Minimum Female Chameleon Cage Size
Chameleon Cage Size usually isn’t that controversial of a topic. It is generally accepted that bigger is better. There are a few side topics that sometimes come up.
One is minimum size for females.
Often, females of the species get a smaller minimum size because their body is smaller in species. This is most commonly seen in panther chameleons where the female is noticeably smaller than the male. But I have opted to remove this smaller size from the Panther Chameleon Care Summary. Female Panther Chameleons have been successfully kept in 18″ x 18″ x 36″ cages so the care sheets that list this smaller size are not wrong. I have elected to remove this option from the Chameleon Academy care summary because it is such a minor jump in cost and space to give them the same 2x2x4’ size as the males and it will be a huge increase in quality of life for your chameleon.
So is it accurate to list 2x2x4 as a minimum for females? For this I am taking artistic license. The spirit of a Care Summary is to provide a guide for chameleon husbandry to the best of the authors knowledge. Minimum cage size is a pure value judgement based on how well the chameleon will do in that size. For proper chameleon husbandry advice I balance my recommendations between what is best for the chameleon and what is realistic for most people to implement. In the particular case of female panther chameleon husbandry, my judgement says that the best living experience and your enjoyment with your chameleon will come from the readily available 2′ x 2′ x 4′ or 36″ x 18″ x 36″ cage sizes. I cannot think of a chameleon species that is available to the herpetocultural community where the size difference is so great that it justifies a different minimum cage size for females. So, going forward, I will not be presenting a different minimum cage size for females.
Conclusion
So, does this mean all the other caresheets that list minimum female cage sizes as smaller than male cage sizes are wrong? Does this mean that all the years of me saying that a 18″x18″x36″ for a female panther chameleon was wrong and I need to go back and change everything? No, of course not. The smaller size will work. This is a 100% case of the caresheet author (me) making a judgement as to what is best for your chameleon’s life and your enjoyment of the chameleon keeping experience. This is a minor change that returns great dividends to both you and your chameleon. So, this is my choice for what information I feel best about passing on to the beginner chameleon community.
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