does your chameleon like to be held

[ken2414]

i want to know if your chameleon likes to be held or not and how you got him to trust your hand. i have a baby and he doesnt care cause of him lacking territorial characteristics, but i want him to get used to me

 

[Houdinithevelied]

I have a 7 month old veiled and he Loves to be held. He has always liked it. Some of them never get used to it.

 

[Scooter]

Most chameleons, especially veileds will not tolerate being held as adults. Chameleons are not like a domesticated dog or cat, chameleons are not companion pets.

 

[tryme]

in my opinion most animals if handled from a young age will atleast tollerate being handled

 

[Dylan Dutz]

Mine is still a baby. He puffs up when I try to get him to crawl on my hand. But when he's finally on he calms down a lot.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

in my opinion most animals if handled from a young age will atleast tollerate being handled

This maybe true.
The question I have is, do you want to provide the best possible life/situation for this animal that you are responsible for, or do you want to subject it to a life of tolerating you?

-Brad

 

[ChrisnLisa]

I have two male veileds both from the same clutch. One doesn't mind at all and almost immediately crawls onto me when his cage is opened and the other puffs up and hisses when you even look at him. He's like a grumpy old man. I raised them both the same and only held them when needed. I guess they all of their own personalities and there is no real way to make them like it or not. I'd say better to hold them as little as possible so they don't start to get stressed out from the sight of you. I'm no expert, just my thoughts.

 

[themonsheshe]

My panther will tolerate being held....

He knows that I can be a link between his enclosure and the greenhouse or the outdoors so he will pick and choose when he feels this is ok. There are random times when he will come to me directly( he free ranges in a small room ) and even if I move he will promptly turn and come to me. That being said when I initiate the contact he obviously doesnt like it.

I know one thing is If you wear a ball cap into the room he feels way more comfortable and will try and perch on your head.

 

[Cainschams]

As everybody stated chams are not companion pets. My female panther will crawl on me out of the cage most times if I have food. I dont move around though only to take to the shower or outside to her other cage this kinda seems to scare them some. On the other hand my male is a fussy grumpy young man. He doesnot like peolple verymuch. He free ranges in a small room. I noticed if he climbs out of the main area he stays in he is much calmer toward taking to the shower or outside. But I only hold him to do these such things or clean. All are different though. I saw 2 adult panthers and a veiled each only about 3 ft apart from each other on seperate climbing perches. This was at a show and none of them seemed to care that they were near each other or people.

 

[joefarah]

"Does your chameleon like to be held?"

Of course not.

I would say the only thing chameleons "like" is food, water, sex, and sun.

Many chameleons are accustomed to being handled occaisionally and probably aren't greatly affected by the stress it causes. Still, I think of them as display animals.

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

Most chameleons, especially veileds will not tolerate being held as adults.

I completely disagree with the above.
Chameleons are different animals from either cats or dogs.
They're on their own mentality in their perception of humans
Snakes are also the same... they perceive the world differently then we do.
But I don't remember hearing about these types of conversations come up.
that being said:
Many cats will only *tolerate being held* and won't come up to a human
unless there's something that's "in it for them" by doing so.

I've got a chameleon that actually climbs out onto my arm
he brightens up and actually maintains contact with me even when give the chance to roam freely.
He will climb about when there's something that interests him... like a female to court.
I wouldn't say he's tolerating me... at all.

Lets not mistake their gestures and defense of personal territory to mean that they dislike us.
I take their body language to mean the same as when they display to another of their own species
more or less they're saying "respect me" and 'this is my space"
once they're out of their territory... I've found a attitude change takes place right away.

Granted, I've had a few that are scared to death of being handled
it's completely new for them but they all get to a level of comfort with being handled
if it's done properly with regard to where they're at in their own minds.
My belief is that the sooner and more often a young animal is interacted with
the better it is for both pet and owner.
ymmv

 

[Justin Carl]

i agree with jeweled
My male veiled will get all pissy when your hand goes inside of his cage.
He will hiss, puff up, and open his mouth. As soon as i pick him up he is fine.
When he is out of the cage he gets excited and fires up.
My femal veiled is about the same way too. she isnt nearly as territorial.
My Mitsio has a calm attitude most of the time. I will mention that he HATES the camera.
I think all chameleons do.
Chameleons are lookers not lap dogs. Contact should be kept to a minimum.

 

[bg77]

Well my Veiled started out Great, had really no problems. Now that he is around 5 months old he has decided that he has some nuts and he wants to eat me everytime I try to get him out. I have to get him to move from his favorite basking spot and climb on the screen, once he is on the sreen i can grab him without him trying to eat my fingers for dinner. He also has just decided he hates cameras. Last night he tried to eat it also, he snap and hit the lense, I got a blurry pic of the wall because of it. Scared the crap out of me. Gotta love it. I about crapped myself the first time he tried to eat me while I was getting him out. I sat there and thought about my next move. I finally remebered I have balls to, and he was not going to get his way, so out he came. Can't wait till he gets even bigger.

 

[Justin Carl]

a mean veiled is a healthy one.
it is as simple as that.

 

[nightcrawler]

mine used to hate it and never wanted to come out,
but all of a sudden some time ago he liked to come out.
everytime i used to open my cage to do anything
he would try to get out. he doesnt like if you
go inside his cage for anything and he gets mad becuase
it is HIS home, but he liked to sit on the door and look.
sometimes he will climb down and i will get scared
that he will hurt himself so i lend my hand to help him in his travels.
if i go from below and stand back and talk to him
he doesnt seem to mind. i just move slow, and in
a helpful mannor. he knows that my hand is there to help him
when he is upside down, vertical on the screen or trying to
grab something far. i also think that he abuses my
hand as to look like he will need help to get me to
run over there and help him. he might be always trying
to get out to find a lady, or he can just be king up there.
he doesnt mind getting held in my opinion
if its for his benifit. he also likes me more then my girlfriend.
but i feed him.

 

[ChameleonsTree]

Well i have a female ambilobe who runs for my hand when i open the cage but she prefers to sit on my shoulder to being ''held''. My sambava male will climb onto my hand of his own free will if you stand there for like 5 minutes and let him take his time to decide for himself.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

This maybe true.
The question I have is, do you want to provide the best possible life/situation for this animal that you are responsible for, or do you want to subject it to a life of tolerating you?

-Brad

Lol...someone who is against owning pets completely could say the same thing to you you know(or any of us really). It's ALWAYS subjected to a life of tolerating you...I think people are just saying that it will be less 'tolerating' and more natural to the animal if it is raised a certain way (i.e. being held regularly from a young age) than if it is not.

 

[CrazyChameleon5]

my girl is a snot lol i think the petstore tramatized her holding her so much she does not liked to be messed with. i put her crickets in a cup to put them in the cage and she hates it she bites it and hisses, she is a little calmer when my hand is in there but i have not even tried to take her out or hold her lol, she scares the bejeebees out of me hahahaha.

 

[MdngtRain]

my chams that I have had since hatchling/juvi all hate to be held. the 2 that I got recently as adults love to come out & chill on my shoulder (may be due to their poor health & cramped living conditions, all currently undergoing change/being addressed).

 

[Chase]

Nope, mine wont let me touch him without him puffing up.