Another temperament question

[herriotfan]

If a panther or veiled chameleon is tame/friendly when it's young does it stay like that for life?
If I get a baby and it becomes tame is it likely to turn nasty when adult?

 

[Miss Lily]

Every chameleon is individual - some tolerate handling more than others. Males can sometimes get territorial once they reach maturity, but ut really does depend onth chameleons unique personality. For example, my Tommy has been passed around an awful lot - I am his 5th owner. Yet after all he's been through, he remains the sweetest most loveable little man. He has never once gaped or hissed at me or even tried to bite - the only time we get a reaction like that is when he's at the vets. He knocks on his door when he wants to come out. Amy (who I've had from 3 months old) is a bit more 'hissy'. She will also come out when the mood takes her, but she is the one who will hiss and puff up at me. You can earn their trust by handfeeding and taking things very slowly - everything must be on their terms.

My first chameleon lived at the reptile shop for the first 6 months of her life and was used to having people look at her all the time, and she was handled regularly and handfed by lots of different people. She remained such a sweet and friendly girl, again the only time she ever showed any agression it was aimed at the 'nasty vet man'!

Those are just my experiences with my 3 - I know that things are very different for a lot of people, but there are some friendly chameleons out there!

 

[KCcham]

We have a make ambilobe that we got as an adult. Ar first he would get mad if you even looked inside his cage. After about a year he got a nasty eye infection, and now is blind on that side. Because of that be can not focus right to shoot his tongue, so we have been handfeeding him for almost six months. Now he doesn't care at all when I open the door, because he knows I am bringing food! We can pick him up now without a reaction.

 

[carol5208]

I don't think there are any generalizations you can make with the personalities of chameleons. Just because one was mean when it was young, and turned friendly as it got older for one peroson does not mean it will happen for someone else. Some of it has to do with your interaction with your chameleon, and the other is just luck of the draw in my opinion.

 

[KCcham]

I don't think there are any generalizations you can make with the personalities of chameleons. Just because one was mean when it was young, and turned friendly as it got older for one peroson does not mean it will happen for someone else. Some of it has to do with your interaction with your chameleon, and the other is just luck of the draw in my opinion.

You are totally correct! I should of added to my post that Clyde is our exception. Every other chameleon that we have now has a bad attitude towards people. Also, just because this has been our experience doesn't mean the same will happen to anybody else.

 

[Olimpia]

Absolutely Carol. Out of my 6, some have been friendly since babyhood, others started out nice and got meaner as they matured, others have been mean always, and others started out terrified and then learned to trust me. So you can see that's it's all over the spectrum!

 

[pssh]

It just depends. You have a better chance of the animal tolerating handling if you buy an adult animal that is already known to tolerate handling very well. Babies are unpredictable.