Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, all. I have a male veiled that is about 4 months old and am in the process of buying a 1-2 month old female veiled from lllreptile. My question is, should i house them seperately(after she grows larger) or would i be ok keeping them together(again, when she is larger)?
I posed this question to a worker at the East Bay Vivarium in berkeley, CA. and i was told that it would be ok to house them together as long as the female is the same size as the male.
Is what the worker told me correct? i was under the impression that male veileds should only be housed by themselves... so hopefully you can see the dilemna i am in. thank you guys for any help you can provide.

Hi,

First off, we are set against places selling the 1-2 month old chams. The highest mortality rate is up to 12 weeks of age. We ship after they are 3 months of age.

Housing together is okay if the chams are the same size but only up to a certain age. By 3 months, they are competing for food. If your male is twice her age and size - he will most likely intimidate her and she will not get her share. By the time she gets a bit older and bigger - he will still be double her size. Females are generally smaller than males anyway - so she will never catch up.

Food for thought...
Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

It just is too stressful for them. It may not show up right away but will catch up to them sooner or later. The best bet is two screen cages set up side by side and you can visually block the chams from each other using a towel or cloth ect. between the two cages. You can put a 48 inch light like reptisun 5.0 across the two cages and save $$$ by only buying one bulb going across both tanks. You will need a heat light for each but just go with a regular clear bulb for that.
As for the cham I would strongly recommend you buy a three month or older cham. Young chams are delicate by nature and sometimes die for no reason at that age. Many places like to sell them at that age so they get paid for chams that were never going to be strong enough to survive anyway. Once they hit the three month mark they get much easier to keep alive. Also make sure you get a photo of the cham you are being sent. If the seller refuses it may be that the cham is sickly or a runt or too thin.
Good luck.
Sonia