aggressive chameleon

[Daver13]

Hey everyone, I've just brought home a new panther chameleon (my second) 3 days ago and he's being crazy aggressive. Normally I wouldn't worry about this too much as he's settling into a new home and also shedding, but the reason I'm posting is because I know the breeders and he's supposed to be a really friendly cham, and when I first brought him home he was being super friendly right before I put him into his new home, and now he puffs up, hisses and tries to bite me the second I go near him, UNLESS I have food in my hand in which case he settles down, grabs the food then takes off. He did fall about 1-2ft off my bed right before he went I the cage but chams take jumps from higher all the time. Hes been really active and eating well everyday and from what I know it's unusual for him to act like this, but everything about him indicates he's healthy, BUT I haven't noticed any poop in his cage yet, thoughts?

 

[Daver13]

Never mind about the poop cleaning one out of his cage now! Lol
I feel like he's going to settle down in the next few days, he already comes out on his own if I leave the cage open but he's just not fond of me yet, I just want to hear some other opinions from experienced cham owners!

 

[Matthew G]

When you feed him, try and make him move for the food. What I do is I take a cricket, put in between my fingers like i hand feed him and put my other hand near a branch in the cage. I get him to chase the cricket in my hand down to the branch my other hand is by. Once he gets to the branch i move the cricket towards him and away from him so he can't get a shot, meanwhile I make my hand as a branch for him to get to the cricket. When you have him on your hand feed him some more food and let him run off into his cage.

This may or may not work for your Cham.

 

[carol5208]

It has only been 3 days. It may take him quite awhile to settle down. Just keep hand feeding him as long as he is doing that and give him his space.

 

[Carlton]

It has only been 3 days. It may take him quite awhile to settle down. Just keep hand feeding him as long as he is doing that and give him his space.

He may have never moved before and we all know chams usually hate change. He may have been very settled and secure at the breeder's but the move rocked his little world.

 

[carol5208]

He may have never moved before and we all know chams usually hate change. He may have been very settled and secure at the breeder's but the move rocked his little world.

Very true! Hopefully he will come around for him when he gets settled once again.

 

[Daver13]

He may have never moved before and we all know chams usually hate change. He may have been very settled and secure at the breeder's but the move rocked his little world.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly it, just going to give him some space and keep hand feeding him, he'll get used to me. Thanks all for the advice

 

[ParabuthusKing]

Uhhhh, not to scare you, but I have one male that is very large and was extremely aggressive for the first 4+ years of his life!! He is now FINALLY calming down a bit as an elderly man. Even at 4 yrs old he will eat from my hand no problem, but was a necessity to wear gloves when handling. In an attempt to remove him from a females cage during a breeding attempt I let him latch down onto the tip of a "dummy" finger on tip of glove. He writhed back and forth for over a minute and didn't even let go for another minute after I had returned him to his cage and removed my hand from the glove completely! Some chameleons are just aggressive, just like any other animal there will be individual personalities. Good luck

 

[Psychobunny]

It will just take time for your panther to get used to his new surroundings, and to you.
Try to just leave him alone, give him his private space.

Try hand feeding using a silkie, or something he likes.
Put the feeder in you hand. With your fingers together, hold it up to him about 6'' away, and hold very still.
If he backs ways, slowly pull your hand out and try again later.

If he sits there, and does not try to hide or get away from you thats a good thing.
If he is watching you and not the bug on your hand, that means he doesnt quite trust you yet.
If he is looking at the bug, and not you, thats a good sign, even if he doesnt take the feeder, just sits there, staring at it.
If he does that, gently place the feeder on a branch in front of him so he sees it and back away.
Every time you open the cage, even to clean, you should have a treat for him, no matter if he takes it from you or not.
He will slowly learn to associate you with food.
I recommend not letting them out of their cage to free range until they are trusting enough to take food from your hand, and not run and hide when you open the cage door.
If his other owner had him tame, it should not take long to get him to trust you as well, since he is already used to humans.
Work with him every day, open his cage, do the hand feeding thing, just stand there and let him see that you are not aggressive.
Once he starts taking food from your hand regularly, you can start moving closer to him untill you are almost touching him.
Baby steps, patience, persistance, move slowly.
You want to get to the point where you can gently slide your hand under him and have him climb into it.
It's best to keep him up higher then your eye level, and they dont like to be stared at. He may be more likely to take the bug from your hand if you turn your head and look away.
He may start by just putting one foot on your hand, then 2, then all 4.

I'm sure he will come around for you, just be patient and gentle

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Uhhhh, not to scare you, but I have one male that is very large and was extremely aggressive for the first 4+ years of his life!! He is now FINALLY calming down a bit as an elderly man. Even at 4 yrs old he will eat from my hand no problem, but was a necessity to wear gloves when handling. In an attempt to remove him from a females cage during a breeding attempt I let him latch down onto the tip of a "dummy" finger on tip of glove. He writhed back and forth for over a minute and didn't even let go for another minute after I had returned him to his cage and removed my hand from the glove completely! Some chameleons are just aggressive, just like any other animal there will be individual personalities. Good luck

I just bought a new cham that is aggressive. He is young 7 mo old so I am going to slowly get him accustom to my hand by hand feeding. He does try to bite so I will be wearing thin gloves initially. i also have him in an area where he see people. He was not used to this at the breeder so he is getting better daily. Not puffing up every time someone moves past his viv.
I also plan on slowly slowly trying to handle him (with gloves of course) so he gets used to it. Hopefully I can train him to get more used to people. The breeder is one of the finest so it is not a breeding issue. This cham is simply not used to people. Any ideas are welcome

 

[Daver13]

Here's a couple pics of him taking a silkie off my hand, he wasn't too pissed here but as soon as he took it he started backing off, but I can tell he's slowly coming around

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Here's a couple pics of him taking a silkie off my hand, he wasn't too pissed here but as soon as he took it he started backing off, but I can tell he's slowly coming around

Glad to see he's coming around for you. I think I have a long road with my new guy but I never give up Keep us posted on your progress : )

 

[Daver13]

Glad to see he's coming around for you. I think I have a long road with my new guy but I never give up Keep us posted on your progress : )

Will do! Hope it works out for you too, it took my nosy be a week or so to finally let me handle him without puffing up, now he just likes to sit on the top of my head while I watch TV or whatever!

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Will do! Hope it works out for you too, it took my nosy be a week or so to finally let me handle him without puffing up, now he just likes to sit on the top of my head while I watch TV or whatever!

Sit on your head Love it
Yeah Ki the new boy actually let me touch his tail today without trying to bite me. Won't be long till he's sitting on my head too

 

[xraygirl]

Just give him some time, it takes a while for them to get used to you. I've had Chief since November and hes just now to the point where he will get on my hand (still timid) but I can reach in his cage (slowly) and lightly rub his chin and chest, which he seems to enjoy.

It does take time, and a lot of patience... But it's all worth it in the end!! But its literally baby steps!

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Just give him some time, it takes a while for them to get used to you. I've had Chief since November and hes just now to the point where he will get on my hand (still timid) but I can reach in his cage (slowly) and lightly rub his chin and chest, which he seems to enjoy.

It does take time, and a lot of patience... But it's all worth it in the end!! But its literally baby steps!

Right you are. It is soooo worth it. Takes patience and love.
I just never had one that wouldn't be handled when I got him. I have 7 now including the new one and all the others males and females didn't object to touch. I was warned by the breeder that this guy was a bit anti-social so I am glad to invest in him to male him a great member of our family. Thanks for the advise. He is getting better everyday, just not ready for being held yet.

 

[SimonTheCham]

MAKE SURE HES HYDRATED are you using a dripper? Fogger? My cham was super friendly at the pet store, but due to some miscommunication about hydration, was aggressive towards us. We're positive that's why. Make sure your cage elements are to the T!!

 

[ir0k]

It will just take time for your panther to get used to his new surroundings, and to you.
Try to just leave him alone, give him his private space.

Try hand feeding using a silkie, or something he likes.
Put the feeder in you hand. With your fingers together, hold it up to him about 6'' away, and hold very still.
If he backs ways, slowly pull your hand out and try again later.

If he sits there, and does not try to hide or get away from you thats a good thing.
If he is watching you and not the bug on your hand, that means he doesnt quite trust you yet.
If he is looking at the bug, and not you, thats a good sign, even if he doesnt take the feeder, just sits there, staring at it.
If he does that, gently place the feeder on a branch in front of him so he sees it and back away.
Every time you open the cage, even to clean, you should have a treat for him, no matter if he takes it from you or not.
He will slowly learn to associate you with food.
I recommend not letting them out of their cage to free range until they are trusting enough to take food from your hand, and not run and hide when you open the cage door.
If his other owner had him tame, it should not take long to get him to trust you as well, since he is already used to humans.
Work with him every day, open his cage, do the hand feeding thing, just stand there and let him see that you are not aggressive.
Once he starts taking food from your hand regularly, you can start moving closer to him untill you are almost touching him.
Baby steps, patience, persistance, move slowly.
You want to get to the point where you can gently slide your hand under him and have him climb into it.
It's best to keep him up higher then your eye level, and they dont like to be stared at. He may be more likely to take the bug from your hand if you turn your head and look away.
He may start by just putting one foot on your hand, then 2, then all 4.

I'm sure he will come around for you, just be patient and gentle

A+

a few things im doing even now. When I hold food in my hand my male cham looks at me then I look away. Then in a few seconds check to see if he is eye'ing the food or me. And yes, if even my hand is above his head he gets all weirdy on me so I make sure im at least level with him, most of the time a little below him.

My guy is the same way. very territorial of his cage. when he is like that I just give him his space and try again another time.

Usually when I go into my little guys cage I don't have food with me so that's a great thing i will start doing. have a little treat for him.

I set up a branch so its easy to take out of the cage. once he is out of the cage he is cool to come on my hand and i take him to his little umbrella tree which he likes a lot. I always try and associate my presence with him as something good. eventually it will pay off for me....and you as well

 

[Daver13]

Good news! This morning after feeding him a couple silk worms out my hand he let me take him out! He was still a little uneasy but he didn't try to bite me or anything, he did gape and hiss a couple times while we was out so I put him back after a couple minutes, baby steps I noticed while he was out that the skin on both his front feet didn't come off when shedding, he finished shedding his whole body yesterday but the feet won't come off, and any ideas on how to get the skin off?

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Good news! This morning after feeding him a couple silk worms out my hand he let me take him out! He was still a little uneasy but he didn't try to bite me or anything, he did gape and hiss a couple times while we was out so I put him back after a couple minutes, baby steps I noticed while he was out that the skin on both his front feet didn't come off when shedding, he finished shedding his whole body yesterday but the feet won't come off, and any ideas on how to get the skin off?

Ii will come off. They rub against the cage and branches etc until they get it off.
No worries