Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lately, my chams have been doing everything to get out of their cage. Today, I came home to find both of them sleeping outside of it. My male on the large plant I use for their out-of-cage enticement, and muy female is sleeping ON THE FLOOR under the radiator. Should I be worried (other than about her getting burned if the thing ever comes on)? There are a ton of plants & climbing places for her to go, but she seems to prefer the floor. Once they are asleep, I try not todisturb them so that they feel safe outside the cage, but I can't leave her under the radiator...
Any ideas?
~C

secure the cage door with something?

If cham is sleeping on the floor of the enclosure she could be sick if there sleeping in the middle of the day also they might not have enough places to hide or could be too hot/cold.
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0.1.0. Green Iguana (Ziggy)
0.1.0. Bearded Dragon (Dina)
1.0.0. Mali Uromastyx (unnamed)
1.0.0. Crested Gecko (Ilik)
1.0.0. Leopard Gecko (unnammed)
1.0.0. Veiled Chameleon (Bonzaii)
0.0.1. Eastern Painted Turtle (Piccasso)
0.0.1. Common Snapping Turtle (Spike)
0.0.11. Hermit Crabs (unnamed)
0.0.2. Goldfish
0.0.2. African Dwarf Frogs (unnamed)
0.0.8. Assorted Tropical Fish
0.2.0. Dogs(Brandie & Molly)
1.1.1. Birds

Here is Emma's latest spot to sleep... it always takes me a while to figure out where she is on any given day; it's always a different spot. I hate to not give them some free-roaming time, but if I have to keep playing "where's the chameleon" every night, it may come to an end soon...

For sure tighten your cage security, all that dust there cannot be good for her lungs, Even if you stress her i suggest getting her beck into here cage, I suggest either building/buying bigger cages or make better setups with mre hiding spots.
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0.2 Cats (Moora and Twitch)
0.1 Dogs (Maria)
soon to be 1.0 Panther Chameleon (Yoda)

I am working on getting a bigger cage, or just a second cage, but b/c of limited funds, I am going to have to wait for the herp show comming up in Novemeber, where I hope to get something suitable for less than the cost of having to order one online.
It's not that she gets out of her enclosure on her own, I leave the door open when someone is home b/c i KNOW the caging I have is not ideal for the 2 of them. I had hoped that putting a bunch of plants around & above the current cage would keep her near it, but she wants nothing to do with the plants near there, and instead prefers the plant-less corner of the room...

as i am sure you know, two in a cage does not work and could explain the "likes" to sleep on the floor.
also...
I have had a few tree frogs and whenever one would get out of their enclosure i would find them dead in a corner of the room. I really don't think that they "liked" the corner of the room.

get the two seperated ASAP

scott

That is the funniest cham pic I've seen. She looks so silly!

Diesel is sleeping in a funny position tonight. His tail's stretched out and grabbing a branch up higher than his butt, and his butt's higher than his head, plus he's shoved his head into the corner. What a loony!
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

How big is the cage they are in? How old are they? She looks like a full adult and is probably very stressed by having the male in the same cage - you HAVE to change this. From the looks of your girl she may very well be gravid (eggs) and going down means she is looking for a place to lay. If she is not provided this (a laying tub) you can end up with an eggbound and dead cham.

You should have had the funds and forethought to be prepared for this before you got them. I am not going to chew you out b/c what is done is done, but if you want to keep these chams and make sure they are healthy you really need to do something. The fact that they are always out says a lot. I can leave Luna's door wide open with her climbing rope attached and somethimes she will wander and other times perfectly happy to stay in her cage.

In the meantime... you can get reptarium (certainly not my first choice, but better than nothing) or screen cages (better choice in my opinion), fairly inexpensive on ebay (see link). Stress may not show right away but it can manifest in many diseases and nutritional problems. An adult veiled should be in nothing smaller than 2x2x4' screen cage.

If you want to give them roaming room set up a jungle gym. Go to my photo gallery to see the basics. gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?user=28017&cat=500&subcat=418You can use window cord, bungie cord, whatever they can easily maneuver on. I use cup hooks in the ceiling to loop the rope (make sure it is secure!) and since they prefer to go up I really don't worry about her climbing down the screen to the floor the ONLY time she did this was when she GRAVID. Just make sure they are back in at least an hour before lights out so they can bask and drink (especially important if out in a dry room).

Can you also tell us about the rest of your setup? Food, supplements, gutload, lights, water humidity, etc. If you have already posted this direct us to that post (can't read and remember everyone!

lele

here is a listing on Ebay. You don't have to do the bidding thing if they have an option to "[Buy Now" price.
ebay cages

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)