Chameleons and mirrors?

[Marievahernandez]

Hi! I'm not sure if this is where this thread goes so sorry if it's wrong I have a concern about my veiled and mirrors. His previous owner told me that chameleons don't like mirrors, and wasn't sure what exactly she meant by that, so I just kept him away. But he is also a chameleon that loves to be outside of his cage and roams freely around the house (that's house the previous owner raised him) so I do the same. He happened to be infront of a mirror when I glanced at him, but he wasn't gray, like I was told he'd turn in front of mirrors, signifying that he was angry. He turned a very pretty green and yellow color and stayed that way for a little bit after I went over and moved him away. I thought yellow was angry and bright green was good, so what does both mean? I'll attach a picture of him a little while after this occures.

 

[Candybugs]

He's beautiful. Maybe he's flirting with himself.

 

[Marievahernandez]

So he's happy?

 

[absolutbill]

He was showing his stressed/upset coloration. When some male chams see their reflection in a mirror they think it's another male intruding on their territory. It's not good to stress them out, so you will find a lot of keepers advising to keep away from mirrors needlessly. Not every male will do this - I could hold my male panther in front of a mirror all day long and he won't change colors at all, but he's very mellow. It's great that you're letting him roam around, just make sure he's doing it safely and maybe make the mirrors off-limits to him.

 

[Marievahernandez]

Ohhh, okay, I'll keep them turned around unless I'm using them. Ive only had him for about 3 weeks, but that seems to be the only thing that effects him like that, so I wasn't sure, thanks!

 

[leedragon]

they do not recognize himself, they think it is an other animal and chameleons are territorial animals, if it is expose to this too often the stress may it killing it.
btw if you are letting it out, be present at all times and make sure he doesn't hurt himself, they do not think abstract so if he were to climb that is not secure in place and fall you are going to have an injured chameleon, it happens all the time folk posting thread about their chameleon having get hurt outside or escaping.
if you have a big enough cage it is not a problem just letting him live there.

 

[Carlton]

He was showing his stressed/upset coloration. When some male chams see their reflection in a mirror they think it's another male intruding on their territory. It's not good to stress them out, so you will find a lot of keepers advising to keep away from mirrors needlessly. Not every male will do this - I could hold my male panther in front of a mirror all day long and he won't change colors at all, but he's very mellow. It's great that you're letting him roam around, just make sure he's doing it safely and maybe make the mirrors off-limits to him.

My first male veiled got to roam my house on nice days. He knew where every potential reflection "lived" and would patrol there to see if his arch enemy happened to be there. The chrome kick strip on my dishwasher, the glass stereo cabinet door, a hall closet mirror door, etc. He began displaying to one glass panel on his cage, so I put a piece of cardboard over the glass. He started pulling the cardboard loose and squeezing between the board and the glass STILL finding an intruder to threaten.

My free range melleri made a point to intimidate the glass stereo cabinet door on a regular basis. Again, it was part of "her" normal house patrol route.

 

[Lathis]

Ferdinand my Jax had an ongoing dispute with the chameleon in the stainless steel trash can. I never did figure out who won those encounters.

But yes, it was part of his territory routine: walk around the living room, check the kitchen, puff up at trash can reflection, check the stairs for ladies or intruders, back to the living room...