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What size cage should we use for chameleon hatchlings? As we evaluate our husbandry to provide an enriching life for our chameleons we need to start at how we care for them from day 1. I talk about how we should be starting off our chameleons from the moment they leave the egg.

Note: This topic is discussed in the weekly Chameleon Academy Newsletter and is reviewed in a Saturday Chameleon Workshop on YouTube. Click here to join in with the weekly newsletter discussions: Chameleon Academy Newsletter sign up

In this video I have a presentation and a live discussion with the chameleon community about size of cage for chameleon hatchlings. Steve Hefner joins me as he raised both his Calumma brevicorne hatchlings individually in adult size cages.

First, let’s review what Small Batch Breeding is. Small Batch Breeding is a term coined by TC. Houston from Reptile Mountain to describe the act of creating a breeding project around quality of life for the reptiles instead of maximizing the production quantity. The goal is maximum quality of life for the reptile and maximum satisfaction and fulfillment for the keeper. The core self-discipline to Small Batch Breeding is to establish the high level of husbandry for an individual chameleon and then expand only as far as you can replicate that high standard of care. We all know that the more reptiles we have to care for the more minimalistic the care has to be so we can fit more chameleons into a set amount of space and time that we have to care for them. So our one or two initial chameleons can live in luxury, but all the babies live in bare wall small cage with a plastic plant sprig because that is what caring for 30 babies requires with the time we have available. The Small Batch Breeding philosophy says to scale the number of babies you care for to maintain a high level of husbandry instead of scaling your level of husbandry to match a number of babies.

The reason why we have so much to discuss to implement this philosophy in the chameleon world is that it is difficult for us to control the number of babies we get. Just one clutch of panther eggs suddenly shoots us into minimalistic cage set-ups just to survive it. So, Small Batch Breeding is not as easy as saying it is a good idea. And exploring how we implement small batch breeding concepts in the real world chameleon community is my project for the next couple years. And through this exploration we should get a community-wide sense for what kind of hatchling husbandry is possible. Keepers won’t keep their hatchlings in large, lush enclosures unless they can see examples as to how that works. And we also have to separate the concept of ideal husbandry from the black and white thought that if a hatchling is not in a large and lush enclosure that it is being improperly kept. You can still provide a healthy, enriched hatchling-hood in a small cage. The importance is understanding the options within the enriched husbandry model so you can make an educated decision as to which is best for you. And, yes, that is what today’s podcast episode is all about.

If we are going to give our chameleons the best life possible then we have to start with day 1 of hatching. There is almost no overall chameleon community experience in treating chameleon babies with a top husbandry mindset. The only people who have been working with hatchlings were the breeders who had a production mindset and Jackson’s Chameleon keepers that were surprised by babies – and they were in a panic mindset! It has only been recently that we have started to treat the beginning months of a chameleon’s life as special and worthy of attention rather than a stage we need to get through quickly to get to the sales weight.

So, let’s get on with talking about caging for hatchling chameleons. To start, we need to totally reset our community’s perspective! There are a number of well meaning myths that have not necessarily hurt chameleon babies, but have created much more work than necessary for the keeper! These myths are deeply ingrained so, if you have been around for a while I ask you step back from what you have thought is true for many years, and consider a different perspective. And know that everything I am talking about here has been implemented repeatedly over the years so what you are about to hear is being used by people other than me right now. None of this is an idealistic thought. This has been standard husbandry around my place for about ten years now.

The biggest correction we need to make is in cage size. The mantra for chameleon cage size “bigger is better” applies to hatchlings as well. Your hatchling will be in paradise if you put it in its adult size cage from day 1. That is not a surprise if you have been listening to my podcasts over the years, but let’s face the general protests head on.

1. Finding food. One support for using a small cage for hatchlings is that the hatchling will have trouble finding food in the large cage. That does sound reasonable at first, but in practice is a complete non-issue. That baby chameleon’s primary job is to eat and grow big as fast as possible. There is, literally, nothing going on inside a 2x2x4 or even a 4x2x4 cage that will escape the notice of a hatchling chameleon. Remember, that hatchling has to survive in the forests of Madagascar. They are excellent at seeing where there is any food and if there are any predators.  They are looking far beyond 4’ to assess danger and food sources! Create a food station in your huge cage and feed them in the same place every day. You will find the baby knows where to show up for chow. Now, it is true that if you release a bunch of crickets on the side of the cage and they disperse the baby won’t find them. But that is true for any size cage. There are better ways to mitigate this issue than to relegate your baby into a small cage. It is a reason to get a feeder run cup! That is a feeder dish with a vertical backing that bugs can crawl up. In addition to the insects I put into a feeder run cup, I’ll be setting up a fruit fly bar that has constant food for them. I get a deli cup and fill it with mashed banana. I then put it close to a branch and, during the warm months of the year, wild fruit flies naturally congregate. So, if you set up a feeding station, they will find it!
2. They will stress in big cages. I am so sorry for the myriad of reptiles, not just chameleons, that are suffering under their keepers believing this is a thing. Yes, reptiles will stress if they do not have a place to hide. It doesn’t matter how big the cage is! Your reptile stressing about being in a big cage means you are not setting up the cage correctly! If they want to hide in cork rounds then give them cork rounds in a large cage! Chameleons love being able to crawl around so just provide the proper plant cover for your chameleon to feel safe and the large cage becomes a paradise. Remember your little chameleon is nature’s snack. Everything – even large insects – will eat him. So, yeah, wide open spaces will stress him out! So, don’t make him live in wide open spaces! The large cage is not there for you to enjoy air space. It is there for you to create microclimates for your baby to choose from. So, bottom line, the whole concept of large cages stressing reptiles out is a damaging myth that occurs across the reptile community. It isn’t the cage. It is how you set it up.
3. Hatchlings will fall and hurt themselves. This is just a no. Chameleons do not just fall and hatchlings are no exception. I understand the concern, but this just isn’t a thing. Yes, unhealthy chameleons may not be able to climb or may have neurological issues, but these are outlier cases to be dealt with as appropriate. We do not limit proper husbandry for healthy chameleons for this.

The bottom line is that for many years I have raised hatchlings in 2x2x4 cages and other people in the Chameleon Academy have done the same. The benefits of doing so are significant.

1. One big cage. If you start them in the adult size cage you do not have to build up two set-ups. I spent so much time figuring out how to lay out a good, cost effective transition between a small cage and the adult cage. Many of you might remember me doing this in 2020. Well, I just asked myself why should I or anyone go through this effort when it would be easier – and better for the hatchling – to just set up the adult size cage? The answer is that there is no good reason!
2. Microclimates. You are able to create a greater number of microclimates and gradients in a larger cage. The smaller the cage the fewer the microclimates you can create. Breeders have this challenge when they use professional breeder nursery cages. They have about two microclimates they can offer. And so, it takes experience and skill to ensure these two are the ideal microclimates. Those are the skills that professional breeders develop. But, if you are a pet keeper or casual breeder then don’t bother developing those skills. Use your time to learn how to create multiple microclimates to give your hatchling a better, more enriched, life!
3. Standard equipment. You can use standard lights and hydration equipment. A big problem with smaller cages is the our standard lights and misters can easily overpower a small chameleon body in a small space. This is why there is a skill involved in small caging. In a large caging we may want to ease off on the UVB or heat going into the cage to account for a little thing crawling on the top screen, but that is a simple raising of the lights and then lowering them in a few months when they are bigger and don’t crawl upside down any more.

Now, let’s address a valid reason for being hesitant to introduce your new baby into a dense forest where they might disappear for days on end. The hesitancy is that you won’t be able to observe them as easily in a large cage with dense plant life they can hide behind. And, yes, this is true. The denser the plants in the cage the harder it is to observe them on demand. And so, there are two responses I have to this. The first is that you can thin out the plants if you want. Make sure you have the dense leaf layer necessary to give them protection from the UVB and give them a sense of security that they can hide, but with a hatchling that doesn’t mean the entire cage needs to be filled. It just means there needs to be a big enough clump. And with a clump or two you have a pretty good idea where to look for them if they are not trucking around in the open. I use the double pot method in my cages where I mount a pot to the wall using a branch structure connected to Dragon Ledges which are anchors that allow attaching plants to screen walls. I mount an empty pot to this branch structure and I plant my plant in an identical pot. That way I can just lift the potted plant out whenever I want to replace it. So you could have plants specifically for your hatchlings for the first few months and then change the plants when your baby gets older. So you have a lot of options.

The second response to your baby getting lost in the leaves is, so what? I consider that a good thing. I go full into making my cage a densely planted forest with a clear area up top for basking. There are days where I won’t see my chameleon for three days at a time, but they always show up, especially around the feeding dish. They know how to take care of themselves and all you have to do is let them! The more freedom you give them to take care of themselves the more they will take care of themselves. You just provide light, food, and water. If you set up the cage with all the microclimates I am talking about, you don’t need to see your chameleon every day. Just look for the poops and you know things are well.

Now, what happens when you have more hatchlings than you have space for adult size cages.. In the case of small batch breeding we may decide we want to raise, for example, six babies and we want to do it in a way that is enriching for both them and us. Let’s not forget that we are doing this for personal fulfillment! For that we probably have to use smaller cages. If you can have six adult size cages then go for it!  But if you are planning on raising six up and only keeping one or two then you can provide an enriched hatchling-hood in smaller cages. You just have less time with them before they need to go to a new home or have a cage upgrade. The chameleon commandment “One chameleon per cage” applies to baby chameleons. So you would need as many cages as you have chameleons. My favorite small size cage is the 16” x 16” x 30” size. This gives enough space that you can create some microclimates, there is growth room for the chameleon, and the regular lights don’t over power the living space.

The way you make a great chameleon living space is getting a standard Ficus, Umbrella Plant, or any other dense leafed plant that reaches up to about 75% of the cage height. You want the top 4-6 inches to be open with a network of branches, but then there to be a thick canopy of leaves. I will get two 6” potted plants and put them next to each other. This helps the leaf density. I put a network of skinny branches right below the top to discourage the chameleon from climbing upside down. They’ll do whatever they want but I am trying to convince them not to expose their belly to the UVB and heat lamps.

Our final level is professional breeding. I define professional breeding as someone with the intention of having multiple successive clutches and keeping track of expense and revenue. In this case you can and should consider infrastructure an investment. There will always be a trend to try and get away with the cheapest set-up possible. This is a short term philosophy because when you factor in the need to replace the cheap equipment you end up at a loss. And if you are truly business minded and are actually putting a value to your time then you quickly see the value of getting solid equipment that will last for years. Professional nursery cage systems are generally baker’s rack compatible since the first Dragon Strand nursery cages in 2013. They’ll be around 6.5” x 17” x 17”, though every manufacturer will have different dimensions. And that seems a bit small compared to what we have been talking about. And it is. But this size works because it is better to have individually kept smaller spaces than group raised in a larger cage. If the chameleons are individually kept they will settle in to even a small space. Breeders can use a smaller space because they have an established customer base and will have a customer for the chameleon before it out grows the small cage. That is one of the huge advantages of getting a larger cage if you are a casual breeder. It gives you more time to sell the chameleon before the chameleon out grows the cage. But, a professional breeder has the marketing in place to be able to reliably sell their babies before they out grow the cage.

Now, I would like to make a mention of cohabitation. When I am making my podcasts, videos, and care guides I am providing you the best husbandry possible. This is what we should be striving for. But life does not always go the way we want it to go. And, even if you plan to house your entire clutch that is hatching individually, what happens when another clutch syncs the seasonal schedule and hatches early? What happens when your male Jackson’s Chameleon suddenly gives birth because he is really a Machakos Hills female Jackson’s Chameleon with three horns? Life gets messy and, yes, sometimes you are put into a situation where you need to put babies together. They are not going to suddenly burst into flames or drop dead if they are cohabited together. Yes, they will be stressed. The stress grows as they get older and is more intense the less room they have to get away from each other. Just know the stress clock starts ticking once you introduce them to this low grade stress situation. I have to talk in black and white terms because there is such a strong human desire to make things easy on ourselves and to put living things in pairs or groups like we humans like. So there is a strong desire for us to put chameleons in cohabitation situations. But, as convenient as it is for us, it is not proper husbandry for chameleons. So, the second they are in a cage together you have introduced them to a low grade stress that will build on itself. This is especially insidious with Jacksons Chameleons because they do not show the stress much, but are affected much more by the stress. This is why Jackson’s babies have a reputation for being sensitive. Many people report a big die off at three months. That is the limit that Jackson’s babies can handle the cohabitation. It is amazing how the people who individually raise Jackson’s chameleon babies do not report a die off at three months. Cohabitation stress is real and your chameleons will pay the price if you want to ask for the scientific study that proves it before you believe it. This really isn’t a power play where we are picking sides in some strange chameleon community political game. And I am sorry that that dynamic has surfaced in some corners. This is not an attempt to knock down breeders who have been group raising. It is, plainly, the truth that we should not be raising chameleons together. That said….and I reiterated all of that as a preface to what I am about to say…if you have to keep babies together. Keep them in as large of a cage as possible and as heavily planted as possible. Yes, they will find each other to cause trouble, but there is much more space to escape. And with multiple feeding stations a bully cannot guard all of them. If you have multiple cages that you are splitting the clutch up between it is better to have four per cage rather than two per cage to spread out the bullying. Make sure there are ample resources not so there is enough for all members in the cage, but so there is too much for one to try and horde. Yes, the dominate member may exert their dominance by eating the food the submissive one is trying to eat. It gets that subtle and no, you are not going to be able to catch it all. By time you notice the bullying it has been going on like this for a while. So, if you have to house babies together here is your check list:

1. as large of a cage as is possible
2. As densely planted as possible
3. Group in no less than four individuals
4. Ample resources meaning food, water, and basking
5. Make it as temporary as possible

And, for the sake of our community’s future, when you keep them alive for three months don’t decide that you are a genius and cohabitation is just fine. Keeping chameleons alive in their tolerance zone is not a trophy and is not a solid foundation for our husbandry! The only husbandry that will make its way forward into our future is the husbandry that is focused on what is best for the chameleon. Even if you have to go outside of this here and there, correct to the ideal as soon as possible and stay the course. There is the reality of what we have to do in day to day compromises and there is the vision we keep our eyes on and go forward to. Stay true to what is best for our chameleons.

I will be producing more episodes on hatchling care as providing enriching care for the first six months is a cornerstone of the Small Batch Breeding concept and it is a part of the lifecycle we in the chameleon community need to catch up on because, well, most of us haven’t had much experience with this stage. But that is okay. Having a growth stage is what makes life interesting!

Thank you for being part of this chameleon academy outreach. As always, every week has a topic which is presented in the weekly chameleon academy email newsletter. You can join the conversation by subscribing tot the newsletter yourself. The newsletter is a serious outreach for me. I know you are used to getting newsletters that are haphazardly thrown together to check a to-do box. But I put a great deal of effort into figuring out what is best for the community, where I want to take my herpetoculture, and writing substantial educational newsletters. So, try it out and see if it gives you the chameleon fix you are looking for!

And with that, I think it is time to send you back out into the world to be excellent to each other!

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