Chameleon trust

[Ferrah88]

Ever since little Yuki has been getting better, she's become more and more hostile towards me. I don't handle her, and I only put my hand in to feed her (Right now I just release flies into her terrarium on her plant so she can eat them. She's scared of any cups or containers I put in there.) and to mist her. I never mist her directly, and only ever the plants around her. I try not to get her wet as she glared at me (quite evily) and then goes off to hide. During the evening mistings (after 4) she will actually sulk off to the back of the terarrium and "burry" herself in the ficus, sulking, until the next day. I feel really bad, as I think I really piss her off at these moments, and I really don't mean to! I don't even hold my hand in there to see if she "trusts" me enough to try and walk on my finger as I don't want to stress her out.

Yesterday I had to clean her enclosure and put some plastic wrap in there so the humidity would stay in and thus had to temporarily remove the plants. To avoid her falling off and getting hurt, I had to remove her from there to put her somewhere safer. She gave me the biggest glare I have ever received, opened her mouth, and started breathing heavily. At first I thought she was starting to have respiratory issues (I have never heard a chameleon hiss before, nor hear one with respiratory issues, so I have no idea what either sounds like). In order to wash the plant, I had to remove her.. I was scared mind you, as I thought "well great, now she's sick on top of being starved!" and really carefully put my finger in front of her. She wouldn't have that. EVENTUALLY I got her to crawl on my finger, and before I could put her up on the big ficus tree where we put both chameleons when their cages are being cleaned, she opened her mouth again, hissed, and bit my finger! It didn't hurt at all, but now I feel REALLY bad for having disturbed her. I did need to wash the plant, and I did need to add the plastic wrap, so it wasn't avoidable...

I suppose my questions are: Will I ever earn her trust? Did I do anything wrong? Should I have maybe left her on her plant rather than bother her? Despite having to wash and trim the plant... I'd love to be friends with her, and I give her her space. Am I doing a good job misting and feeding, or should I change tactics so I don't have to have my hands in there as often? (I will be using a hand sprayer for quite a while yet as I have hardly any room for an automatic one right now! Come summer, I plan on cleaning up a big portion of the house, and hopefully build something that will accommodate the enclosures and automatic misting system)

Thanks in advance!

 

[poppototamus]

I'm a relative newbie when it comes to chameleons, i've only had mine since september, he's an 8 month old veiled and the way you describe Yuki sounds exactly like Creature on a normal day. any time i put my hand near him he hisses and tries to bite me, and he has drawn blood several times. however, one day when he climbed out of his cage onto his outdoor plant on his own and started wandering around in the cords on the back of the computer i got him to climb up on my hand and chill there for a while like it was no big deal. since chameleons are so territorial i'm beginning to think that he just finds it really offensive when i try to get him out of his cage or do things in there, because it's his domain you know? his lack of aggression when he was out of his little kingdom seems to line up with that theory as well.

i had the same kinds of questions you do when i first got Creature, would he ever calm down? woudl i ever be able to handle him? should i even try? someone on these forums suggested i start leaving his cage open when i was in the room and let him climb out onto another plant and wander around out of his cage on his own terms. I think this has helped a lot, he has stopped being terrified of me, though his aggression has not gone down much.

 

[squeekz1992]

It really depends on the cham. Start by giving her space, then by trying to get her to eat from your hand, eventually she MAY tolerate handling, but don't put all your eggs in that basket.

You could try setting up a small free range for her to be on for a bit everyday.

Handling to clean the cage is necessary, so don't feel bad.

 

[Ferrah88]

Alright. I was just worried having moved her to clean the cage might have REALLY irritated her to the point of no return! I have been leaving her on her own (Minus cleaning, feeding and misting of course) and she doesn't hiss or try to bite in those situations. If she doesn't allow me to take her out and hold her, I honestly wouldn't mind too much! I just don't want her to hate me is all. The first few days here she had to be hand fed, but now that she's well-er, she seems to be quite a bit more territorial. I'm thinking it might have to do with how she grew up. She was being stolen from, so she never got to eat. She also has a burn on her forehead that I started noticing on the weekend.

Thanks for the reassurance though I know chameleons are territorial and well.. not handling creatures. It would still devastate me to think that she hates me though!

At least she didn't run and hide now, when I misted her. She did hide under some leaves, but she's back out, checking the surroundings! Tomorrow I will be getting some phoenix worms in, so we'll see if she MIGHT be interested enough to take one from my hand! If not, I have to figure out some other creative way to show them to her that doesn't involve a feeding cup.

 

[poppototamus]

you could try making the feeding cup a semi permanent cage fixture and then she would eventually get used to it, i keep a plastic cup with holes in the edges twistie-tied to some of the perching sticks for feeding worms, and i can just unfasten it every few days to clean it. if you have to put a cup into the cage every time i can see how that would be upsetting for the chameleon.

 

[DavidBuchan]

It would still devastate me to think that she hates me though!

She doesn't hate you, she isn't really capable of that . She isn't going to be friends either though.......stop worrying so much what she thinks of you, just do what you gotta do slowly and patiently.....if she comes round, great, if not...at least she has her health!

 

[MollyT]

MY Kush is the same way. I know that he trusts me not to hurt him. He hand feeds really well and when he wants food or something, he will sit and stare at me. He just doesn't like to be held, so I respect that and leave him alone. I would love for him to like to come and chill out with me, but I knew going into it that a lot of veileds are like that. Hopefully Yuki will come around. Good luck!

 

[Chachachameleon]

I hear some chameleons are just ass holes, mine is super friendly i take him out 2 or 3 times a day anywhere from up to an hour and hes always down to climb on on other people. how long have you had her for? keep tryin to hand feed her worms (they tend to love them) try getting the container outside of the cage and see if she will climb close to it and eat of it and slowly build it up to putting it out farther so she has to climb on your hand first. you said she doesnt like containers but shell have to eat at some point. maybe leave her along for another week and try again. even try to pick her up like once a week. good luck, id be hella bummed if mine didnt wanna hang out with me

 

[Chachachameleon]

and next time you do get her on your hand just leave her on your bed and let her roam around for awhile with out bothering her. im still new to but i got lucky with mine, the shop owner didnt have a heat lamp on him so when i gave him one im pretty sure he knew i saved him lol but do things in steps. really try to container outside the cage my cousin did this with his and hes super down with it

 

[Ferrah88]

you could try making the feeding cup a semi permanent cage fixture and then she would eventually get used to it, i keep a plastic cup with holes in the edges twistie-tied to some of the perching sticks for feeding worms, and i can just unfasten it every few days to clean it. if you have to put a cup into the cage every time i can see how that would be upsetting for the chameleon.

I'll see about getting a proper cup that I can remove the bottom of or poke holes into on the weekend when I'm out shopping. I tried building my own thing, but the bottles here aren't like milk jugs there, a lot of hard plastic and glass most of the time Might be able to find a thin bottle of some drink... problem is we don't drink stuff like pop! Might help like you said, she is scared of a lot of things, and I understand why, just by her living conditions.

She doesn't hate you, she isn't really capable of that . She isn't going to be friends either though.......stop worrying so much what she thinks of you, just do what you gotta do slowly and patiently.....if she comes round, great, if not...at least she has her health!

I know I have to do it slowly and carefully. I just thought I did something wrong by moving her and pissing her off to the point that she bit me - All in order to clean the cage! As for her health, I'm hoping all will go well. I got her when she was pretty much starved and dehydrated. Her poop is better and she looks "fatter" and thus healthier, but only time will tell if she's willing enough! I'll continue as I have been then, slowly! Mayhap she's just getting used to her surroundings still...

MY Kush is the same way. I know that he trusts me not to hurt him. He hand feeds really well and when he wants food or something, he will sit and stare at me. He just doesn't like to be held, so I respect that and leave him alone. I would love for him to like to come and chill out with me, but I knew going into it that a lot of veileds are like that. Hopefully Yuki will come around. Good luck!

Each animal has their own quirks I fully understand that and can hope Yuki will be willing, but if not, I will love her and take care of her all the same It just means it will be harder to let her roam around outside if she tries to chomp my fingers off by the summer! We will see how things work out. At least I do know that cleaning the cage and annoying her was alright and not considered "torture"

I hear some chameleons are just ass holes, mine is super friendly i take him out 2 or 3 times a day anywhere from up to an hour and hes always down to climb on on other people. how long have you had her for? keep tryin to hand feed her worms (they tend to love them) try getting the container outside of the cage and see if she will climb close to it and eat of it and slowly build it up to putting it out farther so she has to climb on your hand first. you said she doesnt like containers but shell have to eat at some point. maybe leave her along for another week and try again. even try to pick her up like once a week. good luck, id be hella bummed if mine didnt wanna hang out with me...
...and next time you do get her on your hand just leave her on your bed and let her roam around for awhile with out bothering her. im still new to but i got lucky with mine, the shop owner didnt have a heat lamp on him so when i gave him one im pretty sure he knew i saved him lol but do things in steps. really try to container outside the cage my cousin did this with his and hes super down with it

I have had her less than a week. Rescued her from a petstore where she was pretty much starved and on the verge of dying. (Not by her looks, but the other chameleons kept stealing the food that was WAY too big for her. So she would have starved sooner or later. Not to mention the yellow urates of dehydration...) I haven't any worms yet, but they SHOULD be in tomorrow, and I will try with those. Right now she's enjoying her flies (She's scared of crickets right now. Who'da thunk, after she was pretty much almost eaten by giant ones! I would have been surprised if she wanted to eat them, actually.) For now I will leave her alone. I might try showing her a worm tomorrow, but if she puffs up and turns away, I won't force anything on her. Even if she doesn't want to be a "cuddly cham", I'll still have Marimo to cuddle with! He's about to shed at the moment though, so he's a bit cranky.

About leaving her on the bed, once I get her out, she as a lovely large ficus tree she can wander around on and explore I'd set up a free-range for when we're home, but the cats would eat it I'm sure. I'll try a container in the cage first, once I find one that I can actually let misting water out of, lest everything drowns, and then try it outside of the cage.



Thanks again everyone!

 

[Vmag86]

One of the best ways to earn a chameleons trust is through their stomachs "food association." The best way to attain this is by hand feeding. Once they learn YOU are the one that brings food, they will begin to look forward to when you are around the enclosure.

The best way to train them to hand feed is to hold that insect in front of them, not for a couple seconds, at least a minute. If they don't go for it, slowly more your hand towards the screen, and leave the insect hanging on the screen for them. Eventually as soon as your hand leaves that insect on the screen your cham will snatch it up. Do this enough and your cham will start snatching it before you can even get it to hang on the screen. And now your hand feeding!

It's a great way to attain trust.

 

[Ferrah88]

One of the best ways to earn a chameleons trust is through their stomachs "food association." The best way to attain this is by hand feeding. Once they learn YOU are the one that brings food, they will begin to look forward to when you are around the enclosure.

The best way to train them to hand feed is to hold that insect in front of them, not for a couple seconds, at least a minute. If they don't go for it, slowly more your hand towards the screen, and leave the insect hanging on the screen for them. Eventually as soon as your hand leaves that insect on the screen your cham will snatch it up. Do this enough and your cham will start snatching it before you can even get it to hang on the screen. And now your hand feeding!

It's a great way to attain trust.

I suppose the reason I was so confused is that she suddenly stopped hand feeding. She had to hand feed before because she could hardly hold onto branches, and her tongue wouldn't snap like it should either. It's like now that she can eat, she's completely independent!

I have been doing almost the same tactic with Marimo, and I suppose I have to start from step 1 with her. I do like the idea of leaving it on the screen though... unfortunately, the flies fly a lot! Marimo tends to chase after them though, and hopefully she'll do the same I need to make sure she eats!

Any suggestions on what I can do with the worms once they arrive? I don't think I can exactly stick them on the glass, and I'm sure they'd roll off leaves and stuff. (Getting phoenix worms) I suppose a cup/plate is the only way!

 

[DavidBuchan]

(Getting phoenix worms) I suppose a cup/plate is the only way!

A flat palm is the way forward I think I agree that leaving a cup in there would probably help her to get used to it if she still doesn't like the hand feeding idea.....
As you've only had her a week there is lots of time for her to become more tolerant of you, don't get disheartened yet

 

[Ferrah88]

A flat palm is the way forward I think I agree that leaving a cup in there would probably help her to get used to it if she still doesn't like the hand feeding idea.....

I suppose I should have specified: That would be the drop off after I try the hand-feeding method! I'm almost certain she won't like it.. but who knows. She might surprise me tomorrow! She might even just be about to shed... might also be a reason for the sudden mood swing.