof it and it's been good ever since. The stress they can cause is not worth ruining the quality of life of the chameleon just so he can be put on display.

 

[Angelwolf]

My cham is in a very high traffic spot, between my living room and kitchen. I have a very active and noisy 3 year old, and a dog. As long as they don't try to get grabby, or anything, he's perfectly fine!

 

[GregJD]

Gary, my veiled, is in our living room because that's where we are mostly. He is right next to the crested gecko, who worships the ground he walks on. . .or the vines he crawls on, and on the other side of the TV from the guinea pigs and mouse. We call him a creep because he loves to watch everything we do. If he can't see, he'll climb to a spot where he can and crane his neck to see what we are doing with the pigs or mouse.
We have 2 outside dogs that come in to watch baseball games with us. The only one that cares anything about Gary is the girl and they just have staring contests and threaten to physically harm each other, but they never actually act like they will (I'm more worried about the dog getting hurt than the Chameleon).

We have this set up because we want him to be used to us and our family who visits often. So far, all of them can hand feed him and he crawls on anyone who will let him. I think it is a good idea so long as they're safe, and that's a common sense area.

Good luck!

Greg

 

[jamest0o0]

Thanks everyone, got a lot of different responses lol. trust me, i'm not going to let my cats attack him, i'm more worried of him just seeing them.

 

[Angelwolf]

I have 3 cats and I never leave them alone in my room. Cats hunt lizards and such. I've seen them hop up on their hind legs and just stare at my cham which I'm sure he doesn't like. I have him in a wooden bookshelf that covers the sides and back with a small lip on the bottom to hold it in place because I'm afraid they will knock the enclosure over. I've actually caught one in between his cage and one side of the bookshelf and he looked very upset! I'm sure the cats would get him any chance they had. I cover his enclosure with a brown tarp then put something in front of it because they used to peek under it and just stare at him. So I've had to cat proof it and it's been good ever since. The stress they can cause is not worth ruining the quality of life of the chameleon just so he can be put on display. View attachment 180944 View attachment 180945

I don't mean to be rude, but why even keep the cham if you are having to keep it in solitary confinement just to give it the "quality of life" you think it should have? That's no quality of life, either. Why not fine it a new place within your home, where it can be safe, but still have more than a couple of feet of earthly existence. Or find it a new home, with a new owner. Let's face it. We all want what's best for our pets. That's why you took the steps you did to keep the cats away, in the first place.

 

[jamest0o0]

^i was wondering the same, is the tarp always over it? Maybe this is something just at night? It seems like chams learn to tolerate their surroundings as long as they aren't being hurt. That's why i was thinking maybe with time the cham would learn the cats are not a threat?(assuming they can't get to him)

 

[broderp]

Mine is in a glass terrarium in the area between the kitchen and Family Room. Lots of traffic. They get used to it. I also have two large (90-120 pound) dogs that roam the same area. No issues that I can see. Let that poor Cham become part of the family!

 

[jamest0o0]

That's what i was thinking. I talked to a very experienced breeder (20+ years) that people seem to trust the word of. He told me something kind of controversial. Talked about having multiple chameleons and he says he keeps them seperate obviously, but that letting them see each other at times is natural, as they would in the wild. And that stress helps keep them going. I don't plan on doing this, but was curious what you guys think? I mean, even with people there are studies that show stress is beneficial, it actually depends on how you handle it and what you think of it.

Random just thought i'd bring it up here. Not saying go stress your chameleon out.

 

[bobbydigital]

I don't mean to be rude, but why even keep the cham if you are having to keep it in solitary confinement just to give it the "quality of life" you think it should have? That's no quality of life, either. Why not fine it a new place within your home, where it can be safe, but still have more than a couple of feet of earthly existence. Or find it a new home, with a new owner. Let's face it. We all want what's best for our pets. That's why you took the steps you did to keep the cats away, in the first place.

Like keeping them in a cage isn't already solitary confinement? I only put it on at night to keep the light in my room from keeping him up and for about 15 minutes after misting sessions to keep humidity up because it seems to go down so quickly (even with live plants). I take him outside everyday for up to 3 hours at a time to get some good natural sunlight. If there was a safer place then he would be there. That's already better than a lot of chams who never see the light of day.

 

[KiwiTheChameleon10]

I keep my 3-4 month old cham in the living room next to the tv. I have a puppy and he's used to the tv, barking, & wining. A plus is that you can constantly see it and remeber to feed/ mist it and turn on/off the lights. My living room has very dark and nutral colors and I think it makes it warmer in a way, idk.

 

[Camo Charlie]

Just wondering if any of you have a nice display enclosure in your living room or somewhere similar? Does your cham get used to it? I think it'd be cool, but my cham seems to get so stressed out around people other than me or my gf. What about with other pets. I have 2 cats, he goes into stress mode the second he sees them even though they pay no attention to him(i keep them out of the room he's in for this reason). Do they ever get over this and get used to the animals and people around?

Ever since we brought Camo Home we placed his enclosure in the living room , We usually chill in the living room..No stress signals ..if anything we made a huge enclosure for him and but it near the window...So i think as a new Veiled parent his doing just fine...mind you im a super worried parent and im always doing my research and of course living the experience of having a Chameleon...theres not a day that goes by wanting to know more about My Chameleon..."CAMO"

 

[Camo Charlie]

In the living room

 

[Lennoncham]

Ever since we brought Camo Home we placed his enclosure in the living room , We usually chill in the living room..No stress signals ..if anything we made a huge enclosure for him and but it near the window...So i think as a new Veiled parent his doing just fine...mind you im a super worried parent and im always doing my research and of course living the experience of having a Chameleon...theres not a day that goes by wanting to know more about My Chameleon..."CAMO"

What size is that cage? It looks awesome

 

[Camo Charlie]

What size is that cage? It looks awesome

16×16×78 DIY ..we have the 16×16×30 and when out to home depot and got some stuff to go up ..

 

[jamest0o0]

Honestly that looks a bit cramped, it's only 16" wide?