why is my chameleon so mean??

Jugg

New Member
My Chameleon is so mean. She does not want to be touch for any reason at all. I know they are shy creatures and dont like to be touched in the first place but its hard when I try to clean her tank and she wants to hiss at me. What are some things I can do so that she can trust me?
 
Chameleons by nature are not sociable creatures. She will most likely always react like that when you try to reach in and pick her up or touch her. It was suggested to me to reach in with a branch so the lizard will just naturally climb onto it and then you can take her out of her cage. My guy doesn't always do that. He usually just runs away so when I go in the cage to feed him or clean it he just goes elsewhere, as far away as he can get. I am actually going to have to remove him from his enclosure soon because I need to really clean it out. I am having trouble with little gnats flying around. The bottom is really wet cause my Monsoon misting system broke and was flooding the cage!:)
 
methods

buy her a drink first. roofies work really well. seriously, only time will fix this problem. keep the same routine when maintaining cage or feeding. when the cage door opens, she knows what will happen, and more importantly she will know she'll be ok when you close it. respond to her, rather than her responding to you. most likely, it will happen.
 
Thank you ridgebax1

Yes you are right. I read that somewhere too. That is what. I'm going to do. Me and my boyfriend cleaned out the cage in its entirety and it took us two hours!! The reason why you are getting the gnats is because of either the poop (which if left there long maggots come out and turn into gnats ) or the dead crickets that like to hide under the waterfall etc. I hope you do clean it out and if you do get the organic terrarium cleaner. It WORKS SO GREAT. THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR FEEDBACK.
 
I know I'm not gonna be the only one to say this but get rid of the waterfall. the can harbor bacteria, and a host of other problems.
 
Don't worry you are not the only one that can not handle your chameleon. Me and my mom just got a nosy be panther male that will not let us even get in his cage I went to pet him to let him know that I would not hurt him and he got really aggressive and actually bit me it hurts but you cannot give up I got a male and female Jackson chameleon and they would get real aggressive but after a few months they are letting me hold them and take them and at any time now so it takes time and I know how hard it is.
 
waterfalls

unfortunately, yes the waterfall needs to find a place to live. preferably costa rica or brazil. that way, it will be near friends.
 
When I clean my panther's cage I put him in a pop up laundry basket with a zipper and hang it outside. I have some vines attached in it so he has places to climb but not as many places to hide. I let loose about 20 bluebottle flies in the laundry basket. What I have found is that after about 5 min the first time he forgot about being scared and started hunting - the second time he went right to the hunt - by the Monday morning he was back in his cage he didn't run when I put his crickets in his cup in the AM in his inside cage. The first time I hung his cage farther away from "traffic" the second day I had it closer -
When I'm working he doesn't get much of a chance to get outside (unless I take a nice sunny weekday off) so I used this method for a couple of weeks in a row- He no longer runs when I feed him (i give him his crickets in a cup and either have another small cup that I has velcro on it that I move around or let loose some flies so he can hunt) (the flies get loose in the house and drive my husband crazy so I try to keep them as an outside treat) Yesterday I put my hand in with a wax worm on it and he zapped it off my hand- (he did give me a dirty look first and thought about heading for the hills) I restrained from giving him more as they aren't great for him. I can hardly wait to try again today-

With my Jackson baby I shorten the cage (before I put him in) so he would have less area to hunt in and because with an slight angle at the bottom it drains better - I dump a bunch of fruitflies in it - He doesn't have a problem with hiding but my monsoon went crazy and he's been having breathing problems - I took him to the vet last weekend but he's too little and the vet is afraid of giving him anything while he is still doing well otherwise-

So anyway this is getting to be a long reply- in short giving him a chance to get used to me and finding someway of making coming out of the cage on cage cleaning day to be a good thing are what worked for me.
 
I don't have a waterfall in the cage, at least not on purpose! The Monsoon timer went kind of nuts and dumped the whole 2.5 gallons from the reservoir in a day or two. The pots with the plants are really wet and that is where the little gnats are. I don't free feed his bugs, he eats out of a cup. I may have missed a turd here and there but I try to get them out when I see them and check for them daily. The monsoon is supposed to have a two year warranty but I feel like I am getting the run around from the company. I am back to using a dripper until I get the monsoon problem solved! So no waterfalls just drips.:)
 
Most of the time chameleons are not mean. With my experience I fine they are scared and/or stressed. It is very sad if they have to go their entire life scared and stress all the time. My daughter use to buy wild caughts and allot of them were scared. If you have a safe area free from other pets, I found that free ranging helped allot. I'm attaching a blog for you below by Stan, one of our senior members. Hopefully you will find it helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/taming-chameleon-97352/
 
Back
Top Bottom