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Brokeback Ficus

JesterZcap Apr 30, 2006 09:30 PM

I have an adult montium and I've noticed that he likes hitting on other male chameleons. There was this time when I put him in the cage with my 3 months old male Ambilobe(temporarily just to clean his cage) when I noticed he puffed up and started jerking his head at him. This seemed sorta interesting so I sat back and watch. Then he started to approach my panther while continuing his head jerk so I removed him from the scene. Another time, I caught him was when he saw my baby Nosey Be(2 months). They were both in different cages, however, my montium noticed him thru the screen so he started jerking his head and brighten his color. I thought to myself perhaps any chameleon without horns is a female as far as he's concern. Or maybe he's just gay?

Replies (7)

veiledbrian Apr 30, 2006 11:18 PM

what you talk about sounds more like an act of agggresion than of gay chameleon lust.
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0.2 Chameleo Chameleo Calyptratus
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Furcifer Pardalis (Nosy Be)-Hooloovoo

kinyonga May 01, 2006 09:57 PM

With most species of chameleon, the male's instinct is to defend its "territory" which is what I expect you saw. I have heard of a male mistaking a chameleon from a different species as something he should mate with.

Just some advice...I would advise that you don't put him in the cage with a different species while cleaning out his cage. You are likely stressing both of them out. You might end up with one either hurting the other or, depending on the size, eating the other. You could also transfer germs, etc. from one to the other (which would be of more concern if either or both were WC).

I also advise that the cages be situated in such a way that the chameleons can't see each other. Seeing each other adds unnecessary stress to thier lives which usually leads to health issues sooner or later.

Just my 2 cents worth...

JesterZCap May 02, 2006 12:49 AM

Maybe I wasn't too clear as of describing what my male montium did. He "jerked his head" as if he was trying to get a female to notice him. When a male chameleon do a head-jerking routine, that's his mating call. Males that are mature enough to be agressive will puff up and hiss along with brightening their colors when another male is in sight. They don't jerk their heads at one another. Furthermore, my panthers didn't have a respond to his action, they simply continue doing their own thing as if he wasn't there and therefore, there's no stress factor involve.

veiledbrian May 02, 2006 07:37 AM

what? Did your panther tell you so? I guess I just don't understand how you KNOW there is no stress...
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0.2 Chameleo Chameleo Calyptratus
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Furcifer Pardalis (Nosy Be)-Hooloovoo

JesterZcap May 02, 2006 12:03 PM

What? How do you know it's an act of agression? How do you know they are feeling stress? Did your leopard gecko tell you that chameleons jerk their head to warn off one another?

kinyonga May 02, 2006 12:17 PM

You said..."Maybe I wasn't too clear as of describing what my male montium did. He "jerked his head" as if he was trying to get a female to notice him"....you were clear, but sometimes the head jerking is expressing annoyance or being upset with a situation (pre-aggressive/defence behaviour, if you will). I have seen several of my male montane chameleons do this head jerking when they are upset/annoyed/confused by something. If pushed, the behavior would soon change to aggressive behavior.

Also...in my email to you, I said that a chameleon seeing a chameleon of another species could react to that chameleon as if it were something to mate with (thus acknowledging that the jerking might also be a "mating call". To be more clear, when two chameleons of different species meet they don't always recognize the sex of each other. If they would never meet in the wild (because they lived in different areas) they wouldn't be able to recognize each other but might recognize that the other one was not a male of its own species and thus not something to be aggressive with.

When chameleons are first placed together in a cage you may see very little reaction from them. The first reaction of some might be like "Am I going to get eaten? Should I run? Should I stay still? Is the "intruder" something that I should just ignore?" so the chameleon may not react at all. It has been well documented that a chameleon introduced to the cage of another won't always display aggression/mating reactions to the intruding chameleon at first. I have seen one suddenly "wake up" to the fact that an "intruder" is there and literally drop dead from what I can only assume is sudden terror.

You said..."Furthermore, my panthers didn't have a respond to his action, they simply continue doing their own thing as if he wasn't there and therefore, there's no stress factor involve"...stress in chameleons is often silent. You can't SEE changes in their adrenal glands; you can't see changes in their immune system right away. While short infrequent encounters with stress will have little affect on your chameleon, if your chameleon is stressed too often (like being in sight of another chameleon in the next cage where there is no visual barrier), he will sooner or later exhibit health issues.

Whether the head jerking was a "mating call" or not is not the prime concern here. Whether your chameleon is "gay" or not is not a prime concern. The health and welfare of your chameleons is more important.

veiledbrian May 02, 2006 09:25 PM

well stated. perhaps i could have been a tad nicer...but i was just taken back by the retar...i'll be nice...
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0.2 Chameleo Chameleo Calyptratus
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Furcifer Pardalis (Nosy Be)-Hooloovoo

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