Chameleons as Counsellors!

[ZiggyStardust]

Does anyone else find that owning and caring for a chameleon has helped them get over some fear or phobia??

I must admit that when I first considered owning a cham, one of the things that was putting me off a bit was the live food issue.

I have always been a bit of a squeamish person - being a soft and soppy woman, and I absolutely abhor creepy crawlies in any sense of the word. The idea of having to handle live insects on a daily basis filled me with absolute dread.

At the start, I could only go so far as to shake a few crickets into the sugar shaker that I use to dust my insects before feeding, using the tube that came with my cricket keeper at the time.

I also fed small and third hoppers and I wasn't so bothered about these, as they don't "scuttle" - I could not abide anything that moved quickly, such as beetles and spiders. Occasionally when my Veiled cham was smaller, some of the hoppers that I kept grew to large for him and started to develop small wings, they were fifth sizes, and I used to take them to my breeder for him to feed to his larger chams. I couldn't pick them up though, not a hope in hell!

9 months down the line, with an adult Veiled and a 6 month old Panther, I am now happily and without a second thought putting my hand into a large tank of crickets and picking them up without a care in the world.

There was an enormous spider in my bath the other day and, instead of running screaming from the room to fetch my husband to rescue the poor creature, I actually found myself picking it up without fear and putting it out of the window.

So, being a chameleon owner has, in its own way, cured me of being an insect-phobe, which is a great achievement!

Anyone else have this?

 

[zlew]

I love my chams with all my heart! They didn't get me over any fears, as I am a long time (as long as you can get within my 15 years) animal lover, but they are helping me through some struggles I have been having. I volunteer at a mature center, and there are lots of animals that eat dead/live things. Reptiles eat crix and worms, eagles eat slimy frozen-thawed fish, snakes, hawks, and owls eat frozen-thawed mice. In the beginning, I wore gloves, but now, I reach into an enclosure to pick up poop with my bare hands.
This pic is me holding our eastern screech owl, named Moloto. We also have a great horned owl who lives outside.

 

[PattyCake]

My girlfriend hated anything cold-blooded until she let Archimedes run all over her when he was younger. Now she's sad because Archimedes won't let her pick him up-he's much too aggressive. So, yah, Archimedes has had a very large impact on her!

This pic is me holding our eastern screech owl, named Moloto. We also have a great horned owl who lives outside.

WHOAH-you keep owls as pets! That is super cool! Are they completely domesticated or do they still hang around in the wild and just visit you?

 

[zlew]

It's at the nature center I volunteer at. (nature preserve) We have a live animal museum where people come in and meet animals and touch and learn about them. But we also are licensed rehabilitate-ers. All of our birds of prey (owls, hawks, eagles) are only allowed to be kept in captivity if they could not otherwise survive in the wild (this law applies everywhere in the U.S.) None of our birds of prey are friendly, but once Moloto gets to know you he will tolerate you (like chameleons.) Most of our birds came in with injuries, but took so long to get better that they were imprinted (which basically means that they are too familiar with humans and most likely forgot how to hunt because food was readily supplied to them, so they would not be able to survive. Moloto fell out of his nest into a thorn bush when he was a baby, and he has 2 or three missing toes, his beak is bent, and one of his eyes gets very swelled up every so often, seriously impairing his ability to hunt. He can still fly, which is why he is clipped to the glove, and he is also imprinted.

 

[zlew]

http://greenburghnaturecenter.org
this is the website. There is actually a picture of me holding a ferret on the "get involved page"
We have 33 acres of woodlands with trails throughout. Actually, I forgot to mention, we do have two hawks that were rehabilitated at the nature center and were released, but they stay around the general area (they are still skittish of humans [which is good] and they know how to hunt), and sometimes fly down to the outside of the hawk enclosure to chat with the ones who can't be released.

 

[azrael]

Like you, chams helped me get over a bug phobia. Also, even though I've worked in the animal medical/care industry for over a decade now, my main experience has been with the furry ones. I was never afraid of other types of animals, just not drawn to them. Even once my husband brought up the idea of getting chameleons, I was mainly enthusiastic because I'd get to help fulfill his childhood dream of having them. Then as I learned more through research and finally having them in our home, I came to discover a whole new fascination and admiration for them. Now, we're both hooked. So, yes chameleons as therapists surpassing fears, exploring knowledge, opening up your comfort zones and allowing yourself to grow into unexpected realms of possibility, caring for something so different from yourself and facing challenges. I'd say they're all around good things!

 

[repdog]

Zlew that is great what you do. We have a rehab center about 15 mins from my house. Wonderful place and I have taken a few animals there and my mom just took over a sandhill crane that was hit by a car in front of her.

Ziggystardust that is wonderful news that you can now touch insects.

After two years of feeding roaches I still can't touch the adults. I have to use tongs. But the smaller ones are fine. I just find the adults bit or maybe its the legs crawling on me that gets to me. If its a quick touch and throw then I'm fine with it. Like cleaning out the bins quick pick up and toss to next bin.

 

[PattyCake]

That is amazing Zlew! Makes me envy your job

 

[zlew]

If only I got paid : )

 

[nightanole]

My only fear was in the early early stages of reptile owning in grade school. Reading up on pinkies that are co2'd and then flash frozen. At the same time news was coming out on cryogenics and mice were living a little while after frozen and thawed. I was always wondering if out of the 200-400 id order at a time, if one would come alive again...


- In before dreams of finding past family members in the cages with current family members, and wondering where you fit them the next day.

 

[ChameLIonLover]

I love screech owls! I'm jealous. I am still a little wary of picking up all the bugs I currently have (cricks, superworms, dubia), so I try to just get one at a time. I have noticed that as the bugs have gotten bigger and I have to deal with those, that the smaller ones are easier (for me at least) to deal with.