Handling little chams

[Kalibr03]

Hi all, I recently became the proud owner of a 1 month old and a 2 1/2 month old veiled chameleon. I love handling my snakes and all animals in general. I plan on letting these guys out of their cages alot once they get bigger. Since they are little I'm worried about handling them too much and/or scaring them. I eventually want them out everyday but for now how can I get them used to me/being handled. Around what age can I handle them everyday and when/how should I start to get them used to it. Do treats work? I guess its just classical conditioning right. Anyways I know many of you have extended chameleon experience so please let me here your thoughts or how you did it.

 

[Karch51]

umm...sorry to say this, but chameleons don't like to be handled often. Everyday handling could easly lead to your chams getting very stressed out. I would limit your self to 1 or 2 handlings a week. Also your chams are very young, so right now I don't think you should handle them at all. I would at least wait until they are 4 months old to start once a week handlings. Sorry, I'm sure this is the news you did not want to hear.

-Jason-

 

[Kalibr03]

I don't want to play with them but I want to be able to take them outside or put them in other trees/plants I have around the house.

 

[Karch51]

In that case, it is much better. There is nothing that compares to natural sunlight for chams. But I would still wait at least 4 months before you start putting them on new plants in and out of the house. I suggest putting a plant into their encloser and when you want to take them out just take out the whole plant. This way they will get sunlight and they won't be the wiser.