Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I read about keeping a cham in a large plant fulltime(ficus or hibiscus maybe) with no cage around it.....only a short fence around the base of the tree. Sort of like a chameleon condo but without the big bucks. Anyone had any luck with this?

Thanks,
Matt

i havnt had any experience but some people have. Free roaming is always a risky option as somehow, the chameleon will be able to get off the plant and wander about a bit, so you Must be careful when entering the room containing the chameleon. They usally find their way back easy enough thought because they learn to know were their heat and their food is.

>>Hey, I read about keeping a cham in a large plant fulltime(ficus or hibiscus maybe) with no cage around it.....only a short fence around the base of the tree. Sort of like a chameleon condo but without the big bucks. Anyone had any luck with this?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Matt
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-Jamie Whitehouse
-corn_snake_123@msn.com
-formally known as corn_snake_123

Yes, i currently have a set up such as that. Just a 5-6 foot ficus, with feeding cup attached to the tree. It is definately "eye-candy" to just have a plant with a chameleon as a dcoration, but of course, lots of risks are involved. If you'd like to try it, try it with a chameleon with a less curious and less active personality. otherwise there is the danger of your chameleon ending up under your feet, in small corners, nooks and crannies around your house. Also, you can't really prevent any bugs(may it be poisonous or not) form flying near the plant and your chameleon eating it. You also have to have a chameleon that is tame enough to eat out of your hand, otherwise it will be constantly hiding, and not getting enough UV rays and even food. chameleons seem to understand the concept of barriers, and they won't be as easy-going when they realize that theer isn't one between you and them.

So eventhough it's definately more pleasing to the eye, there are a lot of risks involved. So if you don't have the right chameleon with the right kinda "free-raoming" personality, stick to the screen cages.

Just my unfiltered,sugar free opinion

check out this link http://chameleonnews.com/year2003/mar2003/free_range/free_range.html

one thing you can try is to set up a cage with only the tree and the cham...no extra branchs wait a month or so until the cham is completely comfortable then just take the cage away leaveing the tree in the exact same spot you cham should stay on the tree after a few climbs to check out what happined.

I've free ranged some chams. Some are too adventurous and wander too much or too shy and secretive to be so exposed. Some were fine. I don't think the 1 tree in a cage idea would work, as the cham will usually search for a "better place" than he's already got. When you take the cage away he's probably going to wander until he finds that his tree is really the best spot. What worked for me was a spare bedroom where I could block the door if needed until the chams were settled.

My opinion on Ca[bleep]eless-ness:

There would be 2 b[bleep] hurdles on this one:
1) Keep[bleep] the cham in the area.
If you can keep the cham near the th[bleep]s that he needs. (food, water, UV, etc) A ca[bleep]e keeps an area controlled. [bleep]ett[bleep] rid of the barriers puts more of a burdon on you to control a b[bleep][bleep]er area.
2) Keep[bleep] other th[bleep]s out of the area
If you have other free-ra[bleep][bleep] animals, they can easily [bleep]et curious about the little th[bleep] in the plant. Also, you can't control what b[bleep]s the cham is eat[bleep]. He may chase down a brown recluse.

I saw pictures of a loft converted into a chams nest. It was actually just a h[bleep]h ceil[bleep] that had ha[bleep][bleep] plants connected by vines. This wasn't his permanent enclosure, he just bro[bleep]ht the cham indoors to ha[bleep] out with him in his liv[bleep] room. This setup was impressive, but you could hardly provide the r[bleep]ht climate in thie setup.

I looked into this at one time, and it seemed that the setup wasn't benefitial for the cham..it was more benefitial for ME.

The best free roam[bleep] setup is a [bleep]reenhouse. CLimate controlled, Sunl[bleep]ht.... everyth[bleep] [bleep]ood for the cham!

If you [bleep]uys come up with [bleep]ood ideas, please post them..I am very interested.

Joe

It looks like every word that has the Letter Jee. The one after F and before H.. it Bleeps it.
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Joe
- www.chameleonkeepers.com

Why does my post have all of those [BLEEPS] in it???
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Joe
- www.chameleonkeepers.com

It seems that whenever the 12th letter of the alphabet has been used after about 6:40pm EST, it has been bleeped for some reason. I don't know why it would do that, but it seems pretty weird.
ggg

It doesn't seem to be doing it now, though.