Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I have wanted a chameleon for several years now and will probably be buying on soon. I do have some final questions though that I cannot find the answers to.

A little history of my reptile experience. I have had turtles for the last 24 years. And currently have 1 red-eared slider, 2 eastern box turtles, 1 three-toed box turtle, and a Sulcata Tortoise. So I have decent knowledge of enclosures, lighting, calcium, temp regulating and general care. (Have also owned some bearded dragons in the past)

When it comes to being a first time owner of a chameleon I have read several places that a Jackson or a veiled chameleon are most common. I am not to fond of the Jackson horns, and have read that the veiled is the more aggressive of the chameleons. So I have been looking for what other options are there. Unfortunately I cannot find a directory (with photos) that gives me a description and characteristics of each chameleon option available. Is there such an online directory? If not can anyone made a breed suggestion? I have seen some Rudis Chameleons for sale? What is their tempermate?

For an enclosure, I only want 1 so dual housing for 2 chameleons is not an issue, but I have an idea that I haven’t read an opinion about. I have a custom enclosure made for the girls (the three toed box turtle and a eastern box turtle), that would also be a great starter (for a young) chameleon cage. The setup is 3ft x 3ft x 4ft long the turtles take up about 4” of max vertical space leaving over 2 ½ feet of unused space above them. Since the turtles have a perfect bill of health and are 100% un aggressive. Could I set up a branch and leaf system throughout the enclose and let them share the space? How often doe a chameleon go down the bottom and its enclosure? Any thoughts?

I will not buy anything until I have all my questions answered so please chime in and shoot some ideas about.

Troy

OK, here are some answers:

For individual species info you can check the species profiles on these sites

http://www.adcham.com
http://www.chameleonjournal.com

Sharing the tank with your turtles would not be a great idea, mostly because at the size a tank would be suitable for a cham, they are small enough to be injured or killed by a turtle bite, the turtles may really stress such a small cham visually, and they could be exposed to bacteria from turtles they may not have any resistance to (curious chams may shoot at objects on the tank substrate and pick up stuff on their tongues). The tank would only be OK for a short time and you would need to build a screen cage anyway. The cham will need live foliage plants for drinking and for security too.

I don't know much about the caging of your turtle species, but large water pans pose drowning hazards for little chams and loose substrate tends to get picked up on tongues, ingested, and can cause intestinal impactions. Your turtles may not be aggressive, but the cham doesn't know that and may very well be intimidated by them. A separate cage would really be better. For more cham keeping info and good care articles, also check the issues of the ChameleonEzine at

http://www.chameleonnews.com

Have fun!