Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone. I have an absolutely beautiful quad cham. He big and sassy. I also have a jacksons again quite large and very happy. Due to the winter dry air they have been sharing a humidifier btween the cages. This means they are in eye shot of each other. To my suprise they have shown absolutely no signs of agression toward each other. I was cleaning out the jacksond cage and let him into the quad cage, they both proptly basked right next to each other. no puffing, darkening, ...nothing.. SO all this to say does anyone think it may be an idea to house them togther in a larger, 3',3',5' encloser desly planted. this would save great amount of room. Of coarse watching the interractions closely, or should I just skip the idea entirely. I know they are usually single animals but these two species are pretty notorious for bein with their own kind.. just a thought. would like some input especially from other quad owners thanks
Anthony

Once in a while it can work. You happen to have two species that are not super aggressive. If both are healthy and have all their needs met maybe they didn't feel threatened by each other at the time. If they need to share space long term that might change though (hormones, seasons). Over time one may outcompete the other for a good basking spot, exposure to more UVB, a bit more water, a bit more food...and one might eventually fade. It could be very subtle and you might not notice the effects until one is in trouble. I had a male deremensis and a male fischeri who shared a 5'x4'x5' heavily planted cage (couldn't find them most of the time) for several years. Neither species is terribly territorial and some fischeri have been kept in small groups. They started out being separated of course, but the fischeri kept squeezing through the divider no matter which "side" I gave him. He was just a wandering escape artist. Also, the two used really different zones in the cage. The fischeri was usually up near the lights and the deremensis lurked in the shady cooler lower areas. Finally I took out the divider and watched them like a hawk. They simply didn't mind each other. Somewhere I have a pic of them sleeping on the same perch, toes touching. If you know your individual chams really well and can be there to watch for trouble maybe, but this is not a good idea for less experienced keepers (which is why we don't recommend this to newbies).