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what i have read is that the mating process can at times be violent. what behavior is NORMAL violent matine behavoir and what is NOT normal?

tonight everything seemed to be right. i had my male outside his cage on his pothos and brought my female over to see what would happen. the male started bobbing and got starry eyed. the female maintained her peacky pumpkin color so i put him back into his cage and started the process over. this time however he fired up. the female maitained her color. i held her there think HE would change but he did NOT. taking a risk i placed her into his cage on the other side. she went ove to HIS side under the basking light. the entire time he was puffed up but othr then that no aggressive behavior. THEN once she is under the light he gets starry eyed and starts bobbing and moving his head closer. a couple times she would open her mouth but not really gaping(?). the male finally dtarted to move over the top of her, she gaped a bit then SHE ended up falling to the botom of the cage turning almost completly black. i picked her cupping herin my one hand to take her out think it was NOT time, but after a momoent in my hand she started to change back to her pumpkin color, no gaping, biting, hissing nothing agressive. so i placed her back into HIS cage on the opposite side she started ove to his side again. he saw her and puffed up and headed her way lunging at her once as he approahed over the top of her and then striking at her. i don't think he got her though. at this point my only thought was to seperate them as i felt things had turned bad. this second time around his eyes are not starry and there is no bobbing. after i got her out of his cage i held here until she seemed to calm a bit and then placed into her own cage for the night. meanwhile my male is NOW starry eyed and looking for his girl? did i pull her out too soon or should i have NOT even put them together yet?

dennis

That sounds a little rough to me. Usually, the male will do kinda what your saying, bobbing of the head and they kinda make a run for her. She girls usually try to walk away, but they walk away kinda calm. If they're gaping or opening the mouth at him, she's not ready. The male may just be a little excited since it's all new to him. Maybe let them see eachother for an hour or two first. That worked with my veileds. Every time I put those 2 veileds together it would look like everything was fine and then he would head butt her really hard and knock her to the bottom of the cage. Don't be too worried about them being a little rough unless the male starts opening his mouth at her which is generally a threat display. A few times after my panthers had mated and separated, the male will suddenly try to attack the female. He would open his mouth and chase her down, and it was not to mate. One or two times he actually nipped at her on the back. These were my Sambavas. I'm not sure that locale matters, but my Sambava males seem to be a little more aggressive than my other locales. Maybe it's a coincidence.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

HI,

I wouldnt be too worried. Animal mating is an inherently violent act. Does not necessarily mean that injury comes with it, nor does it mean that injury must be allowed. However the conduct you are describing seems normal. My veiled would mate with the female by chasing her and finally getting on top of her and performing the act (which did not take that very long by the way). There was puffing and gaping but it all came down to him getting on top of her (though a little violent no harm took place). I also saw him try to knock her down with a "head blow" several times.

I guess it is important for you to try it a couple of times (get them acquanted). You must bear in mind that there are some females that are not receptive. That is ultimately your call according to what they do, after trying several times. It is also you call to separate them and not try it any more if things get really nasty.

I have ALWAYS been under the impression that the proper introduction is to place the Male in the Female enclosure when mating..

Hi Dennis,

You must keep in mind that males are territorial about their enclosures! That is why he puffs up and opens his mouth - afterall, another cham has entered HIS domain! Then he sees it is female and the attitude usually changes.

We have several species of chameleons, and they all seem to have slightly different mating habits - but one thing is certain - the males get more easy going with experience.

With a virgin male, we have found that it is best to introduce the pair outside either's environment. We place them in seperate small trees (6 ft or so) - the male will climb down and go to the female's tree and mating behavior commences. This method has brought much less violent behavior, even if the female is not receptive as she merely moves away.

Once the males have gained some experience, we can usually introduce the females into their domain with no territorial issues. With some of our breeders, we can place the male into the female's cage - it just depends on the individual chams.

Hope this helps,
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