Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Everyone!
I was thinking about ordering a trio (1.2) of Jackson chameleons, for a breeding project. Ive heard they bear live young, which seems rather conveinent. So, I was just curious on what size cage I should get for all of them. Would a 2 by 2 by 4 be adequete for all of them...or would I have to go even larger? Can I even keep them all in the same enclosure? Thanks you so much, and I would really appreciate your much needed input.
-Michele
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2.0 veiled chameleons (zebu and godzilla)
4.0 cinnamin blue faced button quail

I assume you mean J. xantholophus?

Although ther have been some people who claim to keep
Jackson's together, I would N0T recommend it. I have talked to
people in Hawaii who have them living in their backyards and the
male will almost constantly harrass the females during the
breeding seasons. At least in the wild, the female can move away
from the male and not have to endure the somewhat constant
stress.

The size of cage you describe should be okay...IF you have
one cage for each of the three.

You also mention that having live birth would be convenient....
although you don't have to incubate eggs, dealing with chameleons
that have live births is not as easy as you may think. They can
still have problems with the pregnancy and the young are often
harder to raise than those that came from eggs.

Here's a site that gives you some information and links to
information about them living in the wild too.
http://ADCHAM.com/html/taxonomy/species/chjacksonixanth.html

Good luck with them!

If you really want to do this plan on building an outdoor greenhouse or turn over a bedroom to them and fill it with potted trees and/or shrubs. If your local climate ranges beyond the temp and humidity requirements of jackson's, you'll have to install climate controls too. Trying to cage them together is extremely risky due to social stress and competition. You would have to separate your females once they were gravid anyway. Live bearing chams are not necessarily easier to deal with than egg layers. Think of it this way: the eggs develop and are carried internally by the female for the entire "incubation" period, but can be subject to rupture and binding just as in species that lay. I'm not saying this is impossible to do, but will be more complicated than it might appear at first.