handling your cham

[Momma Lauren]

Just out of curiousity, did your cham like to be held as a baby? If not, did he/she get used to the idea and eventually like to be held?

I had what I thought was a 3-4 month old male veiled. Some members on the site, by looking at his pics, thinks he could be younger, like 2-3 months old. I have had him for 2 1/2 weeks. I have held him only twice. I know he's young and probably still getting used to his new home but... I've tried to hold him 2 other times and he lets out a screech while running away from my hand. Since then I've let him be. I don't want to push the idea on him, nor stress him out... at the same time I don't want a pet that I can't eventually enjoy.

I see pictures on here all the time of chams being held, even at 2-3 months of age. I hope my little one warms up to be so I'll eventually be able to enjoy him

 

[Hoj]

my lil nosy be gizmo was very insecure as a little one as hes been getting bigger hes getting more brave, they just need to learn that your big hand isnt a threat, its reccomended to start with hand feeding, then they will start to see your hand as a good thing.

 

[Momma Lauren]

my lil nosy be gizmo was very insecure as a little one as hes been getting bigger hes getting more brave, they just need to learn that your big hand isnt a threat, its reccomended to start with hand feeding, then they will start to see your hand as a good thing.

hand feeding with some type of worm I'm assuming? crickets won't stay still long enough in your hand

 

[Ozzie2011]

Ozzie was 3 months old when I brought him home and I cup fed him to make sure he was eating and I hold Ozzie atleast twice a day. Sometimes Ozzie hisses when I go to get him so I just let him be. I never want to force him and make him afraid or hate me. I just let Ozzie perch on my hand and sometimes he climbs up the front of my shirt.

If you don't start handling your Cham I am sure there will come a time where he will never tolerate handling. You have to get him out when you clean his habitat so how do you do that? I know I clean out Ozzies habitat every other day.

 

[jannb]

Here's a couple of threads on handling that you might fine useful.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-chameleons-handled-60312/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-i-sign-up-handling-101-a-60462/

 

[Momma Lauren]

Ozzie was 3 months old when I brought him home and I cup fed him to make sure he was eating and I hold Ozzie atleast twice a day. Sometimes Ozzie hisses when I go to get him so I just let him be. I never want to force him and make him afraid or hate me. I just let Ozzie perch on my hand and sometimes he climbs up the front of my shirt.

If you don't start handling your Cham I am sure there will come a time where he will never tolerate handling. You have to get him out when you clean his habitat so how do you do that? I know I clean out Ozzies habitat every other day.

That is what I'm worried about. If at some point I don't force him to be held then he won't get accustom to it and more than likely he won't tolerate it at all, ever.
The second time I held him he did climb up onto my shoulder then onto my hair.
Honestly, I haven't thoroughly cleaned out his cage yet. I've just taken the live plant out, wiped it down, wiped all the other branches/leaves down and then wiped the bottom of his cage out. I do this every other day.

 

[Ozzie2011]

Just let him start perching on your finger, like Ozzie is in my avatar photo and carry him around and I would do this atleast twice a day spread out so he will get use to you and know that you are not going to harm him. If you are worried about him jumping then hold him over a couch or something that if he does jump it will be a soft landing. Hes about Ozzies age so his bite if he tries to bite you won't hurt but I doubt he will try, he will just hiss as in a big bluff hiss LOL!

 

[Momma Lauren]

Here's a couple of threads on handling that you might fine useful.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-chameleons-handled-60312/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/can-i-sign-up-handling-101-a-60462/

Thank you for those links. I found both of them to have helpful information.
I have class tonight so I will try to introduce hand feeding tomorrow and see if that gets us pointed into the right direction.

 

[Hoj]

hand feeding with some type of worm I'm assuming? crickets won't stay still long enough in your hand

if you grab a cricket kinda by the butt and one leg you can kinda get it to stick out straight givin your cham a good target.
if that makes any sence

 

[Momma Lauren]

Just let him start perching on your finger, like Ozzie is in my avatar photo and carry him around and I would do this atleast twice a day spread out so he will get use to you and know that you are not going to harm him. If you are worried about him jumping then hold him over a couch or something that if he does jump it will be a soft landing. Hes about Ozzies age so his bite if he tries to bite you won't hurt but I doubt he will try, he will just hiss as in a big bluff hiss LOL!

Yeah, I give him credit.. he's pretty smart. He knows now that if he hisses at me I'll leave him alone... but not anymore. I'm going to try to start slowly handling him more. Sooner or later he'll learn that I'm not a threat and who knows, he may even learn to like being held
I'm going to introduce hand feeding tomorrow. Hopefully that will help too!

Thanks for your input!

 

[Momma Lauren]

if you grab a cricket kinda by the butt and one leg you can kinda get it to stick out straight givin your cham a good target.
if that makes any sence

Yes, that makes sense. I'll try that along with the worms.
I've heard super worms are the best? Suggestions?

 

[Ozzie2011]

Super worms bite! Do you have any mealworms or even better silkworms?

 

[Momma Lauren]

Super worms bite! Do you have any mealworms or even better silkworms?

I just called around to the local pet stores- they have silk, horn, meal and super worms. Out of the 4, which are the most beneficial for my cham?

 

[Ozzie2011]

Personally I would go with the silks and horns. Lucky you I have to order my silks on the net. Your Cham will love them!

 

[carol5208]

I just called around to the local pet stores- they have silk, horn, meal and super worms. Out of the 4, which are the most beneficial for my cham?

Silkworms would be the best out of all of those. They are low in fat which is good and have about the same fat content as a cricket. Supers are ok(but fatty) so beware because alot of chams love those over crickets sometimes and give up on crickets to eat those. I would not get horns if you have a young chameleon. They grow very quickly and will probably be too big to feed off when you have a young chameleon like you do. they can triple their size in a matter of days! Meals are basically like supers but have less meat and are basically just exoskeleton, so use those sparingly also.