Aggressive Female.

[yeaimemi]

Hi, I'm new here & decided to join to ask a few questions pertaining to my female veiled. I have had a male veiled before in the past which could get a little upset but for the most part was so easy to handle. We had to move & live with a family member, & the only place he could go was in the basement. When winter started coming along I realized the tank was not going to hold the heat it needed in that basement so I rehomed him. We have been living in our home now 2 years so I decided on a new veiled. I got her from the pet store, PetSmart, & she was already angry as hell. I have tried countlessly to tame her, & I know they are not known to be "sweet" pets, but I figured eventually I could win her over. There are times I can have her lay down on me & if I get to her cheek before she bites me I'll rub her til she closes her mouth & her eyes. I'm not sure whether she actually enjoys this or she's falling asleep because she's so exhausted from stress?? I went back to the pet store for crickets recently, we have had her a few months by now, & a new big boy was there. I was just staring at him when a lady who works there came to talk to me about him, she reached in there & just yanked him off that branch. My eyes bugged out of my head at how carelessly she was handling him!! No wonder he was terrified & angry just like mine was!! Then she went on to say the one before him was a mean "b**ch" & her name was Cruella. I said, I know.. That's who I have now. So I think I know why she's so angry. She HATES hands!! If you put your arm or anything else by her she doesn't seem to respond or care, but once she sees hands she just blows her gasket. Is there any way I can calm her at all ? Is my rubbing her actually helping?

 

[Lazereth]

Try hand feeding her slowly, she may not even notice for a while but keep trying over time. This will help over time getting for her getting use to seeing your hands as not a threat, this will not happen over night, slow baby steps!!!!! I wouldn't recommend "rubbing" her till you get her to walk on you without assistance. Like I said this can take a lot of time. If she snaps at you, try not to move away suddenly, just leave your hand there with a super worm or horn worm on your hand. Good luck, we all have been down this path one time or another, cool things about chams, they all have there own personalities.

 

[jcarlsen]

I'll just say that every chameleon is a bit different in temperament. My male panther is certainly not the most "tame" you'll ever see, but he isn't usually aggressive when he's higher up in a safe spot and if you go in for a chin scratch.

I'd just recommend giving her space if she's newly adopted so she has time to adjust to her new home and then just work on hand feeding. Don't push the touching and handling until she's more comfy with you just being around her.

 

[yeaimemi]

Thank you for the replies. I'll def try the hand feeding. My problem is my fear of her so I tend to dart my hand away. But I'll try working on myself around her & keep myself calm. I probably make her more stressed because I am, ha. I just want her to know she's safe now & she won't be grabbed like she was at the pet store. I can't even imagine how she's felt living there for months with that crazy lady yanking her out like she does.

 

[alphakenc]

Hi Miss yeaimemi,first I want to welcome you to this wonderful forum,where happiness are everywhere....
I totally understand how you feel and your frustration with your beautiful chamy...
I have a very similar situation like yours also,my female veiled Bambi,she used to turn her beautiful face away from me when I ring her bell and open her cage door,I try to bring her breakfast when she is awake,silkworm,hornworm,cricket u name it I have it all....I spoil her dearly...when I see her,I always whisper to her how gorgeous she is,once a while she might let me rubbing her silky smooth skin ,I have to rub her the way she like it,or she will eventually bite me and hiss me away....I thought maybe I can start wearing a light green color t shirt,when I with her so she won't see me as a predator ,maybe that will change her attitude towards me...it did work for a few days until she turn her pretty face away from me again...I love her dearly with all of my hearts,dazzling her in each unique way I can,change her bedroom cage setting several times,add plants here flower there,.....but she will still turn me away...,so I give her much space that she needs without showing my face there often,only when I need to offer her live feeders and mist her to keep her silky smooth skin hydrated.
I couldn't stand for this one way realtionship with her any longer,so one day I decided to take her out of her bedroom,slowly approaching her with my shaky hand ,staring at her dreamy circle eyes,and slowly lifting her away from that cold branch that make her sore legs all day...I kept the eye contact with her and sing to her a slow song with my calm voice...it all happen so quick that she use her shapely cute legs and made her first step on to my still shaking hand,while I wondering if she will bite me at that magical moments....
For some strange reason ,she never bite me as I watch her slowly moonwalking along my arms while I still singing my sweet sweet song to her,once she is on my arm, I caress her silky smooth stomach and under her tender chin,rubbing her the way she loves to be rub....
From that day on,me and her always enjoy our quality time together
So please dont give up on your beautiful chamy,it just a matter of time to win her heart over to you...best luck hopefully this will share my experience with your own way to explore your chamy to be the sweetest pet that you will ever have

 

[yeaimemi]

Hi Miss yeaimemi,first I want to welcome you to this wonderful forum,where happiness are everywhere....
I totally understand how you feel and your frustration with your beautiful chamy........

Thank you so much for your kind words & encouragement! I'll def not give up on her. She's so beautiful & an awesome pet!! We love reptiles here a lot. We own an albino red tail boa, green tree python, & 2 leopard geckos as well. She'll be with us forever. That poor girl has gone thru enough & I'll be sure to keep her happy. I do hope one day she'll stop being so aggressive. I love holding her & interacting with her. Chameleons & snakes are by far my favorite reptile, but chams are #1, hehe!! Eventually I'll add a boy to my collection because I absolutely adore their color display!!

 

[yeaimemi]

I decided to upload a few pics if anyone is interested.

This is a few pics we got of her. It wasn't til about a week later I went back on the 1st pic to realize that she was doing her mating colors ? I think ? Very vibrant, we were enthralled by her colors. We were confused when she started digging in a corner of her cage, & read that they lay eggs. (I swear I knew this, but I forgot they lay eggs on their own without a male!!) We quickly got her some substrate to dig in & she laid 18 eggs!!

Then here she is in all her loveliness as always.. trying to bite... lol

But she's still totally gorgeous.

 

[Lazereth]

Why is it I find it cute she's trying so hard to bite… mom nom nom

 

[alphakenc]

Thank you so much for your kind words & encouragement! I'll def not give up on her. She's so beautiful & an awesome pet!! We love reptiles here a lot. We own an albino red tail boa, green tree python, & 2 leopard geckos as well. She'll be with us forever. That poor girl has gone thru enough & I'll be sure to keep her happy. I do hope one day she'll stop being so aggressive. I love holding her & interacting with her. Chameleons & snakes are by far my favorite reptile, but chams are #1, hehe!! Eventually I'll add a boy to my collection because I absolutely adore their color display!!

You are more than welcome,and I do understand where you are coming from...
Sometimes I feel like a zoo ringleader in my home,I even got a house persian cat try to date all the homeless cats in my neighborhood now...used to be 1 can of her cat food,now is 4 or 5 sometime.

 

[alphakenc]

I love the different color shade of your baby chamHere is my 6 dwarfs left from the Bambi....I wana share with you guys.

Dopey;Grumpy;Happy;Doc;Sneezy and Sleepy,currently Im trying to train them face certain way in the order that I want them to,so far so good....

 

[yeaimemi]

@Lazereth haha yah it is sorta cute til I get a bruise from her! I bruise super easily so I'm not very happy at the end of it. hahaha. Luckily that was my arm so she couldn't get me enough to bite.

@alphakenc omggg!! those little babies are soooo dang cuute!!! Thank you for sharing!!! I wanna hold them all.