Dealing with anti-social Chameleon

[beithyb]

Looking for some advice in handling my Panther Chameleon.

I have owned him since he was 3 months old, he is about 7 months old now.
The issue is he is terrified of me and will try his best to get away from me. I have only handled him twice which was due to him falling out of the cage when the door was open.
Any time I try to take him out, he will run to the back of the cage and hide, and there are loads of branches and plants so its almost impossible to get near him.
I want to take him out to weigh him but I am also concerned about if I need to remove him for a vet visit or to bring him outside into the sunlight.

Does anyone have tipped for an anti-social/ scared Chameleon?

 

[Beman]

Hi there. He is very handsome. Have you been trying to build trust with feeding him? It is all about associating your hand with food. So that your hand does not seem like a threat. Here is a blog I did on it. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/

 

[beithyb]

Hi there. He is very handsome. Have you been trying to build trust with feeding him? It is all about associating your hand with food. So that your hand does not seem like a threat. Here is a blog I did on it. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/

thank you. Yes I have been trying to build trust such as leaving the door open when I am in the room and sitting by the cage. I have been placing the feeders in with my hand but he wont eat them until I put them onto a branch. Ill try the tips in your blog.

 

[OldWorldChams]

While I do believe that a chameleon can be acclimated and change behavior over time, in my experience individual chameleons have different personalities that stick with them. I have had chameleons that are 100% friendly and others that are always grumps. My babies and juveniles seem to all be chill and I'm wondering if it's because I am always hovering over them like a giant, haha! Is your cage in a location where your chameleon sees you quite a bit? exposure therapy.

 

[jcarlsen]

I've found with Panthers they just mellow out with age. My Nosy Be was ferocious and very lunge-y whenever I put my hand near him before. Like even if I did the "correct" approach of going under the chin for a pickup he'd look right down at my hand and lunge at it lol. But as he's approaching a year, he's more just like...annoyed and walking away from my hand.

And yeah, what others said, work on hand and tong feeding. Let your guy associate you with food and if ya have to remove him for the vet and you're really worried, just be careful, use a glove if you have to, and understand that it's just a short stress period for his health and return to the trust building routine.

ALSO, understand that all panthers are a bit different and you might just have a very agressive/scared one. Sometimes it do be that way.

 

[Beman]

thank you. Yes I have been trying to build trust such as leaving the door open when I am in the room and sitting by the cage. I have been placing the feeders in with my hand but he wont eat them until I put them onto a branch. Ill try the tips in your blog.

It is all about consistency. I have done this with 3 Veileds. It worked well on 2. The third hated me from the jump granted he even learned that my hands meant food after months of working with him daily. Still he would not come out to me though and would bite. But it was enough to get him to the front of his cage so that I could get him to step up with gloves on to get weight checks. I have found that seeing me consistently and associating food with my hands helped in all three situations. Also making sure their cage was higher than me. This allows them the ability to still feel like they are safe. If you are eye to eye with them they are going to be more aggressive because your huge and a threat.