handling chameleons?

[mattyice0530]

I just got my first chameleon. she is a baby veiled chameleon. I have heard mixed things from people involving handling her. I am terrified that I am going to stress her out. she turns pretty light green when she comes out. and usually in her cage, she is blending into the sticks and is a pretty dark color. is this normal? I have also heard different things involving the colors they turn when stressed. She has hissed and snapped occasionally at me, so I have just let her stay in her cage lately.

 

[pbnstevo]

I have a 6 month old vieled who loves attention. He wants to be on me at all times and even when he's in the cage he always tries to be the closest he can. I handled him from the time he was half the size of my pinky, and he never seemed to be stressed.

 

[tdotcham]

funny you say that.. i just purchased a 1.5 year old ambilobe and he always brightens his reds and blues whenever I hold him. however, i'm trying to give him space so he can adjust to his new home

 

[reptileman]

I would say it all depends on the chameleon, generally they should be handled as little as possible but I have 1 chameleon that comes out of the cage to my hand and another doesnt like to be handled at all. I hope this helps

 

[Leedslad88]

yes just to mimic what has be said the general rule with chams is to leave them! However, i have a couple that quite literally leap onto me if i enter their vivs

 

[OOOst16]

She is probably brown inside the cage, trying to absorb heat. What are your basking temps? And you do have a UVB bulb right?

 

[JCDenton]

I have heard mixed things from people involving handling her.

That's because every chameleon is different.

 

[ruru]

my female veiled did that when i first got her...it turned out she didnt like her set-up so i did a couple changes and let her free range alot & she seems to be happy as ever.

 

[carol5208]

I think the general consensus is that when you free range your chameleon(whether all the time or at differnt times of the day) they are happier and will be friendly toward you. It works for me!!!

 

[mattyice0530]

She is probably brown inside the cage, trying to absorb heat. What are your basking temps? And you do have a UVB bulb right?

yes, she has her UVB. the temperature during the day is about 84 or 85 degrees.

 

[kongchi]

There's a chance that your chameleon could get TOO comfortable. I like to hand feed my chameleon from time to time, but when I stuck my hand in there to feed him the other day, he climbed up onto my hand instead of eating the fresh cricket.

He also pooped im my hand once

 

[KammerflageKreations]

I just got my first chameleon. she is a baby veiled chameleon. I have heard mixed things from people involving handling her. I am terrified that I am going to stress her out. she turns pretty light green when she comes out. and usually in her cage, she is blending into the sticks and is a pretty dark color. is this normal? I have also heard different things involving the colors they turn when stressed. She has hissed and snapped occasionally at me, so I have just let her stay in her cage lately.

Working with chameleons for over 12 years now, what we've found is that they are VERY individual. The younger you start socializing them, the better chances for taming. Anything our size that would pick them up in the wild, would want to eat them for a snack, so of course they are frightened. Most of the time, they are scared to come out of their safe enclosure because they don't know what's going to happen next . . . but after getting out, they tend to settle down and can accept handling quite well. We would recommend handling regularly, but for short periods of time until she actually becomes tame and used to handling. Be sure to put her back in her enclosure when she is calm . . . it just reinforces the positive feelings of being handled. Hope this helps!