kongchi
New Member
I think it's fair to say that most people want a chameleon that LOVES to be handled. Why not? Humans like being affectionate to the things they love and part of being affectionate is touching or holding the loved one. One of the rules I constantly see here is that "Chameleons don't like being held". I always hear that it stresses them out and that stress could lead to other things.
I hear that most chameleons don't like being held anyway, but this is oblivious to me because my Sebastian LOVES being held. He would wait for me in the upper right side branch or if he saw me coming, he would immediately stop what he was doing and crawl up to that branch. But I didn't write this post to tell you that, I wrote this post because there is a downside to a chameleon that likes being held.
"Holding a chameleon stresses them out" - I think when I don't hold Sebastian he stresses out, and I don't get to hold him often. Some days he just sits there all day, eating only things that come near him, he'll hunt when hes STARVING, but I'd say about one day every two weeks, he'll just sit there and stare at me.
Forget about hand feeding, when I stick my hand inside Sebastian's cage, he just climbs on it.
I've thought of many ways to discourage this. He lives in a fully decked out Reptibreeze XL (2x2x4) with lots of plants and constant misting of warm water. I thought he might have an exploration stage, and free ranged him outside, but due to a few falcons in the area, I've stopped that. Even with free ranging outside, he crawls back to me.
I wanted to relay this information for those who think that your chameleon is less favorable because he/she isn't as sociable as you would like. Although it IS awesome, I wanted to let you know there ARE downsides to this. Not all things convenient for you, are convenient for your chameleons. My emphasis is on my chameleon being stressed out because he LOVES being held and I probably handle him only once or twice a day, he wants it 24/7 even when he sleeps.
I hear that most chameleons don't like being held anyway, but this is oblivious to me because my Sebastian LOVES being held. He would wait for me in the upper right side branch or if he saw me coming, he would immediately stop what he was doing and crawl up to that branch. But I didn't write this post to tell you that, I wrote this post because there is a downside to a chameleon that likes being held.
"Holding a chameleon stresses them out" - I think when I don't hold Sebastian he stresses out, and I don't get to hold him often. Some days he just sits there all day, eating only things that come near him, he'll hunt when hes STARVING, but I'd say about one day every two weeks, he'll just sit there and stare at me.
Forget about hand feeding, when I stick my hand inside Sebastian's cage, he just climbs on it.
I've thought of many ways to discourage this. He lives in a fully decked out Reptibreeze XL (2x2x4) with lots of plants and constant misting of warm water. I thought he might have an exploration stage, and free ranged him outside, but due to a few falcons in the area, I've stopped that. Even with free ranging outside, he crawls back to me.
I wanted to relay this information for those who think that your chameleon is less favorable because he/she isn't as sociable as you would like. Although it IS awesome, I wanted to let you know there ARE downsides to this. Not all things convenient for you, are convenient for your chameleons. My emphasis is on my chameleon being stressed out because he LOVES being held and I probably handle him only once or twice a day, he wants it 24/7 even when he sleeps.
