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Yemen chameleon advice please!

2K views 42 replies 9 participants last post by  mcplump 
#1 ·
Hi there im looking at gettin 2 chameleons in 2 weeks, just wanted some advice really as i have never keept them.. i currently keep leopard geckos so i do have some reptile knowledge. i have also read up on chameleons but you tend to find a lot of the information on the net varies depending on who is writing it lol. thats why i like to ask in forums as i find i get the best advice. I was planning on keeping my male and female together when they arrived, but have been advised not to keep 2 chameleons of any sex together, does anyone out there keep theres together? Also on a scale of 1-10 how difficult are they to keep as a species? i just really need to know what i am getting into so i am prepard for when they arrive. i have currently seen a 4 foot tall vivarium it has wood but a glass front, some people say that it is not godo to keep them in glass as there reflection will stress them. so i was just wondering if anyone uses mesh vivariums, my worry with this is that they may get to cold as my house can tend to get chilly somtimes, this is because of my heating. it does not affect my leos as they have glass tanks that are nicely heated. Also when it comes to breeding would you advise against breeding a pair that were from the same mother and father? i do not feel this would be right as it would be like me sleeping with my brother if i had one yuck !! but the breeder who i asked is happy to sell them as a breeding pair. all i am wondering is will this cause long term health problems..I do love any animal that comes to live with me and i want to be able to offer them the best living conditions and food etc so they can lead a happy and healthy life. Any advice would be appriciated.

Thanks guys
emily :D
 
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#2 ·
Well first of all having 2 chameleons together is a big no no, regardless of sex! If you are getting 2 you will need 2 vivarium's....

Also chameleons require loads of ventilation so a wooden viv with glass front isn't a particularly good choice. Flexariums are the best, which is what I have, coupled with a spot bulb for heat. This should provide a hot spot of 90-100f which the rest of the cage dropping to 70-75f.... This will allow the cham to regulate itself.
 
#3 ·
ok fantastic, i was just worried about the heat issue but they will have all the appropriate heating equipment, also do they need a lot of floor space or is it mainly height? i have had a look online and have seen a Exo Terra Flexarium (Full Screen Terrarium) which is 3 foot long by 4 foot high. would this be suitable for a single chameleon, also if i was to keep 2 in the future would they need totally seprate cages or could i buy a huge Exo Terra Flexarium and separate it down the middle with mesh?
 
#4 ·
to keep 2 together you would need something humongous like a green house! lol

Chameleons are arboreal therefore they prefer height to the floor space really... I have my fully grow vield in a 4ft*2.5ft*1.5ft flex which is plenty big enough for him... Of course the more room the better!

As for heating a flex you really have to keep the room warm that the cham' is in TBH. I have all my reps in one room so the temp never drops below 70 even at night....
 
#5 ·
ok well i will just get the 1 for now and get another when i have cleared more room for another tank.. unfortuantly i do not have a spare room that i can dedicate to my reptiles, they live in the bedroom aloong with 2 large fish tanks. the room is quite large, but i can not garrentee to be able to keep the room temp at 70 at all times. is there anyways around this? i dont want to take a chameleon on and make it poorly :? i do really want one and i will make any adjustments that i can to suit it. but keeping the room at 70 at all times may be a problem.. ie it may get a bit hotter and it may somtimes get a bit colder..
 
#6 ·
They can survive anything as low as 65f really.. but you'll generally find that only happens in winter! If ur temps drop lower than that you could use a ceramic bulb suspended above the flex or at the side to 'pump' heat into the flex.... Make sure this is on a stat' mind as they get very hot!
 
#7 ·
i have to disagree with welshgaz (sorry mate!! :) )

you can keep pairs together, i do and have done for years..i currently have 1.1 a 0.2 and a 1.2 plus another female. they all do really well together and never fight..in fact the males are a lot calmer and more managable due to the fact they have females..

best viv you can get is a wood one!!...for a pair this would have to be 4x2x2 minimum to keep em happy..glass doors are no good though and one of them should be replaced with a mesh door or you can even replace both..(but don't have to for yemens!).

you will need a big vent at the back to let the air flow through...

as for brother and sister they will mate if put together, they will have babies, the babies will be healthy but there could be some that may have deformities...dilution of the blood line is not recommended but it can and does happen...it is best to get an unrelated pair of possible and with yemens this is easy enough to do...

you will find a lot of conflicting advise about yemens but i can only tell you what i know from experience...
 
#10 ·
thanks guys you have both been helpful :D all i can say is everything i have been told is 50/50 some people do it this way others doing it a complete opposite. i guess its all from personal experiance which is what i am lacking.. i do like the sound of the mesh cages but worry about heat and then with the wooden i worry about ventilation..I will not buy a pair from the same breeder i will buy 2 females and try and keep them together for a while then try and introduce a male at least that way i wil know if the females get on and if not i can separate them. Would like to keep them together but i suppose it is trial and error.. i guess it alldepends on the chameleons attitude as well. I just dont want to get them, seriously f***k up and end up damaging their health thats all.. :roll:
 
#11 ·
always gonna be two sides! but hey that's what is good about the forum you then get to make up your own mind...

two females will still lay eggs even without a male and when they are pregnant they get very grumpy and may not put up with the other female..i have never had a problem but it can happen...

the male will be happy with any female he can get...mine is currently infatuated by chloe(the female in with him) but if i put in someone else he would forget about her in a heart beat! bless him...

you do not need to worry about ventilation in a wooden viv if you make yourself a mesh door and take one glass one out...put a big vent in the back and the air will flow through really well...flexariums although they are great for ventilation are not ideal for yemens as they do not hold the heat..they are however good for things like jacksons and elliots which like it relatively coolish..i only use a flexarium in the summer for putting in the garden so the chams can sunbathe..
 
#12 ·
Thank you the information has been more then helpful, what i think i will do, is set up the vivarium next weekend and post the pictures that way i will have another week to get the chams home perfect.. i like the idea of putting them outside in the summer for a few hours in a mesh cage, i never thought of that..bet they love it :D
 
#13 ·
the vast majority of first time chameleon keepers who buy two chameleons and put them into one viv..

end up with one dead chameleon.. or two vivs...

please reconsider,

get it right with one chameleon first before you risk two of them..

chameleons are naturally soliatary animals... they do not NEED company... it can be hard to tell a chameleon who is not happy, they tend to get by for a while, and then die very quickly..

babies are not so bad to be kept in pairs or small groups, but for the majority of people, the best way to keep adults, is singly..

Nerys
 
#14 ·
The chameleons i am buying will be 5 weeks old so still little. I am unsure as to wether i will be buying 1 or 2. If i buy 2 they will be sisters that have been living together, i would much rathier buy 2 like that then introduce another 1 at a later stage, my vivarium is going to be very large, as i have issues with keeping animals in small cages. This will be somthing that i will take a lot of thought over, as i have allready separeted my 2 baby female leos out of fear that one was not getting enough food and being bullied, this may not of been the case but as they are so young i do not wish to chance it. This topic has so many mixed views about keeping chameleons together, so it is hard to decide what to do. i think i will keep reading up and thinking about what to do. So all comments are welcome and appriciated.
 
#15 ·
Actually thinking about it, i will just get 1 female.. i am going to do this the sensible way.. i can allways buy more and i have room to add more cages.. lets get 1 and get to grips with that.. I would feel horrible if they got ill. so its nuch easier for me to monitor 1 and learn the best way to care for them, instead of stressing out about 2 not eating or getting ill etc ...
:wink:
 
#17 ·
Thanks for that, its really useful. I have had a look on the internet but had not stumbled across that page :lol: im going to buy plenty of books next week also, so they are on hand and that way i can have a good read. :wink:
 
#20 ·
Female regardless of the fact there is no male will produce eggs... Therefore you have there women problems lol. You will need to provide lay boxes and then there are problems that if they don't want to lay because conditions aren't right they will become egg bound which is a major problem...

My advice would be get a male... You can get used to the husbandry of owning a cham' without the need to worry about eggs etc...

This is also my view and I've read other say it as well but I think males are slightly more colourful as well.....
 
#22 ·
and then just to throw a spanner in the works along comes me! :)

i would always go for a female if you want a yemen that will not be a royal pain in the ass..males are notoriously grumpy whereas the females simply do not get like this...they have a different outlook on life and basically just get on with it no matter what! i own 5 female yemens and they are all like little dogs...they are inquisitive friendly and don't get stressed as easily...

people always say to get a male because the female will have eggs and could get eggbound but with the correct husbandry this isn't likely to happen. and at the end of the day you will have a chameleon that won't hiss when they are in a bit of a strop for god only knows what reason!

The amount of worry a male cham can cause it unbelievable...they hunger strike, they sulk and if they don't get any for a while they are even worse....

yes they are prettier but they are also bigger and grumpier!

oh and don't buy your first chameleon until it is eight weeks old....if you had owned chams before then you could but uptil the age of 8 weeks they are reasonably fragile so is not recommended. the reason i say eight weeks is that usually they have sorted themselves out by this point and are less likely to have unforeseen problems. all depends how they have been kept..

and one more thing there is no reason why you cannot keep 2 yemens together!!! they are not antisocial animals in fact all my pairs have developed bonds between them..i have had two males that have lost their mates (one was just taken out of viv) they stopped eating, just paced around and werent themselves....that is not the sign antisocial chameleons...may not be everyones cup of tea but there you go...

There is only one commonly available chameleon that i would seperate and this is the flap neck...the others can exist in pairs or small groups...

this is just my opinion, but i have been looking after chams for 10 years and i would like to think i know my stuff...bet hey you can never know everything! :)
 
#43 ·
hi mate, my name is Ami i really need to speak to you, my email is amirali.mcnoun@gmail.com i found your article below really interesting, i have got EXACTLY the same problem and need some HELP ASAP. i have one angry male and one LOVELY girl. they are living with me for the past two days. i am now thinking of seperating them.. Please help me, i dont want her to have egg problems. and if i seperate them, i dont want to make her upsset.
cheers for your help

and then just to throw a spanner in the works along comes me! :)

i would always go for a female if you want a yemen that will not be a royal pain in the ass..males are notoriously grumpy whereas the females simply do not get like this...they have a different outlook on life and basically just get on with it no matter what! i own 5 female yemens and they are all like little dogs...they are inquisitive friendly and don't get stressed as easily...

people always say to get a male because the female will have eggs and could get eggbound but with the correct husbandry this isn't likely to happen. and at the end of the day you will have a chameleon that won't hiss when they are in a bit of a strop for god only knows what reason!

The amount of worry a male cham can cause it unbelievable...they hunger strike, they sulk and if they don't get any for a while they are even worse....

yes they are prettier but they are also bigger and grumpier!

oh and don't buy your first chameleon until it is eight weeks old....if you had owned chams before then you could but uptil the age of 8 weeks they are reasonably fragile so is not recommended. the reason i say eight weeks is that usually they have sorted themselves out by this point and are less likely to have unforeseen problems. all depends how they have been kept..

and one more thing there is no reason why you cannot keep 2 yemens together!!! they are not antisocial animals in fact all my pairs have developed bonds between them..i have had two males that have lost their mates (one was just taken out of viv) they stopped eating, just paced around and werent themselves....that is not the sign antisocial chameleons...may not be everyones cup of tea but there you go...

There is only one commonly available chameleon that i would seperate and this is the flap neck...the others can exist in pairs or small groups...

this is just my opinion, but i have been looking after chams for 10 years and i would like to think i know my stuff...bet hey you can never know everything! :)
 
#23 ·
ok i am starting to get confused!! :? lol... I have always thought that you could keep most reptiles together providing they are not male. My original idea was to buy a pair male and female and keep them together, but then later decided to get 2 females and add the male at a later stage. I have been told not to keep chams together by around 4 people but on the other hand about 4-5 have said that they have had no trouble. I really do want 2 chams in the same enclosure to start with, as i did not just want to keep 1. But i am now so totally unsure as to what to do. im thinking maybe just do it how i feel would be best. i suppose that its trial and error, i am going to stick to my originall idea as it seems to be a 50/50 topic. i will watch them closely and the worst thing that will happen is having to buy another vivarium, but i will have a holding viv anyway just incase it gets desprate and 1 needs to be taken out immediatly. im guessing they are sisters and that they have livedwith each other since they hatched so they will be used to each other. I will wait until they get here and take it one step at a time and see what happens.. i think that may be best....
 
#24 ·
bugger off you! :lol: (BELIAL)

Go with a male :lol: Mines a puppy dog! He'll come out as soon as you open the viv and has never even gone to bite me.....We've been lucky with him though but we have had him since he was very young and has kinda got used to us sticking our hands in I guess
 
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