Do Chameleons have the ability to show affection to their owners?
- Thread starter DChalo
- Start date
donnak0125
New Member
The male and females think their babies are tasty treats. The babies who are shy and hide from everything are the ones who live. I can't believe a person would allow that baby to sit on that Jackson's horn, he would get eaten without a doubt. I've seen it on natures docs on TV as well (it was sad, but the natural world is brutal).
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steelheadchaser
Member
Mine is into rock, especially anything by Whitesnake.
My Veiled was a former member of The Chameleons
donnak0125
New Member
A saw a cham giving birth to live babies on a documentary (appeared to be in the wild). She didn't even look back to see what was comming out. The babies just dropped whereever, some got hung-up on branches and some falling down to the grownd. They were covered with a slippery afterbirth but they had to manage on their own. The female I saw didn't attemt to clean them, she acted as if she where having a BM... Not at all like an alligator or some other more protective reptiles.
jojackson
New Member
I tend to think the old saying applies..."familiarity breeds contempt".
Regular presence of the carer seems to sink in that you are a non-threat.
Since lizards communicate largely via body posture aka body language,
they come to 'recognise' you by your action/movements.
Freinds of mine entering the room where my cham lives always spark alert and nervous behaviour along with those darker colors, not so if its myself or family members.
What ought to concern you is that your lizard shows darker colors while in the cage. Your lizards cage should be a place of serenity/safety and your chams body language should generally reflect this with those lighter 'relaxed' colors.
Any apparently odd behaviours should be investigated immeadiately and my personal method is to always re-examine its enviroment first.
Darker colors have various meanings and by examining its enviromental conditions, you can rule out most, for example, has its heat source been bumped/moved, bulb blown, new bulb? or vines/perches moved through regular use and now too far from the source to provide adequate heat? Is it climbing toward the heat? Darker colors may indicate its trying to warm up, spending more time doing so that it normally does.
conversely, there may be other factors, such as, plants it uses for cover have become broken and no longer feel safe, or perhaps your uv lighting has passed its peak output and is no longer up to the job? etc etc you get the idea.
As can be seen from many of my posts, im a big beleiver in daily observation,
some may say, slightly obsessive
This allows me to 'read' my chams behaviours and to notice anything 'not right' very quickly before it becomes a detrimental issue. This, along with a consideration of its natural behaviours,guides me well with its daily husbandry and has proven a reliable technique.
Regards love, affection, im not sure these apply at all since a lizard does not recognise another species excepting as a possible threat or food or a benign part of its enviroment.
Its a part of our human nature that we perceive things through 'human colored glasses' since we cant perceive any other way. Attributing human emotions and intelligence, self awareness etc to the behaviours of other species is a common and forgivable error, we are human afterall!
Here is where unbiased consideration of your lizards natural behaviours and abilities will guide you in translating the true meanings of its behaviours.
Trust comes under the first paragraph of my response here.
Cheers
donnak0125
New Member
I suspect, at best, my chams have thought of me as a large, warm, safe, rock (only softer) that provides treats and interesting places on which to climb (my hair & head) and warm, dark places to hide and sleep (in my shirt, or PJs). That's fine with me, I don't mind being the provider of those things if they enjoy it! They provide me with so much company and entertainment and I love them even if they don't/can't love me back. They make me happy!
donnak0125
New Member
I tend to think the old saying applies..."familiarity breeds contempt".
Regular presence of the carer seems to sink in that you are a non-threat.
Since lizards communicate largely via body posture aka body language,
they come to 'recognise' you by your action/movements.
Freinds of mine entering the room where my cham lives always spark alert and nervous behaviour along with those darker colors, not so if its myself or family members.
What ought to concern you is that your lizard shows darker colors while in the cage. Your lizards cage should be a place of serenity/safety and your chams body language should generally reflect this with those lighter 'relaxed' colors.
Any apparently odd behaviours should be investigated immeadiately and my personal method is to always re-examine its enviroment first.
Darker colors have various meanings and by examining its enviromental conditions, you can rule out most, for example, has its heat source been bumped/moved, bulb blown, new bulb? or vines/perches moved through regular use and now too far from the source to provide adequate heat? Is it climbing toward the heat? Darker colors may indicate its trying to warm up, spending more time doing so that it normally does.
conversely, there may be other factors, such as, plants it uses for cover have become broken and no longer feel safe, or perhaps your uv lighting has passed its peak output and is no longer up to the job? etc etc you get the idea.
As can be seen from many of my posts, im a big beleiver in daily observation,
some may say, slightly obsessive
guides me well with its daily husbandry and has proven a reliable technique.
Regards love, affection, im not sure these apply at all since a lizard does not recognise another species excepting as a possible threat or food or a benign part of its enviroment.
Its a part of our human nature that we perceive things through 'human colored glasses' since we cant perceive any other way. Attributing human emotions and intelligence, self awareness etc to the behaviours of other species is a common and forgivable error, we are human afterall!
Here is where unbiased consideration of your lizards natural behaviours and abilities will guide you in translating the true meanings of its behaviours.
Trust comes under the first paragraph of my response here.
Cheers
Wouldn't that be the opposite of contempt? I mean your pet doesn't have contempt for you because it's familiar, but does have contempt for your unfamiliar friends, right....
Elizadolots
New Member
See, in their way, that seems like love to me.
jojackson
New Member
Wouldn't that be the opposite of contempt? I mean your pet doesn't have contempt for you because it's familiar, but does have contempt for your unfamiliar friends, right....
I see where you're going, but no, contempt means disregard, your cham will disregard you, ignore you because you pose no threat, you're not another cham so it has no fear or interest in you, excepting perhaps as a bringer of food.
Unfamiliar people on the other hand, will certainly arouse its suspicion and notice since they may be a threat. They will pay attention.
Because you are familiar and benign it shows contempt (sort of) for you as a thing or presence of interest, paying you no mind.
Atleast in our world this is a form of contempt, overfamiliarity leading to lack of respect.
I see where you're going, but no, contempt means disregard, your cham will disregard you, ignore you because you pose no threat, you're not another cham so it has no fear or interest in you, excepting perhaps as a bringer of food.
Unfamiliar people on the other hand, will certainly arouse its suspicion and notice since they may be a threat. They will pay attention.
Because you are familiar and benign it shows contempt (sort of) for you as a thing or presence of interest, paying you no mind.
Atleast in our world this is a form of contempt, overfamiliarity leading to lack of respect.
Charmander
New Member
I don't believe you have to be a reptile expert to answer the question. As a living, breathing creature chameleon have the ability to feel. They feel hungry, lonely, horny, happy, sad and pain. Although they may not recognize a happy feeling to be affection, we as humans do. They feel. They may not know why or care, but there is something behind those bug eyes.
As far as the woman comment... If I call your Mig welder a Tig welder would you argue something so trivial and unimportant...?
As far as the woman comment... If I call your Mig welder a Tig welder would you argue something so trivial and unimportant...?
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
I suspect no cham really feels "lonely" unless its breeding season and no one is around! Lonely is, again, a social animal construct, not a solitary herp one. "Sad" I would re-state as stressed or sick, or even as pain.
I had a wonderful female melleri who behaved in an almost friendly manner. Meaning, she would voluntarily choose to climb onto my shoulder during her free range wanderings. Even though I was totally flattered (and told everyone about it whether they wanted to hear all the details or not!), I had to remind myself that she was comfortable in her space, she trusted me as a convenient and possibly cushy spot to perch, and that she didn't particularly care how I interpreted her actions. I could love and spoil her all I wanted...didn't matter to her really.
chamelisa
New Member
Charmander
New Member
Yes, very true- the lonely was more in the "horny" department
Elizadolots
New Member
However, what we call "stressed" could easily be seen as "unhappy" or, at least, "not content".
Apl3jck
New Member
What I find interesting about chameleons is that they are capable of the comprehension of emotion. I don't claim to know what chameleons feel (especially because mine doesn't seem to take much liking to me yet) but, I do think that since it is on the more advanced end of he reptile world, and can feel, and show signs of emotions like stress, comfortability, and being fired up, they are most likely able to feel some sort of compassion toward something. just because we cant necessarily understand how they express it, doesn't mean they don't feel it. For instance, a smile in the human world means we are happy, where as a smile in the primate kingdom is a challenge, or a sign of aggression. we express our emotions differently. I personally think that all advanced life forms have the capability of feeling and expressing compassion. BUT, I also believe that the compassion can be overrun by another drive, like hunger, sex, or territoriality. For example, A man can love a woman, and feel extreme compassion for her, but all the time men cheat on there wives/girlfriends, The compassion, was overridden by a more primal drive. Now, I hope that brought up a few good points for you all to fight over
What I find interesting about chameleons is that they are capable of the comprehension of emotion. I don't claim to know what chameleons feel (especially because mine doesn't seem to take much liking to me yet) but, I do think that since it is on the more advanced end of he reptile world, and can feel, and show signs of emotions like stress, comfortability, and being fired up, they are most likely able to feel some sort of compassion toward something. just because we cant necessarily understand how they express it, doesn't mean they don't feel it. For instance, a smile in the human world means we are happy, where as a smile in the primate kingdom is a challenge, or a sign of aggression. we express our emotions differently. I personally think that all advanced life forms have the capability of feeling and expressing compassion. BUT, I also believe that the compassion can be overrun by another drive, like hunger, sex, or territoriality. For example, A man can love a woman, and feel extreme compassion for her, but all the time men cheat on there wives/girlfriends, The compassion, was overridden by a more primal drive. Now, I hope that brought up a few good points for you all to fight over
That makes sense, i always thought chameleons knew how to express there emotions. They are very observant of their surroundings because they are always looking at something different which seems like they're curious.
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