I have to Yemen Chameleons. That are housed together in a 100 Gal Flexarium. They are both around 8 months old not related. They have got on fine together but a few minutes ago i saw the male grab the female and they looked like they were about to fall as the female was getting herself in a state and i noticed that the male was mating her. Now they werent "connected" for very long. How long does it take the male to pass the sperm? We were planning on breeding them so if she does become gravid we arent to concerned as we have plenty of spare flexariums and time and money for them.
Yemen Chameleons
- Thread starter AliceC
- Start date
WelshOneEmma
New Member
Plus at 8 months old I think the female may be a little young.
BigR
New Member
And we deal with loads of people who have had nothing but problems doing it.
Yemens do not like being housed together. They shouldn't even see each other until being bred, which at 8 months is too young for the female.
While there aresome species that can live together in on enclosure, (Free-ranged Mellers and some species of pygmy chams) Yemen chameleons are not one of those species.
Do the right thing and get a seperate enclosure for the female.
Yemens do not like being housed together. They shouldn't even see each other until being bred, which at 8 months is too young for the female.
While there aresome species that can live together in on enclosure, (Free-ranged Mellers and some species of pygmy chams) Yemen chameleons are not one of those species.
Do the right thing and get a seperate enclosure for the female.
Julirs
New Member
You really should not be housing them together, especially not in a 100 gallon Flex which is way too small. I realize that you don't want to hear that you need to separate them, but you are causing them both undue stress and shortening their lives by keeping them together. 8 months is a bit too young to breed a still growing animal as calcium will be robbed from her still growing bones. Your male will continue to breed your female causing her stress or to reject him which will cause him stress from the attempts.
BigR
New Member
Offense Taken
Breeding is more than just sticking chameleon A with chameleon B and having them copulate. You need to take into consideration age, health and well-being. You've already been told the female is too young, so the option to breed should not even be given to them. Premature breeding causes undue stress on her growing body, possibly stunting growth and leaving her open to all manner of problems that should not occur, drastically shortening her lifespan. Housing the two animals together is causing a large amount of stress on both of them, compounding the problems caused by breeding early. Males become extremely aggresive while stressed. You may not see any physical signs of aggression now, but wait when the male is double the size of the female, in length, weight and power. You may think you could remove at the "first" sign of problems, but that first time could leave the female permanently scarred, disabled or dead.
Until your ready to accept full responsibility for what needs to be done to properly maintain these animals, you have no business breeding them.
Breeding is more than just sticking chameleon A with chameleon B and having them copulate. You need to take into consideration age, health and well-being. You've already been told the female is too young, so the option to breed should not even be given to them. Premature breeding causes undue stress on her growing body, possibly stunting growth and leaving her open to all manner of problems that should not occur, drastically shortening her lifespan. Housing the two animals together is causing a large amount of stress on both of them, compounding the problems caused by breeding early. Males become extremely aggresive while stressed. You may not see any physical signs of aggression now, but wait when the male is double the size of the female, in length, weight and power. You may think you could remove at the "first" sign of problems, but that first time could leave the female permanently scarred, disabled or dead.
Until your ready to accept full responsibility for what needs to be done to properly maintain these animals, you have no business breeding them.
I do have a 260 Gallon flexarium i am waiting to arrive in the next couple of days but they are in the 100 Gallon one temporarily. Im sorry but because a few people say that they shouldnt be housed together everyone is to their own. Some can cope with living with other together and others cant. Same with any animal there are always exceptions to that rule and i have known alot of breeders and people who have a love for the hobby keeping chameleons together and living long healthy lives.
Julirs
New Member
This is a forum of thousands and thousands of members that will esentially tell you the same thing-- unless you have a cage that is 1200 square feet, it is not a good thing to do. Can it be done? Yes. Is it done? Yes. Is it the best thing you can do when confining these animals to such small spaces? No Way. Do you know what stress looks like? Sometimes it is hard to detect. If you don't care that your female will have a considerably shorter life, than do what you like.
I know this is an old thread but i just had to write and agree with AliceC for anyone who may come across this thread in the future as i did. I bought my first chameleons as a pair and they lived together just fine, the female passed away after 18 months of living with the male and the male was not happy at all with out her. He wouldnt eat or drink, he would hardly move, just sat facing the back of the viv all day and was very dark all the time, so after a few weeks i decided to try introducing a new female to the viv and he perked right back up again that same day and i have had no problems with either of them since they met. So it just goes to show that all those people who say they cant be kept together at all dont know what they are talking about, just like the ones who say never to handle your cham and that males are ALWAYS aggressive. My male never has been and all of my chams are hand fed and run over to the door to come out as soon as you open it. I'm not saying that every cham is like that, im just saying that as AliceC says, there are always exceptions with every animal, just as you find in humans.
How many veileds have you worked with? Not many? Why did your female die after 18mounths? They live much longer then that. Veileds are very very territorial, and get even more so with age, both males and females. Ive had a male kill a female before. Veileds should be housed seperately at no later then 6 mounths.
pssh
Avid Member
I dont know... Chris Anderson said that the males are known to be less agressive towards the females and the females live longer lives (than you would think in such a situation anyways,) with less frequent and smaller clutches. But they also require much larger cages in order to do it properly.
But I wouldn't think a person new to the hobby would be able to successfully do it because of all the crazy stress factors and possible agression issues.
But I wouldn't think a person new to the hobby would be able to successfully do it because of all the crazy stress factors and possible agression issues.
serenitystarlite
Established Member
I would also like to know why the female died at 18 months. Maybe the male was actually stressed by the time the female died and that's why he acted like that after she died? How long have you had them now? Even my sweet little Senegal Kami who has the nicest personality and loves me will puff up and get upset if she sees another cham or one of my cats. I really don't think chameleons are ever truly happy with another chameleon, even if they act calm. Some may tolerate it more than others, but what can they do if they're forced to live with another cham? They can't just leave the situation.
Lizardlover
New Member
This is not meant as an attack against you Juli, but Chris had a thread about this on another forum that I read, and when you think about it, it changes what we think about basic husbandry rules. Basically it stated that when a male and a female are housed together, as long as there is not tension between them, it is actually better, being that the males goal in life is to pass on genes, when he has a female available at all time, he wont feel as inclined to mate aggressively as a male who doesn't have access to a female would, not to mention he also wont feel the need to breed as often. This is just based on the conversation, and to be honest I agree with the idea. I do think that this should only be attempted by those with much experience, however.
Lizardlover
New Member
Dangit, beat me to it Kara.
DragonLady
New Member
I have four velieds and would never house them together.
