chameleon claw marks on my son

pennyz

New Member
random question.... but just wanted to be sure it was ok...

i let my chameleon walk along my 3 yr olds arm.... totally forgetting he didnt have long sleeves on! he soon moaned it hurt so i took him off and put him somewhere else...
an hour later my son has tiny little red dot/marks where the claws must have dug in...

im presuming iys safe and not an allergic reaction??!:confused:
 
You shold be fine make sure you wash it with water. If I let my veileds walk around on me they leave marks so im sure it would be worse on a 3yr old
 
random question.... but just wanted to be sure it was ok...

i let my chameleon walk along my 3 yr olds arm.... totally forgetting he didnt have long sleeves on! he soon moaned it hurt so i took him off and put him somewhere else...
an hour later my son has tiny little red dot/marks where the claws must have dug in...

im presuming iys safe and not an allergic reaction??!:confused:

I have those often. They are from the points of your chams nails. I would be sure to clean the area well as if he put the arm in his mouth that isn't good. maybe just a bath or shower.
 
I don't want to jump on you, but I don't think it's a good idea to let your toddler and your chameleon interact, even if he's wearing long sleeves.

Things happen quickly and you are putting both of them at risk. Mostly I suspect your chameleon is being put at risk. If the chameleon did anything that scared the child, the chameleon might be flung a considerable distance.

It might be fine in your case. Your son might be very calm and unlikely to panic, but as a parent, I did feel that I had to say something. I don't think it's something that should be done routinely.
 
I don't want to jump on you, but I don't think it's a good idea to let your toddler and your chameleon interact, even if he's wearing long sleeves.

Things happen quickly and you are putting both of them at risk. Mostly I suspect your chameleon is being put at risk. If the chameleon did anything that scared the child, the chameleon might be flung a considerable distance.

It might be fine in your case. Your son might be very calm and unlikely to panic, but as a parent, I did feel that I had to say something. I don't think it's something that should be done routinely.

+1

Good advice, IMHO.
 
For heavens sake...

Eliza, have you ever lived a day in your life? :rolleyes:

Take off your helmet and let the wind blow your hair back!

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Penny, Keep on educating your little boy and allowing him to share your passion,
Just make sure he's wearing a longsleeve shirt etc to protect his little arms.
Kids get much worse in the playground and provided you supervise and dont overdo it, the lizard will be fine.
I think its great that you can share something. If interacting with the lizard puts a smile on the little blokes face and yours, go ahead.
:)

Your boy may be tomorrows Conservationist! :)
 
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Thank you, steelheadchaser...may you catch many!

Jo, I'm not against teaching and educating, but it does have to be very tightly controlled which parents seem to have a problem with. How many stories have you heard of children dying in pool accidents where the parent says "I was only away for a minute"?

In this case, the chameleon was allowed to crawl over the child's arms for long enough to cause injuries which only became known when the child complained.

What if the child had not complained but had, instead, flung the chameleon off his body?

I think that anytime a child under about 10 interacts with a normally wild animal, it should be with the adult holding the animal. I would not feel comfortable with a child under 8 handling a normally wild animal on its own unless the adult was right there the whole time (which, as noted, adults seem to have a problem with).

Note that I feel the same way about human infants. They should not be held by human toddlers or even human youths unless the situation is very controlled.

And, again, I'm just making the statement that I don't think it's generally a good idea.

Sort of like just about everything here. I'm recommending the safest choice. There will be situations in which 3 year olds can hold veileds with no problem, just as there will be cases in which male and female chameleons can be housed together. But I wouldn't recommend either. And, I think it's important to get that "safest option" out there and known.
 
touchy subject, but i think it is a good thing that you are teaching yer lil humans to treat and respect the smaller things in this world (put it this way, if we all had chameleons at that age, we would all be masters and prolly have parsons!!!) just food for thought..but yes, small irratations are normal, remember your childs skin is not even near how weatherd and calused(bad spelling, lol) our adult skin is, so yes a chameleon, not intentionally grabbing hard will still do that(and im sure the kid is getting used to supportting a small animal, thats struggling on balance on the arm of an unexperienced human handler)...

p.s. ..off topic, but my ex, looks just like that girl!!! sooo trippy, actually did a double take, LMAO..she used to get excited before we would go ride and walk around the house like that "my hairs is just gunna be f-ed up anyway" lol
 
Just keep in mind that anything that hatches from A egg can carrie saminalla. most reptile out grow it at about 6-8 months. Its not A good idea to let A little kid handle A young reptile. older reptiles are fine
 
Eliza While I agree with what you say in general, I wouldn't presume irresponsibility on Pennys part either.
Cham claws can be sharp and tiny marks can be overlooked or not immediately apparent.
She did say the boy indicated discomfort and that she removed the lizard, which would indicate to me that Penny was indeed closely supervising the experience.

Really I think its a case of a mountain made of a molehill! You cant wrap a child or a lizard in cottonwool! :)

Imcurt, now theres some worthwhile info. (thumbs up) Reptiles can carry salmonella and regardless, its sound advice to maintain hygiene when handling reptiles or animals of any kind, be sure to wash little hands/arms after handling. :)
 
I normally don't let my son touch any of my reptiles but then again, I don't let anyone touch my reptiles. Lol! He'll be fine, as stated just make sure you wash him up very well, he'll be fine. :D
 
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