Confused

Basmith86

New Member
Hey guys—

I have an approximately 6mo old male veiled chameleon. Normally speaking, he’s a very happy boy but he does not like to be handled. I’ve only handled him 2x in 4 mo—once by accident when he tried to jump off the side of his cage while putting insects in the cage. The second time when he crawled up my arm while I was trying to clean his cage. He was dark and stress colored both times.

Not a problem per se. I’m fine to let him have his space and observe him. But we’ve just hit the 6 mo mark. And now every time I open the cage, he seems to want to climb out. I have no problem with this (I made sure to set up a reasonable free range area because I read this attribute may be coming) but when he’s out of the cage, he’s very puffed, and dark stress colored. Obviously this is further magnified by the fact that he doesn’t like to be held so when it’s time to put him back in the cage, he puffs and hisses at me.

Is this normal behavior or should I just leave him in the cage? Are there ways to get him more used to being held so I can put him back in the cage if he gets too stressed?

I just want my boy to be happy and healthy :). Thanks all.
 
Can you post pics of his entire set up lights down? The most common answer in this type of situation is typically due to an enclosure not being set up just right. He is a bit too young for patrolling of his territory and wanting out because of hormones.

How do you get him to the free range area if he does not allow you to handle him? Any other animals that he is seeing?
 
Can you post pics of his entire set up lights down? The most common answer in this type of situation is typically due to an enclosure not being set up just right. He is a bit too young for patrolling of his territory and wanting out because of hormones.

How do you get him to the free range area if he does not allow you to handle him? Any other animals that he is seeing?
I will post a pic a little later (currently at the grocery store). I just allow my chameleon to crawl outside the cage to access the free range area.

I have a cat but I put her in the bedroom when I’m dealing with the chameleon because she has been quite aggressive towards other animals in the past.
 
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