Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am planning to go on vacation and am trying to make chameleon care arrangements. I have an acquaintance who cares for a large number of chameleons in an awesome walk-in outdoor enclosure. It is extremely large and perfectly suited as a chameleon environment here in Southern California.

My questions are: Do you foresee problems with disease transmission if I handed over my chams to spend a week in his enclosure? Also, My two chams each live alone in their own enclosures, are home-primped primadonnas, and have never "roughed-it" and been around other chams (at least since they were 10-12 weeks old). So, do you think it would just be too shocking for them to suddenly be thrust in environment with other chameleons where they would compete for territory, brave the elements, etc.?

I am leaning against it, but just wanted to see if my concerns were valid.
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1.0 Ambanja 7 mos. - LESTER
0.1 Nosy Be 4 mos. - KUBO

See if they have cages you can use. or, if you live close to them, ask if they will stop by one or two times per day to check in. or, if they live far away, see if you can take the cages and everything there (if you are going to be away for a long time)
how long are you going away for?

I think this would be very stressful for them. Chams are very dependent on their spatial memory of their territory. If it changes a lot they can be thrown off physically. As they are doing so well where they are I would not want to upset their routines and environment. You could end up with one tiny thing causing big problems (unintentional exposure to a new bacteria, a different gutload or feeder insect, a mold, an injury from an unfamiliar cage, a previously undetected health problem blowing up because of new stress, etc). See if your friends would be willing to come to your house instead. Or, take their cages to their house and ask them to be kept indoors.