Handling your Chameleons

[SierraNevada]

How often do you guys handle your chameleons? How old were they when you started to handle them? Anyone been bitten? Did you have one that never calmed down, even after numerous handlings over a period of time?

Mine runs/climbs away from me and then will gape puff up at me. I'm having a real hard time catching him, so usually I just give up so I don't really stress him out. It's obviously scary for the little guy.

I have noticed that he understands the big cup means food time, and if the door is closed and I'm looking at him, he's probably safe. As soon as I open the door, if there's no cup, he starts to climb away. If he sees the mist sprayer, he takes off.

This is my first Ambilobe Panther chameleon. Do they mellow out with age?

 

[ChameleonsTree]

He may never calm down but my most feisty panthers always made the best breeders.

 

[royden]

This is a much debated topic and you'll receive a wide variety of opinions. Using the search engine on the site you can follow some really interesting threads about handling.


The general consensus is that these are 'look but don't touch' animals. Most chams stress out when you handle them, not all of them seem to. Hissing, puffing, and lunging should be celebrated as signs of health and activity. But in the same respect a docile cham should not necessarily cause concern.


My veiled hates my guts and will nearly fold his body in half in order to get a good chomp on my hand. He goes to great lengths to let me know that he wished I were dead. He's always been that way, and I actually don't mind if he stays that way.

It is necessary to handle them often when cleaning or moving cages. If the chomping and the lunging causes you to pull back your hand in swift retreat (which could hurt him if you were holding him) then try wearing gloves of some sort. That will give you confidence to handle him, and if the gloves are bulky enough he will often not respond to them in the same way he does to your hands. It has helped me.

I handle my veiled about once every two weeks. Sometimes a little more often than that, and lately a lot more than that as I've been revamping his cage, installing drainage etc. He lunges at me every time.

Every morning I am his new enemy.

Hope that helps!

 

[Vegas Chad]

Do they mellow out? Depends on the cham... Some yes, some no... I hold mine all at least once a week... I check them out, make them open there mouth's, feel the grip, ECT... They dont always like it... But hey, life is full of things that you dont like.

 

[Marc10edora]

I handle mine once a month in order to let him bask outside. I also bought some thick leather gardening gloves in order to handle him. He still bites pretty hard through the gloves and I have to always convince myself to hold my ground. It takes me about 30 minutes to an hour in order to take him out calmly. I usually wait until he is towards the front of the cage because it is a hassle to get him through all the plants. Once he is out, he is calm. I guess he is just defending his territory.

 

[SierraNevada]

Yea...lots of varying opinions on it. What do you all think of the "don't wear dark colors" thing when handling chameleons? That was the general thought back in the late 70's when I had Jacksons.

Do you think the thick leather glove's colors have anything to do with the lessor aggression?

And...I understand what you are saying VegasChad..... I agree you have to handle them for the routine health inspection, cage remodel, outside basking...and stress may be of no real consequence and actually benefit the animal....

And with that, I wonder the life expectancy of a frequently handled CB chameleon vs. a never handled CB chameleon. (personality variations not withstanding).

 

[kinyonga]

Regarding wearing dark colors...not only will certain colors get reactions from chameleon, some patterns will also cause reactions. I have found with veiled chameleons that reds and pinks often get the reaction of retreat from female veileds and with the Parson's the green and black mottled shirt I had was a definite no-no. That's just two examples of many that I have noticed.

 

[Vegas Chad]

Yea... I dont take them out and wear them around on my head or anything... I clean my cages really well once a week, so when I take them outside to hose them down I will put them in a holding cage or hand them off to my helper... It is then when we check them out... They are usually pissed for the first little while, but once that they figure out that you are not going to eat them they will chill out. When you get bit by a cham it is just its way of it telling you that it loves you

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

Well, I don't buy the whole "don't touch" thing with these animals
I tend to hold that in the same bucket with the "they'll die in 3 months"
myth that is still making the rounds with the public.

Sure, some of the animals are defensive and insecure
but they all seem to mellow out after the first year.

I have one Ambanja (Taos) that came to me as a 6 month old
and was VERY defensive/aggressive.
so much so that he would lunge at me and grind his teeth into my skin.
(yes there was usually blood involved)
It took some time, but he finally got the idea (the big gloved hand can be a good thing)
He's still a bit defensive with only some posturing at me
otherwise, he's easy to pick up and handle without any gloves.
I don't think that even he knows why he's doing it..
it's just a compulsion at this point.
and he doesn't show any interest towards the females.

Then there's logan (sambava) that hops onto my hand without any coaxing
Very friendly and never aggressive as well as a great guy for the ladies.
He's interested in what I'm doing and loves to go outside wrapped around my wrist.

So each have their own personalty and quite a bit has to do
with their early environment as well as the genetic inheritance.
So if you want one that's going to grow up able to be held
then you have got to take some time with a breeder
and pick out the calmest and best looking cham you can find while their still young.
When at home,
What I recommend is to coax the animal onto your hand.
Dim the house lights and watch some movie while you sit on the sofa.
in a low light situation they'll calm down and start going to sleep
if you're holding them calmly in your hand without any movements or being screwed with.
it'll calm down enough to close its eyes... then you're in good shape
it'll make some positive associations with being held in a calm mind state.
to wake them up, turn the house lights back on and don't touch him until he's alert once again.
then it's OK put him back into the cage
Do that enough and you'll be in business. YMMV.
There's other things on top of this that I've found to help
but holding then when young like this has gotten me great results.

 

[Djscifee]

Well, I don't buy the whole "don't touch" thing with these animals
I tend to hold that in the same bucket with the "they'll die in 3 months"
myth that is still making the rounds with the public.

Sure, some of the animals are defensive and insecure
but they all seem to mellow out after the first year.

I have one Ambanja (Taos) that came to me as a 6 month old
and was VERY defensive/aggressive.
so much so that he would lunge at me and grind his teeth into my skin.
(yes there was usually blood involved)
It took some time, but he finally got the idea (the big gloved hand can be a good thing)
He's still a bit defensive with only some posturing at me
otherwise, he's easy to pick up and handle without any gloves.
I don't think that even he knows why he's doing it..
it's just a compulsion at this point.
and he doesn't show any interest towards the females.

Then there's logan (sambava) that hops onto my hand without any coaxing
Very friendly and never aggressive as well as a great guy for the ladies.
He's interested in what I'm doing and loves to go outside wrapped around my wrist.

So each have their own personalty and quite a bit has to do
with their early environment as well as the genetic inheritance.
So if you want one that's going to grow up able to be held
then you have got to take some time with a breeder
and pick out the calmest and best looking cham you can find while their still young.
When at home,
What I recommend is to coax the animal onto your hand.
Dim the house lights and watch some movie while you sit on the sofa.
in a low light situation they'll calm down and start going to sleep
if you're holding them calmly in your hand without any movements or being screwed with.
it'll calm down enough to close its eyes... then you're in good shape
it'll make some positive associations with being held in a calm mind state.
to wake them up, turn the house lights back on and don't touch him until he's alert once again.
then it's OK put him back into the cage
Do that enough and you'll be in business. YMMV.
There's other things on top of this that I've found to help
but holding then when young like this has gotten me great results.

just did this , i want to eventually have mine enjoy handling more, well when the moment i dimmed the lights she fell asleep! it was cute!
i was very surprized how fast she fell asleep! im going to wait awhile until i do this regularly so she cant relax to her new home first.

 

[DeFishy]

Mhm Well put! My female panther, Arda, is really friendly. She always was, but lately she'll litterally "jump" onto my arm and up my shoulder for a walk. And my lil' baby, Bruce, I'm being patient with him, so far he hasn't hissed, or puffed up, just "huffed" when he's tired of being held. its rather funny, like an "Uggg" moment. Lol. While he doesn't Run, he's still not certain. I'm taking my time, gently taking him out, holding him for a short period of time or placing him in the tree, and then returning him home. I do limit the amount of times I hold him, compared to Arda, she I handle almost every day as she is very friendly and loves to be held, but he I limit handling to only a few times a week for a lot shorter periods of time.